WHAT DOES "BULKY" EVEN MEAN?

“I don’t want to get big and bulky”

I hear this all the time.

What does “bulky” even mean?

Being directly in the health & fitness industry I speak to a lot of women that are afraid of lifting heavy weights because they are think they will get too bulky, the actual definition of “bulky” is described differently by each person I talk to, what one women finds bulky, another might find still too slim, or just right, or perhaps perfect.

I love lifting heavy, pushing myself in the gym, having muscles and looking and feeling strong. There is a certain way that I want my body to look, my family are always saying “you look so skinny” or “you’re too muscly”, on the other hand my fitness friends are always encouraging me to gain haha! What I’m trying to say is that my thought of how I would like my body to look is not the same way others want to look, and that’s ok, we all have different body types we would like to achieve.

While it’s true that gaining significant amounts of muscle mass doesn’t happen overnight and women who carry a lot of muscle have likely worked very hard to get that way, some women can gain lean muscle much quicker than others. It will come down to individual’s biochemistry, body type, diet, training history, type of strength training, training frequency etc.

This is the cool part; if you prefer a lightly muscled look, and you feel you have gained enough muscle for your personal preference, you can transition to a maintenance plan with both your training and nutrition that will keep you at the look you love and you won’t get “too big” or “bulky”.

Another important factor to point out that is often missed when talking about getting “bulky” is body fat.

Over my years in the fitness industry I have had a number of female clients that I have put on strength training programs and they’d report to me that the number on the scales isn’t changing, this is where your nutrition plays a huge part, training can increase appetite and if you aren’t careful you can easily over eat.

So think about this; weight training will result in gaining some muscle, and eating in a calorie surplus (more calories than your body is burning) will result in fat gain. Of course you are going to get bigger and the scales are going up. The good thing here is, this is an easy fix, getting on a more structured meal plan, bringing your calories down will eliminate the fat gains.

Sum-up; muscle gain is a hard game trusts me, you won’t get big quick, and you can change up your training once you have your desired body type. Eating to suit your goals is in my opinion the most important part of gaining, losing or maintaining weight.

I have the privilege of talking to the staff and managers of the 32 ASN stores around the country on a daily basis and every day I am blown away by the support and knowledge within the team. Whatever your goal, whether it be big or small, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by going in and asking for help!!

Blogger: Codi Hanson (ASN Coffs Harbour)
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