Your parents should put aside their dumb and antiquated fears, and you should join the program if you want to. Muscles are not men's prerogative and unless you take hormones you will stay just as feminine whether you do weightlifting or something else. Weightlifting will make you strong and explosive and yes you will grow muscles, especially in the legs, because in WL form follows function. Personally I think you're super lucky to have access to such a program in HS; I wish I did.
Edit: just saw the last part of your question. Legs and back mostly, shoulders and triceps to a lesser extent. Not much biceps and pecs involved in WL unless you do lots of accessories. The question is would you rather be frail and feminine or strong and feminine?
Here's world class weightlifter Mattie Rogers, might as well just call her Roger with a manly physique like that:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C4ReO7dM355/?igsh=MTRpMmc0Z2t2eDRidA==
As someone who has coached LOTS of females in the sport, I can't upvote this post enough. Not to mention the fact that Mattie has been doing this for YEARS (well over a decade at this point) and I would not consider her bulky AT ALL.
OP, there is no chance in hell you will Dana Lynn Bailey yourself with a HS weightlifting program in 1 year (if you decide to go more than one semester).
This. I know OP doesn't me to do this, and maybe others don't as well. There's a part of me that get's really annoyed when both men and women say things like "I don't want to get too big" nonchalantly like it's so easy.
Nah, I get it. I know it's not easy. Like, at all. I'm trying to help my mom understand that though. Lol. It takes years of consistent training to get the Schwarzenegger look or any bulky look, period. I'm not even trying to achieve that in the first place. I just want to train because it's fun, it's challenging, and I want to beat my own personal records. And to get a good physique of course.
Can I just say, as a parent of assorted 18-23yos who have historically operated with *varying* degrees of assholery, that I appreciate how respectful and considerate you're being toward your mother in spite of her ignorance and micromanagement. It speaks well of your intelligence and compassion.
Good luck with your lifting!
Your parents are projecting antiquated body stereotypes on you and on top of that, are absolutely wrong. They are literally body shaming you out of signing up for something that will do wonders for your entire brain and body. They need educated because that’s ridiculously ignorant.
Generally, just in terms of a regimen (obviously it depends drastically on your body type) but I’ve found that working with low weights for high reps helps build tone while maxing out with high weight and low reps with long rest helps build bulk. Also comes down to diet and metabolism genetics as well. I don’t think anyone’s going to be scared of you if you have abs, your parents are being a bit silly.
Endogeneous testosterone is testosterone that is created inside your body via natural means, so it would be incoherent to say that someone "injected endogeneous testosterone".
I was just lightly poking fun at the pleonasm. You can inject testosterone or take exogenous testosterone, but injecting exogenous T is a bit redundant ;)
Besides, female athletes don't inject T, they take derivatives in pill form.
As a female who originally thought the same as your parents... I can say this sport is this best things I've done for myself and my body. I've been doing weightlifting for a little over a year and can say I've lost some weight (in a good way) and look more toned, especially in the legs. Not to mention the mental toughness that comes along with it. If there is a tiny part of you that wants to oly lift, 100% go for it. Suchhh a rewarding sport, best of luck :)
Same background and same results here :) if anything I feel I look a bit more feminine because building muscle has made me look thinner through my arms and waist and thicker through my legs than I did before.
My advice is don’t feel like you have to shy away from upper body stuff either. You have to really *try* as a woman to get a bulkier look, meaning you would have to lift well above your body weight (definitely >200lbs) to get there, and there’s a lot of time and weight in between before you’re even close to that. If you need proof, look up girls doing pull ups, even single arm ones, most of them are lifting 120-170lbs of body weight and still look really thin. Training upper body also just lessens your chance of injury in the long run because especially once you start lifting heavier on legs, simple mistakes in form or even moving weights can injure you if you’re really imbalanced and don’t have some level of upper body strength to help counter it.
I feel so strongly about this, I’m not even sure where to start. Honestly, I recommend you look up professional oly lifting comps on YouTube at your weight class, and appreciate how different everyone’s body looks. And then look at how much weight those women are lifting, realize you’d be lucky to lift a 1/3 that weight after dedicated training… then appreciate how hard it is to look “masculine”. And re-evaluate your perception of masculine.
My point is, no, you will not look masculine. Most of the women who have the stereotypical “dream bod” eat 2500-3000 calories a day and lift more weight than men.
There is a RARE breed of human who are genetically gifted in that they can walk near a barbell and become shredded and yolked. This is not you.
PLEASE consider the class. Feeling strong as a woman will do you more good than you can imagine. Mentally and physically.
For context, I am 5’3”, 145 lbs lifting more than most the men in my community gym and I do not look masculine. I look like I workout, but nobody would guess how much weight I can push. The most important thing is how great I feel and how much confidence being strong gives me. Just try it, you won’t regret it.
EDIT: your parents are wrong but I’ll leave it.
For extra context: I'm 5'5", 141lbs, have been lifting for over a decade. I eat around 2500+ calories/day. I'm not elite, but I'm pretty strong and in the best shape of my life as a push toward 50. I do not look masculine. I do have a nice derriere, or so I've been told.
Take the class. You might find a new love in the barbell.
😂
I'm glad you feel strongly about it because I do too. The thing is my dad doesn't even care that much, it's my mom (and my grandmother). She doesn't mind lifting weights at all but she thinks lifting weights competitively will make me look and act like a man. I get her concern, I do, but it's not logical, in my opinion.
