Can I strength train to get rid of my belly fat or tighten my upper arms?

Ask any woman what her “trouble” spots are, and she will probably give you a list of all the well-known areas women like to approach through exercise, including glutes, thighs, waist, belly, and upper arms. Spot reduction is the mythical belief that fat can be lost in specific areas or muscle groups.

 However, fat is lost throughout the body in a pattern dependent on genetics, gender, hormones, and age. Overall body fat must be reduced to lose fat in any particular area. Although fat is lost or gained throughout the body, it seems that the first areas to get fat or the last areas to become lean are the abdominals, hips, and thighs. 

But, although you cannot spot reduce, you can spot train, meaning that you can strengthen a specific muscle group through aerobic activity and resistance training.

If I lift too heavy of a weight, will I get bulky muscles?

Contrary to many women’s concerns, strength training using heavy weights won’t result in large, bodybuilder-type physiques. However, some women still fear that it will bulk them up in unfeminine ways. 

Women who strive to become competitive bodybuilders work out for several hours a day using a variety of exercise techniques,and a large percentage of their training combines very heavy weight loads. Some women also take hormones and steroids to increase their muscle mass.

Muscle strength is improved primarily by increasing muscle size (hypertrophy)and the number of muscle fibers recruited. Muscles experience hypertrophy when the muscle fibers increase in size. 

Increases in muscle size are highly dependent on diet, genetics, muscle fiber types, and the kind of training performed.Circulating hormones such as testosterone play a large role in the development of large muscles. Men have between 20 and 30 times more circulating testosterone than women, and it is for this reason, as well as the fact that men have more numerous and larger muscle fibers, that men can develop much bigger muscles than women. 

Keep in mind that genetics and individual differences play a role in the rate and degree to which muscles mass increases in either gender. Men and women who train similarly can increase their muscle strength, but because women have lower levels of testosterone and fewer and smaller muscle fibers than men do,they cannot increase muscle size the way men can.