Debunking the Myth - Why Lifting Weights Won't Make Women Bulky

00:00Real quick, the only ask I could ever have of you guys is to help spread the word so we can help more women lose body fat, build muscle, reach their goals, and feel insanely confident. And the only way we can do that is if you rate, review, and share this podcast. So the single thing I ask for you to do is if you could leave a review. It will take you 10 seconds, and it will mean the absolute world to me and may change the world of someone else. So in order for you to increase in muscle size and muscle mass, that requires you to lift heavy weights, to have high volume, and to have a significantly high calorie surplus.

00:44What is going on, everybody? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkie Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. And on this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkie Stott. And welcome, you guys, to episode 175, where today, honestly, where this whole podcast topic inspiration came from,

01:16was watching that new Netflix show with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. And look, listen, before you judge me, I will be radically transparent that in my downtime, I like to watch some reality television. I watch the Kardashians. I watch Love Island and The Perfect Match. And I find those shows to be very entertaining, especially after a long day of hanging with the team, being on meetings back to back and doing work.

01:48Sometimes that type of, quote-unquote, trashy television is what clears my mind, okay? It allows me to just, I don't know, I just enjoy watching that kind of stuff. So before you judge me, I just had to be radically transparent and sharing my stuff with you. But this podcast today, episode 175, is inspired by what was one of the Cowboy Cheerleaders was talking about in the episode that I watched last night, which was...

02:28And boy, if you watch that series, it's pretty interesting. Like, I can't imagine what these cheerleaders go through in terms of body image and, like, just probably some hard things in terms of... I just can... They weren't directly saying it, but I feel like I can feel it without them directly saying it. Like, the unspoken words and the unspoken concerns, essentially. I could feel that they just... They potentially... I don't know. I could just be casting how I feel after watching it.

02:58But anyway, this... One of the Cowboy Cheerleaders was talking about fitness and working out. And that she was worried about getting too bulky with strength training. And I was like, ooh, this is a great topic to bring to the podcast. So today, you guys, we're going to debunk one of the most persistent fitness myths. And that is why lifting weights won't make women bulky. Dude, the fear of becoming bulky is literally one of the main reasons why women avoid lifting weights.

03:37And before, like, I totally dive into this concept and talk about this topic. And I'm going to, like, elaborate on science and sharing, like, diving into the science of muscle growth. And why women won't get bulky from lifting weights due to, like, a couple of things. And then I'm also going to just, like, now that we've, like, we're going to debunk the myth. I'm going to talk about some incredible benefits of what lifting weights does for women. Both physically and mentally. But before I dive into it, I was...

04:08Like, if you are resonating with, like, this myth and, like, you believe in this myth. I was once in your shoes, too, as well. I will never forget when I first started my journey back in 2015. And I hired my first coach. And I was going into the world of bodybuilding. I remember standing, and I shared this, I think, all the way in episode number one of the podcast where I shared with you guys my whole backstory. I remember standing in front of his mirror in his basement. He had a home gym. And just looking at it and being, like, looking at my body, looking at him, looking at the mirror, like, and I was, like, I don't want to get too bulky.

04:42And I remember, like, I blessed him for the response because it encouraged me to continue to pursue strength training because he helped me understand that that's not what's going to happen. I even was, like, I don't want to look like a man. Like, I said all of the things, which I'm sure, like, I can totally understand where this thought process comes from. Um, but there's so many misconceptions about how muscle mass, how muscle growth works and the differences between men and women's, like, whole bodily makeup.

05:17And so I'm going to break down, um, these misconceptions. I'm going to break down and explain, like, why lifting weights is actually one of the best things, like, through and through. It is something just like how I firmly believe in macros because it's science. Lifting weights is one of the best things that you can do for your body for so many reasons. And that's why I, like, talk about it so much throughout this entire podcast and why I've found fundamentally believe the foundation of strength training serves so many purposes for women in every age bracket of their life.