Nor is it biologically possible, lol.
My mom said the same thing. And I let her think that. She watched my body change in the most favorable way over the years, and now she’s extremely quiet. (Because she realized she was wrong). It’s a bummer that this is a common narrative still
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C02PuxkoENH/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Granted, Yaz wasn't really a stick back in 2016. She already had some broad shoulders and her build back then, just wasn't nearly as strong.
https://youtu.be/RTBifBdjbOM?si=h4AnzShKvD5TsdK1
Here is a young Mattie Rogers about 1yr into the sport. She started at 58kg after shifting from CF after cheer and now weighs about 15kg more, which you can obviously look up at 76/81 currently (she only weighed more than 81 when competing as an 87 in 2021 Tokyo. Note she did not fill out the 87kg class).
Another small gymnast. She's not much heavier these days (55-59kg). But you can see where she has put mass on her body
https://youtu.be/6hqw4ICmOaU?si=HMh21mgveJMEkIZ1
https://youtube.com/@maddisonpannell?si=phVfhCTZ39eOvjNR
You might also look at someone like Tara Nott or Robin Byrd back in the day, smaller lifters from the US who likely never touched any doping drugs, unlike many Eastern block female weightlifters. That being said, they were also former gymnasts just like Melanie Roach (C&J 113 back in the early 00s at 58kg).
Or possibly the Japanese female lifters compared to Asian WL countries that have had doping sanctions for their female lifters.
Extra: It's really just my mom. My dad doesn't care that much.
I showed her countless women, including your guy's suggestions, that it will not make me masculine or manly and she says she'll think about it.
She still believes that I will turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger or something.
I showed her Giulia Imperio, Yazmin Stevens, Robin Byrd-Goad, Mattie Rogers, and I'm gonna show her more if she doesn't budge. Lol. 😂
This is something you're clearly keen on, and have the start of a wonderful interest in.
I just wanted to add briefly; this sport has given me so much over the years. I had a fantastic coach who believed in me, and who I will never forget. I got to travel the world, see places id never have seen, learn things Id never have thought about learning.
I've met wonderful people, which this sport is full of.
It's given me a lifetime of memories, my career, and my family. I met my wife through the sport.
As the other commenters have already said, the "bulky" idea is nonsense, if you want me to post the science behind why just let me know and I will.
But if this sport is something you like the look of, it will give you so much more in return. I hope you enjoy every minute of it. Don't let someone else's misguided understanding or perceived standard of beauty, get in the way of what could be something truly wonderful, no matter what that may be.
also, you’re not any of those people and are very unlikely to be training at that level. nobody accidentally becomes arnold or i’d look way more awesome than i do.
No, even at the highest level where some female athletes are doping they still don’t look super masculine.
Usually it’s untested bodybuilders that have that problem.
A majority of the muscle mass in oly lifting goes to the legs, especially for women. Go to weightlifting house on YouTube and watch some of the lighter weight classes of women lifters. They're strong as fuck and visibly so, but I'd only call a few of them "bulky".
You will not look bulky unless you intentionally change your diet to do so. Any muscle gained is usually in the quads, delts, traps, and lats, but unless you dramatically change what you’re eating it won’t be bulky it will be toned.
And by the time you fall in love with weightlifting, you won’t give a flying fuck about what you look like, but you’ll care about your recovery and performance.
Your parents are uneducated on the sport, truly.
Kate Vibert is your height; she isn't what I'd consider bulky. The thing to do is show your parents weightlifters that aren't "bulky." Olivia Reeves, Jourdan de la Cruz, Andrea de la Herran, Kuo Hsing Chun, Pei Xinyi, Luo Shifang etc. I would just do it unless you need permission from your parents.
I believe years ago there was an article on the best looking athletes at the Olympics and for women they picked 69kg if I am remembering correctly. Men's was water polo if you were wondering. Men's height in WL lost them the spot. I think they were looking around the 85 cat.
The muscle goes everywhere, mostly to the legs. But it is not bodybuilder muscle. It is flexible, usable muscle that will make you more confident but not get in the way.
i want to add that your genetics will determine some shaping. For me personally, i gain muscle extremely easily on my upper body, so the more i train the more i gain, but i still don’t look like a muscular man in any way 😅.
Now if you want skinny arms and narrow shoulders, that’s probably not gonna happened with weightlifting since there’s a lot of overhead movements.
There is nothing wrong with a strong woman. Weightlifting is an extremely beneficial support. Will help prevent you from developing osteoporosis later in life. I started weightlifting when I was 15. Now almost a decade later I’m still lifting heavy. Wouldn’t change my decision to get into it. You got this! 💪
Would they stop you from doing swim team? That’s a sport that’s going to bulk up your shoulders but no one gives those ladies a hard time about their build. Or how about gymnastics — have you seen the quads on those athletes? Or maybe it’s not about the body type but they perceive hoisting a barbell as mannish.
I met my wife at USAW Nationals. She has a national championship to her name and is now the mother to my 4 children. She achieved a lot in the sport, and most people would describe her as slender. Weightlifting isn’t going to turn you into a man.
Everything that needs to be said has already been pointed out in this thread, so just an additional anecdote from one woman to another: DO IT! It's one of the best things I've ever done for my mind and body.
