Women and Muscles

In the initial stages of weight training—the first six to eight weeks—muscles get stronger, not by getting bigger, but by increasing their efficiency. The communication between the muscle fibers and the nerves improves, the frequency at which the muscle fibers contract increases, and so on.

It takes several months before muscle fibers increase the amount of protein they contain (and therefore increase in size, known as hypertrophy.)

...research shows that it may take women six months performing a progressively heavier resistance training program to build an average of two pounds of extra muscle.

But, some women swear they get bigger from doing certain exercises, no matter how much anyone tells them that it is impossible. So, is it possible that you really have gained more muscle and that your thighs did actually get bigger as a result? Yes.

There do appear to be genetic differences that may shape how a person responds to exercise:

• Some women may build a bit more muscle in response to the same weight training program while others may not. And your body type will probably dictate how you look, too. If you are long-limbed and lean, it’s going to be harder for you to look bulky compared to a naturally rounded, curvier woman.

• Some women with super-skinny legs do heavily-weighted squats and their legs stay super skinny.

• Some women with bigger thighs who regularly do Pilates, yoga or ballet—all activities alleged by some to make limbs “longer” and “leaner”—never develop less muscle or fat in their legs from these moves.

But even if you are prone to develop an unexpected muscle increase, there is probably a limit as to how much muscle you can build. Unless you are adding extra load to your resistance moves, you’re not giving the muscles extra stimulus that might trigger more muscle growth.

By Martica Heaner, Ph.D., M.A., M.Ed., for MSN Health & Fitness
Image by Maria Olegovna