Don't Fear the "He Man" Look Girls

If you’re looking to tone up, you may be wondering whether strength-training exercises will make you look big and bulky. Women need not worry about this so much. Women’s bodies don’t produce as much of the growth-producing hormone testosterone as men's do. Men produce up to 30 times more testosterone, which is why they’re able to build larger muscle mass. Back in the 1980s, you might have been discouraged from weight-training by women bodybuilders who looked extremely muscular. But remember, women back then followed a very different kind of training program and achieved “he-men” looks with steroid supplements.

There’s a chance your body builds muscle mass quickly – more than the average woman – but this tendency can help you reach your goals sooner. And even if you are a fast muscle-grower, your muscles adapt to your level of activity and intensity of your workouts, meaning rapid growth will slow down in the absence of bodybuilder training. If you stick to core exercises and strength training, I promise your muscles will only become firmer, sexier and shapelier – not bulkier.

I am very small and at only 101 pounds when I starting training hard as a bodybuilder. From day one I lifted heavy weight at the coaching of my brother Dana. I had no intention of competing as a  bodybuilder I was just trying something different rather than just running and swimming to keep my body fit. My brother had me lift as a bodybuilder and within a year I did gain muscle fast and developed a more muscular physique. I did fear the manly look and told my brother that I never wanted to look like a "He Man" ...my brother would laugh and tell me I wouldn't look like a man or "He Man" ever. Even when I did decide to compete in bodybuilding after five years of training hard I had to fight hard to get bigger muscles on on my small frame on the off season.  I had to build enough muscle bulk to strip down for competition. I had be big enough to go against women so much larger than me in height and weight so it was a must for me to lift like a man would to obtain bigger muscles for competition

Majority of the women lifting today don't want the big bodybuilder muscles and are not competing so they really don't have to worry about looking like a "He Man" It takes a lot of heavy lifting, time, sacrifice and eating a lot to get there and even then I always looked like a women. In fact I was called the Barbie of bodybuilding when I competed because I looked feminine with muscles. I was lucky as judges liked that look more so than the bigger bulky look and I was able to defeat women twice my size. Symmetry also plays a big part of your overall package. Your body not only needs well developed muscle it also needs to be balanced and symmetrical to be pleasing to the eye in bodybuilding too.

 

So women need not fear developing big muscles from strength training or be afraid of looking like a "He Man" it is so very unlikely from happening. Weights are your body's friend and will add more muscle to your body frame which will help you burn more fat while your body is resting. The more muscle you have the more fat you will burn when your not lifting and it also shapes your body in a way that other types of training cannot. You have the control to shape a better more fit, sexy body when you strength train. Having huge monstrous muscles from lifting weights is not something you ever need to worry about. Of course unless you want them and if you do be prepared for a hard fight to obtain them as a women.

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