I am also 5’4", 128 lbs, 18% bodyfat, small bones. My biceps are 10.5" unflexed, 11.5" flexed. I have longer bellied biceps without high peaks.
SteelyEyes - You can relax and get your bonbons back. If you saw me you wouldn’t think I have really huge arms. Like Patricia says, it’s about proportionality. And believe me, my arms are well in proportion to the rest of me. I’m a product of generations of European farmers on both sides, and have that typically thick Eastern European women’s build. Although noone in my generation farms, the women in my family often joke that we have to be strong enough to pull the plow if the horse is sick.
Also, keep in mind, I’ve lost a ton of weight in the last year and fat, unfortunately, doesn’t melt all nice and smoothly. Although some parts of me are reasonably lean, I have disproportionate fat deposits left in other areas, the triceps being one, contributing to an overall larger arm measurement.
how do you put a photo on here? I have one, i don’t have a before photo but i have an “after” shot. i’m just starting, i have only 6 weeks in,one basic learning stuff, 5 of serious work.
ok, i posted a pic. constructive criticism only please… thanks y’all!
I am 5’6" (or just under, shrinking…I blame it on the leg press, not age). I weight 133, and carry a maintenance bodyfat level of just about 12%. I have 13" bicep, and please believe that it took years to get there, and as much work to maintain. I happen to like the ripped look, but unfortunately, if you are female, for the most part it doesn’t hang around more than a day or two. I can work biceps on Monday (my normal day), get a good pumped look that will show for Tuesday, but by Wednesday it starts to smoothe out. The ripped look has much more to do with bodyfat covering the muscle than with how you are training them. At 18%, I would doubt that you need to worry about appearing too ripped.
My daughter is a lean girl at 5’ 10" and 130 lbs. She lifts heavy, but is a dancer and prefers not to have a ripped look. Her answer is to tailor her diet to maintain a higher bodyfat, which gives her a very nice firm look without seeing ripped muscle or veins.
Rebecca mentioned that her “ripped” look lasts only for a day or two. I am female, 5’2", 110lbs, 15%bf, and have the same situation in which my muscles smooth out a couple days after training. Any ideas/thoughts as to why this is so?
i notice that too. i do know that the muscles are full of blood the first few days becuase of damage and they’re in a state of repair. perhaps once the inflammation goes down, they shrink down to their working size. seems like a sick joke if you’re trying to get bigger huh? if anyone else has comments about that i would like to hear too.
Honestly I think of it as just a part of being a woman.
One of my wife’s buddies talks about it also. She is the type who works out a good 2-3 hours/day and is always in the low teens in BF, with short bursts down below 10% at very rare times.
She mentioned it was extremely hard to stay down there at the “ripped” level and thinks it’s something to do with estrogen. Like the female body always forces itself to smooth out in preparation for baby making.
Of course, after seeing pro’s you know females can do it, but I doubt it’s likely au natural…
I’m no scientist or expert, but from what I’ve read, there are a couple of reasons that “natural” women just normally don’t build upper body muscle and hold it the same way that men do.
First, there is the difference in hormonal makeup. Men have approximately 10 times more testosterone than women, which is a major hormone involved in building muscle. Also, they have more androgen (testosterone) receptors in their upperbody (predominately shoulder girdle) than any other place on their bodies. This is often how many experts can tell the difference between natural bodybuilders and enhanced bodybuilders (or so they claim). Men also basically have bigger upper bodies (bigger everything…heart, lungs, bones) than women. I’ve also read some research that suggests that the muscles in the female upper body may actually be shaped differently and shorter than the male upper-body muscles. Put all this together, and most men have the ability to build a bigger muscle. We all get the pump, which is basically when additional blood is pumped into a worked muscle to carry nutrients, oxygen and to clean out the accumulated lactic acid that is built up in the muscle during hard/heavy weight training. It just appears bigger on men, because it is. They smoothe out after a couple of days also, but it’s not as apparent because their muscles are more developed to begin with and they usually carry a lower maintenance bodyfat and in different areas of the body than women.