bulky

[Sarah-lara]

I love visible muscles on women! Love the look and the strength.

To Sue's point, I get water buildup in muscles for about 1.5 months after starting heavy lifting, like CLX, provided I haven't been using them much before that. That's longer than "they say" will happen. After that period, everything rapidly shrinks to far smaller than original measurements. So if I ever have a long period without strenuous workouts again I'll remember not to start up a rotation like that just before a class reunion.

[acescholar]

I definitely think women can look "bulkier" than they want to look -- either they put on muscle beneath fat (and so overall size increases even if the muscles themselves are not that large) or they put on more muscle than they personally want to even if it is lean and defined.

The definition of "bulk" is subjective, but I too find it annoying when people claim women can't bulk. Women can gain more muscle mass than they want to gain. At the same time, I find the use of "bulky" as a dismissal of beautiful muscles to be annoying.

I also think it's misleading when instructors say you can turn fat into muscle -- you can build muscle but unless you actually lose overall body fat, the muscle will add size rather than replace fat.

I do agree, though, that it's a very personal aesthetic.

[mommyofjoeyp]

I find I gain muscle very easily in my upper body. I have broad shoulders to start with so when I add too much muscle in my arms I don't like the look at all. Last year when I did a P90X rotation followed by a CLX rotation I ended up with bulky arms with a lot of definition. At the time I liked the definition but when I saw photos of myself I didn't like how big I looked. My lower body is different though. I don't seem to gain bulk there.

[in paris]

Originally Posted by RedPanda

I just asked my hubby if I am bulky and he said, "Well, you've gotta have something to hold all your bits together."

Just wanted to say that I think your hubby is adorable

[Kimberly33]

Originally Posted by acescholar

The definition of "bulk" is subjective, but I too find it annoying when people claim women can't bulk. Women can gain more muscle mass than they want to gain. At the same time, I find the use of "bulky" as a dismissal of beautiful muscles to be annoying.

I think that there is a disconnection between what "we" mean by bulk and what the "experts" mean. We're using a subjective definition ("more muscle than I like") and they're using an objective one ("increase in body weight of X percent"). It seems that by an objective definition, it's very likely true that women don't bulk, but that's not answering what people mean here.

I also agree that most of the panic threads about bulk are not actually about muscle but about water gain when starting a new program. Different bodies will hold on to water differently as a result of the stress of weight training. And other things--I have a friend who rarely sweats, but her weight can vary by several pounds a day just as a result of retained water. I sweat a ton, but rarely have a bloating issue.

That said, as someone who is by nature larger and more visibly muscular than many (at least, when I lose weight), I really resent the assumption in most threads that visible muscle=unfeminine. This is how this female body was built, thankyouverymuch, and I like it! I think it's too bad that our culture still values women who look weak over those who look strong.
/rant

[turbo1]

Originally Posted by .
That said, as someone who is by nature larger and more visibly muscular than many (at least, when I lose weight), [B

I really resent the assumption in most [/B]threads that visible muscle=unfeminine. This is how this female body was built, thankyouverymuch, and I like it! I think it's too bad that our culture still values women who look weak over those who look strong.
/rant

I feel the same way, no way in hell I"d post a pic of myself on here. I"d certainly be considered bulky-unfeminine by many.

[PeakFitness]

I think bulky is subjective, and no one should tell you that you "can't" bulk, as if your opinion is just meaningless. One thing I've noticed, a lot of these people who are saying you "can't bulk" are saying you "can't look like a male body builder." Well, they are correct, but you don't have to look like a man on steroids to look bulky - "bulky" doesn't just mean the most extreme bulk imaginable.

[ssgilby]

I think different people have different ideas of what "bulk" is. For me, "bulking" as a negative concept, is the look I get when I've built muscle but haven't burned off enough fat to expose it or when I've built muscle and my body has reacted negatively to it by retaining water, making me "puffy" looking.

When I did P90X, in the mirror, I liked what I saw - however, I was maybe flexing a bit or looking at myself in more flattering angles. When I look back at pictures of me from that time (especially ones where I wasn't aware I was being photographed and therefore maybe wasn't presenting myself in my most flattering posture, pose, etc.), I look, to me, "bulky." Hard to explain, just kind of bigger than I would've liked or than what is natural for me. As I've come to realize, lifting heavy with not a fair amount of cardio gives me a look I don't like. I don't burn enough fat, and my body views the rotation as stressful.

I think "bulk" can be a good thing too as in referring to the building of lean muscle mass (without the fat or water covering it up) - like body builders, lean muscled women like Cathe Friedrich or her backgrounder Jai (as has been mentioned), Dreya from P90x, etc. - meaning they are definitely well muscled. I would say they have "bulkier" muscles than some others - but NOT IN A BAD WAY. Their muscles are bigger and more pronounced than people like Grace Lazenby, Karen Voight, Jari Love, a lot of barre people, etc. Those people obviously have more longer, slow-twitch muscle fibers. Neither is better or worse; just different, and it's all in the look one is capable of getting for herself and which look she personally prefers.

I think, though, that for the most part the word "bulk" has a negative connotation around here as in my first example - building muscle without shedding excess fat or retaining extra water, which is why we should probably be careful of how we use it!

[bee]

I like muscle definition on women. I would love to have some myself. Unfortunately, when I lift heavy, I seem to look more like a sausage packed into something -- I'm big without shapely definition. I do not think it's a matter of having body fat over the muscle, I think it's how I respond to heavy lifting. I've been going lighter for the last -- oh, I don't know -- six months maybe? And I believe I see definition starting to come. If I see old pictures of myself in the days when I worked out exclusively with the Firm and some running, I look leaner. Yes, I was younger, so that's probably part of it.

Anyway, to me, when people say "bulk", I don't think of Linda Hamilton and similarly, when I see a Linda Hamilton, I don't think "bulk". "Bulk" is my sausage arms that have no shape.

[Tanja]

Originally Posted by Sue B

What a lot of women think is muscle bulking (as in "Help, I've been doing such-and-such workout for 3 weeks and my pants are getting tighter!") is actually water bloating. You just don't put on actual muscle that quickly.

Unfortunately, too many muscle books are written by men who don't seem to get, or want to explain, exactly how women's bodies react in regards to water, hormone, cravings, etc.

There has not been much research in the past on how female bodies respond to exercise. A lot of books simply take the research that was done on males and apply it to the female - which does not work at all. For example: Just a couple of months ago there was a research published that stated that female muscles do not benefit from extra protein/recovery drinks right after a workout. However, allmost everybody is touting the importance of protein/recovery drinks after a workout because the male body benefits.

This link addresses the male/female issue:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/0...20women&st=cse