Debunking the Fear of Bulking: How Women Are Embracing Strength Training

For too long, women have been discouraged from picking up heavy weights, in part due to an outdated myth about “bulking up.” In the past decade, though, the tide has been shifting as more and more women are embracing strength training for benefits ranging from improved body composition to better mental health.

“When we look in the mirror and feel strong, that allows us to see ourselves in a different way,” said Tonal coach Ash Wilkng. “Even if it’s just being able to enjoy our day-to-day without any pain, having strong muscles means healthy ligaments and tendons, which means healthy joints.”

Women are, unfortunately, still underrepresented in exercise science research. According to a 2020 review, only 8 percent of published studies focused on female physiology. That’s why Tonal’s exclusive data set on strength training is so important. For the 2023 State of Strength report, Tonal analyzed more than 175,000 unique members, 41 percent of whom were female. It turns out, female Tonal members are breaking barriers and leading the charge on lifting heavy.

Here are the top five insights from the State of Strength report on how women are making strength training their own:

1. Overcoming Obstacles

Seventy percent of female members surveyed said they experienced barriers to strength training before Tonal. Here are the top three reasons women said they’ve avoided lifting weights in the past:

Tonal member Katie Dunford admits she used to choose cardio over strength training, but would often end up overtrained and injured. “For years, I thought that spending hours each day running or cycling was the best way to get in shape,” she said. “It wasn’t until I gave up that routine and embraced strength training that I started to feel my best.” Now, the 41-year-old mom has lifted more than one million pounds on Tonal and has never felt better.

2. Choosing Strength

Female members lifted a whopping total of 11,976,334,178 pounds in one year.

Even with so many workout modality options available to them including yoga, barre, high-intensity interval training, Pilates, and dance cardio, women still choose strength training workouts 62 percent of the time.

Tonal member Shinneka “Nikki” Baker is glad she made the switch to prioritizing lifting heavy over endless cardio. “While you lose weight with cardio, you can also lose muscle mass,” she said. “With strength training, you build muscle and lose body fat.”

3. Getting It Done on Tonal

Gone are the days of mini weights geared toward women. Women today are moving heavy weights on a regular basis. In one year, female members lifted an average of 3,431 pounds per workout. For those choosing a coach-led, multi-week program, that number jumps to an average of 4,348 pounds per workout. That all adds up to an average Strength Score increase of 57 percent in their first year on Tonal.

As female Tonal members know, these big lifts translate to lean muscle gains, not unwanted bulk. “