“I Don’t Want To Get Too Bulky” - 5 Female Fitness Myths
Key Takeaways
The top 5 female fitness myths include:
Lifting heavy weights will make you “bulky” - they won’t.
Stick to high reps to “tone” your muscles - high reps are great, but not all the time.
If you’re not drenched In sweat, it wasn’t a good workout - Slow down! Taking 2-3 minute rest during strength training will result in more strength and muscle.
You shouldn’t eat as much protein as men - you should, about 1 gram of protein/lb of lean BW.
You shouldn’t supplement with creatine - you should, it is the most effective performance-enhancing supplement you can take.
Full Story
Happy International Women’s Day! There’s no better time to bust some female fitness myths. Ladies, you’ve got it tough. As if working out wasn’t already difficult enough!
The gym is a testosterone-fueled warzone, full of grunting meatheads and amateur trainers that are a bit too interested in correcting your squat form. On top of all this, you have to deal with bogus myths about how you, as a woman, should train, eat, and recover, muddying the already-difficult-to-navigate waters of effective fitness habits.
Look, I wish I could solve all of these problems for you, but I can’t. What I will do, however, is break down 5 baseless and harmful “tips” that I know you’ve heard, and maybe even trusted. That's right, throw them in a bag with your moldy cheese and drooping lettuce and kick them to the curb - they’re garbage!
These 5 false claims will only set you up for fitness failure, and I won’t stand for it! Not today, not tomorrow, and ESPECIALLY not on International Women’s Day. Here are the top 5 WORST female fitness myths.
Lifting Heavy Weights Will Make You “Bulky”
Trust me, it is not easy to get “bulky.” Take it from a male with normal testosterone levels who's been trying to get bulky his entire life. It doesn’t happen overnight!
If you happen to be in the top genetic 1% and put on muscle just by looking at a dumbbell, I have a simple solution - lift less often! Putting on too much muscle, too fast? Simply reduce the amount of weight or reps you lift each week.
Again, it is incredibly rare for anyone, let alone a female, to put on muscle without years of consistent work and dedication. I understand your concern, but getting “too bulky” is not a rational fear for the vast majority of women.
2. Stick To High Reps To “Tone” Your Muscles
High reps (15-30 reps) are fantastic, but not if you perform them every set, every workout, for your entire life. Performing high reps will not “tone” your muscles just as heavy, low reps will not make you bulky.
Muscles are basically slabs of meat, they aren’t that sophisticated! Your muscle doesn't tone, bulk up, smooth out, or shape up. They simply grow or shrink, that’s all there is to it!
If you lift weights at a high intensity (close to failure) and supply your body with enough nutrients (protein and calories), you muscles will grow. If you lift weights at a high intensity and consume less calories than you burn, you will lose fat, maintain muscle, and may appear to be more “toned”, whatever that means.
You are far better off thinking in terms of:
Calorie surplus or deficit
Building muscle or losing fat
Increasing or decreasing muscle size
Rather than training to avoid being “bulky” or trying to get “toned.”
3. If You’re Not Drenched In Sweat, It Wasn’t A Good Workout
High intensity circuits are also fantastic, but not if you perform them every workout for your entire life (sensing a theme here?). Although it’s fun to go as hard as possible, test your limits, and end your workout drenched in sweat, this is not the optimal way to reach your goals.
Workouts that leave you out of breath from the moment your instructor screams “Okay ladies, are you ready to push yourselves?!!” until you’ve completed the last rep are not effective for building muscle or strength. Sure, these workouts will improve your aerobic capacity and burn a ton of calories in the moment, but they should not be performed all day, every day.
Instead, slow it down with some resistance training. If you’re someone that takes a Spin or HIIT class on every day that ends with “y”, you would benefit immensely from performing strength training that includes:
Sets of 3-10 reps
2-5 sets per exercise
2-3 minute rest between sets
After strength training consistently, you will improve your body composition, increase your metabolic rate (i.e. the amount of calories you burn at rest), and reach your goals more quickly.
4. You Shouldn’t Eat As Much Protein As Men
Remember, men and women are both human and very similar! Just as men and women build muscle and lose fat through the same mechanisms, we process nutrients in the same way!
This means that women need to eat just as much protein as men if they wish to:
Build muscle
Improve strength
Lose fat
Maintain bone density
Reduce hunger
If you exercise regularly, a tried and true rule of thumb is to shoot for 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight. For instance, if you weigh 100lbs and are 20% body fat, you would shoot for 80 grams of protein per day (I know you probably don’t weigh 100lbs, but I’m a fitness coach, not a math teacher. Give me a break!).
If you’re wondering how to eat enough protein, check out this article. And if you’re wondering if animal or plant protein is best, check out this article. When in doubt, whether your male or female, you can’t go wrong with consuming a diet high in protein.
5. You Shouldn’t Supplement With Creatine
Ah, creatine. It’s only the most-effective, best-studied, #1 muscle-building supplement you can possibly take. If you take it consistently, you can expect:
Just to name a few. And yes, if you’re a female, creatine is just as effective! Despite what you may have heard, taking creatine WON’T:
Cause you to hold excess water weight
Make your hair fall out
Harm your liver or kidneys
Cause dehydration
Make you test positive on a drug screen (it is NOT a steroid).
If you’re serious about your strength and muscle building goals and looking for a cheap, effective, and safe supplement to improve your progress, creatine should be a staple in your gym bag.
Wrap Up
There you have it, ladies (and men that have an interest in female fitness myths). These tips won’t improve the gym atmosphere or keep those pesky spotters away, but they will keep you on the right track towards your goals. I hope you had a wonderful International Women’s Day and wish you the best of luck in all your health and fitness endeavors.