If I Lift Heavy I Am Going to Bulk Up...My Rant
I had an interesting question posted to me in our private forums today. For one, I want to thank her for asking and being brave enough to let me rattle off how I feel about bulking up. There's nothing that drives me more crazy than women who are afraid to lift heavy AND to ride out the first six weeks of what the scale will do. Yes, ya'll, for a lot of you when you start strength training you just don't get a big hug from the scale. It MEANS NOTHING! Before I get too crazed up again...here's my post straight from the private PNP forums...
Like a few other PNP gals, including yourself, I began bulking up when I was doing the plan last month and I'd much prefer to lean down aka long lean muscles.
"OK...you are either born with long, lean muscles or you aren't. No amount of stretching, lifting, etc., is going to change your genetics.
Now for bulking up...guys...unless you are eating at least 300 cals above your maintenance level of calories YOU CANNOT PHYSICALLY BULK UP. I swear to you that you are going through one of the following:
1. Water retention the first month due to a new schedule. It can take up to six weeks before your body gets used to a new schedule. Doesn't mean you are going to gain weight every week but it might cause you to lose less or temporarily gain some water and fluids. The less you have to lose the more you will have this effect happen. The fitter you are the more it happens too. You could also be putting on a "bit" of muscle BEFORE the fat starts to burn off and that might make you feel puffy. That's OK...it comes off if you wait it out.
2. You are overestimating how hard you are working. If you want to see what type of weight it TRULY takes to press to start gaining muscle, take a look at Trish, mine, Kathleen's, or Jen's logs to start. Jen is probably one of the smallest in the group TRYING to put on muscle and she benches 70lbs. How many of you are doing that??? Ok...see what I mean. Lifting 10-15lbs on the bench press will not cause you to be a hulk.
3. You are underestimating your food on a weekly basis. I read on here too many times where people just don't understand why they aren't seeing results after working out so hard and yet when you dig through just one week of food journaling it's littered with BLT's, I did really good until (fill in the blank), and I only had X, Y, Z and that's a big improvement. Ya'll, losing fat isn't easy. If it was we WOULD ALL HAVE BEEN THIN OUR WHOLE LIVES. You want to look good you have to eat and move like that. You want some great results you gotta have the intensity in your diet and your exercise. You want average to maintaining results then do the program about half to three-quarters of the time.
That's just me being truthful with you guys. You don't need me holding your hand telling you cookies are OK. You need me chewing your ass out for complaining about not losing when you aren't giving it 100%. Everyone of you is better than cookies, candy, lattes, and whatever else your vice is. I'm not saying don't ever have these things but if you do you need to be prepared for the consequences. There's plenty of time for that junk when you are at goal.
4. You are pumping testosterone in your veins. I highly doubt that's happening because if you are going to do that you would want the big muscles. :)
When I bulked up it was because I was eating 2000 calories a day, taking muscle building supplements like creatine and N.O., and cut out my cardio to only three short easy sessions a week. :) See, what I had to do to get the weight on? I also dropped 2% body fat when the scale shot up over the past 6 months. It took me a lot of heavy lifting, less cardio, and more eating to gain the 10lbs and that happened slowly.
In the end it's going to take determination, plowing away, and working hard. PNP isn't easy. We get results because we try harder than other people. I'm not in this to just get some fat off of you and send you on your way. I want to not only get the fat off, but leave you looking better than most, healthier than most, a lifestyle that leads to a long life, and a sense of pride because you worked harder than you ever gave yourself credit for. Not everyone can handle this and that's OK, but I am never going to quit pushing you girls. You are better than the trigger foods and you are stronger in weights and in life than you know right now.
If you don't believe me, ask some of the mods and long-term girls if they are the same person they are today than they were when they started. It's a real journey physically and emotionally."