Many people have a persistent fear about training with weights.
They fear that if they lift weights they'll quickly look grotesquely large and overly muscled.
Often, those who fear this have never actually lifted weights and spent much time trying to get stronger, more toned, or "bulked up".
Let us clarify that when we talk about "too bulky" we mean we fear our muscles will get too big and we'll start to look like those muscle-heads on the covers of professional bodybuilder magazines.
This has nothing to do with fat.
Muscle bulk from weight or resistance training is not fat.
Gaining fat is a lot easier to do without lifting weights.
Reflections To explore this terribly frightening prospect, let's spend a few minutes reflecting on the world of those actively trying to bulk up as much as they can.
In the world of those working out to build muscle we find people struggling to convert as much of their body weight to muscle as possible.
These people aspire to become bulky, they want to look more like the muscle guys they see in magazines, or at least a lot more muscular than they look right now.
The last thing they're afraid of is too much muscle.
Those who achieve significant muscle gains work their butts off at it for months, very often years.
Some have unusual advantages like very good genetics for muscle building, or they started lifting weights when very young, maybe they tend to eat a lot of protein.
I've met a few people I could tell at a glance spent plenty of time doing some sort of resistance training only to discover after getting to know them that they don't work out at all.
They just have naturally muscular bodies and they haven't done anything special to get that way.
I had a girlfriend like that once.
Mainstream professional bodybuilders lift weights, eat five to nine meals a day, and take steroids for a living.
Natural professional bodybuilders who keep away from steroids don't get as huge and still they train, eat and take natural supplements obsessively.
They pursue "too much muscle" fanatically.
The only people who lift weights and become "too bulky" are those who seriously dedicate themselves to the task for a long time.
Many try and fail to see the kinds of muscular development they had hoped for and give up before finding an approach that works well for their particular body type.
The Risk of Gaining Too Much Muscle is Exceedingly Low My "final solution" is that you only can get too much muscle by training with weights by working at it long and hard with an enduring passion.
In other words, don't worry about it.
You can't get huge muscles by accident and you have many ways to adjust your course as you go.
To achieve extreme muscle bulk you have to adjust your course as you go anyway, continuing to lift heavier weights and consume more protein as you advance.
Have no fear, if you want to get smaller just start using less weight.
Rest assured you can achieve muscle losses much more quickly and with far less effort than you can achieve muscle gains.