Squatting causing larger thighs? page 9

[john_e_turner_ii]

Joy uses the Leangains approach, and goes into detail about her Leangains journey. Might be something to consider as far as fat loss.

[purple579]

Check out Joy Victoria. She is in great shape, squats, deadlifts, etc., but not bulky. She is definitely defined and has muscle mass, but in no way looks manly.

Joy Victoria - S&C Coach — Joy Victoria - Personal Trainer, S&C Coach

It was never a question of looking "manly". Joy Victoria looks great and I'm extremely impressed with her abilities. But that doesn't mean that what she does is going to work the same for me. Everyone's body responds extremely differently, so to do her exact workout and expect to look the same is foolish.
It frustrates me that their are two myths circulating the fitness world...one, that lifting weights will somehow turn women into giant, manly bodybuilders(false) and the one that if you lift weights, women will transform into bikini competitors with fat-scorching metabolisms who can eat a ton....also, sadly, false. If only the world worked that way...

[Leida]

i am curious to see the results of your muscle building experiment. when it comes time, i think you understand that the cardio, as well as the WODs have to come to a stop. one of the first rules of building mass is eliminating the excess cardio. then you will have to eat in a surplus. i'd say the 1gram of protein per lb of bodyweight would be a good place to start as well. also, in the future, when you are attempting to cut weight (fat) at least 1 gram of protein per lb of bodyweight. as for a lifting plan, a hypertrophy-specific plan might suit you better than a 5x5 or 3x5 program. following something like westside for skinny bastards might work. or working with more of a traditional bodybuilding split might benefit you as well. growing muscle is definitely not easy work. and considering the fact that you are a woman in her 30s, thats just 2 more strikes against you. best of luck

But I DID, I did do 5x5, 3x5, Madcow, Max/Failure super-short lifting and without cardio fat comes on too fast. Lyle McDonalds is VERY clear on that point. To keep fat gain under control women must do cardio... Cross-fit says that WODs are more effective for Bodybuilding than the bodybuilding on their web-site. I know what my weight/LBM was before I started cross-fit, so by the end of this week I will weight myself again, and report weight/LBM after month of cross-fit WODs and compare to gains on pure lifting without cardio at surplus.

By the way, did LeanGains, and it did absolutely nothing, except made it absolutely impossible to eat with the family when you have grass-fed and pasteurized meats stashed in the freezer. The family enjoys a beautiful grass-fed steak, and you are hugging a can of tuna... doesn't feel no more right than eating art sweetened jello instead of an apple because you count carbs. The artificial macros can move you a few notches, but in the long run are the wrong thing to do, because I do not believe in creating a body that can only be sustained through careful engineering and using 'component' foods. Might as well go on a diet of protein shakes. With oil one day, without - the next.

There gotta be the way of eating real food, where veggies, fruit and meats combine joyfully for flavor's sake in soups, stews, whatever, and have a firm body that is not like you gonna compete 24/7, but doesn't have the dribble either.

It frustrates me that their are two myths circulating the fitness world...one, that lifting weights will somehow turn women into giant, manly bodybuilders(false) and the one that if you lift weights, women will transform into bikini competitors with fat-scorching metabolisms who can eat a ton....also, sadly, false. If only the world worked that way...

OMG, you managed to say in 2 sentences what I wrote like 2 pages about. KUDOS!

[magnolia1973]

To keep fat gain under control women must do cardio...

Except when that doesn't work.

I think that pointing at Fitness Professionals and saying "you can have that body" is just pointless. 1. Fitness Professionals have huge incentive to look good PLUS if they end up in that field, they probably have a life long interest in fitness. There is an amazing instructor at my gym who has an envious body, does nutrition counseling. She is a beautiful woman with a lot of great advice. But I saw her transformation pics and she was never obese or even skinny fat, and her whole life has been targeted to fitness and nutrition. I have no doubt her advice is sound, but doubt it is going to get my body to look like hers. Like, no one else at the gym looks like her, yet there are many very athletic women and people that care for nutrition.

