Women and weight lifting

So yeah, it's been a while since I've posted, and I have no decent excuse...suffice it to say that I've just been busy getting into a new routine here in Charlotte, part of which involves waking up on the early side to accommodate a new gym routine, so I'd like to partially blame my blog slacking on being more tired at night.  Blah, blah, blah.  Oh, that and my amazing mother has been bringing us dinner once a week, so that's one fewer night I have to cook!  Yes, she is most definitely the bomb.com, as I like to say. 

Anyway, I'm slowly getting back into the saddle with cooking and creating new recipes, so no need to worry that my blogging has come to an end (b/c I know y'all were all keeping yourselves awake at night worrying about that).

But this post has little to do with cooking.  Instead, I'm feeling the need to address a topic that comes up time and time again with women and weight lifting.  I don't purport to be an expert on anything I write on here, including exercise.  I do know a thing or two from personal experience and some schooling on the matter, but not enough to start bossing people around in the gym.  What I do know, however, is that lots of women don't want to lift weights for fear of "bulking up."  Or whatever ya wanna call it.  I presume they're afraid of getting arms like Madonna:

Yeah, I could understand why some people don't dig that look.  But hey, whatever floats your boat. 

Some women might be afraid they'll get Madonna muscles all over and look like a female body builder.  Of course, if these people had any idea what body builders go through (both in terms of exercise and extremely regimented diet), they'd know there's not a chance in hell you can look like that by accident.  I've been lifting weights for years, and my arms don't look anything even close to Madonna's...much less a body builder's.  (I'm still scarred from when I was a kid and my brothers told me my arm muscles were like mashed potatoes.)

Anywho, the point of this post is to help dispel this common myth that a woman who lifts weights as part of a balanced workout regime will bulk up.  There's goo-gobs of online commentary on this, and any certified trainer can give you the same info.  Below is an article entitled "Top 10 Reasons Heavy Weights Don't Bulk up the Female Athlete."  Again, you can find this type of info in lots of place, but I like how it's organized here.  And seems to track most of what I've read and heard on the subject.  I've provided a link to the original site at the end of this post.

So read on and then get your booty over to the weights section in the gym.  And don't shy away just cuz it's full of grunting dudes getting their lift on.  Half of them don't know what they're doing, and the other half will be intimidated by a chick who knows how to pump some iron.

Top 10 Reasons Heavy Weights Don’t Bulk Up the Female Athlete

By Tim Kontos, David Adamson, and Sarah Walls

For www.EliteFTS.com

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David Adamson and I were driving to the IPA Nationals this past weekend talking training (yeah we’re pretty passionate about what we do) when the subject of training women with heavy weights came up. I’m in my ninth year at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) as the head strength and conditioning coach, and David has been in strength and conditioning for three years. This is a subject we deal with every year regardless of how much training information is available to the public.

The best way to get information is to go to the source. So we asked Sarah Walls, another strength and conditioning coach at VCU. Sarah is also a writer for Muscle and Fitness Hers, a former figure competitor, and a women’s tri-fitness competitor—not to mention a strong female athlete who isn’t bulked up. Therefore, she has a great perspective on the subject.

We, being a good team, put our heads together to find a way to combat this never-ending dilemma. Our way of doing that is through education. And, only one answer to a question is never enough. If you know your job well, then you know that there is more than one way to skin a cat. So we came up with the following list:

1. Women do not have nearly as much testosterone as men. In fact, according to Bill Kreamer in Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, women have about 15 to 20 times less testosterone than men. Testosterone is the reason men are men and women are women. After men hit puberty, they grow facial hair, their voice deepens, and they develop muscle mass. Because men have more testosterone, they are much more equipped to gain muscle. Because women do not have very much testosterone in their bodies, they will never be able to get as big as men.

2. The perception that women will bulk up when they begin a strength training program comes from the chemically-altered women on the covers of bodybuilding magazines. These “grocery stand models” are most likely pumped full of some extra juice. This is why they look like men. If you take the missing link that separates men from women and add it back in, what do you have? A man!

3. For women, toning is what happens when the muscle is developed through training.  This is essentially bodybuilding without testosterone. Since the testosterone is not present in sufficient amounts, the muscle will develop, but it won’t gain a large amount of mass.  The “toned” appearance comes from removing the fat that is covering a well-developed muscle.

4. Muscle bulk comes from a high volume of work. The repetition range that most women would prefer to do (8–20 reps) promotes hypertrophy (muscle growth). For example, a bodybuilding program will have three exercises per body part. For the chest, they will do flat bench for three sets of 12, incline for three sets of 12, and decline bench for three sets of 12. This adds up to 108 total repetitions. A program geared towards strength will have one exercise for the chest—flat bench for six sets of three with progressively heavier weight. This equals 18 total repetitions. High volume (108 reps) causes considerable muscle damage, which in turn, results in hypertrophy. The considerably lower volume (18 reps) will build more strength and cause minimal bulking. 

