i'm 23, female..and i have this bulky muscular upper body.seems to be more bulk than definition.. i've been doing a variety of different weights programs..now i'm doing a 3 day split with 3 sets 8-10 reps..now i'm wondering what i can do about it..i think it could be the way im built..
my mom has the smallest little shoulders..so it's not necessarily genetic
any ideas?
lindsay

When you say bulk, is it primarily muscle, bone, or fat? Have you had your body fat % checked?

Definition only comes with a low body fat. For your exercises, I would switch from doing a 3x8-10 to more of a 5x5. Increase the weights appropriately. Also, for your tempo, if you are doing a slow lower, pause, and then a fast raise (like a 311), switch to a 2x11 (lower a little faster, no pause, raise up explosively, pause at the top for a second).

What this will achieve is switching from a more hypertrophy type workout to a strength workout. You will get the strength benefits, but not the size because overall your time under tension has decreased.

Also, what is your diet like and what are your goals? Are you adding muscle, maintaining, or cutting fat? You might want to tweak your diet.

i'm 23, female..and i have this bulky muscular upper body.seems to be more bulk than definition.. i've been doing a variety of different weights programs..now i'm doing a 3 day split with 3 sets 8-10 reps..now i'm wondering what i can do about it..i think it could be the way im built..
my mom has the smallest little shoulders..so it's not necessarily genetic
any ideas?
lindsay

At 5' 3", 123 lbs, I am surprised you are carrying that much bulk. A picture might help us get a better idea. Not seeing you, I am going to guess that you might not notice "bulk" at a lighter weight. say 105-110 lbs.

At 5' 3", 123 lbs, I am surprised you are carrying that much bulk. A picture might help us get a better idea. Not seeing you, I am going to guess that you might not notice "bulk" at a lighter weight. say 105-110 lbs.

At 5'3", and 110 pounds, she'd be classified as underweight, I believe. She said in another thread she's about 120 pounds. This is in the ideal range for her height; she doesn't need to lose weight. Women have enough trouble with eating disorders without men recommending they lose weight. :d_mad:

My personal recommendation is to bulk up your lower body to match what you perceive to be a bulky upper body. You've already talked about that elsewhere.

Anyway, I think broad shoulders look great. :nod:

At 5'3", and 110 pounds, she'd be classified as underweight, I believe. She said in another thread she's about 120 pounds. This is in the ideal range for her height; she doesn't need to lose weight. Women have enough trouble with eating disorders without men recommending they lose weight. :d_mad:

My personal recommendation is to bulk up your lower body to match what you perceive to be a bulky upper body. You've already talked about that elsewhere.

Anyway, I think broad shoulders look great. :nod:
He never said she needed to lose weight. He said she might not notice the "bulk" it at a lighter weight. READ: "At 5' 3", 123 lbs, I am surprised you are carrying that much bulk." That sounds to me like he's agreeing with you on her already being a good weight (or maybe underweight).

Anyway I do agree with you on everything else -- I for one like broad shoulders and muscularity on women. Not pro bodybuilder style muscle (lol), but athletic looking.

i'm 23, female..and i have this bulky muscular upper body.seems to be more bulk than definition.. i've been doing a variety of different weights programs..now i'm doing a 3 day split with 3 sets 8-10 reps..now i'm wondering what i can do about it..i think it could be the way im built..
my mom has the smallest little shoulders..so it's not necessarily genetic
any ideas?
lindsay

What's your BF%?

it's hard to take all this advice in!! but i'm trying
i've been eating clean foods for a while now..then i went to europe for a month, so i'm trying to get back on track..i eat about 5 meals a day consisting of cereal with fruit, eggs with fruit or veggies/ oatmeal/ , cottage cheese with fruit or veggies, chicken and veggies..i try to have the cereal , whole wheat bread, brown rices for the first 3 meals..and then i sometimes have natural peanut butter, other nuts, and seeds
does that help?
lindsay

it's hard to take all this advice in!! but i'm trying
i've been eating clean foods for a while now..then i went to europe for a month, so i'm trying to get back on track..i eat about 5 meals a day consisting of cereal with fruit, eggs with fruit or veggies/ oatmeal/ , cottage cheese with fruit or veggies, chicken and veggies..i try to have the cereal , whole wheat bread, brown rices for the first 3 meals..and then i sometimes have natural peanut butter, other nuts, and seeds
does that help?
lindsay
Hi Lindsay -- I started to write some thoughts on each of those meals but it was kinda hard to tell exactly what you are eating together at each meal. What if you tried listing out exactly what you ate today (or yesterday), and what time you ate each meal?