There gotta be the way of eating real food, where veggies, fruit and meats combine joyfully for flavor's sake in soups, stews, whatever, and have a firm body that is not like you gonna compete 24/7, but doesn't have the dribble either.

I think that you really do have to choose, because a healthy lifestyle does not yield a hard body for most women. I really don't think you can enjoy life AND be a 10 in a bikini if you are north of 30 unless you enjoy tuna, vegetables and working out 2 hours a day. But you can get yourself to a 7 or 8 in bikini. Even men, for whom body fat serves limited purpose, struggle to get hard bodies.

I wish that Mark would focus on body image issues.

[Leida]

Except when that doesn't work.

Works for me. Lifting plus cardio = no fat gain and muscle retention.

I think that you really do have to choose, because a healthy lifestyle does not yield a hard body for most women. I really don't think you can enjoy life AND be a 10 in a bikini if you are north of 30 unless you enjoy tuna, vegetables and working out 2 hours a day. But you can get yourself to a 7 or 8 in bikini. Even men, for whom body fat serves limited purpose, struggle to get hard bodies.

I actually enjoy tuna & steamed veggies, lol. I voluntarily had tuna and egg white smoothie this morning with dill; love shrimp and egg whites as well, and boiled cod, basa, haddock. AND ground lean turkey meatballs. I just don't enjoy it the whole day long, lol on a schedule. Love some fatty meats too, save for pork. I am equal opportunity meat eater, I suppose. Anyway, just funny, not really relevant to discussion. And, uhm, I do move 2 hours a day combined. Before I used to do it all on high intensity, now I mixed intensity.

We actually had a conversation at Shangri-La and another couple of ladies reported the best body comp with just slow movement out of doors for 6+ hours a day. Unsustainable in RL, obviously. But I think prolongued SM for women is actually a BIG DEAL.

I think that you really do have to choose, because a healthy lifestyle does not yield a hard body for most women. I really don't think you can enjoy life AND be a 10 in a bikini if you are north of 30 unless you enjoy tuna, vegetables and working out 2 hours a day. But you can get yourself to a 7 or 8 in bikini. Even men, for whom body fat serves limited purpose, struggle to get hard bodies.

I wish that Mark would focus on body image issues.

Yeah, I wish there was more frank information on what's possible what's not possible.

[Gorbag]

It frustrates me that their are two myths circulating the fitness world...one, that lifting weights will somehow turn women into giant, manly bodybuilders(false) and the one that if you lift weights, women will transform into bikini competitors with fat-scorching metabolisms who can eat a ton....also, sadly, false. If only the world worked that way...

A high volume strength-endurance routine 5-6 days a week, will burn far more calories and give most females a more aestetic body, with less dieting, than certain abbreviated bulking routines aka Starting Strength etc. It all depends on what goals you are going for...

[TheFastCat]

Not true. There are a number of training variables that can be modified to stimulate muscle tone/strength/muscle size in varying proportions... and there's a LOT of research there to boot.

Toning without size is about keeping the gamma nervous system activated without stimulating type IIb muscle fibers which have the most potential for hypertrophy...higher reps, 15+ work the type I and type IIa fibers. Strength without size is about working with lower repetitions so neural development and not muscle cellular development occurs. Check out a book on exercise program design if you are interested. Poliquin is worth checking out.

What this guy says.

The irony being that ladies who avoid "looking bulky" by lifting heavy weight end up with more hypertrophy by doing their sets of 10-12.

[TheFastCat]

Except when that doesn't work.

I think that pointing at Fitness Professionals and saying "you can have that body" is just pointless. 1. Fitness Professionals have huge incentive to look good PLUS if they end up in that field, they probably have a life long interest in fitness. There is an amazing instructor at my gym who has an envious body, does nutrition counseling. She is a beautiful woman with a lot of great advice. But I saw her transformation pics and she was never obese or even skinny fat, and her whole life has been targeted to fitness and nutrition. I have no doubt her advice is sound, but doubt it is going to get my body to look like hers. Like, no one else at the gym looks like her, yet there are many very athletic women and people that care for nutrition.