05:56Whether they're 15 and, you know, maybe in sports for high school. I started, I remember lifting my first weight when I was 13 because my mom had, like, a home gym. But, like, I didn't keep up with it, obviously. But, you know, if people are in sports when they're in young ages, um, you know, even in the 20, 20 is, like, an interesting age. It's, like, you're still figuring it out, but you're also, like, about to turn 21. You could turn alcohol or you could turn just staying in the health and fitness realm. And, you know, I've been there. I spent the years drinking and partying when I was that age.

06:29But, you know, strength training is so important. Even at that age and even at 25 when I first started my journey, right, to 30, to 40. Even if you guys are 50, 60, and you've never lifted a weight, you can still pick up a weight and start lifting and reap the benefits of strength training. And why lifting weights is so, the best thing you can possibly do for your body, regardless of what age you are. Well, first, the most important thing to understand is that the increase in your muscle size requires a combination of lifting heavy weights, having high volume, and a significant calorie surplus.

07:11So in order for you to increase in muscle size and muscle mass, that requires you to lift heavy weights, to have high volume, and to have a significantly high calorie surplus. And those really are, like, the three things I'm going to kind of break down when it comes to the science aspect of this podcast, in addition to the hormonal differences that we experience from men and that we experience from men. What's up, everybody?

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08:57It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss, Warrior Babe is here for you. At Warrior Babe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results and results that last. Look, don't wait anymore.

09:28Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com forward slash apply today to start your transformation. That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. One of them being with the hormonal differences before I actually dive into like the whole thing about it is we naturally, and this is what one thing that my coach told me when I first started my journey and I was standing there in front of his mirror saying, I don't want to get too bulky

10:00and I don't want to look like a man. He was like, you guys, you women, us women have naturally have lower levels of testosterone. That hormone primarily is responsible for muscle growth and increasing muscle mass. That means that compared to men, we are less likely to gain large amounts of muscle mass. And like, I could totally unpack this even more. Like there's so many of women that I hear that like, oh, my husband just, you know, he picks

10:32up a weight and he starts to see incredible results in like two weeks. That is because his hormonal profile is drastically different than yours. And, you know, I always hear all the time that men are just so big, right? Like the ones that are truly adamant about strength training and working out and like through years of them doing that, they're just huge. Again, that is because our hormonal profile is drastically different than ours. Then also what I just need to kind of slide in here is what some people may not fully like

11:06know happens or understand is that sometimes men are taking extra levels of testosterone. They're taking each, what is it? Testosterone replacement or they're increasing, you know, they're taking the drug of a steroid that helps with growth hormone and testosterone. Testosterone. I even saw like, you know, a little off ramp, but one of the warrior babes was asking their coach what we thought about SARMS.

11:37And it just shows that that warrior babe had no idea that SARMS is a type of steroid. And we don't promote that inside of warrior babe. I fully back and stand behind that like just proper nutrition and strength training is enough for you to get the type of result that you want. And what people probably don't think about or understand is that if you see like women that are overly bulky and you're afraid that you're going to look like that, that's probably because one, they're in the bodybuilding space. And in order to achieve certain types of goals that people are striving for in that sport,

12:08like going pro with the NPC, which is a federation that is just known for steroid use. By the way, I competed in the OCB and I was natural. I had to take a polygraph. I had to pee in a cup, all that jazz. But those women that look that way are using performance enhancement drugs so that they can achieve winning and achieve the optimal results that they want with their body. And some of those times the body is just way too unnatural looking and not feminine enough.

12:38And another thing that you can also know is that if you approach someone that is a woman that looks overly jacked, you can kind of tell the difference when you're looking, especially like, you know, me being a professional in the space and our coaches, we can sometimes look at people that are overly jacked and be able to see if they're natural or not. But one thing that's really easy to be able to pinpoint is the jawline in women and the reduction in their voice where it sounds like it's at a deeper level.

13:10Those are some like indicators that the person may be taking steroids. So that's another thing to keep in mind. Like, what are you looking at that is like define your term of bulky? Like, what is what is drawing you to have that narrative in your mind? What picture did you see on social media? Is it just a narrative that you picked up from listening to people over time? Like, I would just get down to the source and questions for you. Like, what does bulky mean to you? And then like, we can unpack it from there. Right. So.

