Will I Become a Man?

Published in Mosaic LAU Newspaper on February 20, 2017 | Volume 3 – Issue: 2

As a bodybuilder for quite some time now, there’s this one sentence that frustrates me every time I hear it, making me want to lay out all forms of research and facts to make it stop:

“I DON’T WANT TO LIFT WEIGHTS; I WILL LOOK LIKE A MAN.”

Being a personal trainer, I get that a lot from new clients. Ladies, trust me, if you lift weights, you will NOT wake up the next day, month, or even year, with bulky shoulders, a broad back, and huge biceps. It’s biologically impossible.

Why? Because testosterone.

Testosterone is the hormone responsible for great increases in #muscle mass. Women’s #testosterone levels (15 to 70 ng/dL) are extremely insignificant in comparison to that of men (around 300 ng/dL), that is why men gain more muscles much faster than women do.

Some women, mostly professional #bodybuilders, tend to have a masculine, muscular figure. It takes several years of effort, dedication, specific #lifestyle, and in most cases various supplements to achieve this amount of muscularity. So, unless you aim to become a female #bodybuilder and refer to several supplements that speed up and intensify your muscle weight gain, there is no need to worry about looking masculine at all.

The more muscles you have, the faster your metabolism will be, the more calories your body will burn, and the leaner you’ll get.

This doesn’t mean that weight-training won’t increase your lean muscle mass, because it will, and that’s a good thing! The more muscles you have, the faster your metabolism will be, the more #calories your body will burn, and the leaner you’ll get. “I want to tone” is what females usually request and aim for when they join the #gym or start working out. Of course, always followed by “but not too much, I don’t want to look masculine.”

Training with weights will increase your lean muscle mass enough to shape up your arms, #legs, shoulders, back, or whatever body part you work, reduce the size of your waist and hips, and definitely firm your booty. That “toning” you often read about really means having strong, lean muscles, with less fat.

Keep in mind though that not all body types function the same way. There are 3 body types with different structures and functioning (explained very briefly):

1. #Ectomorph: Small “delicate” frame and bone structure, fast metabolism, hard to gain weight, thin, lean muscle mass, small shoulders, can lose fat very easily.

2. #Mesomorph: large bone structure, well-defined muscles, naturally athletic physique, responds the best to weight training, easy to gain and lose weight, gains muscle easily, gains fat more easily than ectomorphs.

3. #Endomorph: body type is solid, generally soft, gains fat and muscles very easily, usually of a shorter build with thick arms and legs, strong muscles, especially the upper legs, round physique, hard to lose fat, slow metabolism, muscles not so well defined.

No matter what fitness or health road you choose to take, make sure that you’re taking it because it makes you feel good about yourself, happier in your own skin

Usually, bodies are a mixture of two types (meso/ecto, endo/meso…), but can exist as one type alone. This explains why some #fitness programs or diets might work on your friend, but not on you. Regardless of the fact that it is easier for a certain body type to shape-up than another, it is possible to all types if one puts in the effort and #dedication, following the specifically best-fit exercise and #diet programs.

So girls, don’t be afraid of weights, nor worried of having a male figure, because as far as science is concerned, it will take you quite a while to achieve that, unless you start taking steroids.

On another note however, no matter what fitness or #health road you choose to take, make sure that you’re taking it because it makes you feel good about yourself, happier in your own skin, and not to please anyone or fit into society’s “perfect body” standards.

If you aim to please people instead of yourself, you will never be satisfied because you simply can’t please everyone. If you want to build muscles, lose #fat, tone up, bulk, gain weight, then do so, but make sure you are doing it for yourself, as healthy as it can get. When you start leading a healthy lifestyle and loving yourself, your mind will start functioning more effectively, and your body will reflect such #wellness. You are going to live in your body for the rest of your life, if you don’t take care of it and love it, then how do you expect it to do so in return?

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Let me help you achieve your fitness goals & register for a Personal Training Session Now!

Send me an email to: maria.saab3@gmail.com;

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