Cursed with Muscles.
December 24, 2009 5:48 PM Subscribe
My friend says she doesn't work out because she gets super buff instantly. I have a hard time believing it.
Is it possible for a person to just get super bulky with a pretty small amount of work? She said she enjoys working out, but she tries to limit it and she takes big breaks from it, because she doesn't want to look like a man.
She said she tries to do things that don't bulk her up, but I can't help but think she is somehow doing it wrong. Aren't there ways to exercise that make strong muscles but not bulky muscles?
She isn't skinny, but she is strong and healthy.
Is it possible for a person to just get super bulky with a pretty small amount of work? She said she enjoys working out, but she tries to limit it and she takes big breaks from it, because she doesn't want to look like a man.
She said she tries to do things that don't bulk her up, but I can't help but think she is somehow doing it wrong. Aren't there ways to exercise that make strong muscles but not bulky muscles?
She isn't skinny, but she is strong and healthy.
Genetics, diet, and type of exercise all play a role in gaining muscle mass.
And then steroids if you're interested in that kind of volume.
posted by dfriedman at 5:53 PM on December 24, 2009
And then steroids if you're interested in that kind of volume.
posted by dfriedman at 5:53 PM on December 24, 2009
Can happen. Nerdy, skinny, writer friend never works out, but if she so much as carries a suitcase through the airport she gets ripped muscular arms. I'm guessing genetics, her cousin is a well-known female body builder.
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:06 PM on December 24, 2009
posted by StickyCarpet at 6:06 PM on December 24, 2009
Super buff instantly? Sweet! There are a lot of guys who would love to know how to do that.
The answer to this is a general negative. Getting bigger or smaller wholly rests upon your food (caloric and macronutruient) intake, but to be more specific
Is it possible for a person to just get super bulky with a pretty small amount of work?
It depends on how you define work and super bulky. Simple answer, no. Although a type of training, HIT, proclaims you only need very brief workouts. Of course you would still need to modulate your diet accordingly for this to even work.
Aren't there ways to exercise that make strong muscles but not bulky muscles?
Depends on how you define strong. I'm gathering you mean getting stronger without getting bigger? There is of course a correlation between size and strength but the simple answer is yes. There are very small people who can lift tremendous amounts of weight.
posted by P.o.B. at 6:17 PM on December 24, 2009
The answer to this is a general negative. Getting bigger or smaller wholly rests upon your food (caloric and macronutruient) intake, but to be more specific
Is it possible for a person to just get super bulky with a pretty small amount of work?
It depends on how you define work and super bulky. Simple answer, no. Although a type of training, HIT, proclaims you only need very brief workouts. Of course you would still need to modulate your diet accordingly for this to even work.
Aren't there ways to exercise that make strong muscles but not bulky muscles?
Depends on how you define strong. I'm gathering you mean getting stronger without getting bigger? There is of course a correlation between size and strength but the simple answer is yes. There are very small people who can lift tremendous amounts of weight.
posted by P.o.B. at 6:17 PM on December 24, 2009
Yes, it's true: read up on myostatin and mesoporphy.
For what it's worth, when my father had a muscle biopsy, the doctor said it was the densest muscle tissue he's ever seen. I'm a feminine-looking female, but thanks to my genetics can bench more than my bodyweight, have diamond calves, and barely have to do anything at all to put on and keep muscle.
posted by aquafortis at 6:18 PM on December 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
For what it's worth, when my father had a muscle biopsy, the doctor said it was the densest muscle tissue he's ever seen. I'm a feminine-looking female, but thanks to my genetics can bench more than my bodyweight, have diamond calves, and barely have to do anything at all to put on and keep muscle.
posted by aquafortis at 6:18 PM on December 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
Low body fat will make you look "ripped" even if you're only modestly in shape, especially compared to what's seen as normal for women.
posted by availablelight at 6:18 PM on December 24, 2009
posted by availablelight at 6:18 PM on December 24, 2009
There is no such thing as 'toning,' you're either building muscle or you aren't. The only real distinction is between building fast twitch or slow twitch fibers (ie, burst strength vs endurance).
