When it comes to weight-lifting and fitness and general, women always struggle to find a clear goal of what their bodies should look like or what they might look like if they started lifting. They think that just a single repetition of a bicep curl will make their arms 10 times bigger or a single sit-up will reveal their hidden 12-pack of abs while in reality, they can’t even get to that level even if they were constantly training and lifting weights. This fear of getting too big is often connected to what other people might think of you which is precisely why I see a lot of women asking this question: “How muscular is too muscular for a woman?”
A woman needs a lot of muscles to appear too muscular. It’s almost impossible for them to reach a “too much muscle” level unless they dedicate their lives to bodybuilding and take performance boosters. If you enjoy weight-lifting as a woman, train as much as you like because it’s very unlikely that you’ll become too muscular.
In this article, we’ll talk about how muscular is too muscular for a woman and if muscles are attractive on a woman.
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How Muscular is Too Muscular For a Woman?
In order to answer this question, let’s take a look at this illustration that represents two types of women. They both weight lift, follow a strict diet, and lead a fitness lifestyle overall.
Now let me ask you a question, out of the two, who do you think looks the least appealing or “too much”? Clearly, the answer will depend on each person but I’m sure that the majority will pick the woman on the right.
It’s true that the one on the left looks like she spends a fair amount of time in the gym but not a degree where you dedicate your entire life to bodybuilding. The woman on the right probably trains every single day, has to eat a lot of calories, and most importantly, takes performance boosters which is the main reason that allowed her to reach that level.
What Traits Represent “Too Much”?
Again, if you take a look at the woman on the right, what are the traits that made it obvious to you that she was too muscular?
Size
First of all, it’s the size. When a woman is bigger than most of her friends (even men) and her size comes purely from muscle mass and not fat, at that point, you can consider her to be “too muscular”. But again, you can’t reach this level in size unless you dedicate your whole life to bodybuilding or become a professional. It’s extremely hard and unlikely for normal women to reach a point where they would look bigger than most people by just normal weight-lifting.
Round Shoulders
If we take a look again at the woman on the right, the first thing that you’ll notice is her big round shoulders. As we all know, it’s very rare for women to have that kind of round shape in that particular area so when you see one that has it, you’ll automatically think “she’s too muscular”. Big shoulders are literally the manifestation of bodybuilding and the goal of many professional bodybuilders. In addition to that, acquiring them as a woman is extremely difficult and requires the use of performance boosters.
Too Many Veins
Veins are pretty normal for women that regularly train but to a limited extent. Having too many of them all over your body will make you look “too muscular” even if you’re not that big. It’s totally normal if you have little ones on the bicep and hands, however, it’s not when you have them on your shoulders, abs, thighs, and so on.
Inner Chest
The inner chest represents the line that separates the pectoral muscles. It’s pretty common among men that regularly train, but for women, it’s quite unusual and can appear “too muscular” for the public. It also makes that area solid like a rock which is the opposite of what most women want.
Defined Muscles
If the majority of your muscles are defined, meaning that everyone can easily spot and differentiate between all groups of muscles (only achievable if you have a low body fat percentage) and they appear big, then it means that you’re “too muscular”.
Are Muscles Attractive on a Woman?
The answer to this question will depend on each type of person and what they prefer in a woman. There are some that find muscular women really attractive and others that despise them.
That’s why I went all over the internet and gathered the opinion of guys (including mine) when faced with the question “Do you find muscular women attractive?” and by “muscular” I don’t mean the muscles that professional women bodybuilders have and that’s impossible to reach unless you use performance boosters, what I really mean is a level of a muscular size that can be obtained by average women if they train at a regular basis.
I gathered a lot of answers (about 143) but they can be summarized into three main opinions:
- “I don’t mind women with muscles, it’s attractive as long as it’s not too much”
- “I don’t find women that have muscles attractive”
- “It doesn’t make a difference for me”
Here is a representation of the results that I got:
Although 143 opinions are a low number to use as a definitive sample, it can still give a vague unbiased answer to this question. As you can see, the majority of people find women with muscles unattractive. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t people that like them. Even if it’s a minority, it’s still going to be a large number.
If you enjoy training and building your muscles as a woman, just go for it. People’s opinions shouldn’t really matter as long as you’re happy with yourself and what you’re doing. The most important thing is to stay fit, follow a good diet, and lead a healthy lifestyle even if that means building a little bit of muscle along the way.
Conclusion:
Women can’t put on nearly as much muscle as men simply because their bodies aren’t built that way. Even if you lift the heaviest of weight and train on regular basis, reaching a level that’s deemed “unattractive” or “too much” is impossible. The big muscular women that you see out there dedicated their whole life to bodybuilding and all of them use performance boosters. That’s why you shouldn’t ever worry about getting too big.