Here, for example, this is what I have eaten so far today.

8:45am: wake up, brush teeth, 1 cup coffee (black), took dog for walk
9am: Muscle Milk MRP in milk
9am-noon: a few cups of coffee (black)
11am: 1 can tuna, small portion of green beans, water
12pm: 1 small chicken breast, small portion of field peas, water
12:10pm: multivitamin, EFA
2pm: 1 can tuna, water
4pm: Muscle Milk MRP in milk
5pm: workout, chest and traps
5:40pm: Gatoraide (not the best post-workout choice but my schedule has sucked today; we do what we can, lol)

(I'll have 2 more meals today, not sure what yet but probably some tuna, some cottage cheese, etc. Optimally I should be eating a lot more than this but again it's been a hectic week)

[QUOTE=1FastGTX]Hi Lindsay -- I started to write some thoughts on each of those meals but it was kinda hard to tell exactly what you are eating together at each meal. What if you tried listing out exactly what you ate today (or yesterday), and what time you ate each meal?

1-puffed wheat cereal, apple, skim milk
2-post gym, 1 egg, 3 eggwhites, small apple, oatmeal
3-chicken breast, zuccini, walnuts
4-cottage cheese with mixed vegetalbes

i take fish oil, multivitamin, brazil nuts for selenium
plus water all day, 1 cup of green tea
how is this ?

i bough whey powder today..so when i'm at work, i can keep to the frequent meals, i'll pair one shake with fruit

I'm down to see a picture. You eat like a bodybuilder that diet reflects mine. Also I really don't think that women can get too big they just don't have the juice for it. You might have the perfect body all ready. The bulemic look on women is starting to fade out. Oh well looks like with that kind of diet and your attention to detail you will be able to make your body look however you want, keep up the good work.

Why not try high repetition and a lower weight instead. I have been doing Body Pump classes for the past seven weeks and it is getting me ripped really nice. I find these classes are the very best tool for woman to get into shape quickly. I am eating a bodybuilder's diet right now, to maximize my gains. However, I know I will never really bulk up from it. We don't have the testosterone to get really big anyways.

Drop your weights and do about 15 reps. Also try to do the entire body in one workout and do it about three days a week. This may not work for everybody, but it seems to do the trick for me. Also know that it takes several weeks for the body to even know what you are doing to it. I am just seeing some results after almost eight weeks now...

i'm 23, female..and i have this bulky muscular upper body.seems to be more bulk than definition.. i've been doing a variety of different weights programs..now i'm doing a 3 day split with 3 sets 8-10 reps..now i'm wondering what i can do about it..i think it could be the way im built..
my mom has the smallest little shoulders..so it's not necessarily genetic
any ideas?
lindsay

COMMENTS IN CAPS

1-puffed wheat cereal, apple, skim milk

THATS A TON OF SUGAR. TRY KASHI GOLEAN CEREAL. ITS HIGH FIBER AND HIGH PROTEIN AND PROBABLY WAY BETTER THAN YOUR PUFFED WHEAT CEREAL. TRY SOME BLUEBERRIES INSTEAD OF APPLE OR EAT ONLY HALF THE APPLE. YOU MIGHT WANT TO DROP THE MILK AND JUST MIX UP SOME VANILLA OR UNFLAVORED WHEY PROTEIN AS A SUBSTITUTE



While I am a fan of kashi cereal... if she is really eatting plain puffed wheat cerceal then there is no sugar in the cereal. I would say there is absolutely nothing wrong with an apple. Blueberries are also a great choice though too.