Anyway, it's possible she might have extremely unusual genetics, but the vast, vast majority of women would have trouble getting bulky even if they tried. Just compare a world champion female bodybuilder to even a modestly developed male athlete some time.
posted by jedicus at 6:24 PM on December 24, 2009
Anyway, it's possible she might have extremely unusual genetics, but the vast, vast majority of women would have trouble getting bulky even if they tried. Just compare a world champion female bodybuilder to even a modestly developed male athlete some time.
posted by jedicus at 6:24 PM on December 24, 2009
Data point here: no matter what I do (running, swimming, surfing, low weight + high reps), I bulk up. I am made that way. I was at my beefiest when I was training for a marathon. Holy God my thighs were obscene. It only takes about 1-2 weeks of doing regular push-ups again and my guns are bumping into things.* It can happen. But I know that working out is good for me, and I like beating people at arm wrestling. :D
It's very possible that your friend says this as shorthand for not saying the real reason she doesn't want to work out. Also, things change. Being buff is becoming preferable to being fat, now that the benefits of speedy metabolism are waning with my age. This may happen to her, and will likely trump whatever hangups she has with working out. Or not.
*ok, not really. But it feels that way sometimes. As if just flexing will scare people. It's a very unfeminine feeling that I struggle with.
posted by iamkimiam at 6:32 PM on December 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
It's very possible that your friend says this as shorthand for not saying the real reason she doesn't want to work out. Also, things change. Being buff is becoming preferable to being fat, now that the benefits of speedy metabolism are waning with my age. This may happen to her, and will likely trump whatever hangups she has with working out. Or not.
*ok, not really. But it feels that way sometimes. As if just flexing will scare people. It's a very unfeminine feeling that I struggle with.
posted by iamkimiam at 6:32 PM on December 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
Also, I was like a slow moving tank for 26.2 miles.
posted by iamkimiam at 6:33 PM on December 24, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by iamkimiam at 6:33 PM on December 24, 2009 [4 favorites]
When I was in my teens I was, for lack of a more modest sounding term, incredibly fit. Later, after not exercising much for several years and reverting to about average, I started exercising again and bounced back about 70% within a month. Some part of this has to be genetics. Men on both sides of my family are preternaturally strong, age and exercise habits seemingly notwithstanding.
Previous habituation or genetics may be at play, but even if they are I'd bet your friend is just overly sensitive about looking bulky.
Maybe she's on steroids for something that she doesn't want to talk about? I don't know what that would be...
posted by cmoj at 6:36 PM on December 24, 2009
Previous habituation or genetics may be at play, but even if they are I'd bet your friend is just overly sensitive about looking bulky.
Maybe she's on steroids for something that she doesn't want to talk about? I don't know what that would be...
posted by cmoj at 6:36 PM on December 24, 2009
A lot of women seem to be under the mistaken impression that if they lift weights they will gain muscle mass and definition.
This is not the case for the vast majority of women; even so, those women who are able to build muscle mass have a much harder time doing so than even the scrawniest guy.
Testosterone is powerful stuff.
On the flip side many men insist that stuff like yoga and balletwill do nothing for their fitness goals. This is equally ignorant.
posted by dfriedman at 6:45 PM on December 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
This is not the case for the vast majority of women; even so, those women who are able to build muscle mass have a much harder time doing so than even the scrawniest guy.
Testosterone is powerful stuff.
On the flip side many men insist that stuff like yoga and balletwill do nothing for their fitness goals. This is equally ignorant.
posted by dfriedman at 6:45 PM on December 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
The accepted wisdom is:
small number of reps with big weights == bulking up.
big number of reps with small weights == toning without bulking.
This is not accepted wisdom, it's widespread bullshit. There is no such thing as "toning," but while we're on the subject:
Some people's bodies are more efficient at building muscle than others. That said, most people who claim to "bulk up really easily" are deluding themselves. What these people are most likely basing this assumption on is that when they do build muscle, it's under fat, so they end up both stronger and larger. (Another piece of widespread BS is that fat actually turns into muscle).
If your friend wants to stay the same size (as in, continue to occupy the same volume in space), she will have to both gain muscle and lose fat.
posted by telegraph at 6:53 PM on December 24, 2009 [8 favorites]
small number of reps with big weights == bulking up.
big number of reps with small weights == toning without bulking.
