Weight lifting can be a bit of a controversial topic among women: many women believe that weight lifting will make them bulky and a lot of the women who do lift weights believe they should not do more than 3-5lb hand weights.
What’s the credibility of these suspicions? At this point most of us women have heard that weight lifting is encouraged among all populations including ours, but there still seems to be some confusion about how to apply it to specific goals. Let’s review some common questions about weight lifting…
What are the benefits of weight lifting?
Performing weight lifting 3-5 days a week will help add skeletal muscle to your body which will help it support itself in a healthy posture, increase movement capability, increase stamina during lengthy bouts of activity (walking around an amusement park, for instance), and decrease risk of injuries.
This lean skeletal muscle will also boost your metabolism-due to your body working so hard to maintain this muscle mass-and the pressure of the muscle pressing against your bones will improve your bone density. Bone density is something specifically relevant to women because we tend to lose bone density as we age and be at risk for developing osteoporosis.
Additionally, physical therapists often use weight training to assist with the healing and conditioning of muscles and joints after injury or surgery.
Likewise, when a client’s body is not handling movement or weight bearing properly, personal trainers can be found using weight lifting in corrective exercise. The benefits of weight lifting are expansive among all populations, including and even especially women.
How much weight should I lift?
The amount of weight that you lift is dependent upon you, your goals, and how you eat…and let me take a minute to pay extra special attention to the eating for a second here. Weight loss or weight gain mostly happens in the diet, not the gym. If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. It’s as simple as that.
You can lift twice your bodyweight in several exercises’ multiple times a week and you won’t really get any bigger if you’re staying in caloric deficit. Simultaneously, you can lift light weights in an intensive circuit and continue to gain weight if you are eating in caloric excess every day.
So basically, do not assume that the amount of weight you lift will determine the size of your physique.
How do I build strength without adding too much muscle mass?
Building and maintaining strength without adding significant muscle mass is usually a goal people might have as a result of an injury, to enhance sports performance, to correct posture and movement restrictions, and even just for aesthetic purposes. This type of training and diet could be an everyday/ lifestyle regimen as it tends to require maintenance more than anything.
My preference of resistance and weight training for this goal is to largely utilize stability or functional training. This means lighter weights, with the intensity being increased by adding repetitions, manipulating tempo, pulsing, challenging balance and static holds. For example, I would increase the intensity of a barbell squat by asking the client to slowly drop into a squat during a three second count, pause at the bottom for one second, and then power up (3:1:1 tempo squats) instead of putting additional weight on their back. I typically allow clients to go as high as 20 reps per set in any given exercise before increasing the intensity-10 would be the least amount of reps a client with this goal would do. I also like to implement a lot of circuits (3-5 exercises per circuit) with a client of this goal-it tends to get the heart rate up at a comparable rate to cardio.
In the kitchen, achieving this goal simply requires you eating maintenance: only what you need to eat with a moderate protein diet. If you have an activity tracker you will simply look at the calories you’ve burned and eat that on a daily basis.
What if I want to get bulky or put on significant muscle mass?
Bulking, or adding lean muscle mass to the body, is not an uncommon goal among women. It’s often used for body sculpting, or shaping your body in a specific way. Bulking is most commonly done in phases or allocated blocks of time from 1-3 months…sometimes longer.
Briefly, for the exercise portion of bulking you are looking to lift a weight that you can do 8-12 repetitions of for 3 sets-it should be properly heavy but not uncontrollably heavy. You also want to apply progressive overload in which every week you increase the intensity of your exercise, be it reps, time under tension, supersets, or increased weight lifted. If you’re planning on bulking for longer than 6 weeks, be aware that you will have to lower the intensity of your exercise (or take a complete break) for a week, every 6-8 weeks-this is called a deload and it is necessary to prevent overtraining. If you’re looking to make one body part bulkier than another, you will simply train it more frequently (while allowing time for proper recovery)-maybe 3 times a week instead of one.
Nutritionally, bulking requires caloric surplus: eating more calories than you have burned. With bulking, you will typically gain some body fat as it is inevitable, but you can minimize the amount of fat gained by eating clean. Eating clean means getting lean sources of protein and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of eating junk food for extra calories.
Can I lose fat while bulking?
