Two schools of thought on bulking issue

J

Jane P

Cathlete
I have been avidly reading the threads about the bulking of the lower body with weight workouts. From what I've been able to gather, there seems to be two schools of thought on this. One is that you should not do any standing lower body resistance work at all, and maybe even avoid step. The other is that you should work the lower body more often using light weights, maybe even every day. I can't decide which approach makes more sense. I do know that alternating step with weight tapes (mostly Cathe's) has not really worked for me so I've made up my own routine, but I'm not sure if it'll work any better.

BTW, has anyone seen that feature in Sports Illustrated for Women where people try to guess what sport the athlete performs, based on the way her body looks? Obviously, different activities do make a difference in the way the body appears.
 
RE: How about a third school . . .

Hi, Jane! The following is strictly my opinion, and probably a minority one:

IMHO, far too many people, especially women, make exercise decisions based on "skinny aesthetics" (most notably fear of "bulking up") rather than health. I absolutely disagree with the position that one should avoid strength training the lower body muscle groups, either by avoiding weighted work altogether or by using light weights.

Without strong leg muscles one's ability to perform high-intensity cardio work is limited. And you cannot develop leg strength using zero weights or light weights.

If you focus on heavy-weighted leg strength training AND continue to perform consistent upper-intensity cardio work, any "bulking up" is usually of short duration; then the newly-developed muscle mass kind of packs itself down. Granted, there may be individual differences within that, but that has been my experience and the experience of many others.

Also, heavy-weighted leg strength training is invaluable for maintaining bone density and functional fitness.

Just my $.02 . . .

Annette
 
RE: How about a third school . . .

I agree with Annette. Fat is found not only outside the muscles, but inside them as well. It takes a long time to work the fat out from inside muscles. The esthetic key may lie in giving a balanced program enough time to take effect (a year) before discarding it.

We like immediate gratification though.
 
RE: How about a third school . . .

I agree with both Annette and Connie. I always had heavy legs until I started doing lower body training with heavy weights (for me, that's 2 x 15 lb dumbbells, and I was working up to 2 x 20 lb when I got pregnant -- so now I've reduced my weights back down again). I had to use weights that were heavy enough to make the lower body work really difficult. It took 6-8 months before I saw results, but my legs did end up slimmer and in better proportion with the rest of my body. The strength I acquired also helped me go longer and harder with my cardio, so I think that helped with the fat burning too.

I did the "toning" thing (lighter weights, high reps) for 15 years, but that did nothing to change the shape of my legs relative to the rest of my body. A couple of times during that period, I lost weight by cleaning up my diet, but even though my legs ended up smaller than at the start, they were still big in proportion to everything else.

Patience is key, that's for sure!
 
Hmm.. this is interesting... I've really cleaned up my eating (moderation does Not work for me) instead no sugar and no flour - and lots of water - more fruit and veggies
got some improvement -
then I went to 4 cardio - 3 upper body - 3 lower body - More improvement

No I've been doing heavier weights (S&H - legs type stuff) and for the first time - I'm actually seeing new shape to my legs - by no means am I totally content but I was looking at M&F for her and decided muscular legs really dont look all that bad -

I'm with you guys its more the fat over the muscles and once that goes away the heavier weights really look nice!
 
Hmm.. this is interesting... I've really cleaned up my eating (moderation does Not work for me) instead no sugar and no flour - and lots of water - more fruit and veggies
got some improvement -
then I went to 4 cardio - 3 upper body - 3 lower body - More improvement

Now I've been doing heavier weights (S&H - legs type stuff) and for the first time - I'm actually seeing new shape to my legs - by no means am I totally content but I was looking at M&F for her and decided muscular legs really dont look all that bad -

I'm with you guys its more the fat over the muscles and once that goes away the heavier weights really look nice!
 
Just my humble opinion . . .

I don't have an opinion. Shoot, God, my father, and my mother gave me this body and I've got great assets and not so great assets. I've got thick legs and a tiny waist, no butt to speak off and very chesty.

I'm 39 years old and I just don't care anymore. I want to feel and look like me . . . not like someone else or like someone else thinks I should look or feel. It's probably age talking here, but I say, if you've got the muscles baby, show those bad dogs off. ;-)

But that is of course with not too much body fat, don't ya know.

Again, just my thoughts, flaunt what you got.

Keta. :D

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I agree with everyone, muscles are beautiful. As someone who is naturally muscular, I know that the difference in appearance (bulky vs. curvy) is an issue of body fat. It's that simple.
 
The S&H Legs workout was everything I needed. Could not believe that after all these years of suffering through fast and furious squats and lunges that they would respond so wonderfully to something so simple. Yet haven't I always read that to build muscle you had to lift exactly that? Slow and Heavy?
My thoughts on bulking up? I think this depends on what you think of as bulk. I have seen women from work referred to as having muscular thighs but to me they look pretty thick. They do have some tone but the thigh looks rather "Thick" is all that comes to mind. Fitness competitors on the other hand have really muscular bods. Is that what people call bulky? Is that what they mean when they say they have gotten "too bulky?" that they look like M&F models? Wow.
I havent been lucky enough to get legs that are proportioned to my upper body and have had to work them a lot to get them to grow. Given the choice between nice girlie legs and my lean ones right now, I'd chose the girlie legs. But between skinny and lean then I'd stick with lean. Weights have made them defined and stepping has done a pretty good job with the fat. Yesterday I noticed a cut beginning to show in the middle of my thigh. I started to panic thinking " Is that ugly? " but then I saw that picture in Women's Sports Illustrated and some more in Runner's World and decided ... those women dont look bad at all. Even if they have quads and hams and calves that stand out. Could be worse, could go back to stick legs.
 
Rachel, you make an excellent point: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I do know that although I question the attractiveness of my muscularity at times, when I am training consistently and my body fat % is reasonable, I get many compliments from both men and women on the shape of my legs.
 
I have to agree with the posters waaaay above who mentioned heavy weight work, good for your bones, etc. For me the issue of "bulky" legs comes up in the way my pants fit. If they are really tight around the thighs they're uncomfortable, but I'm realising that for me that is often a function of "swelling" in the muscles, and although they can feel bulky for a while if I'm doing a lot of heavy leg work, they slim down eventually.

I think as women we always have water retention to consider as well, and I thought that post about fat within the muscle was really interesting too. I agree with keta, I think I personally want to make peace with the body I have. I don't want to stress about bulky legs!! Plus, I keep upping my weights anyway out of some perverse desire to someday lift as heavy as Cathe. I don't think my hour of workout every morning is going to bulk me up like a fitness competitor, no matter how heavy I lift. And, I find that if I walk a lot it seems to work the water/fat/lactic acid through better and the swelling doesn't last as long.

Christine
 
I'm with Christine, I judge my thick thighs by how they fit in pants, which is tight. I would like to be able to wear any old pair of jeans but I just can't. Part of the problem is that my waist is so much smaller that to get the pants to fit the waist, then the legs are too tight.
 
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