This is not accepted wisdom, it's widespread bullshit. There is no such thing as "toning," but while we're on the subject:
Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy leads to larger muscles so is favored by bodybuilders more than myofibrillar hypertrophy which builds athletic strength. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is triggered by increasing repetitions, whereas myofibrillar hypertrophy is triggered by lifting heavier weights.So in reality, even if there were a grain of truth to the "bulking vs. toning" debate, high reps and low weights will "bulk you up" more, not less.
Some people's bodies are more efficient at building muscle than others. That said, most people who claim to "bulk up really easily" are deluding themselves. What these people are most likely basing this assumption on is that when they do build muscle, it's under fat, so they end up both stronger and larger. (Another piece of widespread BS is that fat actually turns into muscle).
If your friend wants to stay the same size (as in, continue to occupy the same volume in space), she will have to both gain muscle and lose fat.
posted by telegraph at 6:53 PM on December 24, 2009 [8 favorites]
I have very muscular legs, and if I were the sort of person who would freak out about "oh noes I'm a woman with muscular legs" I would probably never do any kind of exercise, especially ones like running and lifting free weights that build your calf and quad mass.
So, yeah, she might be someone with dense muscle tissue, a frame on which muscles show up vividly, and a phobia about looking "unfeminine". The only thing she can change is the last one.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:53 PM on December 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
So, yeah, she might be someone with dense muscle tissue, a frame on which muscles show up vividly, and a phobia about looking "unfeminine". The only thing she can change is the last one.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:53 PM on December 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Genetic and hormonal anomalies aside of course everyone's muscles are comprised of different percentages of muscle fiber types. People will respond differently.
If people are really curious about rep schemes; listed with first, second, tertiary priorities & effects:
% of Max / Reps / Dur / =Effects
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
85-100 / 1-5 / 5-20 / =1st Strength increase through enhanced neural eff.
=2nd Stimulation of functional muscle hypertrophy
=3rd Increase in muscle density
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
80-85 / 6-8 / 20-40 / =1st Stimulation in functional muscle hypertrophy
=2nd Strength increase
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
70-80 / 9-12 / 40-60 / =1st Stimulation of functional & non-functional muscle hypertrophy
=2nd Increase in muscle endurance and lactic acid tolerance
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
50-70 / 13-30 / 60-120 / =1st Increase in non-functional hypertrophy
=2nd Increase in muscle endurance
=3rd improved capillarization
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-50 / 30+ / 120+ / =1st Increase in muscle endurance
=2nd Improved capillarization
=3rd Active recovery
=4th Speeds up recovery from tendon injuries
sorry, my formatting is terrible
posted by P.o.B. at 7:15 PM on December 24, 2009 [5 favorites]
If people are really curious about rep schemes; listed with first, second, tertiary priorities & effects:
% of Max / Reps / Dur / =Effects
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
85-100 / 1-5 / 5-20 / =1st Strength increase through enhanced neural eff.
=2nd Stimulation of functional muscle hypertrophy
=3rd Increase in muscle density
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
80-85 / 6-8 / 20-40 / =1st Stimulation in functional muscle hypertrophy
=2nd Strength increase
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
70-80 / 9-12 / 40-60 / =1st Stimulation of functional & non-functional muscle hypertrophy
=2nd Increase in muscle endurance and lactic acid tolerance
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
50-70 / 13-30 / 60-120 / =1st Increase in non-functional hypertrophy
=2nd Increase in muscle endurance
=3rd improved capillarization
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-50 / 30+ / 120+ / =1st Increase in muscle endurance
=2nd Improved capillarization
=3rd Active recovery
=4th Speeds up recovery from tendon injuries
sorry, my formatting is terrible
posted by P.o.B. at 7:15 PM on December 24, 2009 [5 favorites]
...and I mean people respond differently to different kind of stimuli. But that chart applies to everyone according to stimulus input/neuromuscular output. It's SCIENCE!
posted by P.o.B. at 7:22 PM on December 24, 2009
posted by P.o.B. at 7:22 PM on December 24, 2009
...and I mean stimuli in a broad sense of the term. If you tell some people to take a lap around a track, some will walk, others will jog, and some will hoof it as fast as they can. All of those people will be activating different muscles and muscle fiber types. Weight training falls into a different category because the loads are not self-induced, and we can stimulate specific fiber types if proper weights and intensity is used.