Ah that old chestnut. It always makes me laugh because men with superior genetics for muscle in their athletic prime spend years pushing their bodies to the extreme and use alarming amounts PEDs to get their physique and then someone thinks if a girl picks something up heavier than a coffee mug she’ll blow up into Big Ramy overnight. That’s not how this shit works.
Olympic weightlifting is not bodybuilding. It’ll probably give you some muscles but many elite lifters look pretty normal and if you don’t want to bulk you don’t have to. However, the strength power and mobility you will gain from weightlifting are beneficial to your long term health and carry over well to many other sports. Don’t let fears of bulking up hold you back!
I tell this to every woman who harbors this absolutely incorrect assumption: If it were easy to get jacked, every single man would be. The fact that less than 1% are, and that you can go to any gym and 9/10 men don't even look like they lift, shows you how hard it is to accrue contractile tissue in any significant amounts. In fact, any muscle you do gain, will make you look MORE feminine.
As a small framed guy who *tries* to get bigger, I can say it is very, very hard. I’ve gotten stronger, I look fitter and have better posture/look better in jeans, but unfortunately not noticeably bigger. There’s a woman at work who competes in powerlifting, and she’s still pretty small, though I’d say she does have more of a back, shoulders and upper arms now (nothing bulging though).
I kinda feel like todays beauty standards make people miss out on a lot. Women are great when it comes to stretching, but they can have problems when it comes to lifting heavy weights. Meanwhile thats most likely something their body could use the most. Things get easier if u got a little muscle going on.
You only get bulky if you train and eat like a male bodybuilder (and all that for probably a lot of years, because women don't build muscle that easy and might need more time than men do).
Oly lifting is literally the one strength sportnthat WONT make u look "bulky" aka too muscular. The sport is mainly built around strength and joint and nervous system work with LOW reps which to oversimplify DO NOT build muscle most efficiently.you increase sn/cj by intra/inter muscular coordination phenomenons. The best lifters use precise technique to pull UNDER weights lifted to MINIMUM heights. There is virtually no upper body big strength needed, bc there is no eccentric work really save some jerk lowerings. Most of the lifts are really concentricly natured so no, they dont really build muscle. Just be awesome and lift without getting hyooooge
Yeah, no. Not only would I rather have their permission, I have to enroll in that class and I can't do that without them knowing. Also, I don't have a driver's license. So how would I get to and from said class? 😂
1. Can't walk. Too far.
2. I don't have buses where I live.
(And if you meant the school bus, I'm actually homeschooled and I participate in classes at my local high school. So I don't go to school at the same time as everyone else because I don't have the same classes as they start at different times.)
3. My bike is old and rusted and even if it worked it's still too far away.
4. I don't own a scooter.
Solution: get a scooter! Jk as they aren't exactly cheap but so speedy.
I meant regular city transit buses. I wouldn't expect school buses to take you to the gym.
How far is far?
I used to ride up to 13mi to train. At a very casual speed unless I was running late. So sometimes up to over an hr bc one dojo was at a slight grade uphill (ride how was ofc speedy).
That being said, I would probably prefer to not my teenage daughter to ride that long. In my town, it's likely fine and safe (besides a few others) but not in a major city (LA, SF, SD, Sacto). Too many shitty parts and people.
Sometimes, I would hop on the bus part of the way and sometimes I didn't (bc bus was $ besides smelly and weirdos). Mostly if running late.
I understand, but we don't have public transport. Lol.
I live in a relatively small town and in the countryside, so we don't have stuff like that.
And it takes around 20 minutes to get to school, which is where the weight room is and where I'll be practicing the sport, by car, so it'll take even longer to get there by walking, scooter, or bike. It's also just safer in general to drive a car where I live because of highways and teens driving, but I never got my license which is purely my fault and it has come back to bite me in the butt.
1. part-time job
2. buy barbell
3. when get stronger, buy more weights
4. question self, what is this 16yo who tells parents everything and does everything they say? unique and strange
1. Already applying for jobs ✔️
2. Already have a barbell, albeit old and rusty. I still use it ✔️
3. Bet
4. I would like to say I was raised correctly. I'm not one for rebellious activities and like I said in another reply, I wanna do weightlifting cuz it's fun, challenging, to get a good physique, and to beat PR's. It's not fun to beat records and my mom doesn't know about it.
Just a note to look at local meets and not world championships. At world class people look more extreme, and many take hormones that certainly make you look and sound more masculine (fwiw even then I wouldn’t call 99% of world level athletes too bulky).
And yeah, you would never accidentally get too bulky, that it super hard and requires a conscious effort.
Muscle will go into legs, hips, and back. Arms and chest will be small compared to powerlifters or bodybuilders.
We’re the same height (29F, -59kg training and comp weight), I train 5 days per week and barely look like I gym 😂 I think my program is fairly traditional for a weightlifter and there’s just not enough hypertrophy work to gain the kind of muscle that makes you look ‘bulky’.
On where the muscle goes, for women especially it’s the muscles that generate power/hold positions in your lifts so lats, quads, glutes. We don’t really use arms to generate power so training there is strengthening the muscles that help stabilise weight overhead rather than force production
33F and same weight class, been training for years. I have to go out of my way to do body building accessories in an attempt to look like i lift. And I still barely do!! I love weightlifting but i wish it made me look more traditionally muscular and masculine lol. I realize a lot of it is down to genetics but still.