13:42Right. So I talked about like, I started to dive into all those things. Now I want to dive into like the science of muscle growth and why women won't get bulky from lifting weights. And that's because muscle growth that we experience is influenced by several factors. One being what I just touched on, which was hormonal differences. Testosterone, that hormone plays a huge role in muscle development. And women have significantly lower levels of testosterone compared to men, which makes it that much harder for them to gain large amounts of muscle mass, as I already touched

14:13on. So I kind of already dove into the science behind that type of thing. Our hormonal profiles are drastically different than men's hormonal profiles. The second thing that I want to talk about is training volume and intensity. Building significant muscle mass requires one to lift heavy weights with high volume. And if you really like want to start thinking about it, most women's strength training programs focus on moderate weights with higher repetitions.

14:45And with that type of style of training that promotes muscle toning and endurance rather than a bulk. So you've maybe heard me talk about the different phases that one can go through when they're on a fitness journey. And both nutrition and the type of protocol we use for strength training play a factor in those different types of phases. One being a cut, one being a maintenance, one being, I like to call it a build just for

15:15the, again, the terminology that is used. If I use, you're going to go into a bulking phase, which a lot of people use in the bodybuilding space. You're going to be most likely deterred by that when you're just trying to live a natural lifestyle. But some people that come to Warrior Bay want to build more muscle and build it fast. So we go into a building phase. But, and that training looks different in each of those phases. In a fat loss and a maintenance, it's more of what I'm talking about with focusing on moderate weights with higher repetitions.

15:46Maybe when you're in maintenance, you're going to push and challenge yourself a little bit more. But more likely than not, you're just pushing moderate weight with like a rep range of anywhere from 10 to 15, maybe 8 to 15. But it's not like you're doing where if you're in a bulk or a build, the training volume looks different there. You're really focusing on one rep maxes. You're focusing on sets of three reps, five reps at like a very challenging weight, a heavy weight that's going to promote.

16:16And I'm not saying you can't build muscle, you know, depending on the volume. You totally can. You're just going to achieve more muscle mass with a high volume rather than, you know, moderate weights. You're challenging yourself, but you're having a little bit more of higher repetition. Which more supports muscle toning, muscle definition, decreasing body fat because you're in an endurance rep range at that point. And so you're helping with fat loss to tone out the body rather than to really bulk it up.

16:48And that brings me into the third thing, which is one was the hormonal differences, two was the training volume and intensity. And the last thing that I want to talk about scientifically, why women won't get bulky from lifting weights and how muscle growth is influenced by these several factors is caloric intake. So to gain muscle mass, you must consume more calories than you burn. And many women who lift weights still maintain a caloric deficit or a balanced intake aimed at fat

17:22loss or maintenance. So you're in those two other phases that I was talking about. You're in fat loss or you're in maintenance and you're still maintaining either a balanced intake or a caloric deficit. And so you're not going to be able to get bulky because you're not consuming more calories than you burn. If you are in the build phase, you, I've talked about this with Cheryl before. However, she went, came into warrior baby and went directly into build phase. And I had her upwards of like over 3000 calories, um, clearly more than she burned on a regular

17:54basis because I wanted her to build more muscle and build muscle fast. And so that's how I do it. And she was okay with understanding that she was going to gain weight, but a lot of you guys don't want to gain weight. That's not like a sole reason of why you come into like a fitness program. Right. But I hope that this in turn is also helping you understand when you're not going to get bulky, but two, if you do have the goal of wanting to build more muscle, which is ultimately going to make you more toned in the long run, you have to spend time in a build phase.

18:25You have to spend time lifting heavy weights at high volume and eating more calories than you burn. That's going to help you to build more muscle. You're not going to bulk up. You're not going to bulk up as someone as like a man will because of the hormone. You still don't have enough testosterone to make that happen. So like, even if you have the training volume and intensity and the caloric intake there, it's still not going to bulk you up. Even as much as, you know, a man would because they have more testosterone than we do. But I hope that just paints a picture, you guys, and helping you understand like,

18:57okay, I'm not going to bulk up because of the things that, you know, I'm sharing this with you right now. But also if I want to build more muscle, I kind of got to just trust the process of being in a build and doing all of these things if I do want to have more muscle, which is going to ultimately make you look more toned. But anyway, when you are, women are in fat loss, women are in maintenance, right? When you, majority of the time, like probably 90% of the time, the women that I know that are going after, you know, achieving a certain type of aesthetic look are in a calorie deficit or a balanced intake.