Okay, done now.
posted by P.o.B. at 7:40 PM on December 24, 2009
Okay, done now.
posted by P.o.B. at 7:40 PM on December 24, 2009
P.o.B.'s chart seems to apply to me.
Maybe your friend is like me. My muscles get big quickly when I work out with heavier weights (5-8 reps until failure). I wouldn't call it "super buff instantly" but it is relatively quick and noticeable. There's the "I just worked out" look you get while the muscles are still pumped, and then after about two weeks there's (for me, at least) a noticeable change even at rest. I think it's partly genetics and partly the fact that I built up a good muscular base over the years.
I get less of a response if I lift light weights or just do cardio, but where's the fun in that?
Maybe she's trying to maintain the stick arms & legs that female fashions seem to expect. I can't wear half the women's tops I try on because their sleeves are like tiny straws.
posted by PatoPata at 7:42 PM on December 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Maybe your friend is like me. My muscles get big quickly when I work out with heavier weights (5-8 reps until failure). I wouldn't call it "super buff instantly" but it is relatively quick and noticeable. There's the "I just worked out" look you get while the muscles are still pumped, and then after about two weeks there's (for me, at least) a noticeable change even at rest. I think it's partly genetics and partly the fact that I built up a good muscular base over the years.
I get less of a response if I lift light weights or just do cardio, but where's the fun in that?
Maybe she's trying to maintain the stick arms & legs that female fashions seem to expect. I can't wear half the women's tops I try on because their sleeves are like tiny straws.
posted by PatoPata at 7:42 PM on December 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Your friend needs to have a look at stumptuous.com.
posted by elsietheeel at 8:03 PM on December 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by elsietheeel at 8:03 PM on December 24, 2009 [2 favorites]
Yes it can be true. I am a scrawny female and would love to gain muscle mass, but try as I might, it just doesn't happen for me. I have two female friends who are in shape but won't lift because they bulk up easily and don't like the way it looks. Also, bulging calves prevent you from wearing knee-high boots- they won't zip.
posted by emd3737 at 8:23 PM on December 24, 2009
posted by emd3737 at 8:23 PM on December 24, 2009
The only women I have known who actually fall into this category in a way I would consider more than sheer silly vanity were gymnasts as children. Something about being a semi-serious gymnast (and perhaps other types of strength-based athletics) at a young age does tend to give one the propensity for really impressively large guns. I mean, I'm sure there must be a woman or two out there with crazy muscle-building genetics, but I follow a ridiculous number of fitness communities and the women that look jacked, I mean really, truly big with no steroids, are incredibly rare. In fact, I can think of exactly one. And she is still quite clearly a woman. So in conclusion, I would bet good money that this particular woman is mostly a victim of vanity, not genetics.
posted by ch1x0r at 8:52 PM on December 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by ch1x0r at 8:52 PM on December 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
emd3737 makes a good point. A lot of the current styles do NOT favor muscular types. Skinny jeans, cropped pants, boots, elastic/poofy/narrow/one-shoulder/choker-style-tank/no sleeves, leggings under super short dresses, and on. It's not that there aren't things we can wear as alternatives, but the fashion industry and the image standard is currently geared towards a lean limbed type. It can be a disincentive to working out, whether consciously realized or not.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:10 PM on December 24, 2009
posted by iamkimiam at 9:10 PM on December 24, 2009
I am betting this has more to do with aesthetic paranoia than actual bulk. Women who are legitimately "ripped" and "bulky" work really fucking hard to be that way. I've never met a muscular weightlifting female who did not bust her ass off for a significant period of time for those muscles. I'm extremely genetically predisposed towards sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (described by telegraph earlier), every weightlifting and S&C coach I've talked to has commented on this, and has taken me a year-and-a-half of dedicated competitive weightlifting to reach "beefy" (granted though my training is competitive Olympic weightlifting, so not hypertrophy-oriented at all).