I think that you really do have to choose, because a healthy lifestyle does not yield a hard body for most women. I really don't think you can enjoy life AND be a 10 in a bikini if you are north of 30 unless you enjoy tuna, vegetables and working out 2 hours a day. But you can get yourself to a 7 or 8 in bikini. Even men, for whom body fat serves limited purpose, struggle to get hard bodies.

I wish that Mark would focus on body image issues.

Mark Sisson's wife is super hot, is a vegetarian and doesn't work out two hours a day. I will grant you that if you want to look attractive and fit then you will. However it will take a concerted effort - maybe 1-2 hours a day. This shouldn't be surprising? Is it really? Lots of things require sacrifice if you really want to excel at them - body composition is no different. It's also the reason body compositions are appealing -- because the majority of people say "fuck this this is too hard it isn't worth the effort".

if two hours a day to *get into shape for* the body of your dreams (read:not maintain!) isn't worth the effort then you really don't want it - which is fine. But acting as though it's some onerous, terrible chore to shed fat, get lean and strong, healthy and fit.... what the fuck else are you going to be doing with two hours a day that IS MORE IMPORTANT than being healthy?? cry me a river!

[canio6]

OP - an excellent thread. Thank you for bringing it up. Every time I start to think I should lift weights I get confused so this thread cleared up a lot, and luckily I am a dude so do not have to stress some of the issues brought up by women here (though it is nice to see how the 'other side' fares on such topics)

I wish that Mark would focus on body image issues.

Yeah, I wish there was more frank information on what's possible what's not possible.

To address the quotes above, I am not sure Mark could. As has been stated/implied in this thread, body is very much an n = 1. The OP does not want large thighs which make wearing pants/shorts uncomfortable, Leida wants to be firmer and have less body fat (despite having a body which Magnolia says 95% of women over 30 would want), Magnolia seems to be very happy with her ass but not with her arms, meanwhile poster X might want bigger arms and a different ass or to gain 20 pounds while poster Y wants to lose 20.

As Iniquity said, we make the mistake of trying to tell others how they should look. How would Mark addressing body image be any different? Mark, "Hey, be happy with what you have..."

Again, as it has been said in this thread, some women gain muscle quickly, others don't, some have short legs, some have stubborn fat in certain areas, it varies.

Men are much the same. I have decent sized legs, broad shoulders, and tiny ass arms. It frustrates the hell out of me, is that something Mark can make me feel better about? How would he know what is realistic for me, without meeting with me. Perhaps I am one of the bless 1%, perhaps I can do a shit ton of squats and not get the gains Fastcat could doing half the work, perhaps my arms will always be proportionally small, how would he know?

Again, I am no expert on weight lifting/exercise, it just seems that outside of broad guidelines (Primal Fitness etc) 'what is possible' and body image are very much an individual thing.

sorry for the hijack, back to the informative and entertaining thread the OP started...

[TheFastCat]

"I think that you really do have to choose, because a healthy lifestyle does not yield a hard body for most women. I really don't think you can enjoy life AND be a 10 in a bikini if you are north of 30 unless you enjoy tuna, vegetables and working out 2 hours a day. But you can get yourself to a 7 or 8 in bikini. Even men, for whom body fat serves limited purpose, struggle to get hard bodies.

I wish that Mark would focus on body image issues. "


Yeah, I wish there was more frank information on what's possible what's not possible.

Just tossing this out there - a girlfriend of mine who doesn't exercise told me an anecdote yesterday. She was in Whole Foods and noticed a 60 year old woman wearing a crossfit shirt. The woman obviously did Crossfit -- "She had an ass of a twenty year old -- I (my friend who is 34) wanted to ask her where she got it - I want an ass like hers!"

she went on to say the rest of her body was equally fit and good looking.

Don't know what to say ladies - feel free to throw your hands in the air and say it is impossible to achieve the body you want - but it isn't. See it every day -- people who work hard to achieve their goals. Then there are the people who get on an internet forum and bemoan that their goals are impossible.