Weight training for women is not that much different than weight training for men. The principles of resistance training are the same for both sexes. What would determine the type of resistance program would have to do more with a person’s goals and not necessarily their sex. What I have found though, is that women generally have different weight training goals than men.
Women’s Weight Training Goals
The biggest fundamental difference between women’s and man’s weight training goals is that most women never want to get bigger. Whenever a new female personal training client comes to me, one of the first things she says is “ I don’t want weight lifting to make me bigger”. They all want a strong, firm, slim and shapely body but are concerned that if they lift heavy weights their legs will get bigger. Years ago I have had clients who refused to train their legs at all for fear that they would get larger.
Now most men and women acknowledge that resistance training is good for them. They have heard that it makes your bones stronger and having more muscle on your body will firm you up and speed up your metabolism.
How Can Women Lift Weights and Not Get Bigger?
The basic truth is that all forms of resistance training will make the muscle cell bigger (Myofibrillar Hypertrophy) to some degree but you can train and eat in a manner that will maximize your strength but not the size of your muscles. For example, most bodybuilders train for size by lifting moderately heavy weights and pumping themselves up with set after set of exercises that make the workout sessions last for a long period of time. It’s not unheard of for a bodybuilder to spend over an hour just training their legs. A bodybuilder might do 5 sets of squats, 3 sets of leg presses, 3 sets of lunges, 3 sets of leg extensions, 3 sets of leg curls, 3 sets of hyperextensions, and do this all in the same training session.
When you do high volume weight training like a bodybuilder not only do you make the actual muscle cell bigger (Myofibrillar Hypertrophy) and stronger but you also add to the size of your muscles through fluid transfer and carbohydrate storage. When you pump yourself up with set after set of an exercise on the same body part, two things happen. First, there is blood and other fluids rushing into the working muscle and making them bigger (sarcoplasmic hypertrophy) and second, your body has to adapt to the long tedious workouts by storing more carbohydrates (Glycogen Super compensation) into the muscle for future similar workouts. This is the type of training you want to avoid if you don’t want to make your legs bigger.
A good friend of mine Rusty Moore did a great video explaining the whole concept below.
Females need to train for strength not size by doing full body workouts and keeping the volume down. One work set per exercise is all you need to put some healthy, shapely muscle on, without making yourself any bigger. One good set of lunges will firm up your legs, make you stronger, while not swelling them up with carbohydrates and fluids. What you want to do is make the muscles stronger and a little bigger so you get all the benefits of weight training without a significant increase in size.
There is a program that I really like that explains and shows you exactly how to build muscle while minimizing muscle size, it’s called Visual Impact for Women. If you want to lift weights but are worried about bulking up and want more of a movie star body, check out the web site.
I hope this article helps women weight train without getting bigger. Make sure you come back to my site in the future for a follow up article about how women should eat to minimize their size while resistance training.
Mike Cola has well over 50,000 hours of hands-on personal training experience. He started his own personal training studio in1989, Mike Cola Fitness, which is located in New York.
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I think that this post minimizes how much work is really involved in putting on significant muscle size. Your write up leads readers to believe that simple lifting and eating will lead to bodybuilder arms. Women have to eat extremely strategically and lift hard and heavy while paying attention to protein intake to make gains like that. For most regular gym-going females, getting bulky should be the farthest thing from a concern, regardless of the type of program they are following.
Great article! This is one of my favorite topics to talk about. So often I have had women tell me they don’t want to work with weights because they don’t want to get huge.
In reality both men and women have to work out with weights if they want to look toned or fit and keep the fat off.
It is important for women to understand one simple thing: men have testosterone and women do not! That one component makes all the difference. So women, start lifting those weights.
-Sam
This myth has been around forever…women getting too bulky by lifting weights. Not every women will end up looking like female bodybuilders…that takes an exceptional amount of effort. A good strength training program will help tone the body in the right places and even burn some calories as well.
Mike, Great topic! My wife wants to start a weight training program and feels that she will get jacked if she lifts too heavy. I will send her to this post and maybe she will listen to you! Sometimes we need to use an outside source (authority).
I’ve been trying to gain muscle mass and strength. (My wish would be to have the kind of body fitness models have in women’s fitness magazine like Oxygen: not bodybuilder-bulky but still very very toned)
Putting on muscle mass is extremely difficult. I know I’m never going to look bulky anyway, so I’m training hard with low repetitions and eating proteins.
I also stop taking birth control pill and switched to an over contraceptive method because the hormones on the pill were making it impossible for me to get muscle size and definition.
So really, as a woman, worrying about getting bulky when beginning a weight training program is like worrying about growing facial hair it will never happen unless your start taking male hormones.
This is a great post! I am getting back into exercise and weight training thanks to Michael Snyder, M.D.’s latest book titled, “Full: A Life Without Dieting.” This post has given me some great guidelines. Thank you!