I will eat a millinery if your friend actually has magical muscles like she talks about. She is probably just low in body fat, so when she starts a weightlifting program "the pump" (blood flow to the muscles, making them appear to increase in size and definition) that comes from working out for the first time in a while makes her muscles stand out more than they would if she was fatter. The same thing happens to my roommate. She is tiny as hell but gets well-defined biceps from doing a couple curls because her body fat is that low.
Point of interest: working out more often will actually decrease "the pump" as your body becomes more efficient at those particular exercises.
posted by Anonymous at 9:35 PM on December 24, 2009
I will eat a millinery if your friend actually has magical muscles like she talks about. She is probably just low in body fat, so when she starts a weightlifting program "the pump" (blood flow to the muscles, making them appear to increase in size and definition) that comes from working out for the first time in a while makes her muscles stand out more than they would if she was fatter. The same thing happens to my roommate. She is tiny as hell but gets well-defined biceps from doing a couple curls because her body fat is that low.
Point of interest: working out more often will actually decrease "the pump" as your body becomes more efficient at those particular exercises.
posted by Anonymous at 9:35 PM on December 24, 2009
No reason to think that there aren't people who are the human equivalent of a "bully whippet".
posted by Good Brain at 9:48 PM on December 24, 2009
posted by Good Brain at 9:48 PM on December 24, 2009
There are genotypes which pretty clearly influence muscle development. However, your friend is probably full of shit for all the reasons outlined by others.
posted by benzenedream at 10:33 PM on December 24, 2009
posted by benzenedream at 10:33 PM on December 24, 2009
schroedinger: "I am betting this has more to do with aesthetic paranoia than actual bulk."
I sort of agree here. Her idea of "bulk" may not match up with yours. But if it bothers her, it bothers her. It doesn't mean she's wrong or vain, it's simply her preference.
You can't control your genetics. During high school, I was 5' 2" and about 115 pounds. I wore about a 2 in today's sizes. Except during volleyball season when I had to go up not one, not two, but THREE sizes in jeans to accommodate my thighs. This did NOT make me happy. I did not think I looked better, and did not feel my strength was significantly greater. I just had a very specific type of muscular endurance that allowed me to stand in a squat almost constantly for 8 hours during tournaments.
Today, like iamkimiam, distance running bulks me up in no time. It's a very undefined, blockish muscle that I don't find appealing on me. Some of us are bricks!
posted by peep at 10:43 PM on December 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
I sort of agree here. Her idea of "bulk" may not match up with yours. But if it bothers her, it bothers her. It doesn't mean she's wrong or vain, it's simply her preference.
You can't control your genetics. During high school, I was 5' 2" and about 115 pounds. I wore about a 2 in today's sizes. Except during volleyball season when I had to go up not one, not two, but THREE sizes in jeans to accommodate my thighs. This did NOT make me happy. I did not think I looked better, and did not feel my strength was significantly greater. I just had a very specific type of muscular endurance that allowed me to stand in a squat almost constantly for 8 hours during tournaments.
Today, like iamkimiam, distance running bulks me up in no time. It's a very undefined, blockish muscle that I don't find appealing on me. Some of us are bricks!
posted by peep at 10:43 PM on December 24, 2009 [1 favorite]
Personally, at least, the very first weeks I start to lift after a period of not working out I see the fastest differences, not in actual strength but in appearance... after 2 or 3 weeks or so everything's just a little bit tighter and a little bit more prominent. This might be what she's referring to?
posted by devilsbrigade at 10:58 PM on December 24, 2009
posted by devilsbrigade at 10:58 PM on December 24, 2009
Not sure why so many comments are harsh — for me, too, it's pretty clear that "super buff" is shorthand and doesn't, y'know, actually mean that she can look like a pro bodybuilder in no time at all, but rather, she can get definite muscle tone easily.
