Will You Get Big Muscles By Lifting Weights?

Will you get big muscles by lifting weights? Many people, particularly ladies, are concerned that weight training will increase their muscle size and make them look more masculine. In this article we will examine how muscles grow, what factors affect muscle growth, what the benefits of lifting weights are and finally we will answer the question: 'Will lifting weights give you big muscles?'

Lifting weights is an activity that everyone should do because it provides an enormous range of health benefits. It is particularly beneficial if people want to lose weight.

Unfortunately though, many people, particularly women, believe that lifting weights will cause them to 'bulk up' or look more masculine. Whilst it may be possible for women to increase their muscle size through weight training, the amount of muscle they build will be very limited and it certainly will not make them look more masculine. Plus, if a person ever feels that their muscles are getting too big (however unlikely), they can simply stop weight training and in a few weeks their muscles will shrink.

How Do Muscles Grow?

In order to get big muscles many steps need to be taken and a particular environment needs to be created in the body. If even one of the required steps is missing or the required environment isn't present, then muscle growth will simply not occur.

The first step that needs to be taken in order to build big muscles is that there needs to be a stimulus; something that stimulates that body to build muscle. The best stimulus for muscle growth is of course, resistance exercise performed during your gym workouts. A well-designed weight training program is the very best way to induce muscle growth in your body.

The gym workouts cause microscopic tears in the muscle fibres, which then stimulate the body to begin the repair and re-building process.

It is amazing that so many young guys believe that by simply taking a protein powder or another muscle building supplement, they can build muscle. It is simply not the case. Without a stimulus first, the muscles will not grow. They often have this belief because the ads in muscle magazines make it sound like the supplements have some sort of magical power and by simply using the product they will get big muscles. Plus, this belief is re-enforced even more when one of the top professional bodybuilders (who uses an enormous amount of anabolic steroids) are promoting the product! This is deceptive marketing at its very best!

Factors That Affect Muscle Growth

Once the muscles have been stimulated to grow, the next step is to consume enough energy (calories) and building blocks (protein) in order to provide the body with the raw materials it needs in order to start the repair and re-building processes. This is an important point to keep in mind, especially for the ladies, because if you don't consume enough overall calories or protein, the muscles cannot grow.

The muscles also need to have an adequate amount of rest and recuperation in order to utilise the nutrients it needs to re-build the muscles. This means sleep is another essential component of getting big muscles.

This means that if a woman is controlling her food intake, as she should do if she wants to lose weight, then she can perform all the weight training that she likes but her muscles simply won't grow and therefore, she won't get big muscles. In saying this, if a woman does consume an adequate amount of calories and protein then it is possible for her muscles to grow. However, the amount they grow are limited by the number of muscle fibres she has in a particular muscle and by the amount of testosterone present in her body.

Since women only have a fraction (about 1/50th) the amount of testosterone in men's bodies, their ability to build muscle is severely limited. Testosterone is like a traffic cop and drives the whole muscle building process. Without enough testosterone it is impossible to build muscle. That is why ALL elite-level bodybuilders, both male and female, take a variety of testosterones or testosterone mimickers in order to achieve big muscles!

The Benefits of Lifting Weights

Despite the fact that it is extremely difficult to get massive muscles, that doesn't mean that you can't derive enormous benefits by performing a regular weight training program, especially if you want to lose weight.

The fact is that if you want to lose weight, weight loss and weight training work really well together. You see, if you want to lose weight and try to do so through nutritional strategies and/ or aerobic exercise, up to half of the weight you lose will come from muscle tissue. Since muscle is one of the most metabolically-active tissues in the body, if you lose muscle your metabolism slows down dramatically. This makes further weight loss more difficult, especially since muscle (and other lean tissues of the body like, organs, etc.) burns up a lot of energy and fat!

By simply performing regular gym workouts, you can prevent your body from losing muscle as you lose weight. This means that most of the weight you lose will come from fluid and fat!

'Will You Get Big Muscles By Lifting Weights?'

As a result, women should never think that by lifting weights they will get big muscles. Whilst it may be possible for them to get very small increases in muscle size by training hard and consistently, eating adequate calories and protein, and getting enough sleep, the fact is that if they control their food intake and don't take men's hormones, they will definitely not get big muscles. Therefore, there's really no excuse as to why they don't train consistently with weights in order to obtain the enormous benefits this form of exercise offers.

If you would like more specific information on how to perform weight training exercises correctly, get a copy of the e-book Weight Lifting For Absolute Beginners.

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