This question can spark up a bit of an argument amongst the various people drawn to weight lifting. Some people believe that there is a “special diet and exercise formula” that makes this possible-carb cycling, eating macros specific to your body type, fasting, etc. Other people are very adamant that it is not possible to gain muscle mass while being in the necessary caloric deficit to cause fat loss. I will say this:
Briefly, for the exercise portion of bulking you are looking to lift a weight that you can do 8-12 repetitions of for 3 sets-it should be properly heavy but not uncontrollably heavy. You also want to apply progressive overload in which every week you increase the intensity of your exercise, be it reps, time under tension, supersets, or increased weight lifted. If you’re planning on bulking for longer than 6 weeks, be aware that you will have to lower the intensity of your exercise (or take a complete break) for a week, every 6-8 weeks-this is called a deload and it is necessary to prevent overtraining. If you’re looking to make one body part bulkier than another, you will simply train it more frequently (while allowing time for proper recovery)-maybe 3 times a week instead of one.
Nutritionally, bulking requires caloric surplus: eating more calories than you have burned. With bulking, you will typically gain some body fat as it is inevitable, but you can minimize the amount of fat gained by eating clean. Eating clean means getting lean sources of protein and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, instead of eating junk food for extra calories.
- I do believe that it is calories and not macros that cause weight loss or gain. I don’t believe any specific diet can cause you to simultaneously lose fat and gain muscle.
- I have observed in myself and several clients a seemingly simultaneous loss of fat and increase in muscle. With body composition assessments, I have found that my deconditioned clients who were fairly new to weight training almost always lose body fat while increasing muscle mass in the first months of training. I believe this to be “newb gains”-the easily gained muscle mass in people whose bodies are new to weight training. I also believe that the excess fat mass on the body offers some sort of fuel to assist in the production of the muscle mass. In myself I have observed a gain in muscle mass during periods which I had been cutting or losing fat mass. The places in which I gained muscle were always in my weaker spots, and my stronger spots will have lost a bit of muscle during the cut.
- I believe that as you become a more experienced weight lifter, you may need to cycle through periods of bulking (working to gain muscle) and cutting (working to lose fat) to properly put on the significant lean muscle mass you’re looking for. So, it becomes increasingly hard to simultaneously gain muscle while losing fat as your body progresses in its conditioning.
How much protein should I be eating to meet my goals?
In general, a high protein diet is being recommended by almost all health professionals including most medical doctors. What constitutes a “high protein” diet varies depending on who’s advice you seek. When consulting the internet, you will find generalized suggestions like “women should consume at least 50 grams of protein per day, and men 60 grams”. Alternatively, the USDA recommends a protein intake that is based on the total calories consumed in a day-usually around 20% of total calories consumed in proteins.
Personally, I suggest using a more personalized approach by using your body weight and level of activity to determine your required protein intake.
- If you are just mildly active but not very athletic (meaning that when you do exercise it is not vigorous) I would recommend you consume at least half your body weight in grams of protein daily. (That means that if you are 150lbs, you would be aiming to eat at least 75 grams of protein per day).
- If you live a fairly active lifestyle but still are not necessarily athletic, I suggest 60-70% of your body weight in grams of protein per day. (That’s 90-105 grams of protein per day for a 150lb person).
- If you are very active and exercise vigorously, regularly (3-5 times a week) and especially if you engage in heavy weight lifting, I recommend 70-100% of your body weight in grams of protein per day. The more athletic you are, the closer you’ll try to get to 100% of body weight in grams of protein per day. (This is 105-150 grams of protein daily for a 150lb person).
Not that you would want to, but you can’t sit and eat all this protein in one sitting-your body will only absorb a certain amount at any given time. For this reason, you want to space out your protein across your daily meals. The easiest way to do this is figure out what your total daily protein intake should be, and divide that by your number of meals so you know how much protein you’re looking for in each meal. If you are an athlete, body builder or an avid exerciser you may want to take a more specific approach: post workout protein and nutrient timing.
Current recommendations for post workout protein consumption are 20-40 grams of protein within 30 minutes of finishing a workout, with an additional 20 grams of protein consumed every 2-4 hours thereafter. The post workout protein is especially beneficial to weight lifters or people with hypertrophy goals.
Current recommendations for nutrient timing are small meals every 2-4 hours with a balance of macronutrients (fats, carbs, protein). Nutrient timing is a great approach for people who are chronically hungry, and body builders who are in a bulking phase.
I would like to note three things about protein consumption:
- High protein diets will NOT make you bulky. Excess calories will make you bulky and put on body fat. High protein diets actually help to lean you out because the stress of digesting protein will heighten the performance of the metabolism.