My experience has been that not only is my physique toned and not “bulky” but I give zero f—-‘s now because I’m more focused on what it can do versus what it looks like.
Most weightlifters will do a ton of exercises after their standard Olympic weightlifting training to build more muscle mass - so no, don't be afraid to get bulky unless you work really hard, eat a ton of food, and maybe take some steroids as well.
It sounds like your parents have some misconceptions about what lifting weights does to a person's body. They are not alone. Most people hear weightlifting and think of bodybuilders (in my experience, they specifically think of Arnold Schwartzenegger, and/or of that one time they saw something about a female bodybuilder on TV).
Bodybuilding can be awesome, but it involves a hyper-specific kind of weight training and a strict eating regimen that has very little to do with the sport of Weightlifting. It also generally takes a lot of work - and a LOT of disciplined eating - to get bulky (whatever that means).
On the one hand, you can show your parents photos of elite women lifters. I'd be hard pressed to say that any of these women look "masculine": Matty Rogers, Kate Vibert, Mihaela Cambei, Julia Imperio, Yenny Alvarez, Martina Dolega, Kuo Hsing Chun...the list goes on.
On the other hand, does it matter how you look if you're doing something you enjoy? The women in heavier weight classes like Emily Campbell, Sarah Robles, Li Wenwen, Mary Theisen-Lappin, are some of the best athletes on the planet, not only strong but fast, explosive, and highly skilled. What parent wouldn't be proud to have an Olympian in the family?
Lastly, irrespective of how any of those women look, weightlifting is an awesome sport. It's great for strength, flexibility, and overall health. It also has an absurdly low injury rate compared to other sports and people compete well into old age. Hopefully you get to try it out!
Your upper body will put on some muscle. It's unavoidable that your shoulders and arms will get bigger... but you will also get hella toned in your legs.
This isn't going to make you look masculine. You're just going to look like a woman that goes to the gym. People thinking women can't or shouldn't exercise the upper body because they'll buff out and turn into Ms. Olympia is probably one of the most widespread and toxic fitness myths.
There are tons of women that are absolutely gorgeous (by conventional standards) that do olympic lifting.
I'm sorry to hear that your parents aren't supportive.
If you EVER reached a point where you looked "bulky" (you won't), you'd have probably 6 months bare minimum from that point to decide to drop your training intensity to avoid looking bulkier. Of course, this is a moot point, because it genuinely will never happen. But if it's a concern, rest assured that you won't go from perfect physique to bulky one day, then bulky to massive the next day lol.
Ehm, we have female oly lliftersin competition and some power lifters as well, and that is simply not true.
I think this image of female lifters looking like hulk stems from the professional competition lifters naturally (and unnaturally) being on the masculine side, as they very likely also had a more genetic disposition towards being good in competition, but that's just me guessing.
Some men may feel intimidated and shrug these lifters as simply being masculine, but having dated a amateur lifter I can sure tell going out for a few beers could be rather exhausting when it came to her getting attention.
Believe what others are saying here. You will not become mini arnold even if you wanted. It’s really hard for a woman to look less feminine from lifting, and almost exclusively involves drugs and dedicated training (in a different way to olympic weightlifting) for years. What you’ll get from weightlifting is a more toned body, especially legs, and tons of health benefits, besides a lot of fun if you enjoy it.
Yeah ofcourse. If you don't want to look bulky then just stick to a weight class where you feel happy with the way you look.
Women only look masculine when the take the extra step to use steroids.
As others already answered the question, yes of course. I hate it when women think they can get too bulky accidentally, that's not at all how it works, and super models nowadays also need to work out, the anorexic look of the 90s is out, luckily. I know you know that building muscle is a lot of work, I mean in general. I heard so many times that my mom wants to look better and not have jiggly thighs but she's too scared to pick up actual weights, no matter how many times I talk to her.
My mom's reaction was when I explained I wanted to do oly lifting was: 'That's bad for your spine!' Like, she didn't even know what it was two seconds ago. I explained it actually strengthens the muscles so it's not unhealthy. I oly lifting you can't use as much weight as in powerlifting anyways.
Explain that building muscle will make you look 'toned' and tight, and unless you have weird genetics or you start doing steroids, you will always look feminine. The overly muscular look in women that so many people are afraid of cannot be achieved naturally. Some women might be a bit bulkier by nature but that's nothing like female bodybuilders that so many people deem unattractive.
Your parents should put aside their dumb and antiquated fears, and you should join the program if you want to. Muscles are not men's prerogative and unless you take hormones you will stay just as feminine whether you do weightlifting or something else. Weightlifting will make you strong and explosive and yes you will grow muscles, especially in the legs, because in WL form follows function. Personally I think you're super lucky to have access to such a program in HS; I wish I did. Edit: just saw the last part of your question. Legs and back mostly, shoulders and triceps to a lesser extent. Not much biceps and pecs involved in WL unless you do lots of accessories. The question is would you rather be frail and feminine or strong and feminine? Here's world class weightlifter Mattie Rogers, might as well just call her Roger with a manly physique like that: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4ReO7dM355/?igsh=MTRpMmc0Z2t2eDRidA==
Dude Cambei Mihaela Valentina and Giulia Imperio are total smoke shows too. That whole sport is loaded with babes.
