the gene factor

I hit the genetic jackpot in a number of ways, but the one I'm writing about today concerns muscle mass.  I am one of the relatively uncommon women who can gain muscle quickly, and relatively easily. 

Certainly, my activity level helps with this.  Also certainly, my fairly high-protein diet helps.  But a big part of it is just a gift.  I suspect I have a higher-than-average level of androgens, and if I had wanted to be a Mother Goddess, this might have been detrimental.  Since I didn't, however, it's 100% a good thing.  (Also, of course, if I do have higher-than-average androgens, that might account, to some extent at least, for my lifelong disinterest in childbearing.  This is one of those things that's not worth getting tested since there are no associated health risks.) 

Anyway, this personalized TMI lead-in is simply to set up a look at incremental gains.  Telling you up front that I gain muscle easily is just my way of saying, your mileage may vary.  In fact, your mileage almost certainly will vary. 

With easy muscle gain comes faster muscle response.  If I increase the amount of weight I'm lifting (or supporting) I see and feel results very quickly.  And because I have a fairly low level of body fat, I really do see the results. 

Just because you don't see something happening, however, is no reason to assume that nothing is happening. 

A lot goes on in the body that is completely invisible, and it's all important.

If you have an average or above-average level of body fat, moving weights is still going to potentiate muscle gain and fat loss.  It's just going to take a little longer for you to see it.  If you have significant fat to lose or if you are severely deconditioned, there is a certain amount of work, and time, that's going to be needed in order to reach a point where your body is prepared to start re-shaping itself. 

That's what muscle does: it provides the shape, as well as the functionality, of the body.  The more of your muscle mass you can see, the more defined your shape is.  That's why they call it "definition."  That's why a female athlete has upper arms that are not smoothly cylindrical. 

Anyway, my point - and I do have one - is that people like me, who gain muscle and definition easily, are not doing it entirely through genetic advantage. 

I would still be a shapeless spooge if all I did was sit on the couch. 

I use my genetic advantage to accelerate the response that anyone can gain by shifting weights. 

If you really want to re-shape your body, re-tune your metabolism, and re-design your physical life, I strongly recommend picking up a pair of dumbbells.  They don't have to be big ones. 

I use a wimpy little pair of 5-pounders.  If I wanted to gain more muscle mass, I would shift up to 10-pounders and increase the proportion of protein in my diet.  I also do yoga and calisthenics, which may not be commonly thought of as "weight lifting" but when you are supporting and moving your body weight, that counts. 

Women should not be afraid of "bulking up."  It's hard to do. 

You cannot gain muscle by accident.  You have to overload your muscles, and you have to eat a lot more, and "more" has to include pure nutrition including high levels of protein. 

Lift some weights!  Starting a weights program requires minimal investment of money and time.  My 5-pound dumbbells cost me probably $30 and I've had them for ten years.  They will never "wear out."  My workout, which is a toning workout and not a mass-building workout, takes less than ten minutes.  I do it two or three times a week. 

When you start working with weights, you may discover that you like it.  It's pretty cool to feel yourself getting stronger.  And you may find that you, too, can see results more quickly than you'd imagined. 

Sometimes your body is just waiting for you to give it a chance.

Comments

[kara]

Toning? Really? A meaningless word used to keep women from lifting heavy and being fit.

There is no such thing as "toning". Muscle tone is the ability of the muscle to continually partially contract without active effort - it's what's responsible for our ability to stand up straight, sit w/out effort, etc. Muscle tone relaxes at night when we sleep, which is why you can move someone's arm or leg w/out resistance when they're asleep.

There is no such thing as "toning" muscles to get muscle definition or health in the gym. Either you're building muscle or maintaining muscle - you're not "toning" it.

And lifting 5 lb weights and recommending that other women do is utterly ridiculous. I get so sick of hearing this recommendation. Women carry around purses that weigh more than that. We carry around laptops and babies and diaper bags and groceries. Most women lift and move things that weigh 15, 20, even 30 lbs on a regular basis. So to tell them to "tone" with a 5lb weight is beyond ludicrous.

Women who want to lose weight and reshape their bodies should do so by lifting weights as heavy as they can (if you can lift it more than 10-12 times and not struggle, then the weight isn't heavy enough).

Lifting pink Barbie weights does nothing but increase endurance - it's another form of cardio, and a mild one at that.

This article makes me so angry in that it supports every myth that keep women from being truly fit and believing in themselves that they can lift just like men do.

[chacha1]

Well, isn't that interesting? Gee, I had no idea that lifting more weight than 5 lbs was possible. Cool your jets, lady. People who get mad about stuff like this have deeper problems than whether they should be lifting 5 lbs or 20.

Folks, this is what happens when someone stumbles on an essay and thinks the writer should be speaking directly to her. In case anyone was in any doubt, this is a personal blog, not the American Council on Exercise. Everything here relates to my personal experience.

I know a lot of women who don't lift weights at all because they don't want to "bulk up." If this article is intended for anyone, it's intended for them.

If you are already fit and want to use weightlifting to achieve rapid gains in strength, to aggressively reshape the body, or to lose weight ... you should be working with a personal trainer, not reading the Internet.

Y'all have a nice weekend now.

[Kathryn Young]

Hateful comments posted in the unfortunately anonymous
situation of blogging are the primary reason I stay away
from most blogs. It is so obvious that 'kara' needs, at the
least, counseling. K8

[kara]

So I see you deleted the informational blog posts I made, plus the apology that I made to you for my hostile responses, but you reinstated the posts that I apologized for.

Are you going to leave this post that repeats my apology for my hostile and, yes, I admit, over the top response last night?

Again, I apologize for my words and my tone - when you deleted a post I made that was not hostile and explained my point of view and the fact that I've lost nearly 100 lbs lifting weights properly, and listed resources for you and others to use, you made me angry and I reacted in a way that was not professional or polite. I regret that. I have tried in my followup posts to your latest thread to be explanatory without being hostile, but you have deleted those posts, while leaving only the angry ones.

I would welcome a reasoned discussion with you and your readers. I hope that you will not delete this post.

[chacha1]

Kara: I am allowing this latest comment. I deleted the others because they were inconsistent with the tone I want to maintain on this site.

This is not a discussion blog, as I'll explain tonight. If you have great fitness information to share, I hope you'll do so on your own blog.

[kara]

If it is not a discussion blog, then why do you leave comments open? If you want to post information without comment, then you should structure your blog appropriately. IMO.

[chacha1]

Kara, if anybody could convince me to close comments it would be you.

But how about, you do what you want on YOUR blog, and I'll do what I want on mine. Deal?