One of the concerns for women when they first try kettlebell training is that they think that because it is a weight they will build muscle. Mike Mahler has a great saying for this “Worrying about building muscle is like worrying about making to much money”, it just doesn’t happen by accident, it takes months of hard work and effort.
There are women out there who have the potential to build up, but they are in the minority.
Here are the two main reason’s why women won’t just suddenly sprout arms like popeye!
1. Not enough of the muscle building hormone testosterone
Women are estrogen dominant and only produce tiny amount of testosterone comparatively to men. Testosterone plays a huge role in muscle building, so trying to “get big” without it would be like trying to swim the channel with your arms tied together. Its not gonna happen!
2. Not enough calories eaten to fuel muscle growth
To build new muscle you have to eat more calories than your body needs, its these extra calories that are the building blocks of new muscle tissue, if you keep your calories at maintenance or below it is impossible to build muscle. Couple this with the fact that most women under eat, and you are fighting an uphill battle again!
Other considerations are training intensity and volume. This is what strength athletes manipulate to create muscle growth. So if you did feel that you are building unwanted muscle, you could use lighter weights or do less sets and reps, however as first pointed out, muscle building is such a slow process, you would see this happening a mile off and could easily make adjustments.
Don’t worry ladies, you won’t suddenly wake up one day looking like Arnold!
Train hard and enjoy!