5. Heavy weights will promote strength not size. This has been proven time and time again. When lifting weights over 85 percent, the primary stress imposed upon the body is placed on the nervous system, not on the muscles. Therefore, strength will improve by a neurological effect while not increasing the size of the muscles.

And, according to Zatsiorsky and Kreamer in Science and Practice of Strength Training, women need to train with heavy weights not only to strengthen the muscles but also to cause positive adaptations in the bones and connective tissues.

6. Bulking up is not an overnight process. Many women think they will start lifting   weights, wake up one morning, and say “Holy sh__! I’m huge!” This doesn’t happen.   The men that you see who have more muscle than the average person have worked hard for a long time (years) to get that way. If you bulk up overnight, contact us because we want to do what you’re doing.

7. What the personal trainer is prescribing is not working. Many female athletes come into a new program and say they want to do body weight step-ups, body weight lunges,   and leg extensions because it’s what their personal trainer back home had them do. However, many of these girls need to look in a mirror and have a reality check because   their trainer’s so-called magical toning exercises are not working. Trainers will hand out easy workouts and tell people they work because they know that if they make the program too hard the client will complain. And, if the client is complaining, there’s a   good chance the trainer might lose that client (a client to a trainer equals money). 

8. Bulking up is calorie dependant. This means if you eat more than you are burning, you will gain weight. If you eat less than you are burning, you will lose weight. Unfortunately, most female athletes perceive any weight gain as “bulking up” and do not give attention to the fact that they are simply getting fatter. As Todd Hamer, a strength and conditioning coach at George Mason University said, “Squats don’t bulk you up. It’s the ten beers a night that bulk you up.” This cannot be emphasized enough. 

If you’re a female athlete and training with heavy weights (or not), you need to watch   what you eat. Let’s be real—the main concern that female athletes have when coming to   their coach about gaining weight is not their performance but aesthetics. If you choose to ignore this fact as a coach, you will lose your athletes!

9. The freshman 15 is not caused by strength training. It is physiologically impossible to gain 15 lbs of muscle in only a few weeks unless you are on performance enhancing   drugs. Yes the freshman 15 can come on in only a few weeks. This becomes more   complex when an athlete comes to a new school, starts a new training program, and also   has a considerable change in her diet (i.e. only eating one or two times per day in addition   to adding 6–8 beers per evening for 2–4 evenings per week). They gain fat weight, get   slower, and then blame the strength program. Of course, strength training being the   underlying cause is the only reasonable answer for weight gain. The fact that two meals per day has slowed the athlete’s metabolism down to almost zero and then the multiple beers added on top of that couldn’t have anything to do with weight gain...it must be the   lifting.

10.  Most of the so-called experts are only experts on how to sound like they know what they are talking about. The people who “educate” female athletes on training and   nutrition have no idea what they’re talking about. Let’s face it—how many people do you know who claim to “know a thing or two about lifting and nutrition?” Now, how many   people do you know who actually know what they’re talking about, have lived the life,   dieted down to make a weight class requirement, or got on stage at single digit body fat?   Invariably, these so-called experts are also the people who blame their gut on poor genetics.

These so-called experts are the reason you see so many women doing sets of 10 with a   weight they could do 20 or 30 times. They are being told by the experts that this is what it takes to “tone” the muscles. Instead, they are only wasting their time doing an exercise with a weight that is making no contribution to the fitness levels or the development of   the muscle. 

In case you haven’t figured it out by this point in the article, what is currently being done in fitness clubs to help female athletes tone their bodies is not working. It’s not helping these women get toned, and it is definitely not helping improve athletic performance. Maybe it’s time for a change. Contrary to the ineffective light weights currently being used, heavy weights offer many benefits for women including improved body composition, stronger muscles, decreased injury rate, and stronger bones (which helps prevent osteoporosis). Let’s try lifting some heavy weights and controlling our diet and watch this logical, science-based solution make the difference we’ve been looking for.

Tim Kontos is in his ninth year as the strength and conditioning coach for Virginia Commonwealth University athletes. A certified strength and conditioning specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association, Kontos designs, implements, and supervises all strength, speed, and agility programs for all the VCU athletic programs.

David Adamson is in his second year as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for VCU.  He is directly responsible for program design and implementation for men’s and women’s track and field, women’s cross country, and field hockey. Prior to coming to VCU, David worked at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, Arizona State University, and Winona State University.  In 2003, he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and in 2006, he received his masters in sport leadership from VCU.

