The claimEvidence B · meta-analysis
Lifting weights makes women bulky
The evidence
Male plasma testosterone is about 5-20× female; two years of weekly lifting adds about 3-5 kg of lean mass — lean and defined, not a bodybuilding-stage look.
The mechanism, in brief
'My girlfriend won't lift, she's afraid of becoming a muscle woman' — the most common wrong call in the gym, and the sentence that stops countless women from getting the health benefits of strength training.
Sources (2)
- Morton, R. W., et al. (2018). A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52(6), 376–384.
- Schoenfeld, B. J. (2010). The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(10), 2857-2872.