By Head Coach Marcel Mandagaran
This is a common question we hear in the fitness industry, especially by the ladies. Will lifting make me bulky? FALSE. FALSE. FALSE.
The good news is, only about 2% of all women have the actual genes to ‘bulk up’. Even so, we get it. It’s important to highlight everybody’s body is different from one person to the next, so comparing yourself to TV stick-thin supermodels when your body type is naturally a pear shape, is only asking for disappointment. But you do have control over having a body that is in its best shape for YOU.
Here are two influencers when weight-training that effects body change for ‘bulking’.
- The way you eat- CARBS and large amounts of it in your daily calorie intake is not only counter-productive when trying to lose weight or tone up, but it is also a fast route to gaining mass, call it bulking or thickening up.
- How You Train- Strictly heavy strength training, maxing out, that can be a way to ‘bulking’, again depending on your own genetics and how you eat.
The underlining here, is the Nutrition. NOT the weight-lifting. In fact, building muscle burns fat, a lot greater than jogging mindlessly on a treadmill for 20min. And besides, the best bang for your buck when shedding fat, is combining both:
- weight-training and
- intensive cardio.
We could go on about Nutrition, but we have PLENTY of blogs on Nutrition for weight-loss HERE. Be sure to check out our other blogs for FREE amazing advice on Nutrition and Fitness.
If you are terrified of “The Bulk”, stick to light weights, high reps. We always recommend compound functional movements as those are the movements that will prepare you for everyday life and also reap the biggest results. As far as Nutrition, let’s keep it simple. Eat Meats, Vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, very little starch, and NO SUGAR! Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not store fat.
A lot of people want to work on their fitness. From losing weight, shedding fat, getting stronger, having more energy, and so on. You are in control of your fitness goals and we as fitness professionals are here to guide you to those goals.
If your goal is to get big and strong then yes, we can make that happen. If you goal is to stay lean and mean, yes—absolutely we can give you the tools to accomplish that. There are so many variations of exercises and training such as, sets, reps, supersets, anaerobic system, aerobic system, etc. It is so easy to get lost in it all. It is our job to find a prescription that will help you achieve your goals, whether it be tweaking some nutrition, maybe putting you on a strength and weight loss program, or maybe a combination of the two.
But the overall truth is, everyone needs strength training. Especially as we get older, strength training not only keeps our muscles strong, but our bones and tendons strong as well. This drastically affects our quality of life as we age. Don’t be afraid to bulk up. There are ways to get stronger without looking like HULK SMASH!
If you need some guidance on proper strength training or Nutrition just book a No Sweat Intro so we can help you achieve those goals.
Best,
Coach Marcel