I could have written what iamkimiam did too. The overall impression my body gives is that of a thin woman. However... I'm a cyclist (don't run because of knee tendon injuries, I'd like for them to still be functional when I'm 80) and, well, skinny jeans? The thighs get stuck on my calves. I will never be able to wear them. When shopping for knee-high boots, I look at two things: the style, and the calf circumference. Over the years, I have often spent a day browsing shoe stores for a pair of boots and come away with nothing. (In six years of looking, I've been able to find four pairs of boots.) Then there are my arms. Like the poster's friend, I purposefully do not do any arm exercises beyond the "workout" they get when I bike, because if I do? My biceps will no longer fit in shirts. They're already tight as is, to the point where some of my short-sleeve shirts leave marks. When guys get all "whooo lookit my biceps, dude!" "nah, check out mine, man!" between them, I'll butt in and joke that mine are probably bigger. They laugh, I'll then flex a bicep and, well, it can be depressing how often it is actually bigger... and keeping with the spirit of things, I point out "and that's my LEFT arm, muhaha! Suckers!!" :o)
It is genetic, methinks. My brother has the same "problem". He needed to get a series of shots for allergy treatment in his late teens. On his first visit, the nurse (a woman) pushed up his sleeve, exclaimed "ooooh!" and called over the other available doctors and nurses, who were also all women. "Look at his muscle tone!" she said as she held my brother's arm and put it in different positions. "Wow, do you work out?" they asked. "No, they're just like that," my brother said, pleased as punch.
posted by fraula at 2:43 AM on December 25, 2009 [1 favorite]
I could have written what iamkimiam did too. The overall impression my body gives is that of a thin woman. However... I'm a cyclist (don't run because of knee tendon injuries, I'd like for them to still be functional when I'm 80) and, well, skinny jeans? The thighs get stuck on my calves. I will never be able to wear them. When shopping for knee-high boots, I look at two things: the style, and the calf circumference. Over the years, I have often spent a day browsing shoe stores for a pair of boots and come away with nothing. (In six years of looking, I've been able to find four pairs of boots.) Then there are my arms. Like the poster's friend, I purposefully do not do any arm exercises beyond the "workout" they get when I bike, because if I do? My biceps will no longer fit in shirts. They're already tight as is, to the point where some of my short-sleeve shirts leave marks. When guys get all "whooo lookit my biceps, dude!" "nah, check out mine, man!" between them, I'll butt in and joke that mine are probably bigger. They laugh, I'll then flex a bicep and, well, it can be depressing how often it is actually bigger... and keeping with the spirit of things, I point out "and that's my LEFT arm, muhaha! Suckers!!" :o)
It is genetic, methinks. My brother has the same "problem". He needed to get a series of shots for allergy treatment in his late teens. On his first visit, the nurse (a woman) pushed up his sleeve, exclaimed "ooooh!" and called over the other available doctors and nurses, who were also all women. "Look at his muscle tone!" she said as she held my brother's arm and put it in different positions. "Wow, do you work out?" they asked. "No, they're just like that," my brother said, pleased as punch.
posted by fraula at 2:43 AM on December 25, 2009 [1 favorite]
Point of interest: working out more often will actually decrease "the pump" as your body becomes more efficient at those particular exercises.
Yeah, that is a good point to repeat for truth. Especially if your workout is actually weightlifting for strength (not size), you really don't get that much bigger doing it unless you eat too much.
Also, since when is your calves not fitting into boots a sign of buffness? I could sit on my ass forever and my calves would not fit into boots, and most pear-shaped women look terrible in pencil jeans whether they happen to work out or not. These aren't a sign of muscular propensity, they are merely fashions that just don't work for that shape. I hate my wide feet too but I don't try to cripple myself to make them more narrow, why would I stop exercising to fit into a pair of boots?
posted by ch1x0r at 9:13 AM on December 25, 2009
Yeah, that is a good point to repeat for truth. Especially if your workout is actually weightlifting for strength (not size), you really don't get that much bigger doing it unless you eat too much.
Also, since when is your calves not fitting into boots a sign of buffness? I could sit on my ass forever and my calves would not fit into boots, and most pear-shaped women look terrible in pencil jeans whether they happen to work out or not. These aren't a sign of muscular propensity, they are merely fashions that just don't work for that shape. I hate my wide feet too but I don't try to cripple myself to make them more narrow, why would I stop exercising to fit into a pair of boots?
posted by ch1x0r at 9:13 AM on December 25, 2009
It can definitely happen. I am a woman with an unremarkable physique (probably you'd call me an endo-mesomorph), and I can grow arm and chest muscles at the drop of a hat. I don't do pushups any more because last time I gave myself a pushup challenge, not only did I become amazing at pushups (after only a few weeks of daily pushups, I could do about 80 at a time, from the toes, in a single go)- but I also grew pectoral muscles and brawny triceps that looked totally horrendous.
