| You can be forgiven for believing that women | | | | impression that muscle building women look more |
| don't look very feminine when they work out | | | | masculine. Those who do build big muscles are |
| with weights. | | | | very serious about their training and the exercises |
| The wrong impression is given by the media | | | | they engage in. |
| when women bodybuilders are featured. They are | | | | Women in general have much less genetic |
| generally shown when they are at their ripped and | | | | predisposition to building muscle than men. |
| vascular contest peak or when actually training | | | | A female bodybuilder for example may have |
| with weights in the gym. This is when their skin is | | | | about 5kg more lean muscle mass than the |
| thinnest and fat is lowest in order to show the | | | | average woman. A male bodybuilder though could |
| most detail and striation of every muscle. On top | | | | outweigh the average man by up to 50kg in lean |
| of that, all the images people see are when | | | | muscle mass. |
| muscularity is maximized by the poses. Rarely are | | | | A male bodybuilder will often be recognized as |
| they shown standing normally with muscles | | | | such even when fully dressed in the street. Even |
| relaxed. They are instead shown pumped and | | | | competitive female bodybuilders on the other |
| tight from exercise. | | | | hand, are rarely identified as bodybuilders when |
| Furthermore, women bodybuilders only look like | | | | they are dressed in normal street clothes. |
| that once or twice a year at the end of the | | | | Because women just don't have the natural |
| training for competition cycle. | | | | hormonal makeup to develop giant muscles, the |
| This misconception that if you work out with | | | | changes they make from bodybuilding exercise |
| weights you are going to balloon out to look | | | | are much less pronounced than in men. |
| muscular and lose your femininity deters many | | | | An average 80kg (175lb) man who starts serious |
| women from even considering resistance training | | | | bodybuilding training might be able to put on about |
| as part of their body shaping exercise and health | | | | 15kb (35lb) of solid muscle in a five year period |
| program. | | | | without using steroids. Over the same period a |
| Also, many males and females think it is not | | | | woman equally serious about training might be |
| ladylike for women to workout with heavy | | | | able to gain about 5kg, a third of the solid muscle |
| weights as in power lifting or bodybuilding. | | | | that a man could gain. And that's if she has |
| Society ascribes various feelings and traits that | | | | favourable genetics and works out hard. |
| should go with the words masculinity and | | | | Women reshape their bodies without adding |
| femininity. Men for example have big muscles and | | | | muscle bulk. As a woman training with weights |
| don't cry at the movies; women don't have big | | | | you are more likely to improve your shape, tone |
| muscles and do cry at the movies. | | | | and proportions than build great muscle mass. |
| Life however, is not so straight forward because | | | | The last thing you need to be concerned about |
| men can cry at the movies and women, at least | | | | with exercise is developing large muscles if you |
| some of them, can develop big muscles. Genetics | | | | don't want them. Even if you did want them, they |
| plays a big role in how much muscle a woman can | | | | are incredibly difficult to build. Instead you can look |
| develop. Very very few, in fact, are actually able | | | | forward to body changes that make you sexy |
| to develop the big muscles that lend to the | | | | and attractive as well as fit and healthy. |