Does weight-lifting in girls cause bulky muscles?

Does strengthening core muscles eg) sit ups, squats etc lead to muscles becoming stiff and inflexible?

Sit ups and squats are compound exercises, meaning they involve multiple muscle group and mimic real world 3 dimensional movement of your body.

The main benefit of compound exercises is precisely that they recruit more muscle groups – muscles that are worked more will be more flexible and less stiff.

Think of it like a spring, connecting two body parts. If they are used actively, there’s less chance that it will become stiff, because you’re repeatedly moving muscles, joints, and ligaments through their full ranges of motion.

I can understand your line of thought – that squatting with heavy weights will make you develop bulky muscles (which I will address in point 2).

But according to studies, normal weight lifting with a full range of motion, actually increases flexibility just as well as, or even better than, static stretching.

In a study conducted by Castelo Branco University, results showed that 8 weeks of resistance training improved flexibility better than static stretching in all but one measurement.

I am worried that I would get chunky muscles, like those bodybuilder type shape from doing such exercises excessively

The most common concern of girls in Singapore, by far. Which is probably why you see so many girls pounding the treadmill non-stop.

The fact is apart from my primary sport (swimming), I’ve been weight training for over 10 years to improve my athletic performance too. By extrapolation, I should look something like The Rock. But I don’t.

There’s a simple physics explanation behind that – law of mass. You are not going to put on extra mass from nowhere, unless you are eating MASSIVE amounts and extra calories to support the muscle growth.

There’s a reason why those huge bodybuilders you see at the gym are constantly sipping on their protein shakes, and eating multiple meals a day.

Furthermore, you need to use heavier and heavier weights progressively to stress your muscles to adapt and get bigger. ie if you aren’t, again you will not grow bigger.

TLDR: No, you won’t get bodybuilder big with weight training unless you are

A. Eating huge amounts of food

B. Doing progressively heavier and heavier rates

C. Bonus reason: you are female, so have less “grow big muscles hormone” (testosterone) than males.

Cheers

Ditto to what Dr Ethan has mentioned - bulk building does require a conscientious effort.

Other than avoiding the diet and progressive weight training that has been mentioned, you might want to read up on the various types of weight training routines you could partake in; lower weight, high repetition routines combined with cardiovascular exercise during the same session optimises your workouts.

Strengthening core muscles promotes stability and good physique overall, just ensure you perform them with good form to keep any unnecessary musculoskeletal injuries at bay.

Most of all, enjoy your workouts and stay healthy!

Best,

Shane

Great question and two equally great answers from my colleagues.

Reading through your questions I understand your concerns, particularly with so many people training and posting images on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

In reality, to become a bodybuilder, it takes considerable effort in terms of training load, dietary intact and sculpting of muscle groups. As mentioned, even with regular strength training to complement your fitness goals, it is unlikely that you are going to develop a body builder physique.

Instead, what you might find is that you become more toned and when taking part in cardio exercises, it becomes a little easier to do. Often, people stick to one type of exercise be it running, cycling, swimming or gym work. What we do know is that if you mix in cardio with strength training or vice versa, one can complement the other.

In terms of muscle stiffness, it is usually a good idea to do some stretching but increasingly we do not advise for this to be done while "cold". Therefore it is worth taking part in some simple warm up exercises before stretching and continuing onto your main activity.

Good luck with your training objectives!

BW

Dr Dinesh