It has come up more than a few times over the past number of weeks from both men and women (more from women) who fear lifting weights will cause them to “bulk” up. Let me be blunt, unless you are taking “the juice” or coming to the gym 3 times a day and doing bodybuilding exercises and eating a special diet it is NOT going to happen. Don’t flatter yourself He-man!

PHOTO CREDIT - Complete Strength Training.com

Cornwall - May 17, 2012 - It has come up more than a few times over the past number of weeks from both men and women (more from women) who fear lifting weights will cause them to “bulk” up. Let me be blunt, unless you are taking “the juice” or coming to the gym 3 times a day and doing bodybuilding exercises and eating a special diet it is NOT going to happen. Don’t flatter yourself He-man!

I hear this all the time ” I just wanna tone up”. News flash folks, to “tone up” you must not just lose fat but build those muscles up underneath the skin so they are visible thus creating “tone”. Straight up 60 minute cardio marathons will not produce a “toned” person, just a skinny weak one.

Watch a Shake Weight video on Youtube and you`ll see it is the worst gimmick out there today but there are dozens of television offers that promise you abs, or nice glutes (butt for the slower folks) for just $19.99. What they forget to include is you also have to give up part of your dignity if you fall for it. Might as well just buy the Body Toner from the Têtes à Claques folks Tetes a Claques.

Truth is you cannot tone just one isolated area of your body, you must lose overall body fat in order to achieve results in a desired area. The science is out there.

To say that women who strength train for over a year are bulky is just plain bull! They are lean, confident and strong women who train hard to look after themselves. None of them look like bodybuilders, give me a break! They are focusing on improving their overall strength and when you build muscle you burn fat, it’s a fact. When you do that with a solid diet the results are amazing.

To me bulky means fat so can we please stop the nonsense about “bulking” up. Ladies embrace your strength and build muscle to get that toned body you want. Women cannot build muscles like men do…their testosterone levels are way too low. That’s why men get bigger, have more hair and deeper voices to name a few. So, relax ladies you will not bulk up. A good strength training routine coupled with a solid diet will get you the body you want. Don’t waste your time just doing crunches or sit-ups for that flat belly it doesn’t work that way.

So please stop using society’s misguided use of the word bulky to define a woman’s body shape.

Strength training is where it can all come together with the proper nutrition to fuel the workouts.

Be Great!