Will lifting weights make my bum look big?

20kg kettlebell overhead

I get a lot of queries from women about lifting heavy weights. They are scared they’ll “bulk up” and look like the incredible hulk. Well you know what? Women just don’t have the capacity for it – we simply don’t have enough testosterone to do this naturally. It doesn’t matter how much you lift, you’re not going to look like a juiced up body builder unless you… you know… juice up yourself with testosterone and steroids. In fact, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t lift heavy stuff.

1. Women in particular are susceptible to osteoporosis. That is, degeneration of the bones. Brittle bones may result in fractures and this can be prevented. Ask any medical professional and they will tell you nutrition and weight bearing exercise will increase bone mass. Lifting weights is a necessity!

2. Women do a lot of lifting in real life, so training to be strong will make life much easier. Holding a child on your hips while carrying the groceries is not light work! Of course your husband pitches in but when it comes down to it you are doing a lot too. Imagine what it would be like to easily pick up your child, to put things away easily in the top cupboards, to not strain your back every time you move things around the house. Training to be strong is training to make life easy!

3. Is your goal to “tone up” or to get some “definition”? What do you think those terms mean? They certainly don’t conjure up images of the “skinny fat” look. Toning up and getting definition is a combination of building some muscle, while trimming some fat to get a beautiful body with great shape. This is what we all want!

4. Increasing muscle mass increases your metabolic rate. This is the rate at which you burn calories. When you gain more muscle, your body burns more fat even while you’re sitting on the couch watching TV! This is one of the easiest ways to burn extra calories throughout the day.

5. Want another easy way to burn more calories? Lift weights! During training, you may technically burn less calories lifting weights than going for a run. But running (or any other cardio) isn’t going to give you the “after burn” affect. This “after burn” happens after the metabolic workouts I prescribe and it means that for the next 24-48 hours you will still be burning calories after working out! This is exactly what you want!

6. Do you ever desire to achieve something you never thought possible? Do you want to feel like Superwoman? I tell you there is nothing like lifting heavier than the guys. To dead lift 100kg or squat your own body weight is a great feat of achievement and it really teaches you that nothing is impossible and you can achieve anything you set out to do.

Trust me girls, lifting weights wont make you big and bulky. All it will do is help prevent osteoporosis, burn more fat, make you healthier, fitter and stronger and improve your life. Go for it!

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Anna

Anna Papij is a personal trainer, sports coach and mindset coach based in Melbourne, Australia. When she is not training other people's bodies and minds to be the best they can, she can often be seen competing in various events such as running, powerlifting and kettlebell sport, where she is working on making her own body and mind the best it can be.