I don’t wanna get “bulky”
This is a common phrase I hear from women. It is a tough one to answer because it
usually a statement that is fear based, and people tend to not let go of their fears easily. My standard answer is “It is really hard for
a male with more testosterone to bulk up and even harder for women who have
less testosterone to bulk up. “ Ask any
male under the age of 25 how they accidentally bulked up. It has never happened outside of their
dreams. Our training program involves
lifting weights for the aim of strength and increased muscle mass relative to
fat mass. I hate saying the word muscle
mass, but you want muscle mass not fat mass. With muscle mass you burn more calories at rest which is important since our current way of
life is more about rest than activity. Muscle mass means stronger bones and
improved quality of life. Muscle mass is
NOT bulk.
Ok off of my soap box.
Bulking up requires a focused dedicated mission for
success. A bodybuilding or bulking program
uses what is known as bodyweight splits to achieve this goal. It also involves a higher calorie diet to
fuel this growth. (Hint: we are aiming
for fewer calories in our diets.) A
bulking program trains muscles we train movements.
For example:
Typical Bulking program
Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Abs
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Back
Friday: Shoulders
Our Program:
Monday: Full
body strength
Tuesday: High intensity Conditioning
Wednesday: Full body
Strength
Thursday: High
intensity Conditioning
Friday: Full
body strength
Weekends: Play
outside for long periods of time
With bulking programs essentially each workout exhausts a
muscle group and gets a full week for recovery.
These workouts also involve high sets and high reps!
Strength Programs vary greatly since there are different
goals for different purposes. Our
program is based on what information I have learned from multiple sources with an
aim at fat loss and improved overall health. The keys to fat loss are reduced calories, eating whole foods, and
moving often. Our program enables the
ability move often via improved strength endurance.
We train full body movements with muscles working in concert
versus isolation. This increases the
efficiency of our workouts, which are full body strength. We alternate the movements from workout to
workout to create balance. This is
similar to how athletes train.
Bulking requires intent and it will not happen by accident. Bulking also does not happen overnight. We have numerous women who swing over 50 pounds, press over 30 pounds, and dead lift more than their own body weight for reps. None of them are bulky. Lifting light weights for high reps and doing slow cardio will not get you to your goals. Picking up heavy stuff will.
For further reading:
Justin Thomas
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