Cheryl Coppa Before and After
By Cheryl Coppa
It’s a common concern among many women, still! The desire to be “toned” but the fear of getting bulky. To get right to it, your workouts will never be what makes you look or become bulky, or too muscular. Do you really think that just 30 minutes a day is all it would take to look like a bodybuilder? If only it was that easy!
It is a very common myth that just continues to linger. What prompted me to write this blog, was a dream I had last night. I dreamt that I woke up and my arms were bulging muscular arms with veins popping out all over. I was like a female version of the Hulk. LOL and to me that was a nightmare, I do like to have a feminine look. So I get it! I understand this embedded fear but it just needs to die. I can tell you, that you can 100% let go of this fear. It’s simply not going to happen. Especially if you are over 40, your body is naturally losing muscle so at this point we are fighting and working out to hang on to what we got.
It is very challenging to build muscle and it takes time! Building muscle takes consistent effort. This is why if you follow my social media or Ola Ka Ola's social media, you will always see us doing a “flexie” after our workout. I mean, we worked to build what we do have, and we are very proud of that. Not born with it, built it!
“Our workouts will never be what makes you look or become bulky or too muscular. Do you really think that just 30 minutes a day is all it would take to look like a bodybuilder? If only it was that easy!”
The only thing that will make you look bulky is fat. Fat takes up more space than muscle. Muscle is dense and takes up less space, whereas fat is not and takes up more space.
If you have 5 lbs of muscle, this will take up significantly less space than 5 lbs of fat. This is also why getting caught up on a number scale will NOT serve you. A perfect example is this before and after pic of me (above). There is only an 8 or 10 lb difference, but my body composition has completely changed. It’s because I gained muscle. When you build muscle, this is what changes your body composition. Muscle gives you shape, and definition and keeps you burning more calories all day long! Muscle burns fat. So really if you focus on building muscle and pairing it with the right nutrition, you will burn overall fat on your body.
The fear of getting bulky or manly is also a reason why women shy away from heavy weights. Again, nothing you need to worry about at all! It’s not going to happen. What makes you bulky is fat, lifting weights does not make you fat, but overeating and eating too many processed foods does. Muscle will help you burn fat, give you more energy, have you burning more calories all day long, help you manage stress (which can contribute to belly fat gain), AND help balance hormones.
To build muscle and change the shape of your body, you will want to start using heavier weights. Especially if you are attending strength training classes, the lightweights will not cut it for long in strength training classes. There is a time and a place for the light weights, I use them a lot in my HIIT classes. But for strength training classes you do want to gradually build up how heavy your weights are. Especially, if changing your body composition and losing fat is part of your goal. So if you are attending classes and not noticing a change in your body composition it is because your weights are too light.
“What makes you bulky is fat, lifting weights does not make you fat, but overeating and eating too many processed foods does. Muscle will help you burn fat, give you more energy, have you burning more calories all day long, help you manage stress (which can contribute to belly fat gain), AND help balance hormones.”
If the reason you are working out is just for basic overall health reasons, then you can get away with working out 3 times a week. This would be enough to feel good, get better sleep, improve your health numbers, get stronger, feel stronger, and move better. But if you do have body shaping goals, you need a plan and it should consist of working out 5-6 days a week. Depending on what your goal is and what areas of the body you want to target specifically, then talk to your trainer and a plan can be created for you to follow.
Another misconception that goes hand in hand with the fear of getting bulky or too muscular is to just do cardio to lose weight. Cardio does burn many calories, yes, but it ends there. Whatever you burn in your workout, that's it. When you strength train you are building muscle and now you know from reading thus far, muscle burns fat and more calories. So when you strength train, not only are you burning calories in your workout but for the rest of the day as well. Your muscles are burning calories.
Don’t get me wrong I LOVE cardio, specifically HIIT (High Intense Interval Training). It is a form of cardio that is just more effective for the mid-age women and beyond. It has so many important health benefits. Especially cardiovascular benefits, and helps with your overall endurance to help with your other fitness training. So having cardio in your plan is GREAT and recommended, you should have more strength training in your week than cardio.
“When you see bodybuilders or women with large muscles, know that they train and eat in a very specific and disciplined way with so much time and dedication to look that way. It will never happen by accident.”
Another huge component of how you look is how you eat! Again, this is where the bulk comes from. When bodybuilders try to gain muscle, they have a pretty hefty eating plan. They have to eat to put on the mass. I’ll say in my classes sometimes too for those of us who have body-shaping goals, feed your muscles!
I hope this helps you drop the fear of working out being the reason for being “bulky”, and the fear of heavier weights. Being strong and putting on lean muscle is empowering and turns you into a fat-burning machine. When you see bodybuilders or women with large muscles, know that they train and eat in a very specific and disciplined way with so much time and dedication to look that way. It will never happen by accident. You can have two individuals following the same workout plan and based on the diet each individual will have 2 very different-looking bodies. Don’t be afraid of getting bulky, your body does not even have enough testosterone anyway.
Forget About The Number On The Scale!
So forget the number on the scale, focus on getting stronger and bumping up your weights and just watch your body composition change and give you that “toned” look!
Need a plan? Become part of the movement and let's create your body-shaping plan or your MOVEMENT PRESCRIPTION if you have health-specific goals.
About Cheryl Coppa