Why not try high repetition and a lower weight instead. I have been doing Body Pump classes for the past seven weeks and it is getting me ripped really nice.

Sorry to double post... I really disagree with this philosophy. The body pump style of lifting is a good workout, but doing a more intense lifting routine and combining it with seperate cardio will do a lot more. Jermey posted this site a while ago.. I suggest you read. It is a pretty interesting. It definately helped convince me that women should lift like men do. Heavy....

http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html

And I'll play Devil's Advocate for a second and take it in another direction.

You say you think you look too bulky, but with the numbers you've given us, it's not that likely you really are. Sure, to get ripped, you have to lose body fat, and a lot of people would benefit from losing body fat. I am trying very hard to lose body fat.

Without a picture, though, nobody here can tell whether you could actually benefit from losing more body fat or, as Guava said, you are already at your ideal weight and, while you can get stronger and look and feel better, losing weight shouldn't really be your goal. I am a big brother of four girls aged 13-22, so I'm very sensitive to how destructive certain pressures can be to cut weight under what is healthy.

Still, there's a possibility that the problem might be completely different.

As far as I can tell, the only reason being "bulky" would be bad for you would be that you'd rather look different. As far as I can tell, you aren't doing any sort of sport or activity where it's important for you to be really small. You're not a jockey or an Olympic gymnast. If you're talking about two people of the same weight and the same body fat percentage, and one just has slightly broader shoulders, that's really not something to worry about. 99.9% of people should never, ever try to lose muscle mass. We do enough of that as we get older, and the results tend to be on the "sort of bad" to "extremely bad" end of the continuum.

If this is what we're talking about, you're saying you "look" too bulky, which is different than saying you "are" too bulky. And looks are easy to change (I know, I work in the theatre.). If you're in good shape changing your attitude is often going to do more to change the impression you strike than any material alteration to your wardrobe, makeup, or body. How you "carry" yourself is key, your posture, the way you move, etc. In my experience, the apparent width of a woman's shoulders is largely determined by her haircut. But now I'm getting a little bit off-topic.

If you want some advice on changing the composition of your body, with those numbers, I'd say we'd need to see a picture (or at least a reliable body fat measurement) to determine whether losing weight would be unhealthy. Otherwise, I say, buck up! You're at a good place, where most of the people looking at this board would love to be. Looks are ephemeral and easy to change, once you've got a body that's healthy and in good shape - they're also not the kind of thing to lose sleep over.

I guess everything works differently depending on the individual. I do come form a bodybuilding past, and have a good deal of experience with it. I find that body pump can be what you make of it. I also combine it with other intense aerobic activities. In my seven weeks of doing pump classes, my body has changed and is getting very ripped.

With body pump, I actually do lift pretty heavy for a woman. I also pick one muscle group a class, and go really heavy with it. I have not injured myself and I also do not need a spotter or training partner. The classes are fun and motivating and the instructors make sure that people keep the correct form.

I also notice that the body pump instructors are very lean and ripped and have the bodies most woman are stiving for. If you ask them about it, they will tell you it is from body pump, and they do not do any weights outside of those classes. I have become close friends with one of the instuctors and she has been going heavy with her weights to get ripped for her vacation. If you saw her, you would have to agree that these classes will do a body good. My friend looks fabulous, and she does not lift weights outside of pump classes.

After seven weeks of my doing this class, I am never looking back. You will never see me lifting weights outside of the pump classes ever again. There is no need for it for me personally. I am a very serious skeptic when I first started these classes. With my bodybuilding past, I thought it would be a waste of time in all honesty. I am so glad I put my judgement aside and went ahead with this.

Body pump is what you make of it.

Sorry to double post... I really disagree with this philosophy. The body pump style of lifting is a good workout, but doing a more intense lifting routine and combining it with seperate cardio will do a lot more. Jermey posted this site a while ago.. I suggest you read. It is a pretty interesting. It definately helped convince me that women should lift like men do. Heavy....

http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html