19:29You're not eating enough to build tons and tons of muscle. So the caloric deficit or the being at maintenance and being in a fat loss, that supports muscle definition without significant size increase. Now, the question may come to like, I'm sure you guys are like, oh, well, can I still build muscle if I'm in a maintenance or a fat loss? Yes, you can. But it's not going to come with significant, like a muscle growth as like, say, a build would. And a build, even as a woman, isn't going to cause significant size increase.

20:01Like Cheryl didn't, you know, come, there's before and afters all over social media of Cheryl, by the way. There's a YouTube on it, excuse me, that I talked about her whole entire journey, which is so inspiring. And I think you guys should totally go check it out. I think I brought it to the podcast too, as well. It's not like she came in just skinny fat. And I pushed her hard through a build. Actually, she went through a build like two or three times. And she looks incredible now. She doesn't look too bulky. And she's never going to look too bulky, especially if we're doing it the natural way.

20:33Okay. So now that we've completely debunked that myth, which I truly hope that in your brain, it is completely debunked by how I just broke that down. I want to talk about the incredible freaking benefits that lifting weights does for you as a woman, not just physically, but also mentally. Ladies, are you feeling frustrated with body changes you're experiencing during menopause? It's time to take control. If you're between 45 and 65 years old and tired of struggling with body fat and muscle loss,

21:04Warrior Babe is here for you. At Warrior Babe, we've helped over 18,000 women just like you lose body fat, build toned muscle, and understand their bodies better with personalized plans based on hormone and thyroid testing and more. Imagine knowing exactly what your body needs to see real results and results that last. Look, don't wait anymore. Take charge of your health and join our community of strong, empowered women. Visit warriorbabe.com forward slash apply today to start your transformation.

21:37That's warriorbabe.com forward slash apply. All right, let's get back to the show. Dude, lifting weights builds strength, making everyday tasks that much easier to end improving your overall functional fitness. It makes it easier to do tasks like walking up steps, lifting your groceries, lifting your kids, and it just improves your overall ability to go do yoga, go do Pilates, go do a boot camp. It just, it improves your overall functional fitness.

22:07So it increased your strength in that aspect. It obviously, number two, improves your body composition. Strength training increases your muscle mass and it decreases your body fat, leading to a leaner, more toned physique, which many of you want to go after and achieve. To ultimately improve your body composition, you have to incorporate strength training. You can't rely on boot camps, on F45, on Orange Theory, on Pilates to improve your body composition. The only thing that's going to improve your body composition is strength training.

22:40And until that's proven otherwise, scientifically, that just makes that much sense. Because you're putting more and more resistance than your body has ever experienced by lifting heavier weights than it's ever experienced that's going to increase muscle mass. There's, Pilates is not going to do that because there's a ceiling you hit with the Pilates resistance. At 45, same thing, I think you're lifting like 10 pound weights. You ain't going to, you may get a little bit more tone from you decreasing body fat, but in order for you to increase more muscle mass, which over the course of you increasing more muscle mass,

23:13you're going to increase your BMR and you're going to have a higher likelihood of decreasing body fat faster and easier as you continue to build more muscle, which is going to make you leaner and which is going to give you more of a toned physique. The third thing is weight-bearing exercises. So even if like you're just starting out with strength training, you're doing weight-bearing exercises like body weight or something like that, that alone with adding more weight and getting into 10 pounds and 20 pounds and 30 pounds and whatever is so critical for bone density, which helps to prevent osteoporosis as you age and fractures as you age.

23:47And especially for women that are pre-menopause, going through menopause or post-menopause, like if you can be proactive before you go to that transition of life with strength training, you're going to improve your overall bone health, which is ultimately going to make you that much stronger. Okay. Number four, muscle tissue burns more calories at rest than fat tissue does. So increasing muscle mass can boost your metabolism and it can aid in long-term weight management. I talked about this so many freaking times on recent episodes of the podcast.