The average woman would have to work enormously hard (and probably take steroids) to put on much bulk. All this article is doing is perpetuating the myth that women should fear lifting weights or that they somehow have to do something special to avoid adding size. If you’re interested in a decent reference, check out The New Rules of Weightlifting for Woman.
I have, btw, been lifting weights for 30+ years… do leg presses with 300+ lbs and am far from large or bulky.
Men have testosterone and women do not! This is all that needs to be said… If I had a £1 for evertime a female client says ‘I don’t want to bulk up’ then I’d be a millionaire! Interval training, resistance training and paying attention to portion control and protein intake is the way forward ladies!
Really, don’t worry… if by some fluke, you did get bigger than you wanted to, you can simply stop and the muscle will go away again. I’d bet a lot of $$, though, that it wouldn’t happen.
I used to do french presses (for triceps) with 70 lbs and kept hoping my arms would get bigger, but they never did… sigh.
My friend wants to start a weight training program and feels that she will get jacked if she lifts too heavy.That one component makes all the difference. Anyway, thanks for sharing this tips.
My name is Mike Cola (yeah that is me in the pic above). I've been called a "Contrarian" since I believe that most mainstream fitness approaches are extremely inefficient.
I achieved the look in that photo just training 3 times per week. My specialty is helping people reach peak condition without having to hit the gym 6-7 times per week.
Make sure and get my free "Forever 27" workout plan above. This is the strategy I teach my clients to have a 20-something body, regardless of their age.
January 20, 2011 
14 Comments
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I think that this post minimizes how much work is really involved in putting on significant muscle size. Your write up leads readers to believe that simple lifting and eating will lead to bodybuilder arms. Women have to eat extremely strategically and lift hard and heavy while paying attention to protein intake to make gains like that. For most regular gym-going females, getting bulky should be the farthest thing from a concern, regardless of the type of program they are following.
Great article! This is one of my favorite topics to talk about. So often I have had women tell me they don’t want to work with weights because they don’t want to get huge.
In reality both men and women have to work out with weights if they want to look toned or fit and keep the fat off.
It is important for women to understand one simple thing: men have testosterone and women do not! That one component makes all the difference. So women, start lifting those weights.
-Sam
I’m tired of seeing women lifting 2lb dumbells because they’re scared to ‘get bigger’.
Great post outlining the difference approaches to strength/weight training for men and women.
This myth has been around forever…women getting too bulky by lifting weights. Not every women will end up looking like female bodybuilders…that takes an exceptional amount of effort. A good strength training program will help tone the body in the right places and even burn some calories as well.
Mike, Great topic! My wife wants to start a weight training program and feels that she will get jacked if she lifts too heavy. I will send her to this post and maybe she will listen to you! Sometimes we need to use an outside source (authority).
Cheers,
Jordan
I’ve been trying to gain muscle mass and strength. (My wish would be to have the kind of body fitness models have in women’s fitness magazine like Oxygen: not bodybuilder-bulky but still very very toned)
Putting on muscle mass is extremely difficult. I know I’m never going to look bulky anyway, so I’m training hard with low repetitions and eating proteins.
I also stop taking birth control pill and switched to an over contraceptive method because the hormones on the pill were making it impossible for me to get muscle size and definition.
So really, as a woman, worrying about getting bulky when beginning a weight training program is like worrying about growing facial hair
it will never happen unless your start taking male hormones.
This is a great post! I am getting back into exercise and weight training thanks to Michael Snyder, M.D.’s latest book titled, “Full: A Life Without Dieting.” This post has given me some great guidelines. Thank you!
I do not lift weights, but I walk quite a bit. My legs are muscular and toned, and I like it. I am glad I do not have smallish legs, thank goodness!
The average woman would have to work enormously hard (and probably take steroids) to put on much bulk. All this article is doing is perpetuating the myth that women should fear lifting weights or that they somehow have to do something special to avoid adding size. If you’re interested in a decent reference, check out The New Rules of Weightlifting for Woman.
I have, btw, been lifting weights for 30+ years… do leg presses with 300+ lbs and am far from large or bulky.
great tips on women’s work out. going to try them during my next workouts!
Men have testosterone and women do not! This is all that needs to be said… If I had a £1 for evertime a female client says ‘I don’t want to bulk up’ then I’d be a millionaire! Interval training, resistance training and paying attention to portion control and protein intake is the way forward ladies!
I’m actually one of the many women who’s scared about getting into weight-lifting but I’m scared to get bigger. Thanks for the tips!
Faith -
Really, don’t worry… if by some fluke, you did get bigger than you wanted to, you can simply stop and the muscle will go away again. I’d bet a lot of $$, though, that it wouldn’t happen.
I used to do french presses (for triceps) with 70 lbs and kept hoping my arms would get bigger, but they never did… sigh.
My friend wants to start a weight training program and feels that she will get jacked if she lifts too heavy.That one component makes all the difference. Anyway, thanks for sharing this tips.