Why Weight Lifting Makes Women Sexy
By Jason
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There is a commonly held phobia that weight lifting will make a woman look like a man. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Weight lifting can make a man look more like a man, but it also makes a woman look more like a woman. The idea that women should look like nothing but skin and bones is absolutely wrong, and weight lifting will not make a woman become massively muscular either. Weight lifting helps to shape a woman and give her a better figure.
It’s sad that these kinds of ideas and rumors have become so prevalent in the world today. It’s as if society has dictated that women must become unhealthily skinny to be attractive.
The truth is that most women are suffering from a lack of muscle. Many of them suffer from the pains of having a weak body, lack of energy, and difficulty lifting moderately heavy objects in every day life.
Building muscle helps women to keep fat levels down without having to starve themselves skinny. All of the benefits of weight lifting that I mention throughout this site apply just as much to women as they do to men.
If you’re a woman and afraid that lifting will make you look like a man, here are 5 reasons why you don’t need to worry:
- First off, you’re not a man: Plain and simple. You won’t look like a man because you don’t have the natural testosterone to get you there. Becoming large like a man requires the testosterone that men have… you can make your own guesses about how the muscle ladies get so big.
- Building muscle is tough: If it were an easy thing to do, all the guys would also be big and muscular. Most guys need to slave away in the gym to put any muscle on their bodies at all. If you’re a woman, how much more tremendously difficult will this be?
- The most beautiful women also lift: Show me your favorite celebrity with a perfect body, and I’ll show you a woman who probably complements her training with weights. They usually will have their own personal trainers. Also, some of the hottest girls are found in the free weights section of the gym.
- Being well-rounded is not a guy thing: Our bodies are not that different at the end of the day. The simple fact that you have muscles on your body means that you should take good care of them. Taking a well-rounded approach to your physical fitness is not just a guy thing.
- This is how you get “toned”: Men call it getting ripped, women call it getting toned. Whatever you call it, you’re going to need some weight training to get there. Just losing all your weight makes you skinny and even sickly looking. Weights are what help you to shape yourself.
Climbing Higher
Even if you did manage to somehow beat the odds and look big like a man without steroids, it would be a very difficult and slow journey. You wouldn’t roll out of bed one morning and look in the mirror and then say “Holy [insert your favorite expletive here]!!! Where did these huge biceps come from!?”
You would have to climb your way up slowly just like everyone else. That’s why I like to compare women’s weight lifting to rock climbing. Imagine you are standing at the foot of a huge rock wall. How high you climb up this wall represents how much muscle you put on your body.
When you get to a rock climbing wall, you don’t just hop right up to the top of wall in a single jump. You have to start at the bottom of the rock and climb up it step by step just like all the other humans out there. Men have to start at the bottom just like women do.
How high you decide to climb will be entirely up to you. Men will tend to want to climb higher and faster than women do, and that’s ok. Build muscle and climb only as high as you want, and then go ahead and “tone” yourself and maintain your muscle once you get there.
If you ever look back down at the ground and feel like you have climbed up higher than you wanted to go, all you have to do is just let go of the rock. Once you let go, the rope will slowly lower you back to the ground.
The same goes for building muscle. If you ever feel like you’ve built too much muscle, all you have to do is just let go. Just stop lifting weights for while or go easy for a bit and you will start to lose your muscle. Having less muscle your body’s default if you just do nothing.
Looking huge like a man is not the default for women, and it is actually a tough climb every bit of the way up. Even if you wanted to look like a man, you’d have to really fight for it.
Some perspective
To sum it up, weight lifting makes women look attractive. Don’t be afraid when we talk about the mass-building exercises as if they somehow apply to men only. Women need to build muscle mass just like men do.
The only difference is the amount of muscle mass. Just because you’re building muscle mass doesn’t mean that you have to build a massive amount of muscle mass. You might decide that you only want to build a small amount of muscle mass, but you will never have a toned figure unless you first have something to tone.
Use the same methods that men use to build your initial base, and then stop climbing higher when you reach a point that you are happy with.
