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How much muscle is too much muscle?
Just wanted to get as many opinions as possible. I personally do not find all that bulk attractive but to each his own. I tend to put on muscle easily and am on a journey to a healthier me. I was just wondering to myself when I will decide to stop and make it a maintenance issue. What do the lovely Veeners think about muscle mass on the female body?
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16 Replies
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I think it’s lovely… I don’t think it looks “manly” or whatever, unless you’re on steroids. And even in extreme cases, I admire women with good muscle tone, it shows dedication and strength! I personally wouldn’t want to look like an extreme body builder, but I can still appreciate all the effort they put into maintaining that body. But if I could look like a gymnast or have a 6 pack?? That would be awesome lol. As someone who gets almost no muscle tone no matter how much I work out, I’m so jealous of ladies who can get the nice toned muscles…
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I don't like the body builder muscle kind of freaks me out but I have to give then there props they work had for them. I'm a naturally muscular person when I workout. After I got pregnant my muscle wore off so I'm working to get it back. I want to look like a gymnast i think their bodies are gorgeous.
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Well, for me my perception of the female body changed the more I got into strength training and later pole dancing. A few years ago I always thought skinny top models had the most beautiful bodies. Then once I started working out I looked at pictures of fit women and sometimes I liked what I saw and sometimes I thought: "Ugh way too much!"
But over the years that changed and more and more muscles became "normal". Especially in pole dance you see lots of girls with strong arms and backs https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_heart1.gif and the more you look at it the more it becomes normal. When I see a formerly thought of "pretty" woman I'm always thinking: "Wow, look at those tiny arms and bony shoulders! How can she survive like that?" I often pinch my female friends that don't work out in their arms and say something like: "Oh look at that, it's so cute!" https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif
I especially love muscular forearms. They make women (and men) look so strong and grown up. I've actually never seen a pole dancer who had too much muscle (female or male). It's in the nature of the sport: the more mass the body has the harder the tricks become. Also there are some strong pole girls out there who don't look muscular at all!
(On a side note: The way your muscles look depends mostly on the body fat percentage you have. If your muscles are covered with fat they will look more bulky than the same muscle with less fat on top of it. Also, just because you're getting stronger doesn't mean you're actually gaining muscle mass. That depends mostly on what you're eating.)
I personally don't build muscle easily so I'm very proud if I see a photo or video of me and the shadow makes it look as if there are visible muscles https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif (Although I'm often told by other people that they think I have too much muscles … well, I only think that's very rude, it's not like I ASKED for their opinion about my body. I mean I don't go around telling people that I think they're too fat/skinny/muscular/bony/whatever … I don't just assume that they care for my opinion about the way they look. In the end every person should feel good in their own body, no matter how it looks like and what other people think https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_flower.gif)
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Although I'm no fitness expert, you won't look like those female bodybuilders unless you REALLY work to look like that.
Strong is the new sexy! I love seeing the definition in my abs and arms because it reminds me of just how hard I've worked to get this far. Although I'm not specifically working towards getting cut, it's a great result of the strength training! At first I was a bit upset my arms were getting bigger because I'm really thin, but I've grown to love them.
Continue training and don't worry! I don't think you'll be getting so built that it turns gross.
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I personally think woman should still be soft and curvy. I'm a pretty thin girl and could lose all my softness quiclky if I'm not careful. I like to have a little wiggle in my hips/butt/thighs…but at the same time…i like to bust out my guns https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif
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In order to look like the female bodybuilders you really have to be EXTREMELY dedicated to your diet and also get your bodyfat content down near the single digits. Female bbers do not maintain that low of BF as it interferes with so much. They will generally start cutting a few months out from a comp and that is basically the only time they really see how they have shaped the different muscles. But with bbers you know that their muscle have been shaped by steel, not by movement such as pole for the most part. Look at Jamie Eason comp and non comp. She has a very different body. Marlo, Pantera and Rafaela I think have the most muscle bound bodies out of the polers I can think of off the top of my head. I think Pantera told me she maintains at 18% BF and I know for a fact that she lifts heavy. When women drop below that percentage it starts interfering with hormonal functions and even healing.
The really bulked bbers have done injections and there is a different class for them. This is not natural in any way shape or form:
http://legacy-cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/4/body-2.jpg
http://www.totalprosports.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/female-71.jpg
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On a side note, my husband and I have gone down to The Arnold in CBus quite a few times. Part of the fun we have is looking at the different people down there. I can attest that seeing women like the pics I posted in real life is just as disturbing (at least in my eyes). It is also just a different form of body mosification. While some enjoy tatting their bodies or getting all sorts of piercings, some enjoy taking their bodies to extreme musculature. While I would love to have the dedication to have a body like say Marlo I just do not have the lifestyle or dedication to do it.
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I have never seen a woman in real life that I thought was unattractively muscular). Female body builders (like the ones posted) can get unnaturally muscular, which I don't find attractive. For the most part I find shoulder, arm and back muscle on women look great. I buil d muscle fast, I love it on my arms and shoulders, but don't feel the same way about my thick calves.
