Females & Bulking Up - Did You Think It Would Be Easy?????

When I start resistance training with women, I can pretty much guarantee that, at some time, they'll make comment about whether or not they want to bulk up. Usually it goes something like this, "I want to do some weights...but I don't want to bulk up". This is normally followed by something like, "I've already got huge legs - I don't want them to get any more muscly". And I then launch into a long and drawn out conversation about the ins and outs of growing muscles in women.

 

So let's just keep it simple for a start......BUILDING MUSCLE IS BLOODY HARD!!!!! I'm flat out trying to build up, bulk up and shape up and it's certainly not going to happen when you aren't looking - rest assured!!!!

 

I'll get back to the Women & Bulking Up later. Firstly, the biggest news of the week is that I have a trainer!!!! Woohooo!!! Finally some clarity in this fog of exercise! Her name is Sammy and, while I don't have her full credentials at hand, I know she is an accomplished figure competitor and has trained some of last years' winners. She works at the Wicked NRG supplement shop in Darwin alongside her personal training, and I'm stoked to have her on my side!

 

So we've thrown a few emails and phone calls back and forth and this has resulted in my first 2 week training and nutrition regime. While the exercises are very familiar and exciting, the nutrition is a bit on the mind-boggling side! I don't think I was quite ready for all that it encompasses. I went shopping yesterday and spent about 15mins in the health aisle to end up with only 2 small bottles of tablets in my basket. I was looking for some really weird stuff like; magnesium and zinc and chlorophyll and chrondroitin!!!! Doesn't this stuff belong in a science lab/??? I eventually found the 'chia' seeds and still don't know what they are! Clearly I haven't actually opened the packet yet and I have full intentions of doing something with it.....just not sure what. They look like tiny ballbearings and they look about as palatable as ........tiny ballbearings. The fear of not being able to do this whole thing almost swallowed me whole yesterday. I felt a bit panicky and considered just throwing in the towel early and getting on with life. Then I sat down and laid it out in front of myself and realised that I would regret forever not giving it a go. And regret is a waste of bloody time! Then I realised that the nutrition is what's scaring me - not the hard work in the gym. And then it hit me with extreme clarity - I'm not a quitter!!!!!! No way!!! Not this time!!!! So I'm thinking less and doing more and I'll let you know the results.

 

I sent Sammy through a few of my current photos. On a scale of hard-things-to-do, being photographed is about 9.8/10. I absolutely hate it but I know it's a necessary part of a distance-training relationship. Consequently I had a critique of myself and can say that I'm feeling ok about my upper body. I'm told that there's a long way to go but my base is pretty ok for now. Legs wise she thinks the muscle is sitting there waiting to be found. I think it's hiding under 'stuff' for now. We all know what the 'stuff' is but I don't want to say it out loud! hehe. So I'll show you a couple of photos and leave it at that.

 

 

As for women and bulking up. Let's just clear the air with some of the facts, as I know them to be.

* Women simply do not have the testosterone that men have. Testosterone aids with increasing muscle mass. We do not have enough to sprout the huge muscles that men find so much easier to achieve.

* Women have a physical make up that makes it much easier for them to gain fat rather than lean muscle.

 

Resistance training (when performed correctly!) causes tiny tears in your muscle fibres. The muscles adapt to that stress by increasing & growing in size to produce bigger muscles. However (and this is important!!), you must know the correct exercises to do, the correct weights to lift, the correct cadence or speed to lift, the correct amount of reps to complete and the correct amount of rest time between lifting. The typical high reps/low weights routines favoured by classes such as pump, will lead to lean muscle and fat loss but will not produce 'bulk'.

 

Another point to remember in relation to weight loss is that when you lose weight, your muscles become visible. Don't mix this up with 'bulking up'. You are just removing the 'stuff'' that's covering the muscle.

 

So rest assured ladies, you are not going to grow bulky by accident. If it were that easy, I wouldn't be trying to fit tiny ballbearings into my daily diet!!!!!