- High protein diets are not recommended for everyone so please check with your doctor before changing your diet. If you have or have had cancer, liver disease, kidney failure or disease, autoimmune disease, heart disease, etc. please see your doctor before making any changes to your diet. Digesting a surplus of protein is stressful to the body and not everyone’s body is up to it.
- Not all protein has to be consumed from animal product. Veganism is increasingly popular, and vegan sources of protein are available everywhere. Whether or not it is possible to put on significant muscle mass while maintaining a vegan diet is a controversial topic (which I plan to test on myself in the coming months) but as long as you get your essential amino acids, I see no reason why it should not be possible.
I would like to note three things about protein consumption:
- High protein diets will NOT make you bulky. Excess calories will make you bulky and put on body fat. High protein diets actually help to lean you out because the stress of digesting protein will heighten the performance of the metabolism.
- High protein diets are not recommended for everyone so please check with your doctor before changing your diet. If you have or have had cancer, liver disease, kidney failure or disease, autoimmune disease, heart disease, etc. please see your doctor before making any changes to your diet. Digesting a surplus of protein is stressful to the body and not everyone’s body is up to it.
- Not all protein has to be consumed from animal product. Veganism is increasingly popular, and vegan sources of protein are available everywhere. Whether or not it is possible to put on significant muscle mass while maintaining a vegan diet is a controversial topic (which I plan to test on myself in the coming months) but as long as you get your essential amino acids, I see no reason why it should not be possible.
How much protein should I be eating to meet my goals?
Bone density is a concern primarily among women who are going through or past menopause because they are at a high risk for developing degenerative bone disorders and diseases. Many doctors are now suggesting that women of all ages engage in some sort of resistance training to prevent, help and sometimes cure some of the diseases these women are susceptible to, but it can be dangerous as well. On one hand, the more weight you lift the more you will improve your bone density. On the other hand, the bone density disease will cause your bones to be a bit frailer and more prone to breakage so you can’t lift too much weight.
My preferred approach for this goal is a periodized weight lifting regimen with high emphasis on stability training along with strength and weight lifted. For example, with a client that has osteoporosis and multiple (healed) fractures of the lumbar spine I might have them do 5 single leg glute bridges on the right leg, then 5 on the left leg, then 10 with both feet and a 5lb weight plate on the hips-then break. The following week (or even the week after) we would increase intensity by doing 6, 6, & 12 reps. I look to simultaneously increase stabilization while increasing strength, and I would only have them train for 4-6 weeks like this before implementing a deload.
Diet also plays a big part in this goal because you will need to eat in a way both contributes to bone density and increased muscle mass. Caloric surplus could be recommended depending on your body composition, though if you are obese you will typically want to prioritize weight loss and so stay in caloric deficit with higher emphasis on protein and nutrient consumption.
Can I -safely- do weight lifting during pregnancy?
Bone density is a concern primarily among women who are going through or past menopause because they are at a high risk for developing degenerative bone disorders and diseases. Many doctors are now suggesting that women of all ages engage in some sort of resistance training to prevent, help and sometimes cure some of the diseases these women are susceptible to, but it can be dangerous as well. On one hand, the more weight you lift the more you will improve your bone density. On the other hand, the bone density disease will cause your bones to be a bit frailer and more prone to breakage so you can’t lift too much weight.
My preferred approach for this goal is a periodized weight lifting regimen with high emphasis on stability training along with strength and weight lifted. For example, with a client that has osteoporosis and multiple (healed) fractures of the lumbar spine I might have them do 5 single leg glute bridges on the right leg, then 5 on the left leg, then 10 with both feet and a 5lb weight plate on the hips-then break. The following week (or even the week after) we would increase intensity by doing 6, 6, & 12 reps. I look to simultaneously increase stabilization while increasing strength, and I would only have them train for 4-6 weeks like this before implementing a deload.
Diet also plays a big part in this goal because you will need to eat in a way both contributes to bone density and increased muscle mass. Caloric surplus could be recommended depending on your body composition, though if you are obese you will typically want to prioritize weight loss and so stay in caloric deficit with higher emphasis on protein and nutrient consumption.
The final answer to this question ultimately comes from your doctor because pregnancy is different for every woman, and even separate pregnancies can each be unique for the same woman.