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LOL, this discussion reminded me of this meme:
http://www.tattrpufffitness.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Strength_Training.png
http://ahdalin.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/what-actually-happens.jpg
Anyway – As monary said – I too have never seen a woman in real life that I thought was unattractively muscular. I build muscles fast, and I love it. My boyfriend loves it. I get compliments all the time. When I look at my teachers at the studio, I admire their bodies.
Personally, I think that my body looks and feels best when I do whatever makes me happy, and let it reflect my lifestyle choices and passions.
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As a trainer and competitor myself (i compete in fitness, figure, and bikini divisions), i hate it when people use the terms "freaks" or "manly" to describe female muscle.
Most female body builders take drugs of some sort to enhance their muscle building. These drugs have some side affects that not all of use would like or would choose on our own body. Natural female bodybuilders, while still quite muscular, look nothing like the bigger ladies. Most woman who are natural and in the off season (which means not at 10% body fat) do not even look that big. The pics that were posted are of women who not only use drugs but are in contest shape. And you dont walk around at 10% body fat all year! That means that is not your every day look.
To top it off, the percentage of women who have the genetic ability to pack on that amount of muscle are very very small, and the percentage of women in that category who choose to take it to the extreme is even smaller. Due to this fact, it has becomne very hard for those ladies who choose to look like that compete.
And it is a choice to look like that. Women simply do not have the genetic or hormonal structure to easily put on muscle. When women say "bulk" that is simply a term meaning "i have fat over what muscle I have" as muscle is not bulky, it is more dense and takes up less space than fat. So if you are carrying any amount of fat and are increasing muscle mass (which takes a lot of time!) woman will claim they are getting bulky. I cant count how many times i have been told this as a trainer. And other things get mistaken as getting bulky too, a carb heavy meal causing water retention, hormones causing bloat, muscle pump, etc.
While I myself choose not to use drugs and i compete naturally, i dont knock the ladies who choose to look bigger or enhance their look. I dont think they are "freaks" or that they look manly or find them disturbing in any way, and maybe its just because i have worked out with them, shown with them and competed with them that I find it sad that others have to feel its ok to rip on them and call them names.
I think females with muscle are awesome and to what degree you take it to is a personal opinon and should not be judged by others. Personally for me, I am a hard gainer in muscle and easy gainer in fat, so the more mass i can build the better. Im hoping that poling will help my upper body grow more.
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abcollins1, just to clarify, the word "manly" was not used to describe any woman or the muscle and "freaks" did not come up until your response mentioned it. I think we are in more agreement with you than you might have thought 🙂 Strong women are beautful, and each person can choose to take that to whatever level personally suits her, which makes it all the better.
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I was speaking generally, as these are the terms i hear most often. My own husband has used these terms, telling me he didnt want me to get too manly. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif A few years in and he finally quit worrying about it because he sees how slow the process is.
Its also the first thing that female clients tell me "i dont want to look manly or anything" or when they see my friend who is a natural compettitor, the comments will get crazy. Its just my experiences that this is the way much of the population views females with any amount of muscle. so many women are so afraid to lift a weight thinking they will get too muscular, and the comments from the men i find are even worse.
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Muscle is hot, sexy, end of story. I, personally, never thought that the skinny model is the idol of how a woman should look. It just doesn't look healthy. Just like some of you mentioned, muscle shows strength, determination, and I admire seeing a girl with a toned body. I've now been poling for two months and I see some small changes in my body, I see some of my muscles became more visible when I move – and I just can't take my eyes off of that! Now I can't wait for summer 2013 to see if I won't be ashamed to put on some shorts and show off my muscular (hopefully) thighs, lol.
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Okay now that we've brought out the big guns (lol) and started talking about the people that made looking muscular their job …
The difference between figure/bb competitors and pole dancers is that the first group trains and eats for the look while the second group trains and eats for the performance (e.g. getting stronger, getting more flexible, being able to train for a few hours to polish the skills and work on choreos, teaching classes for several hours, …).
Assuming that you don't take drugs, if you eat and train only for the look you will never achieve your maximum performance. It's mostly because the body doesn't have enough energy to support heavy training … also the cuts prior to competitions are mentally draining. So they are usually strong, but they could be stronger and train harder if they didn't have that lifestyle.
And on the other side, if you eat and train for best performance you usally won't look like those, that eat and train for the look. Of course genetics play a big part here. But it's no coincidence that the strongest people usually don't look like bodybuilders (e.g. olympic lifters, power lifters, strongmen, gymnasts, … if we compare it with pole dance gymnastics is probably closests to what we do)
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One of the nice things about pole dancing is that you get muscle tailored to your own body type since you are using your own body weight as resistance. You won't get bulky in one area unless you repeatedly use the same moves or only dance on one side. I think toned muscle mixed with curves and feminine "softness" is beautiful. Each body type is different though. And different things look good on different people.
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