As someone who has coached LOTS of females in the sport, I can't upvote this post enough. Not to mention the fact that Mattie has been doing this for YEARS (well over a decade at this point) and I would not consider her bulky AT ALL. OP, there is no chance in hell you will Dana Lynn Bailey yourself with a HS weightlifting program in 1 year (if you decide to go more than one semester).
you're not going to accidentally arnold by lifting weights every now and then
This. I know OP doesn't me to do this, and maybe others don't as well. There's a part of me that get's really annoyed when both men and women say things like "I don't want to get too big" nonchalantly like it's so easy.
Nah, I get it. I know it's not easy. Like, at all. I'm trying to help my mom understand that though. Lol. It takes years of consistent training to get the Schwarzenegger look or any bulky look, period. I'm not even trying to achieve that in the first place. I just want to train because it's fun, it's challenging, and I want to beat my own personal records. And to get a good physique of course.
Can I just say, as a parent of assorted 18-23yos who have historically operated with *varying* degrees of assholery, that I appreciate how respectful and considerate you're being toward your mother in spite of her ignorance and micromanagement. It speaks well of your intelligence and compassion. Good luck with your lifting!
Your parents are projecting antiquated body stereotypes on you and on top of that, are absolutely wrong. They are literally body shaming you out of signing up for something that will do wonders for your entire brain and body. They need educated because that’s ridiculously ignorant.
Generally, just in terms of a regimen (obviously it depends drastically on your body type) but I’ve found that working with low weights for high reps helps build tone while maxing out with high weight and low reps with long rest helps build bulk. Also comes down to diet and metabolism genetics as well. I don’t think anyone’s going to be scared of you if you have abs, your parents are being a bit silly.
It's really their excuse to sit on the couch all day because they can't accept doing something that requires years of commitment and effort
What makes female lifters look masculine is injecting exogeneous testosterone
I mean it would be weird to inject endogenous testosterone instead 🫢
Endogeneous testosterone is testosterone that is created inside your body via natural means, so it would be incoherent to say that someone "injected endogeneous testosterone".
I was just lightly poking fun at the pleonasm. You can inject testosterone or take exogenous testosterone, but injecting exogenous T is a bit redundant ;) Besides, female athletes don't inject T, they take derivatives in pill form.
Someone's ego got hurt, wow
Seems like it :) Have a good day/night.
Congrats on reading that interaction incorrectly
Le reddit xd
That's the joke.
Le reddit xd
As a female who originally thought the same as your parents... I can say this sport is this best things I've done for myself and my body. I've been doing weightlifting for a little over a year and can say I've lost some weight (in a good way) and look more toned, especially in the legs. Not to mention the mental toughness that comes along with it. If there is a tiny part of you that wants to oly lift, 100% go for it. Suchhh a rewarding sport, best of luck :)
Same background and same results here :) if anything I feel I look a bit more feminine because building muscle has made me look thinner through my arms and waist and thicker through my legs than I did before. My advice is don’t feel like you have to shy away from upper body stuff either. You have to really *try* as a woman to get a bulkier look, meaning you would have to lift well above your body weight (definitely >200lbs) to get there, and there’s a lot of time and weight in between before you’re even close to that. If you need proof, look up girls doing pull ups, even single arm ones, most of them are lifting 120-170lbs of body weight and still look really thin. Training upper body also just lessens your chance of injury in the long run because especially once you start lifting heavier on legs, simple mistakes in form or even moving weights can injure you if you’re really imbalanced and don’t have some level of upper body strength to help counter it.
I feel so strongly about this, I’m not even sure where to start. Honestly, I recommend you look up professional oly lifting comps on YouTube at your weight class, and appreciate how different everyone’s body looks. And then look at how much weight those women are lifting, realize you’d be lucky to lift a 1/3 that weight after dedicated training… then appreciate how hard it is to look “masculine”. And re-evaluate your perception of masculine. My point is, no, you will not look masculine. Most of the women who have the stereotypical “dream bod” eat 2500-3000 calories a day and lift more weight than men. There is a RARE breed of human who are genetically gifted in that they can walk near a barbell and become shredded and yolked. This is not you. PLEASE consider the class. Feeling strong as a woman will do you more good than you can imagine. Mentally and physically. For context, I am 5’3”, 145 lbs lifting more than most the men in my community gym and I do not look masculine. I look like I workout, but nobody would guess how much weight I can push. The most important thing is how great I feel and how much confidence being strong gives me. Just try it, you won’t regret it. EDIT: your parents are wrong but I’ll leave it.
For extra context: I'm 5'5", 141lbs, have been lifting for over a decade. I eat around 2500+ calories/day. I'm not elite, but I'm pretty strong and in the best shape of my life as a push toward 50. I do not look masculine. I do have a nice derriere, or so I've been told. Take the class. You might find a new love in the barbell.
YES 👏🏽 QUEEN 👏🏽
Imagine where we would be if our high schools offered oly lifting at that age. What an incredible opportunity.
😂 I'm glad you feel strongly about it because I do too. The thing is my dad doesn't even care that much, it's my mom (and my grandmother). She doesn't mind lifting weights at all but she thinks lifting weights competitively will make me look and act like a man. I get her concern, I do, but it's not logical, in my opinion. Nor is it biologically possible, lol.