If your doctor has no specific reason for you not to exercise, weight lifting is actually a recommended activity for women during pregnancy. One main benefit is that resistance training and weight lifting can help the body build strength to support the increasing amount of weight that the mommy-to-be is carrying. This will help prevent the restricted mobility and chronic pain that many pregnant women suffer from-especially in the last trimester of their pregnancy. Another benefit of weight lifting during pregnancy is the mother’s ability to “bounce back” from the physical effects of the pregnancy faster (i.e. losing baby weight). When the body has already been reasonably conditioned for activity and healthy composition, it will respond better to postnatal training than a woman whose body was deconditioned before and during pregnancy. A final, yet most interesting, finding on weight lifting during pregnancy is that it helps condition the unborn fetus. During the past decade various studies have shown that mothers who exercise and/or lift weights during pregnancy stimulate healthy growth of their fetus and regularly give birth to babies with above average heart health and motor skill development. The summation of all of this being that when you train your body while pregnant, you are also training and conditioning your baby as well.
That being said, weight lifting during pregnancy is obviously different than when you’re not pregnant:
- If you are used to heavy weight lifting, expect to have to drop your weight significantly. PREGNANCY IS NOT THE TIME TO MAKE PR’S! You will probably be experiencing some fatigue and even some weakness, and during pregnancy you need to respect that. Don’t try to push yourself to the point that you are in a compromising position (i.e. at the bottom of a heavy barbell squat that you’re not entirely sure you can push up).
- I doubt any pregnant woman would be comfortable in this position, but I’ll say it anyways: laying flat on your belly is contraindicated during pregnancy-especially after the first trimester, and especially during weight lifting.
- Lying on your back is generally also contraindicated -especially after the first trimester- because of the potential to pinch or block the vena cava, though I have had seasoned mothers argue this with me and I respect their experience and wishes. I personally prefer not to risk it with most of my clients, and if you are at all uncertain, I would recommend you not risk it either.
- Do not put yourself in any position in which you may fall. I love balance training for every demographic but pregnancy is not a time to really challenge a person’s balance. If I want to train balance with a pregnant client I would do it at a ballet barre where they could quickly grab onto something if they started to fall, and even then, I am right next to them ready to catch. If a woman is extremely large and pregnant and she seems to be even a little wobbly while walking on two legs, I wouldn’t challenge her balance at all until after pregnancy.
- Listen to your instincts. Women are typically blessed with renowned intuition that becomes even more enhanced as she enters motherhood. If something doesn’t feel right or makes you nervous during exercise, you’re probably right for feeling that way and you should stop or avoid that exercise or movement. I believe that at the end of the day you, as a woman and a mother, naturally know what’s best for you and your child. As a trainer, I always heed to my client’s instincts-whether they are pregnant or not-and I encourage my clients to be wary of people that don’t respect their instincts.
All in all, weight lifting during pregnancy can be great for you and your baby but it requires a bit more attention from you, collaboration from your doctor, and possibly the supervision of an exercise professional.
Does weight lifting affect my hormones?
The answer to this question is still undecided but none of the answers you will find are bad:
On one hand, several studies have shown that weight training helps balance women’s estrogen levels with their testosterone-without producing enough testosterone to give you a mustache. This helps reduce body fat, increase metabolism, and reduce the effects of PMS. On a personal level, I have a form of epilepsy that is affected by a hormonal imbalance so I can feel when my hormones are off because I start having seizures. After trying almost every medication offered to epileptics, I finally found that the only thing that keeps my epilepsy under control is diet and exercise, and for the past 8 years I have used only this to manage my seizures. So, I can personally vouch for the idea that weight training balances your hormones.
On the other hand, there have also been multiple studies that have shown no change in a woman’s hormones as a result of weight lifting. Contrarily, a lot of these studies have shown that instead of the strength training affecting the hormones, the hormones end up affecting the strength training. In these studies, they have found estrogen to assist with muscle recovery and endurance which allows a woman to lift heavier and longer during the part of her cycle in which estrogen levels are high. Supplementary to that, these studies have noted a decreased stamina and ability to recover from heavy weight training during the part of a woman’s cycle in which her progesterone levels are high. Back to a personal note: I notice in myself and my female clients a tendency to experience fatigue in the week preceding menstruation when progesterone would be high.
Conclusion
In summation ladies, you have no reason to fear weight lifting! It’s beneficial to your health and wellness in multiple ways from enhancing your metabolism and bone density to improving your strength and physique. It won’t make you bulky so long as you eat properly, and it will help improve your posture and day to day activities.