LIFT HEAVY: GET HOT

PROBLEM: Women come up to me and they tell me that they don't lift weights...or, lift heavy weights, because after awhile they'll start to bulk up and look like a bodybuilder with the veins and too much muscle. They tell me that they want a lean, muscular and feminine physique. They want muscle definition, and lifting weights will build too much. Absolutely. 100%. False.

SOLUTION: Get over it, and lift heavy weights. Understand that lifting weights gives you defined arms, a sexy butt and developed thighs. It gives you that goal physique. So do it.

The only simple way for me to explain it is like this:

Lifting weights will not make you huge. Eating cupcakes and pizza will. If you lift weights and are burning fat with a good cardio plan, you will lean down, build curves and suffer from the absolute unexpected...you'll become a victim of having a toned body and a great physique! But who wants that....

One thing I encourage is for you to challenge yourself. If you go to the gym and you're lifting weights that weigh as much as your purse, not a lot is going to be happening on that road to progress. Girls do this and don't start building the muscle they want, and don't understand why. In order to build muscle, you have to lift...and it needs to be a challenge. Right now during my lifting routine, I make sure to lift a weight that allows me to get my sets and reps done with effort, yet is heavy enough that I have to work hard on my last 2 reps. Lifting is not supposed to be easy. I can wake up in the morning and go into my kitchen and lift an egg carton out of my refrigerator, which is the same as holding a 2 lb. free weight in a gym. Push yourself, challenge yourself, feel a burn, put in effort, and start creating the shapes that you want. Don't be scared. Don't be intimidated. There are people in the weight area of the gym who are ripped and have been lifting for awhile...there are people who just started. Everyone has their own goals, routine and agenda. But the key point to remember, is that everyone started in the same place. So now it's your turn to do it. It is your turn to get inspired, to turn up your music, to lift a weight that is not easy for you, to take action, to get over the idea that lifting will make you too big, and to 

understand that in order to have a good body, you need to put in the good work.

                                                       

                                                                          What women think will happen
                                                                        if they lift weights

The woman in this picture is a female bodybuilder. She has lots of muscle, with incredibly low body fat. The way that she eats, and the way that she works out and trains, is not the way that you eat and train. (Unless of course, you're reading this and you too are a female bodybuilder). So if you walk into your gym tomorrow and start doing squats and bicep curls with a moderate, heavy weight, you are not going to look like this. Not tomorrow, not in a month. Sometimes people resort to taking anabolic steroids, testosterone or growth hormones to build enormous amounts of muscle...one point made.

What can actually happen, when you ladies lift weights

The woman in this picture, is also a female bodybuilder (a figure competitor/bikini competitor). She lifts heavy weights as well. I'm currently prepping for a bikini competition and I am working out twice a day, and lifting 5 times a week...pretty heavy. I'm not looking quiet like the first picture...pretty far from it, actually. Nathalia Melo, as an example of a lady who lifts, is toned, muscular and has that goal physique that many women want. This is what lifting weights does to you, and will do to your body when on the appropriate plan.

So ladies, lifting heavy and lifting, in general, will not MAKE YOU BULKY. It is actually what you need to be doing, to get the physique you want. Keep in mind that the more muscle you have on your body, the more fat you can burn. A lot of things can contribute to the body you have and how you develop muscle...genetics, your body structure, etc. but all women are capable of building some muscle and shaping their bodies.

Be proud of yourself and what you have accomplished, or decided to accomplish. Do not be intimidated. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged to lift in the gym. Weights are simply weights...giant pieces of iron attached to bars. What is intimidating, is the potential you have to do something amazing with them. 

So do it. Let's go.

-Lil Miss Strong