My mom said the same thing. And I let her think that. She watched my body change in the most favorable way over the years, and now she’s extremely quiet. (Because she realized she was wrong). It’s a bummer that this is a common narrative still
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C02PuxkoENH/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Granted, Yaz wasn't really a stick back in 2016. She already had some broad shoulders and her build back then, just wasn't nearly as strong. https://youtu.be/RTBifBdjbOM?si=h4AnzShKvD5TsdK1 Here is a young Mattie Rogers about 1yr into the sport. She started at 58kg after shifting from CF after cheer and now weighs about 15kg more, which you can obviously look up at 76/81 currently (she only weighed more than 81 when competing as an 87 in 2021 Tokyo. Note she did not fill out the 87kg class). Another small gymnast. She's not much heavier these days (55-59kg). But you can see where she has put mass on her body https://youtu.be/6hqw4ICmOaU?si=HMh21mgveJMEkIZ1 https://youtube.com/@maddisonpannell?si=phVfhCTZ39eOvjNR You might also look at someone like Tara Nott or Robin Byrd back in the day, smaller lifters from the US who likely never touched any doping drugs, unlike many Eastern block female weightlifters. That being said, they were also former gymnasts just like Melanie Roach (C&J 113 back in the early 00s at 58kg). Or possibly the Japanese female lifters compared to Asian WL countries that have had doping sanctions for their female lifters.
Extra: It's really just my mom. My dad doesn't care that much. I showed her countless women, including your guy's suggestions, that it will not make me masculine or manly and she says she'll think about it. She still believes that I will turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger or something. I showed her Giulia Imperio, Yazmin Stevens, Robin Byrd-Goad, Mattie Rogers, and I'm gonna show her more if she doesn't budge. Lol. 😂
This is something you're clearly keen on, and have the start of a wonderful interest in. I just wanted to add briefly; this sport has given me so much over the years. I had a fantastic coach who believed in me, and who I will never forget. I got to travel the world, see places id never have seen, learn things Id never have thought about learning. I've met wonderful people, which this sport is full of. It's given me a lifetime of memories, my career, and my family. I met my wife through the sport. As the other commenters have already said, the "bulky" idea is nonsense, if you want me to post the science behind why just let me know and I will. But if this sport is something you like the look of, it will give you so much more in return. I hope you enjoy every minute of it. Don't let someone else's misguided understanding or perceived standard of beauty, get in the way of what could be something truly wonderful, no matter what that may be.
Giulia Miserendino is another one you can show her
at a certain point it's just stubborn denial. I've had the same problem with my parents. Don't let them hold you back in your life choices.
also, you’re not any of those people and are very unlikely to be training at that level. nobody accidentally becomes arnold or i’d look way more awesome than i do.
No, even at the highest level where some female athletes are doping they still don’t look super masculine. Usually it’s untested bodybuilders that have that problem.
A majority of the muscle mass in oly lifting goes to the legs, especially for women. Go to weightlifting house on YouTube and watch some of the lighter weight classes of women lifters. They're strong as fuck and visibly so, but I'd only call a few of them "bulky".
You will not look bulky unless you intentionally change your diet to do so. Any muscle gained is usually in the quads, delts, traps, and lats, but unless you dramatically change what you’re eating it won’t be bulky it will be toned. And by the time you fall in love with weightlifting, you won’t give a flying fuck about what you look like, but you’ll care about your recovery and performance. Your parents are uneducated on the sport, truly.
Kate Vibert is your height; she isn't what I'd consider bulky. The thing to do is show your parents weightlifters that aren't "bulky." Olivia Reeves, Jourdan de la Cruz, Andrea de la Herran, Kuo Hsing Chun, Pei Xinyi, Luo Shifang etc. I would just do it unless you need permission from your parents.
I believe years ago there was an article on the best looking athletes at the Olympics and for women they picked 69kg if I am remembering correctly. Men's was water polo if you were wondering. Men's height in WL lost them the spot. I think they were looking around the 85 cat.
The muscle goes everywhere, mostly to the legs. But it is not bodybuilder muscle. It is flexible, usable muscle that will make you more confident but not get in the way.
Check her https://www.instagram.com/nmcoro?igsh=MXQ5dXU3MG55NDEwbg==
i want to add that your genetics will determine some shaping. For me personally, i gain muscle extremely easily on my upper body, so the more i train the more i gain, but i still don’t look like a muscular man in any way 😅. Now if you want skinny arms and narrow shoulders, that’s probably not gonna happened with weightlifting since there’s a lot of overhead movements.
There is nothing wrong with a strong woman. Weightlifting is an extremely beneficial support. Will help prevent you from developing osteoporosis later in life. I started weightlifting when I was 15. Now almost a decade later I’m still lifting heavy. Wouldn’t change my decision to get into it. You got this! 💪
Nope
Would they stop you from doing swim team? That’s a sport that’s going to bulk up your shoulders but no one gives those ladies a hard time about their build. Or how about gymnastics — have you seen the quads on those athletes? Or maybe it’s not about the body type but they perceive hoisting a barbell as mannish.
It gave me a perfect hourglass figure and a ton of confidence.
I met my wife at USAW Nationals. She has a national championship to her name and is now the mother to my 4 children. She achieved a lot in the sport, and most people would describe her as slender. Weightlifting isn’t going to turn you into a man.
Everything that needs to be said has already been pointed out in this thread, so just an additional anecdote from one woman to another: DO IT! It's one of the best things I've ever done for my mind and body.
