Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not totally getting massive, but I know my arms, shoulders, and traps have increased in size (and I know it's muscle, not fat, my waist is actually a little smaller), which I feel is making me look bulky, and also causing issues with fitting into some fitted shirts in my upper body. Maybe most women don't get bulky, but I seem to be one of the few who do, and I don't like it. It feels like it showed out out of nowhere and rather quickly

If I stop lifting, how long will it take for the muscles to shrink?

What's your height and weight?

What does this matter? I don't weight myself, and the scale isn't telling of anything if you're into fitness. I tend to be a size S/XS (more S these days, especially on top and things with sleeves ).

It says something about whether you are "bulky" because you are muscular or fat

New poster here - you're a moron, and obviously not athletic at all. When you're an athlete, weight is a whole different animal.

I get defined too. The only time it's a problem is when I've gained weight and I put new muscle on under the fat - then I do look bulky. When I'm leaner, I look ripped and people stop me to comment on my arms.

Is this the case for you? some fat + muscle = bulk? If so, maybe you could work on a leaner diet, keep lifting, maybe up the cardio a bit.

(I'm 5'8" and about 150 and I eat like a normal person, so I'm not advocating anorexia/bulimia. I run about 25 miles a week, lift about 3 times a week, do some yoga.)

I too get bulky from lifting weights - when I eat carbs. If I stick to a low carb diet (very strict) and lift, I lose fat and do not get bulky. Now I stick with yoga and cardio, I know how to make lifting work for me, but I don't want to make the tradeoff right now.

I have been in gyms for almost twenty years and around strength athletes who devote their lives to getting bigger and stronger, and can definitely count on one hand the number of natural (AAS free) women whose muscle mass made them "too bulky" by any reasonable standard. People like Serena Williams or Annie Thorisdottir are well known because they are extreme genetic outliers. If you were beset by the "problem" that afflicts them, you would know it, because you would have been dominant in sports at at least the national level for your whole life, and would be getting paid a lot of money as an athlete.

To the individual who mocked "trainers" who implied she did not know her own body, I would reply that, in fact, you do not know your own body. If you have limited exposure to resistance training, the edema that accompanies the tissue injury you are suddenly inflicting will hang around for awhile. Certainly weeks, possibly even months. It goes away with time as the body adapts to the stimulus; the adaptation will likely be slower if you are older, as physical adaptations generally are. If you find the phenomenon intolerable, by all means stop lifting weights. What is unhelpful is posts like these that perpetuate this idiocy that women are capable of quickly "bulking" their muscles to unseemly proportions.

Research and decades of anecdotal experience demonstrate pretty clearly that a drug-free woman can expect to accrue about 3 lbs of muscle mass per year of serious training, assuming she is training consistently, overeating, and is healthy. This amount drops off over time, as continued adaptation gets harder and harder. Understand that 3 lbs spread over your entire body is not likely to be noticeable. What is noticeable is the tissue swelling that accompanies trauma to which your body is not accustomed. Not knowing the difference leads to ignorant posts like the one that spawned this dumpster fire of a thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not totally getting massive, but I know my arms, shoulders, and traps have increased in size (and I know it's muscle, not fat, my waist is actually a little smaller), which I feel is making me look bulky, and also causing issues with fitting into some fitted shirts in my upper body. Maybe most women don't get bulky, but I seem to be one of the few who do, and I don't like it. It feels like it showed out out of nowhere and rather quickly

If I stop lifting, how long will it take for the muscles to shrink?

What's your height and weight?

What does this matter? I don't weight myself, and the scale isn't telling of anything if you're into fitness. I tend to be a size S/XS (more S these days, especially on top and things with sleeves ).

It says something about whether you are "bulky" because you are muscular or fat

No, it doesn't at all. Two people can be the same exact height and weight and have very different body compositions. Jeezus I wish these disordered scale-obsessed morons would say out of the sports & fitness forum.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not totally getting massive, but I know my arms, shoulders, and traps have increased in size (and I know it's muscle, not fat, my waist is actually a little smaller), which I feel is making me look bulky, and also causing issues with fitting into some fitted shirts in my upper body. Maybe most women don't get bulky, but I seem to be one of the few who do, and I don't like it. It feels like it showed out out of nowhere and rather quickly

If I stop lifting, how long will it take for the muscles to shrink?

What's your height and weight?

What does this matter? I don't weight myself, and the scale isn't telling of anything if you're into fitness. I tend to be a size S/XS (more S these days, especially on top and things with sleeves ).

It says something about whether you are "bulky" because you are muscular or fat

I also bulk up from lifting, or did when I was younger (in my 20s, vs now almost 40) and lifting very heavy. Annoying as hell. IIRC, it took me a few months for the bulk to go down, but that was after nearly 18 months of heavy lifting workouts.

The bulking up seems to be less of an issue at my current age, which I love. Lift heavy and still fit into my clothes? Yes please!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not totally getting massive, but I know my arms, shoulders, and traps have increased in size (and I know it's muscle, not fat, my waist is actually a little smaller), which I feel is making me look bulky, and also causing issues with fitting into some fitted shirts in my upper body. Maybe most women don't get bulky, but I seem to be one of the few who do, and I don't like it. It feels like it showed out out of nowhere and rather quickly

If I stop lifting, how long will it take for the muscles to shrink?

What's your height and weight?

What does this matter? I don't weight myself, and the scale isn't telling of anything if you're into fitness. I tend to be a size S/XS (more S these days, especially on top and things with sleeves ).

Anonymous wrote:I'm not totally getting massive, but I know my arms, shoulders, and traps have increased in size (and I know it's muscle, not fat, my waist is actually a little smaller), which I feel is making me look bulky, and also causing issues with fitting into some fitted shirts in my upper body. Maybe most women don't get bulky, but I seem to be one of the few who do, and I don't like it. It feels like it showed out out of nowhere and rather quickly

If I stop lifting, how long will it take for the muscles to shrink?

What's your height and weight?

Anonymous wrote:I bulk, but I own it.

It's better than flab or loose skin.

With muscle atrophy as you age...it's great!! I don't have that skinny flan or cellulite at 46.

I'm very toned and lean and get compliments on my arms and legs because they are well defined.

Think Jillian Michaels.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not totally getting massive, but I know my arms, shoulders, and traps have increased in size (and I know it's muscle, not fat, my waist is actually a little smaller), which I feel is making me look bulky, and also causing issues with fitting into some fitted shirts in my upper body. Maybe most women don't get bulky, but I seem to be one of the few who do, and I don't like it. It feels like it showed out out of nowhere and rather quickly

If I stop lifting, how long will it take for the muscles to shrink?

Do more reps / more fluid movements with lighter weights, instead of shorter reps with heavier weights. I tend to bulk easy and a trainer told me this years ago.

Anonymous wrote:Try lighter weights, with more reps.

This. There are even some workouts with sets of a hundred reps but I wouldn't jump straight to that. Is it all your muscle groups? Genetics can play a big role and often some muscle groups will bulk more than others so your workout style for different groups may need to be different.

All this proves is that "bulky" is relative.

I do resistance exercise with long duration for each rep. Also, pilates has been amazing for me. I develop lean muscles and it burns tons of calories. If I lift, I get bulky, and for me it didn't burn many calories.

I was told lower the weight and increase the reps to be tone but not bulky.