Dr. Lauren Colenso-Semple

promote high rep training or supersets and they'd say, oh, you know, this is going to really maximize that response.

But what we know now is that response, although acutely, it's not the driver of growth long term.

And so it doesn't really make sense to chase that short term response because it's not predictive of a longer term adaptation.

I think part of it was the introduction of the bikini category in competitive bodybuilding because that was a level of muscularity that people didn't look at and say, oh, that's bulky.

That was, oh, she looks good in a bikini.

And so people wanted to look like that, realized that they needed to lift weights differently.

And it kind of opened up a door for resistance training being more feminine.

I think that in combination with the introduction of more group fitness that had resistance training components, CrossFit, which a lot of women were drawn to, I think all of that has made women feel more comfortable.

empowered to lift weights and less fearful of the results.

Although I think there is still a sentiment in some circles that lifting weights or lifting too heavy is going to make you huge instead of, you know, quote unquote, toned.

Also, if there are all of these, where are all of these bulky women?

When do you, how often do you walk down the street and see an incredibly jacked woman?

It's very, very rare.

And so clearly no one is getting huge by accident.

You're not getting extremely muscular without working really, really hard and often incorporating some pharmacological help.

I think it's a cultural thing.

stereotype that at least in high school, the girls didn't belong in the weight room.

That was certainly my experience growing up.

Now I think that's shifting.

And so it's not that it's unsafe.