Unsure whether lifting weights is right for you?
Are you unsure whether lifting weights is right for you? I am here to help you figure it out!
If you're reading this I am operating off of a few assumptions.
You're a woman who values her health, her fitness, and her physique.
You might not always act in alignment with those values.
You aren't going to go all women's lit on me when I talk about losing body fat.
I know that not all women want to lose body fat, and there are an infinite amount of other amazing goals we can spend our time and attention on.
I also know that I speak to women every week who want to make their fitness and physique a priority and feel GUILTY for admitting that they want to lose fat and be lean.
Quite simply - while the body positivity movement and the acceptance it promotes is meaningful and important - I think the pendulum is swinging way to far in the other direction when women feel it's shameful to want to lose fat and feel confident in their skin.
If you want to fit into your smaller clothes, show off your waistline or feel confident in a sleeveless top - OWN IT! You have nothing to apologize for!
If you are expecting those changes to suddenly bring you happiness or worthiness, you've got another thing coming... BUT the really cool part about choosing a goal and sticking with it long enough to see results is that the PROCESS of doing that WILL bring you a greater sense of self worth. So while being lean does not make you more worthy, that journey will build the mental strengths to make you feel more deserving of success.
"But will I get bulky?"
There are a whole lot of reasons I work out and eat well.
And one of those reasons is to feel comfortable in my clothes, to have a body I am proud to show off (when I want to) and, basically, feel like I look good!
My point is: fat loss and muscle definition are worthy goals!
These are goals I don't feel bad about and I don't think you should feel bad about them either!
Over the past two weeks I have had multiple conversations with women who have confided in me that they're afraid of lifting weights because they don't want to get bulky or get bigger.
Which caused my brain to come to a screeching halt and ask, in disbelief, "THIS IS STILL A THING???"
It just goes to show you that since I am in the industry and surrounded by an echo chamber of other professionals on IG that I'm living in a little bubble where women fully understand all the benefits of lifting heavy and the huge impact it will have on helping them becomes smaller, leaner versions of themselves.
Quite frankly, if your goal IS to lose fat and have more muscle definition and you're NOT training with heavy resistance and using progressive overload you are making a HUGE mistake. You're doing it wrong and you're probably not going to ever achieve those goals without it.
Expectation vs Reality
Let's break down how incredibly silly this fear of lifting heavy is.
There's this twisted belief circulating out there that when women start training hard they're going to suddenly put on a ton of muscle and look like female body builders. HA! The insult.
Imagine someone worrying that if they start taking tennis lessons they're going to be catapulted to fame because they're going to beat Serena at Wimbledon.
This is the same "logic" at play.
Female bodybuilders definitely don't have the aesthetic that most women I know are looking for - but they have a physique that THEY want and spend years actively trying to build it. For you to get "bulky" you'd have to spend years eating for it, training for it and living for it (and probably throw in some recreational steroids).
Even if you could naturally turn into a bulky body builder, it would take years of consistent effort. And, in fact, it take SO LONG that you could easily STOP and try something else if you felt you were in fact getting more muscled than you'd like.
But the really cool part about lifting and training is that you get to choose what body parts and areas are important to you and what you'd like to train. So if you have a "thing" with big quads, you can skip out on a lot of extra quad exercises. Or if you feel like you don't want definition in your arms, you can focus primarily on lower body movements.
In order for muscles to grow you have to hit a minimum number of sets per week. There is a whole lot of science behind this! This gives you absolute control over which muscles are getting more attention and growing, and which ones aren't.
And I hope that helps you to understand that this "getting bulky" idea from lifting weights is also just not so black and white. There are so many variables at play when it comes to changing your body.
Nutrition
The "getting bulky" myth is also completely lack in considering a major component of how your body reacts to lifting.
The other half (or probably more like 60-70%) of this equation is your diet.
How are you eating? Are you eating for leanness?
If you start lifting weights and decide you are going to "reward" your efforts with extra food then you will likely gain weight. You would be shocked at how many calories you're actually burning when you workout... it doesn't take much food to replenish what you burned and it's very easy to put yourself into a calorie surplus. This is especially true when you first start out because you will likely see your hunger increase.
The reason ladies often don't lose weight when starting a new exercise program is because hunger increases as activity levels increase, and without a solid understanding of nutrition and your body's actual needs - it's very easy to overcompensate. So you end up eating more calories than you're burning.
And what happens when we're in a calorie surplus? You gain weight. Pure and simple.
I have worked with hundreds of clients, spent years of my life dedicated to learning the science behind all of this stuff and let me tell you the ideal way to lose fat and get lean is to use resistance exercise, with a small amount of cardio, and put yourself into a minor calorie deficit.
A deficit that will still allow you to recover from your workouts (and even gain some muscle if you're a beginner - lucky b*tches.) A deficit that won't make you feel restricted or deprived. A deficit that isn't going to make you feel ravenously hungry or send you on a weekend binge because you've "been so good all week".
The Formula
You're going to lose fat because of your nutrition.
You're going to have muscle definition and keep your energy levels up and metabolism high by strength training.
It actually can be that simple. That's what it alllll boils down to. You have to eat for it and you have to train for it Gain strength, feel great, be powerful: How building muscle will help you reach your weight loss goals.
So, if you're considering lifting but you aren't quite sure about it and some famous fitness fraud is on your shoulder whispering "a woman shouldn't lift more than 3 lbs" - please kindly tell her to f*ck off and give yourself the chance to FINALLY achieve what you've been hoping for.
If you're putting in the work through long cardio sessions and diet hopping but hoping for different results, you're going to continue to be disappointed.
Why not pick up some dumbbells and get to work with those? It's better than staying stuck in body purgatory wishing for different results.
When you lift weights not only do you have a huge impact on your health and longevity but you have the control to truly build the body you've always wanted to live in. So let's put the whole "bulky" thing to rest and get strong and sexy without fear!
Rooting for you,
Ash
PS: Need help with fat loss in 2022? I am here to help you if you are ready to have a fierce mind, body, and spirit no matter what is going on in your life!!!