You may be imagining that I sprouted some sinewy Linda Hamilton action, but that was not my outcome- I maintained a liberal coating of bodyfat that obscured the new muscles so they merely looked bulky and bullish, like a small Hungarian powerlifter. Not a good scene. Several times in my life, people have pointed out that I look much better when I don't lift too many upper body weights (and my friends aren't the type to think women shouldn't be fit).
There are ways to exercise that don't bulk up the muscles, so your friend can try those. But I definitely agree with her premise- this female body type exists, and if she packs on muscle easily and doesn't like it, she should probably avoid heavy weights.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:24 AM on December 25, 2009
You may be imagining that I sprouted some sinewy Linda Hamilton action, but that was not my outcome- I maintained a liberal coating of bodyfat that obscured the new muscles so they merely looked bulky and bullish, like a small Hungarian powerlifter. Not a good scene. Several times in my life, people have pointed out that I look much better when I don't lift too many upper body weights (and my friends aren't the type to think women shouldn't be fit).
There are ways to exercise that don't bulk up the muscles, so your friend can try those. But I definitely agree with her premise- this female body type exists, and if she packs on muscle easily and doesn't like it, she should probably avoid heavy weights.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:24 AM on December 25, 2009
Not sure why so many comments are harsh — for me, too, it's pretty clear that "super buff" is shorthand and doesn't, y'know, actually mean that she can look like a pro bodybuilder in no time at all, but rather, she can get definite muscle tone easily.
I think it"s because anybody who has spent enough time reading and doing this stuff knows that this is a really common platitude that is just plain false. This is such an obvious answer to some people they my be quick to call BS. Somebody mentioned Stumptuous.com earlier for good reason, it answers the question on the first page.
LIE: Weight training will make you huge and masculine.
LIE: Men train, women tone.
LIE: There is a difference between toning, sculpting, and firming.
Please don’t write me asking how you can tone but not sculpt, or firm but not tone, or whatever. There is no such thing ... There is only building muscle mass and losing bodyfat, nothing else.
Go ahead and Google it.
P.S. if someone is gaining muscle they don't want, simply decrease caloric intake.
posted by P.o.B. at 12:23 PM on December 25, 2009
I think it"s because anybody who has spent enough time reading and doing this stuff knows that this is a really common platitude that is just plain false. This is such an obvious answer to some people they my be quick to call BS. Somebody mentioned Stumptuous.com earlier for good reason, it answers the question on the first page.
LIE: Weight training will make you huge and masculine.
LIE: Men train, women tone.
LIE: There is a difference between toning, sculpting, and firming.
Please don’t write me asking how you can tone but not sculpt, or firm but not tone, or whatever. There is no such thing ... There is only building muscle mass and losing bodyfat, nothing else.
Go ahead and Google it.
P.S. if someone is gaining muscle they don't want, simply decrease caloric intake.
posted by P.o.B. at 12:23 PM on December 25, 2009
(after only a few weeks of daily pushups, I could do about 80 at a time, from the toes, in a single go)
This is pretty much the 100 pushups plan. I'm not so sure this is atypical if you train aggressively.
posted by benzenedream at 1:13 PM on December 25, 2009
This is pretty much the 100 pushups plan. I'm not so sure this is atypical if you train aggressively.
posted by benzenedream at 1:13 PM on December 25, 2009
she takes big breaks from it, because she doesn't want to look like a man.
The fact that she says this makes me think that she is drastically overreacting and that it's more related to her body-image than anything else. Like when my graceful, fine-featured mom tells us that she has to wear her hair a certain way to minimize her "man-face". Or when my sister refuses to wear her hair short because she'll look "like a boy in drag". These too are drastic overstatements stemming insecurities about their appearances.
