Ask most personal trainers if lifting weights will make you look bulky, and they’ll say no. Odds are, they’ll dive into something about hormones and testosterone, say it’s impossible, show you photos of a fitness model that lifts weights, and finish off with a deep line in the sand…
“Lifting weights will not make you bulky.”
But that simply isn’t the whole truth. Somewhere in the sea of ambiguity that is the term “bulky” trainers and coaches everywhere lose sight of the spirit of the question.
They’re not wrong. It is impossible to get unnaturally massive without unnatural hormone levels. And yes, lifting weights is usually a big part of what fitness models do to look amazing on camera.
But what’s the full answer?
Does lifting weights make you bulky?
Actually, yes. Lifting weights will 100% make you bulky.
But there are some important caveats. Conditions have to be right. You won’t get bulky without the right circumstances. It takes a long time to add mass. It won’t happen overnight. And it takes hard work.
Right now, I want to show you exactly how and why lifting weights will make you bulky.
For one, everyone that wants to build lean mass will walk away with specific tactics they can use to crush their goals. Not everyone wants to lose fat, some people want to look bulkier. This will show them how.
Also, I want to make sure you understand when lifting weights will make you bulky so that you can avoid it and leverage strength training to lose more fat.
Sure, lifting weights can make you bulky. But it’s also one of the best ways to shed fat. And you’ll shortchange your own success if you’re not lifting. I’m here to make sure you don’t do that.
First, Let’s Define “Bulky”
A lot of words people use to describe fitness are completely subjective. Depending on the individual, lean, shredded, toned, jacked, fit, and strong all mean something different. Bulky is no exception.
Looking bulky, like so many people desperately try to avoid, is different for everyone.
For the sake of this article, let’s set aside person definitions and adopt bulky in its broadest sense: literally getting bigger. Obviously, size and bulkiness are directly correlated. The bigger you are, the more bulk you carry.
But you should note that heavier doesn’t always mean bigger. For example, this is Sarah:
Sweet progress pic, right? Sarah’s a champ. She also lost fat between these photos. But her booty got over an inch bigger.
Bigger, leaner, stronger, and technically bulkier.
As you read this, bulky doesn’t have to mean utterly and unnaturally massive. It doesn’t have to mean arms that stretch shirt sleeves. And it doesn’t have to mean tree-trunk quads. (Though it certainly could.)
Bulky is simply bigger. Period.
So Does Lifting Weights Make You Bulky? Yes, But Only If…
Lifting weights will definitely make you bulky. As a member of the BENTRAINED Coaching Program, Sarah lifted a lot and added over an inch of bulk to her glutes. Which, by the way, was her goal. She wanted to lose fat and chase some sweet booty gains. So we did exactly that.
But like I mentioned before, lifting weights will only add size (read: bulk) if the conditions are juuust right. Here are four ways people often create those conditions—either on purpose or by accident.
1. You Stimulate Growth with the Mechanisms of Muscle Hypertrophy
According to the research, muscles grow because of a few simple mechanisms. We’ll get to what each of those are in a second, but first let’s approach them at a macro-level.
If you leverage just one of these mechanisms, you can get bigger. But if you use all three, the growth is maximized.
That’s key. It’s a good-better-best type of thing. If your goal is to gain lean mass and get bulkier, one is good, two is better, and all three is best. Here are the basics of what each is and how it can apply to your own training.
First, Mechanical Tension
Think of mechanical tension as muscle-generated force. The heavier the load you’re lifting, the higher that force will need to be. Simple enough. As you increase the weight of your lifts, you’ll also increase mechanical tension in the working muscles.
Mechanical tension is usually optimized by using very heavy loads with big compound movements like squats, bench, and deadlifts. This will stimulate growth and can make you bulky.
Second, Muscle Damage
When we exercise, we break muscles down. This muscle damage allows the body to build back bigger and stronger than before—adaptation. One big key for muscle damage is total time under tension. All other things being equal, a set with more time under tension will cause more damage and growth.
