Stop Buying Into Bulk

If one more woman says: ‘I don’t want to get bulky’, to me in the gym when I suggest weight training I’m going to scream! Have we still not debunked this myth of women blowing up like A
old Schwartzenegger at the sight of a dumbbell? I thought the recent London Olympics would have shown girls how attractive lean muscle can be. The athletes competing had some of the finest physiques in the world and none of them (not even the weightlifters) looked like some of the scary-looking female body builders that women worry they will turn into.
Look ladies, we simply don’t have the hormones to build bulky muscles. Men struggle enough to build and keep muscles so we really don’t have anything to worry about. Those women you see who have built enormous muscles put years of hard effort into looking that way and probably had some chemical help as well. Most ladies who pick up a heavy weight will simply get leaner, smaller and tighter. Muscle is denser and takes up less space than fat, so your clothes will fit better. There is no such thing as ‘toned’ – you either have muscles or you don’t.
Toned is a word made up by the fitness industry to make building lean muscle more ‘woman-friendly’ but it’s really not doing us any favours. The sooner girls realise that picking up heavy weights will make them feel empowered and give them the physique they desire, the better.

Look at any of your favourite celebrities. Do you really think they achieved their amazing bodies by pounding away on the crosstrainer for hours on end? Believe me, they all train with weights. And while I’m on the subject of the crosstrainer, how’s that working out for you? In the gym where I work women come in and spend hours at a time on those machines. Then they complain that their bodies aren’t changing. But when I suggest they try weight training they instantly dismiss it, saying it’s going to make them bulky!

Fortunately, there are plenty of women who are being starting to come round to weight training, with amazing results. One of my clients, Carol, explains: ‘Prior to meeting Jo, I had assumed that weight training was strictly for guys who wanted to bulk up, so when on our first sessio
Jo suggested that this would be our focus, I was quite shocked as I expected a mix of my previous exercise exploits which were the usual running, yoga, step and Swiss ball classes. However, after reassurance that I would not build bulging muscles and explanation regarding how weight training actually affects the body, I am now a convert. I now have more toned arms and thighs, which no amount of running ever achieved.’

The reason women think that doing weights makes them bulky is often that they still have a layer of fat unde
eath their muscles and building muscle tone can cause this fat to stand out more, giving the impression that you are getting bulky. But if you get your diet dialed in right, you’ll soon shed this fat and reveal the stunning body you’ve been sculpting unde
eath. And if you do start to feel you’re developing too much muscle in a particular area, so increasing the weight, focus on other body parts more and that muscle will soon drop off. It really is use it or lose it when it comes to muscle.
So ladies, please let go of this myth once and for all. Train like a man to look like a goddess. Strong is definitely the new skinny and it’s about time we raised the bar on our fitness.