I can report back about the first ~4 months of my experience lifting weights, doing the Starting Strength program. I’m female though, so my experience was probably very different from a male’s.
Basically, I saw huge strength gains but little to no change in appearance. I did have an awesome time doing it, and have kept it up long-term. After 2.5 years of training and slowly gaining 10lbs (on purpose), I now see small changes in my appearance but nothing major: If I’m in a tank top my arms and shoulders look more muscular that most women, and my hamstrings bulge out a little. In normal clothes I really don’t look very different.
In short—ladies: if you’re worried about accidentally getting too big by lifting weights, stop worrying. It won’t happen unless you’re trying to get big, and even then it’ll be slow and difficult. If you think you might like lifting, go try it. I wish I’d started earlier.
I can report back about the first ~4 months of my experience lifting weights, doing the Starting Strength program. I’m female though, so my experience was probably very different from a male’s.
Basically, I saw huge strength gains but little to no change in appearance. I did have an awesome time doing it, and have kept it up long-term. After 2.5 years of training and slowly gaining 10lbs (on purpose), I now see small changes in my appearance but nothing major: If I’m in a tank top my arms and shoulders look more muscular that most women, and my hamstrings bulge out a little. In normal clothes I really don’t look very different.
In short—ladies: if you’re worried about accidentally getting too big by lifting weights, stop worrying. It won’t happen unless you’re trying to get big, and even then it’ll be slow and difficult. If you think you might like lifting, go try it. I wish I’d started earlier.