Muscle damage is usually optimized by using high volume, slower lifting tempos, and even isometric holds with any lift. This will stimulate growth and can make you bulky.
Third, Metabolic Stress
I almost always explain metabolic stress the same way. It’s all about chasing the pump and feeling the burn. This is the bro-y bodybuilder-type stuff that you’ll see happen in gyms everywhere. On a cellular level, that unmistakable burn creates a physiological environment that helps with growth.
Metabolic stress is usually optimized by doing things like burnouts, drop sets, and finishers with isolation lifts. This will stimulate growth and can make you bulky.
All three mechanisms play important roles in muscle growth and help you get bigger. Using all three in tandem will optimize that growth. Do that and lifting weights will make you bulky.
2. You Create a Caloric Surplus
A caloric surplus is straightforward and simple. It involves consuming more calories than you burn. In other words, you’re eating more food than your body needs function. Those extra calories from food will make you bigger—or bulky—and you’ll gain weight.
Your training will dictate whether you gain good weight or bad weight in a caloric surplus.
Good weight would be lean muscle. Bad weight would be fat mass. If you’re training in a way that stimulates growth (see above), the extra calories will help with lean mass development.
Combine lifting weights with a caloric surplus—even an accidental one—and it can make you bulky.
3. You Maximize the Caloric Surplus
To create a caloric surplus, you need to consume more calories than you burn. We know this now. And that starts by eating more. But once you’re eating in a caloric surplus, you can also maximize that surplus by burning fewer calories.
Things like cardio and conditioning are great and you should totally do them. (Unless they’re one of the two types of cardio you should never do.) But when you’re trying to get bigger and add bulk, extra cardio and conditioning can burn too many calories.
Getting the most out of your caloric surplus is simple: Move less.
Burning fewer calories will create a larger surplus and leave more calories to help you get bigger, stronger, and bulkier.
4. You Work Hard and Give It Time—A Lot of Time
Patience is a huge part of any fitness goal. But it’s especially true when it comes to gaining lean mass or getting bulky. Each and every ounce of muscle is hard-earned. It takes a long time. Like even longer than losing fat, which already takes time.
It takes consistent effort and lots of time for lifting to make anybody bulky.
Even if you’re doing all of the right things, you won’t wake up one day to find that lifting weights suddenly made you bulky. Given enough time doing everything listed above, lifting weights will 100% make you bulky—doesn’t matter if you’re doing them on purpose or by accident.
If you want to get bigger, build lean mass, and add bulk, do them. But if those aren’t your goals, take a different approach.
Don’t Want Lifting to Make You Bulky? Do the Opposite
When your training stimulates growth, you eat enough to fuel that growth, and give it enough time, lifting weights will make you bulky. You’ll get bigger. Guaranteed.
Whether or not you want that? Well, that’s up to you. If gaining mass is the goal, cool. Do that, get bigger, let lifting make you bulky, and enjoy the gains.
But lifting weights doesn’t have to make you bulky.
A well-designed program can use weights to help you shed fat, lose weight, and look amazing too. And the basics are pretty simple: Don’t do the things that will optimize growth. Sometimes, you’ll even want to do the opposite.
Instead of stimulating muscle growth, stimulate fat loss. Don’t consume more calories than you burn and shoot for a caloric deficit instead. And maximize that deficit by including plenty of cardio and conditioning in your training.
When that happens, lifting won’t make you bulky. It’ll make you leaner, stronger, and more toned.
Get Your Own Personal Plan
If you’re ready to finally start lifting weights the right way for your goals, apply for coaching below. There are only a handful of openings right now. They’ll fill up fast, but I want you to be BENTRAINED. I want you to use lifting weights to get bigger results. And I want to show you how.
Let me give you everything you need to shed fat, sculpt lean muscle, and look your best.