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Topics: Workout Principles |
December 20th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
This article is not your best work.
1) majority of readers (and your demographic) are male
2) skinny women that don’t weightlift aren’t reading this page
December 20th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
AJ-
Hey, I respect your thoughts on this article, but this was requested by a female reader. My thoughts-
1) As this blog is still relatively new, the demographic is now being defined. I imagine many readers will be guys, but health is for women too.
2) Women may or may not be reading. But perhaps you may know some women around you… If you do, you can help them out and send this article to them. Same goes for other guy readers- we live with women in the world, work with them, date them, etc. More women lifting weights is healthy for the women and appreciated by the men
December 21st, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Well, yeah, most of the readers are men, but what about the MINORITY of US who are women? Gee, I don’t know about you, but I really appreciate something geared toward us women. Seems like the advice in women’s mags isn’t serious, and the advice in men’s mags is geared toward the male body.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I do work out a lot, but I don’t look like men at all. However, I always wanted to learn more about weight lifting because it tones the body and make it sexy. I am naturally skinny, so I admire the ladies who are curvy especially because of their weight lifting. And I always wondered what they do to make it so toned… the two lines in their belly. And high lifted good looking butt… Curvy arms…
A lot of men and women out there think skinny models and stars are hot… But, to me that’s gross!!!
I appreciate this post because this reminds me why I want to lift. And I need more information on female weight lifting!
BTW, AJ, me and my other skinny female friend have been reading most of articles here, and we always wanted to see some female weight lifting articles!!!
December 24th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Tina-
Thanks for your comments. What I’m trying to say in this article is that I won’t be doing much in the way of writing for men vs. for women. AJ was saying that most readers will be men, and he’s probably right, and my point is that workouts for men and women aren’t necessarily different per se.
Workouts should differ based on your goals, not on your sex. Most women want to “tone”, and many men do as well. Men need to put on muscle before toning, and the same goes for women. How much muscle you put on before toning is an individual thing, but both men and women need to build a muscle base, and both sexes can benefit from isolation exercises at a certain point. The difference is that men will probably need to pack on a whole lot more muscle before turning to the whole “toning” or “ripping” process.
So before we get too caught up in men vs. women, I’m trying to establish that there shouldn’t be a mens’ vs. womens’ workout in the first place. Choose your exercises based on your goals, not on your sex.
January 9th, 2008 at 9:44 am
I GOT MY FOOT IN MY MOUTH :p
…sooo my gf is going to start going to the gym, and she wants to mostly run. I told her she needs to weight lift. Do you think you could post a weeks schedule of what exercises a woman should do?
I want to teach her how to squat but is it too early for a novice?
Do I teach her the same exercises that I do?!
Thanks in advance,
AJ
January 9th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
AJ- glad to hear you’re bringing the girlfriend along. Squats are great, and now is the best time when she has someone to help her with form. I got married about a year ago and took my wife to do squats alot and it made her legs and butt look great.
If her goal is to lose fat, weight lifting will do alot to help. She’ll need to keep muscle as she loses fat. Since she’s a beginner (and I’m guessing you’re not), her routine should be less intense than yours. You can get her on the 30 minute beginner routine.
January 9th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Thanks Jason
February 12th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Hey Jason - yeah, this is something I used to wonder about, particularly when I saw the flat chested muscles ladies at the gym. It definitely seems to be a common misconception that even normal weight lifting will make women look that way.
Just came across you site BTW, keep up the good work!
February 12th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Mel- Agreed, but I’ve also noticed many men saying similar things… “I don’t want to get big, I just want to tone”. I suppose this all applies just as much to men who don’t want to get big. You’re muscle size certainly won’t ever be a sudden surprise.
And thanks for the encouraging words
August 16th, 2008 at 11:10 am
I really enjoyed this article. Keep on writing more of this material.
I see alot more women incorporating weights into their workout routines. I hope that the myth of the weight lifting equals a bulked-up woman will soon be dispelled.