{"id":14299,"date":"2018-03-22T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T09:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/?p=14299"},"modified":"2022-08-23T14:59:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T13:59:47","slug":"3-myths-women-training-debunked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/3-myths-women-training-debunked\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Myths About Women & Training Debunked"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h1>\n

Women and Training: Debunking the 3 Biggest Myths<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\u201cThe myth that women shouldn\u2019t lift heavy is only perpetuated by women who fear work and men who fear women\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

What an appropriate quote to get this article started, eh?<\/p>\n

Physical strength, athleticism and overall beastliness (technical term\u2026) used to be attributed solely to men. It was the general consensus that women who were strong or involved in any form of sport were \u201cbutch\u201d or \u201cmanly\u201d \u2013 something we all know now to be complete and utter [insert favourite profanity here].<\/p>\n

Whilst we are seeing more and more women engaging in physical activity (particularly in the gym), there is still this sweeping misconception that we women must \u201cbe careful\u201d as to how we approach our training, nutrition and bodybuilding to avoid becoming \u201cbulky\u201d.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m here to lay out some facts for you ladies, and prove to you that lifting weights will not make you bulky, protein is not a \u201cman\u2019s supplement\u201d and that you really should have that extra slice of cake. With peanut putter. It will help you reach your goals \u2013 seriously. Keep reading, and you\u2019ll see what I mean.<\/p>\n

But as always – let\u2019s keep things simple. Let\u2019s stick to facts.<\/p>\n

Science.<\/p>\n

Lifting weights will make you \u201cbulky\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The mother of all myths when it comes to women and training.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to lift too heavy \u2013 I don\u2019t want to look bulky!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ever hear this? Ever even say it? Of course you have! We all have. It\u2019s the talk of the women\u2019s locker room every January when the newcomers arrive. But is there any merit to the myth?<\/p>\n

Simply put: nope.<\/p>\n

Whatever your goals may be; whether it be to burn some fat, build some muscle or shape or improve your overall fitness levels \u2013 you\u2019re going to need to lift some weights.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not talking about 30 reps of bodyweight glute kickbacks; this will do nothing but maybe cause you some back pain. If you\u2019re serious about building some shape and burning that leftover Christmas fluff (we\u2019ll save the fluff for the unicorns) you need to challenge yourself by performing compound movements, lifting heavy and challenging weights thereby forcing your body to change to meet your goals.<\/p>\n

As for the \u201cBulk Issue\u201d (ha…see what I did there?) this occurs under two main circumstances.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Overeating<\/li>\n
  2. Performance enhancing drugs<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Now I will assume anyone reading this is not taking anything illegal and hopefully nobody here is eating themselves into oblivion (except for ice cream oblivions. They\u2019re allowed. Obviously).<\/p>\n

    This \u201cbulky\u201d appearance you so fear is usually due to an accumulation of fat overlaying muscle tissue; which can be avoided by eating a substantial but appropriate quantity of food. As for the other reason\u2026we won\u2019t get into it, but the reasons for this are fairly \u201csciencey\u201d so to keep it simple; avoid them. At all costs.<\/p>\n

    Say no to drugs, kids.<\/p>\n

    Women don\u2019t need protein, creatine or \u201cmanly\u201d supplements<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    While men and women differ greatly (we can multitask!), we are equally human. By this I mean there are no \u201cmen-only supplements\u201d; we women will not morph into another gender overnight by supplementing with extremely beneficial supplements such as creatine, protein powders and even carbohydrate powders (women can be hardgainers, too!).<\/p>\n

    Creatine<\/a> is a natural compound already found in the body and is basically used as an energy source for your body during your heavy and intense training sessions. It will help you lift more, train more and progress more. Win, win in my opinion. Why let the men have all the fun?!<\/p>\n

    As for protein and its delicious powder forms (Hello, Lemon Meringue Protein Powder<\/a>!) \u2013 it is simply food. Yup, food. Our diet consists of protein (found in meat, dairy and eggs), carbohydrates (grains, fruit and ice cream!) and fat (peanut butter<\/a> love). Protein powder is just a convenient way of consuming your required intake of protein which is raised when you engage in physical activity. It will not make you bulky, it will make you strong.<\/p>\n

    Of course, women are special so we do require a few extra bits that our male counterparts don\u2019t but these are taken care of in the WMN\u00ae<\/a> range. Even the protein supplements such as Daily Protein\u2122<\/a> and Lean Shake\u2122<\/a> have been tailored to women\u2019s requirements, by adjusting the protein level to match the corresponding (typical) lower body mass, as well as a few added ingredients.<\/p>\n

    Creatine will not turn you into The Hulk (sorry, lads).<\/p>\n

    We don\u2019t need that much food<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Lies!<\/p>\n

    Unless you\u2019re spending your days in your PJs watching The Kardashians while digging into a tub of Ben\u2019n\u2019Jerry\u2019s \u2013 you most likely need to eat A LOT more than you currently do.<\/p>\n

    Women have an unfortunate reputation for consuming far too few calories even when not involved in any physical activity. The media is of course partly to blame here but think about it \u2013 if you\u2019re burning calories in the gym but limiting your food intake, how much progress do you think you will make?<\/p>\n

    The answer is simple; almost none.<\/p>\n

    For you to build the body you so desire \u2013 whatever that may be \u2013 or reach your fitness goals you NEED to consume at least your maintenance calories (see my post on The Science of Weight Loss<\/a> for details on this!) otherwise you merely run the risk of burning yourself out and eventually giving up.<\/p>\n

    Progress is motivating in itself. Don\u2019t deny yourself your well-deserved progress by denying yourself that cookie.<\/p>\n

    About the Author<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Michelle is a scientist, an athlete and a writer and she\u2019s proud to have faced her demons head on and she\u2019s beating them. In weight lifting she found an outlet to help change her life \u2013 and she\u2019s loving it! Follow her journey with BULK POWDERS\u00ae.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Women and Training: Debunking the 3 Biggest Myths “The myth that women shouldn’t lift heavy is only perpetuated by women who fear work and men who fear women” What an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":14301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1975],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fitnesstraining"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14300,"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14299\/revisions\/14300"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bulk.com\/uk\/the-core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}