Biceps too big?

  •  First off, I am a woman so this is not a bragging post!   :)

    I am three weeks in, and pretty excited about my progress so far.  I've lost about 7 pounds, a few inches, and my energy levels are way up.  My back isn't in so much pain from toting around my one-year-old and my clothes are looking less snug, too.  However, I feel like my biceps are getting too big.  I already have sort of large arms, and have always had a big frame so I don't want to get bulkier-looking.  Will my arms shrink as I lose more fat?  Should I switch my arm workouts to more reps at lower weights, and if I go that route how do I still hit my 10's?  Thanks!

  • wow, 7 lbs in three weeks is a good start to your program.

    I'm a guy, but this has always been my thought on the subject of women concerned about becoming bulky...

    Building muscle mass is one of the hardest things to do because your body does not want to do it, and has built in mechanisms to make it more difficult. If you keep up your training your muscles may become more firm and toned (especially as the fat comes off), but as a woman you're not likely to put on bulky muscles unless you have some sort of hormonal anomaly (or chemical enhancement).

    Personally I'd just keep at it. If you do want to lower the weights you probably should do it in the form of circuit training that way you're burning a ton of calories at the same time.

  • I'm wondering now if the 7 lbs is due to the apparently over-zealous carb restricting.  

    It's just my biceps.  Everything else seems to be shrinking and firming but my dang arms look huge to me!  I am going to look over my before pics and see if it's just in my head.

  • just out of interest, what weights are you using? I'll bet it's just in your head, isnt that always the case when you have a hang up about a certain body part.... my thighs always seem to bulk and not

    "Train like an athlete, eat like a nutritionist, sleep like a baby, win like a champion"

  • I was lifting 2, 5, 8, 10 lb weights at the time.  I think I just have the genes for big old arms!  I feel like my upper body is generally just larger for a lady.

  • Could be but I also read an article that said a lot of people notice some bulking in the beginning since you're building muscle but still have fat over it.  It said that once you really start getting the fat to come off you're left with just lean muscle.  Maybe that's what's goin on?

  • Maybe.  I noticed that my arms look bigger even though they are smaller than before because I seem to have lost more weight everywhere else preferentially.  I'm okay with it though, just waiting out the rest of the fat loss.  I'm in an active rest between challenges right now (still doing cardio 4-6x a week and calisthenics, watching calories but not bothering as much with meal spacing and macro ratios) and I'm still losing weight.  Hopefully it isn't muscle loss!  Thinking I'll start up again in a week or so.