‘Lifting doesn’t make you bulky’, well let me tell you, I GOT BULKY!..
Don’t get me wrong, lifting heavy weights burns a hell of a lot of calories yes, it’s fantastic for health, it’s great for posture (if you stretch alongside of course), it’s obviously great for fitness BUT I literally went from a petite ninja to a monster. I look back at old photos from even just a year ago and I cringe and what I see now, especially when back then I didn’t even realise the size of me…
I used to lift HEAVYYY in my body building days. I will go into detail about body building/bikini journey another time, but this might have been the most mentally and physically challenging thing have ever done. You’re testing your physical results, your mental addiction of progress and putting up starvation and deprivation for the sake of your health, your mood, your metabolism, your LIFE. I would see results almost instantly… my back got broader, my legs got bigger, I was so bulky, and I used to love this look at the time, but since then, a lot has changed in my day to day life and I want completely different things now.
I mean I dance for a living!! Never did I ever think that was gunna happen..
- I’m happy with the size of my quads and glutes, I don’t want them to get any bigger!
- I don’t want my back to be too broad
- Being a dancer, its important to not feel stiff all the time – being stiff will have a HUGE impact on performance
- As an ex-gymnast, martial-artist, cheerleader etc since the age of 3, my muscles genetically and through my childhood have the ability to grow VERY quickly so heavy training just had me growing sideways like no tomorrow!
- Training heavy increases my appetite more than anything else and I end up eating wayyyy more than I consume = calorie surplus = fat GAIN
- Clothes wouldn’t fit, coats would rip, jeans were a myth, dresses were unheard of. My fashion has changed massively since I became more petite because now I don’t look like the hulk in clothes! I’m not even exaggerating!
- My fat would sit over my muscles in “off season” (the time when you’re not dieting for the stage in bodybuilding) which would make me look even BIGGER
- My flexibility has improved MASSIVELY from not lifting heavy
- I know that lifting heavy isn’t the only way I’m going to see results and actually enjoy doing alot more bodyweight endurance training now. This fits with my dancing too and I’m so much more functional.
- One wrong movement, or if your posture isn’t on point, your going to get a nastyyy injury, which will stop you from training and keep you out the gym for MONTHS. As a professional dancer, I now have no choice but to pay extra close attention to my body and remain injury FREE!! Been there and done that with operations and injuries… no more please!
- Personal preference. I have different goals on how I want my body to look smaller, more feminine, petite and enjoy the clothes I wear, so my workout regime has changed as well as my goals.
I think social media has a lot to do with making people feel the pressure to lift heavy – all those hashtags #girlswholift #legdays #squatbooty, but let me reassure you, this is not the only thing you can do to see results, trust me! I haven’t squatted for years because of how quickly my legs grow, and I know we all want a big booty but it’s catch 22 – ya can’t twerk with a ROCK HARD booty either remember! 😉 lol lol lol
When it comes to your workout, you just need to think about what body type you are aiming for and the body type you are currently working with, and build a workout regime that suits YOU. As long as your seeing results in YOUR SPECIFIC GOALS – not how heavy you’re lifting (I soon realised how much I don’t care about the numbers) you will win either way. You’ve got this girlllll, go smash it!
Let me know how you get on!
PS circuit training and HIIT workouts are my fave. If you want these written out just let me know in the comments!