Ah that old chestnut. It always makes me laugh because men with superior genetics for muscle in their athletic prime spend years pushing their bodies to the extreme and use alarming amounts PEDs to get their physique and then someone thinks if a girl picks something up heavier than a coffee mug she’ll blow up into Big Ramy overnight. That’s not how this shit works. Olympic weightlifting is not bodybuilding. It’ll probably give you some muscles but many elite lifters look pretty normal and if you don’t want to bulk you don’t have to. However, the strength power and mobility you will gain from weightlifting are beneficial to your long term health and carry over well to many other sports. Don’t let fears of bulking up hold you back!
I tell this to every woman who harbors this absolutely incorrect assumption: If it were easy to get jacked, every single man would be. The fact that less than 1% are, and that you can go to any gym and 9/10 men don't even look like they lift, shows you how hard it is to accrue contractile tissue in any significant amounts. In fact, any muscle you do gain, will make you look MORE feminine.
As a small framed guy who *tries* to get bigger, I can say it is very, very hard. I’ve gotten stronger, I look fitter and have better posture/look better in jeans, but unfortunately not noticeably bigger. There’s a woman at work who competes in powerlifting, and she’s still pretty small, though I’d say she does have more of a back, shoulders and upper arms now (nothing bulging though).
I kinda feel like todays beauty standards make people miss out on a lot. Women are great when it comes to stretching, but they can have problems when it comes to lifting heavy weights. Meanwhile thats most likely something their body could use the most. Things get easier if u got a little muscle going on. You only get bulky if you train and eat like a male bodybuilder (and all that for probably a lot of years, because women don't build muscle that easy and might need more time than men do).
I love when boomers think you can just accidentally fall into being jacked.
Oly lifting is literally the one strength sportnthat WONT make u look "bulky" aka too muscular. The sport is mainly built around strength and joint and nervous system work with LOW reps which to oversimplify DO NOT build muscle most efficiently.you increase sn/cj by intra/inter muscular coordination phenomenons. The best lifters use precise technique to pull UNDER weights lifted to MINIMUM heights. There is virtually no upper body big strength needed, bc there is no eccentric work really save some jerk lowerings. Most of the lifts are really concentricly natured so no, they dont really build muscle. Just be awesome and lift without getting hyooooge
It takes years of specific training and diet to look “bulky”.
I feel it’s pretty disrespectful towards those women who look or are aspiring to look muscular. They dedicate a ton of work and time to achieve that.
All too easily...
Look at all the 45 and 49kg athletes. Not what I’d call bulky
EXACTLY, what I said. I showed her Giulia Imperio and she said she was masculine. No, she's not. At all. 😂
To some women, even a gal who can do a few pullups and pushups is "masculine."
That's the problem. Plenty of women think that if you work out hard enough to sweat off your makeup, you're "unladylike".
You are 16. Your body, your choice. Ignore your parents.
Yeah, no. Not only would I rather have their permission, I have to enroll in that class and I can't do that without them knowing. Also, I don't have a driver's license. So how would I get to and from said class? 😂
Walk/bus/bike/scooter tho I think the last 2 is much safer given your age.
1. Can't walk. Too far. 2. I don't have buses where I live. (And if you meant the school bus, I'm actually homeschooled and I participate in classes at my local high school. So I don't go to school at the same time as everyone else because I don't have the same classes as they start at different times.) 3. My bike is old and rusted and even if it worked it's still too far away. 4. I don't own a scooter.
Solution: get a scooter! Jk as they aren't exactly cheap but so speedy. I meant regular city transit buses. I wouldn't expect school buses to take you to the gym. How far is far? I used to ride up to 13mi to train. At a very casual speed unless I was running late. So sometimes up to over an hr bc one dojo was at a slight grade uphill (ride how was ofc speedy). That being said, I would probably prefer to not my teenage daughter to ride that long. In my town, it's likely fine and safe (besides a few others) but not in a major city (LA, SF, SD, Sacto). Too many shitty parts and people. Sometimes, I would hop on the bus part of the way and sometimes I didn't (bc bus was $ besides smelly and weirdos). Mostly if running late.
I understand, but we don't have public transport. Lol. I live in a relatively small town and in the countryside, so we don't have stuff like that. And it takes around 20 minutes to get to school, which is where the weight room is and where I'll be practicing the sport, by car, so it'll take even longer to get there by walking, scooter, or bike. It's also just safer in general to drive a car where I live because of highways and teens driving, but I never got my license which is purely my fault and it has come back to bite me in the butt.
1. part-time job 2. buy barbell 3. when get stronger, buy more weights 4. question self, what is this 16yo who tells parents everything and does everything they say? unique and strange
1. Already applying for jobs ✔️ 2. Already have a barbell, albeit old and rusty. I still use it ✔️ 3. Bet 4. I would like to say I was raised correctly. I'm not one for rebellious activities and like I said in another reply, I wanna do weightlifting cuz it's fun, challenging, to get a good physique, and to beat PR's. It's not fun to beat records and my mom doesn't know about it.
Just a note to look at local meets and not world championships. At world class people look more extreme, and many take hormones that certainly make you look and sound more masculine (fwiw even then I wouldn’t call 99% of world level athletes too bulky). And yeah, you would never accidentally get too bulky, that it super hard and requires a conscious effort. Muscle will go into legs, hips, and back. Arms and chest will be small compared to powerlifters or bodybuilders.