I guess I consider this healthier than someone who works out obsessively, chasing a thin, hard version of themselves, but it's still irritating to hear someone insist on claiming self-deprecating qualities that aren't really real.
posted by hermitosis at 1:47 PM on December 25, 2009
The fact that she says this makes me think that she is drastically overreacting and that it's more related to her body-image than anything else. Like when my graceful, fine-featured mom tells us that she has to wear her hair a certain way to minimize her "man-face". Or when my sister refuses to wear her hair short because she'll look "like a boy in drag". These too are drastic overstatements stemming insecurities about their appearances.
I guess I consider this healthier than someone who works out obsessively, chasing a thin, hard version of themselves, but it's still irritating to hear someone insist on claiming self-deprecating qualities that aren't really real.
posted by hermitosis at 1:47 PM on December 25, 2009
As I and others in this threat have already noted, its entirely possible for her to have the genetics to add muscle at an unusual rate.
If you actually want to help your friend, I wouldn't tell her that a bunch of strangers on the internet who have never seen her before are insinuating that she is either a liar, or has body image issues, if not both.
posted by Good Brain at 2:22 PM on December 25, 2009 [3 favorites]
If you actually want to help your friend, I wouldn't tell her that a bunch of strangers on the internet who have never seen her before are insinuating that she is either a liar, or has body image issues, if not both.
posted by Good Brain at 2:22 PM on December 25, 2009 [3 favorites]
Like P.o.B. said, people generally don't gain mass -- muscular or otherwise -- without increasing their food intake.
Also, here is a table from Mark Rippetoe's Practical Programming which illustrates the different effects of various loads/repetition ranges which P.o.B. and telegraph mentioned earlier.
posted by ludwig_van at 4:43 PM on December 25, 2009
Also, here is a table from Mark Rippetoe's Practical Programming which illustrates the different effects of various loads/repetition ranges which P.o.B. and telegraph mentioned earlier.
posted by ludwig_van at 4:43 PM on December 25, 2009
I'm definitely in the "no boots fit over my giant calf muscles" camp. Again, it's more important to me to get exercise I enjoy than to fit into boots, but not everyone has the same priorities.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:02 PM on December 25, 2009
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:02 PM on December 25, 2009
Or, to state the important point a little more clearly: people who expend more energy than they take in lose mass; the converse is also true. Exercise (and pharmaceuticals) can affect what proportion of the mass gained or lost will go to muscle vs. fat, but muscle and fat don't magically appear from nowhere -- even people on steroids have to eat a lot to get huge. So I find it very unlikely that your friend could be gaining muscle mass without taking in more calories than she burns.
posted by ludwig_van at 5:06 PM on December 25, 2009
posted by ludwig_van at 5:06 PM on December 25, 2009
Some commenters seem to think that concern about looking masculine is ridiculous or a sign of insecurity.
When I was thinner, I used to get called "sir" about once a week. Once I was even called "sir" when I was wearing a skirt. If I wore something frilly, I looked exactly like a 14-year-old boy in drag.
I grew to like living in the blurry zone between genders. However, I can easily imagine a different woman being bothered by being a "sir," and I don't think it's our place to diagnose her as insecure, overreacting, etc. etc. I'm the last woman to encourage another woman to look more girly, but if that's how she wants to look, then that's her choice.
posted by PatoPata at 12:13 AM on December 26, 2009
When I was thinner, I used to get called "sir" about once a week. Once I was even called "sir" when I was wearing a skirt. If I wore something frilly, I looked exactly like a 14-year-old boy in drag.
I grew to like living in the blurry zone between genders. However, I can easily imagine a different woman being bothered by being a "sir," and I don't think it's our place to diagnose her as insecure, overreacting, etc. etc. I'm the last woman to encourage another woman to look more girly, but if that's how she wants to look, then that's her choice.
posted by PatoPata at 12:13 AM on December 26, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
small number of reps with big weights == bulking up.
big number of reps with small weights == toning without bulking.
But there are genetic factors involved. It's like getting fat: some people can eat and eat and never put on weight. Others just look at a piece of chocolate and gain 2 pounds. Equally, some people can gain muscle mass easily and others have to struggle for it.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:51 PM on December 24, 2009