In this episode, Louise Green tackles one of the most persistent lies in fitness culture: the fear that women will accidentally get big and bulky from lifting weights. She breaks down where this fear actually comes from, not biology but culture, marketing, and diet culture narratives designed to keep women small, compliant, and focused on shrinking. Louise explains how muscle is actually built, why “toning” is so misunderstood, and why strength training is not a threat to femininity but a direct path to power. This is a conversation about permission. Permission to be strong. Permission to take up space. Permission to stop fearing your own potential.

Key Takeaways

• Many women are afraid of getting big and bulky from strength training.
• That fear is cultural, not based on lived experience or physiology.
• Muscle growth is slow and intentional, especially for women and particularly over 40.
• “Toning” is mostly about body fat changes, not light weights or endless reps.
• Diet culture sells the fantasy that bodies are endlessly controllable.
• Strength training is about capability, confidence, and autonomy, not aesthetics.
• Women are conditioned to shrink themselves physically and socially.
• The fear of bulk is often a fear of power.
• Strength improves health, resilience, bone density, and longevity.
• We need new cultural stories that support strong women, not smaller ones.

Louise Green is an award-winning coach with 20 years invested in working with women of all body sizes. She has coached thousands of women from all over the world, if you're ready take the next step in your strength, check out her coaching program, Size Strong.