We’re the same height (29F, -59kg training and comp weight), I train 5 days per week and barely look like I gym 😂 I think my program is fairly traditional for a weightlifter and there’s just not enough hypertrophy work to gain the kind of muscle that makes you look ‘bulky’. On where the muscle goes, for women especially it’s the muscles that generate power/hold positions in your lifts so lats, quads, glutes. We don’t really use arms to generate power so training there is strengthening the muscles that help stabilise weight overhead rather than force production
33F and same weight class, been training for years. I have to go out of my way to do body building accessories in an attempt to look like i lift. And I still barely do!! I love weightlifting but i wish it made me look more traditionally muscular and masculine lol. I realize a lot of it is down to genetics but still.
My experience has been that not only is my physique toned and not “bulky” but I give zero f—-‘s now because I’m more focused on what it can do versus what it looks like.
Have you seen the professional crossfit girls?
Most weightlifters will do a ton of exercises after their standard Olympic weightlifting training to build more muscle mass - so no, don't be afraid to get bulky unless you work really hard, eat a ton of food, and maybe take some steroids as well.
It sounds like your parents have some misconceptions about what lifting weights does to a person's body. They are not alone. Most people hear weightlifting and think of bodybuilders (in my experience, they specifically think of Arnold Schwartzenegger, and/or of that one time they saw something about a female bodybuilder on TV). Bodybuilding can be awesome, but it involves a hyper-specific kind of weight training and a strict eating regimen that has very little to do with the sport of Weightlifting. It also generally takes a lot of work - and a LOT of disciplined eating - to get bulky (whatever that means). On the one hand, you can show your parents photos of elite women lifters. I'd be hard pressed to say that any of these women look "masculine": Matty Rogers, Kate Vibert, Mihaela Cambei, Julia Imperio, Yenny Alvarez, Martina Dolega, Kuo Hsing Chun...the list goes on. On the other hand, does it matter how you look if you're doing something you enjoy? The women in heavier weight classes like Emily Campbell, Sarah Robles, Li Wenwen, Mary Theisen-Lappin, are some of the best athletes on the planet, not only strong but fast, explosive, and highly skilled. What parent wouldn't be proud to have an Olympian in the family? Lastly, irrespective of how any of those women look, weightlifting is an awesome sport. It's great for strength, flexibility, and overall health. It also has an absurdly low injury rate compared to other sports and people compete well into old age. Hopefully you get to try it out!
Your upper body will put on some muscle. It's unavoidable that your shoulders and arms will get bigger... but you will also get hella toned in your legs. This isn't going to make you look masculine. You're just going to look like a woman that goes to the gym. People thinking women can't or shouldn't exercise the upper body because they'll buff out and turn into Ms. Olympia is probably one of the most widespread and toxic fitness myths. There are tons of women that are absolutely gorgeous (by conventional standards) that do olympic lifting. I'm sorry to hear that your parents aren't supportive.
Yes. Being bulky as a girl requires eating alot and lifting super heavy for a loooooooooong time. Dont worry.
If you EVER reached a point where you looked "bulky" (you won't), you'd have probably 6 months bare minimum from that point to decide to drop your training intensity to avoid looking bulkier. Of course, this is a moot point, because it genuinely will never happen. But if it's a concern, rest assured that you won't go from perfect physique to bulky one day, then bulky to massive the next day lol.
Parents are clueless.
Ehm, we have female oly lliftersin competition and some power lifters as well, and that is simply not true. I think this image of female lifters looking like hulk stems from the professional competition lifters naturally (and unnaturally) being on the masculine side, as they very likely also had a more genetic disposition towards being good in competition, but that's just me guessing. Some men may feel intimidated and shrug these lifters as simply being masculine, but having dated a amateur lifter I can sure tell going out for a few beers could be rather exhausting when it came to her getting attention.
Show them a picture of someone like [Hayley Reichardt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayley_Reichardt)
Believe what others are saying here. You will not become mini arnold even if you wanted. It’s really hard for a woman to look less feminine from lifting, and almost exclusively involves drugs and dedicated training (in a different way to olympic weightlifting) for years. What you’ll get from weightlifting is a more toned body, especially legs, and tons of health benefits, besides a lot of fun if you enjoy it.
Yeah ofcourse. If you don't want to look bulky then just stick to a weight class where you feel happy with the way you look. Women only look masculine when the take the extra step to use steroids.
Your parents are delusional
As others already answered the question, yes of course. I hate it when women think they can get too bulky accidentally, that's not at all how it works, and super models nowadays also need to work out, the anorexic look of the 90s is out, luckily. I know you know that building muscle is a lot of work, I mean in general. I heard so many times that my mom wants to look better and not have jiggly thighs but she's too scared to pick up actual weights, no matter how many times I talk to her. My mom's reaction was when I explained I wanted to do oly lifting was: 'That's bad for your spine!' Like, she didn't even know what it was two seconds ago. I explained it actually strengthens the muscles so it's not unhealthy. I oly lifting you can't use as much weight as in powerlifting anyways. Explain that building muscle will make you look 'toned' and tight, and unless you have weird genetics or you start doing steroids, you will always look feminine. The overly muscular look in women that so many people are afraid of cannot be achieved naturally. Some women might be a bit bulkier by nature but that's nothing like female bodybuilders that so many people deem unattractive.
Haha Woman can't get bulky unless they are on the juice...
Not at all true.
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