Sarah Walls is in her first year with the Rams’ strength and conditioning staff as a graduate assistant working with men’s and women’s soccer, golf, and men’s cross-country. Graduating magna cum laude, she earned a bachelor’s of science degree from Virginia Tech in 2003. Since graduation, she has spent time working at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia in the strength department. While there, Sarah worked with women’s tennis, men’s tennis, men’s volleyball, and men’s soccer. At the same time, she also worked for LifeTime Fitness and helped manage and develop innovative training programs. In addition, she is a contributing writer for the magazine, Muscle and Fitness HERS.

Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit us at www.EliteFTS.com.

Copyright© 2006 Elite Fitness Systems. 
www.Elitefts.com

Comments

[Anne]

So I'm at the gym, and I do something similar to what is described: I start with low weight, 12 reps; up the weight 10 lbs, 10 reps; up 10, 8 reps, etc. After I hit six reps, I do an alternate exercise on the same muscle group, and then I go back to the original exercise, and do 12 more reps at the lowest weight. I do that routine once for every major muscle group. Today, I asked a trainer for some help on hamstring exercises. One thing leads to another, and he tells me that I'm going to bulk up if I continue working out this way because of my build, and that eating six times a day- a combo of lean protein, complex carbs and veggies- is bad. I should be eating three times a day, during a 1.5 hour window at each meal time. Huh?

So yeah, I'm "athletic." But at present, I have a nice layer of fat. So I'm doing cardio, and I'm lifting heavy weights. It's only been a week and I already notice a difference. I'm really frustrated that this trainer (admittedly, he tried selling me $650 worth of personal training after) tells me that I'm going to bulk up. I don't want to be any bigger than I already am; I just want to lose fat and tone up. I am obviously strong, and I'm accustomed to the idea that I'm not the feminine ideal.

I'm so tired of the conflicting things that we hear. Should I drop the low weight and do high reps, low weight so that I don't continue to build muscle? Or should I drop regular lifting altogether and just do cardio? Or do I blow this guy off and continue as I am since I'm seeing results- my face is leaner and my muscles are starting to peak through the fat.

Jeez...if only it weren't this complicated.

[Fitness]

Reductions in weight and blood pressure, as well as an increase in physical activity, were seen in women counseled about exercise. http://fitness.morewrite.com/2008/08/08/the-whole-man-continue/

[Angela]

I am really thing with a metabolism that is just plain THROUGH THE ROOF!! I want to bulk up about 15 lbs AND get stronger. Figure out the math on that one! LOL!

[Angela]

I meant to say I'm really thin.. I'm 123lbs and 5'9.

[mary]

I think Madonna looks great.
We as women want a "magic" pill to take us to where we want to be physically. It is absolutely only with alot of hard work and cutting calories, fuelling your body with carbs before your workout and protein after that you will see results. when looking for a personal trainer, which is a must to get definition...look for one that has the physic you would like to have...train the way they do and do not be afraid of hard work. Push your limits.

[Weight lifting for beginners]

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[Claire.]

A good friend I danced with for a long time was very petite. Skinny, but not super skinny like Madonna. We had a lot of action photographers take pictures of us and in a lot of her pictures, her arms look sick, in the way most people think Madonnas look. This also happened to a lot of girls I danced with. So basically, because she is moving, along with the flash of the camera, it might exaggerate the look of her arms. On a side note, my good friend ate a hell of a lot of carbs. But I do believe that cutting your calories to such a low level can show Madonnas results. Just throwing out the idea......

[Sandy]

I would like to introduce the idea that a woman's genetics influences how much or how easily she (or even a man, for that matter)will bulk up from doing weight-bearing exercises. I know this because I was blessed with a very strong, muscular body (like my dad); I always had muscles, even when it was not considered "feminine" for women to carry muscle definition on their bodies. I always had to be careful about bulking up and covered my arms because I had muscle-definition. I always developed muscle when I was young even if I didn't exercise or do a sport. It was just my natural state. But when I exercised in the gym, I had to be careful; I did accidentally bulk up my muscles in the gym once. I looked in the mirror one day and was disappointed to see that I had created rectangular thighs and the fully developed upper arms and shoulders of one who had been lifting heavy weights, even though I had only added light-to-moderate weights to my exercise regime. Now my muscle-definition is in fashion. Even so, I do not want to make my body look out of proportion by pumping the muscles out. I prefer the sinewy look so I will have to be careful how much weight I put on my machines...

[Arran]

What the hell, she dosen't really have big musscles at all. I once heard her say she just does 'something' every day. Bit of this, bit of that. She's very thin and it was probably hot so veins come out to cool us down. My arms easily look a bit like hers if the lights right. Leave her alone.