10 Reasons Why Heavy Weights Don't Bulk Up Females

10 Reasons Why Heavy Weights Don't Bulk Up Females

I would prefer not to start out by posting this as my first informational piece, but I felt that I had to grab your attention right off the bat so that you will see the that the information is pertinent. This title is the #1 phrase that I hear from 100% of the women that I see as new clients or that want to talk to me at the bar*, because they heard I am a trainer. It comes up every time I hand my clients a weight that they have never lifted before or when they feel the belt a bit tighter or the shirt a bit more snug after a binge of eating like crap all week long and denying it. 

*On a side note...I rarely enjoy talking about work at a bar! So if you do see me out (ha!) and we start a conversation, please do not strike up the chatter with "so how do I get rid of this (as she grabs her triceps or her waist)? It will always be the same answer, put down the chicken wing and blue cheese and do some relevant exercise!"

I recently read an article with this title on a website that has some great information and experts on health and fitness. This one particularly caught my eye and was written by a well known strength coach in a division 1 college. I am going to list his 10 reasons below, then agree and disagree with some of them: 

1) Women do not have nearly as much testosterone as men....you really can't argue with that and is why I can lift heavy weights and gain lean muscle mass, but you women can lift heavy weights and just get strong. In fact, the best way to lose weight is to gain lean muscle mass that keeps your metabolism high and burns fat while you are not in the gym. REMEMBER: Strong does not equal this - ...that is called 4 hours a day in a gym, 500 dollars a month in supplements and steroids, and never touching a carb in her life.

2) The perception that women will bulk up in a strength training program comes from the "chemically" altered women on the front of bodybuilding magazines...He is right about this one, as well. See above statement. 

3) Toning is what happens when muscle is developed through training...I like this reason, and this is an aspect that rarely people are able to grasp. Toning is an objective characteristic to 98% of women, but has a true scientific definition in health and fitness. Tone = the state of tension or responsiveness of the organs or tissues of the body (referring to muscle).  This word means something different to every woman out there and it is a very important description to me and how I will treat your program. It tells me where your priority of fat loss is on your body, where I want to focus your lean muscle gain, where (most of the time) you will lose fat LAST, and how you will judge your success in the program. 

4) Muscle bulk comes from a high volume of work...I would like to be a little bit more specific and say that there is an optimal volume of work for the building of muscle size. Why is it that you work heavy weights in 3-6 reps and lower weights in 15-20 reps? Because study's show that the lower reps (volume) with higher loads (lbs) is effective at strength gains, and the highest volume (15-20 reps) with lower loads is effective for muscle endurance. Between those said volumes (8-12 reps) is the rep range that will effectively produce muscle hypertrophy or size, or more specifically it is the rep range that puts your muscles under stress for the amount of time that will make muscles larger. My female clients stay in one of the first two volumes, the low rep range is not enough time to elicit muscle build and the highest rep range is too much time under stress to build muscle...But no matter what the range you are working, make sure that you are using a weight that causes absolute fatigue in that range. There is nothing more frustrating when someone is lifting a weight for 6 reps that they could do for 20. That gets us nowhere! 

5) Heavy weights will promote strength, not size...if used properly, see above statement 

6) "Bulking Up" is not an overnight process...I love when women will be with me for a week and come in one day and say "John, I am getting bulky!" Yeah? Well, let me know what you are doing, because if you can "bulk up" that fast, then I need to bottle, sell it to all the guys in Charlotte and become rich. The truth is that the only people that gain a large amount of lean mass in a short amount of time are the ones on steroids and the ones that have been training for years, quit, and then just start back. It takes quite a long time to get that muscle hypertrophy, if you have never had it (and I would not train you that way). See #4. 

7) What the personal trainer is prescribing is not working...I think that I would like to rephrase this to what you have been doing up to now, is not working. This may not be due solely to the strength program, but your cardio, and even more important your nutrition! Point being, if you are not fatigued muscularly or cardiovascularly at the end of the set/session, then you are not likely going to see the intended results. If you are with me and you you do not feel the above, then you are either injured/new and working on corrective exercises/or you are not doing what I ask. 

8) "Bulking Up" is Calorie dependent...Great statement. I will give you the example of me on this one. I am in the opposite of the normal woman's fitness goals, in that, I work my butt off to gain weight. Sounds great, right? Wrong! I work harder than most people that I know to keep weight on or gain weight, than they do at losing weight. One of the biggest things that I have to force myself to do when trying to gain weight is to eat around 1000-1500 more calories per day. That is an increase from 2000-2500 per day, depending on the week. I am eating all the time, and that is the only way that you bulk. If you are "bulking up" then look at your calorie amount and more importantly, what type of calories you are eating and you will have your answer for weight gain. 

9) The "freshman 15" is not caused by strength training...Author is a strength coach at a college, so I will not comment on this one. You and I both know why girls are getting 15 extra pounds when they leave home and are on their own. 

10) Most of the so-called experts are only experts at sounding like they know what they are talking about...This is true, if you are taking advice from women's health or your personal trainer at the local Y. The truth is that you cannot really get effective advice on how to get to your goals until they know you and your body/lifestyle/and goals. There is not cookie cutter program, so do not think that you can go by what worked for your friend in wherever, that lost 20 pounds, because the truth is that she was either working her butt off like she never has before or starving herself and being miserable. 

The take home point of this post is that you have to have knowledge or have someone that has the knowledge to write a proper program for you and your goals. Every woman's idea of BULKING is different from my own, and the only way to have your trainer change your program because of your results (ie: thighs/arms are getting too big) is to express what you want, where you want it. If you don't, I am going to train you how I want to see you...and you may not want that!