24:21The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn while you're sleeping, while you're sitting down on your couch, while you're sitting down at work during the day, then the fat tissue on your body is going to burn. And so over time, as I just said, as you build more muscle, that's going to continue to boost your metabolism because you're increasing your basal metabolic rate, which is how many calories you burn while at rest. So, and overall, that's just like the more muscle mass you have to your body. Like you, I, I'm learning that like,

24:52you can get away with a lot of stuff when you have more muscle mass to your body. And it's pretty freaking cool. Like you can have the ice cream when you want it. You can have a cookie when you want it. And like, you can get away with it, the more muscle mass you have. And I know this firsthand because I am living that experience right now in my ninth year of being in this journey. And then the last thing overall, like those are some physical aspects, but mentally, dude,

25:23this is hands down one of the things that increased my confidence and my mood. Exercise, strength, training, they, it releases so many endorphins that improves your mood, that boosts your confidence. And so like when you go into the gym and you've never gone into the gym before, you've never gone to the weight room, like you're proving to yourself that you can do that more. You can do that over and over and over again. And there you're building more self-confidence. And by getting through your first workout of strength training that you've never done before, you're showing yourself that you can do it and you're developing and building confidence by doing that.

25:57When you achieve strength goals, when you achieve, achieve pull-ups, push-ups, squats, you know, you achieve lifting heavier weight than you've ever done before that empowers you to do more of that. And at the same time, it enhances the way you like see your body and it makes you have a more positive narrative around your body image, especially when you start seeing the changes that strength training could offer you when in terms of results. So all in all to say with this entire podcast, you guys, one, what to just recap the benefits of,

26:35of lifting weights for, for women, one, it increases your strength, two, it improves your body composition, three, it makes your bone health that much stronger. Number four, it offers a boost in your metabolic rate. Number five, it enhances your mood and your, and your confidence. And then the scientific backing of this is like the hormonal differences that men have out then from men to women, the training volume and intensity, like most women just focus on moderate weights and

27:06challenging weights with higher repetitions, which doesn't really, uh, endorse a bulk, uh, result. And then the other scientific thing was the calorie intake. So in order for one to really gain muscle mass, you have to consume more calories than you burn. And a lot of women are afraid to do that. So majority of the women are naturally in a caloric deficit or, um, in a, uh, like maintenance phase. And that supports more of you just see more muscle definition to your body without significant,

27:40like muscle growth happening. It can happen, but it won't happen at incremental amounts of what women think when they think I'm going to get too bulky. It's not going to happen. Like, let's just like, let's just completely like that. That is just completely debunked in this episode right now. Lifting weights won't make you bulky, but it will make you stronger. It will make you healthier and it will make you way, way, way, way, way more confident. By incorporating strength training into your everyday routine, you can achieve a toned,

28:14lean, more defined physique and enjoy so many numerous health benefits that come from you doing that type of exercise. So my friends, I hope that that truly just, again, debunked that myth. And just throws these misconceptions about how muscle growth works and the differences between the male and the female makeup of our bodies. Just, I hope it gives you a different perspective on the topic and makes you more confident knowing

28:52that, Hey, I'm going to go smash some freaking weights and I'm going to feel good about doing it and not have to worry about anything else. All right. So hope you guys, hope you guys appreciate it and enjoy this podcast. Share this podcast with one of your friends, this specific episode with one of your friends that constantly says, I'm going to get too bulky while lifting weights and just let her listen to it. Okay. Appreciate you guys. Love you guys. I'll see you next time. Hey guys, real quick. If you're interested in taking your body to the next level, lose body fat, build more muscle,

29:24feel more confident, do it alongside one of our 30 plus professional coaches. Work one-on-one with her to eliminate all of the guesswork that you may have. And all you need to do is just do the work that she tells you to do to get to those goals of yours. And to learn more, click the link below this podcast and apply to our VIP program right now. Thank you.

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.