short women, 4'11 to 5'3, do you find it easy to build muscle

hello everyone - i posted this in the weight loss section as well. i just wanted to know from the short women if it is easy or hard for them. please respond

For me, it's easy. 

I think it has more to do with your body type than your height.  It's always been easy for me to build muscle; had I been encouraged earlier in life, I could have been a good athlete, I believe.  Instead, I was a bookworm! But I'm making up for it now.  I see muscle definition in just a few days when I start lifting weights (on those parts that have little fat coverage).

Hard? I suppose, though I honestly never tried, I stop. Mostly because I dont know what Im doing, Im sure if I did, I could gain muscle.

5'2"... 45 years old! lol

Saw muscle after 7 heavier-weights work outs! (2x a week)

8's smallest, 15's, 37 curl bar for squats, and rows, 65 0n legs, 80 on barbell... 1 hour routine... Then 30 minutes mat type exercises.

Shocked! 1200-1300 cal avg. Just trying to keep what I (hope!), I have...

Using higher protein %, too, is part of reason, I'm convinced!

Nice surprise! =)

bumping

as a courtesy, transferring a copy of the reply on the duplicate thread from weight loss which has been deleted.

#1 ilisa (Edit) Sep 08 2007 22:00 I'm 4'11", 19 years old, and female. Building muscle is pretty easy for me, especially with my legs since I'm a pear shape. I have a harder time with my arms and stomach.

I am 5'1 and I can look at a weight and gain muscle. However, I get a boxy look when I lift weights. Like a line backer. 

Yeah, I'm 5' even, and I work with a personal trainer 3 times a week for my strength training (along with my cycling/spinning training).  I do drink protein after each training session and take creatine everyday, and I've put on about 5-6 pounds of muscle in the past 4 weeks.  I was completely freaking out on the scale, but I realized that my clothes are actually looser and everything is leaner.  But yeah, I'm afraid that I'm going to look like a tank soon.

agreed.

4'11 and I see defintion after about 2 weeks worth of workouts but only in my arms. i want to get slim and lean but i feel like being so short makes me look boxy and heavy ALL the time....unless i wear heels which gets super annoying after a while

oh wow, i had a feeling it had something to do with being short... I barely weight train and I have tons of muscle mass.  I'm 5'2 and do light circuit training and pilates and I have lots of definition in my thighs, arms, and back.  When I was using the leg press machine, I was starting to get a stocky look to my thighs.  

if I were a guy, I'd be so glad to have this genetic quality -- but I'm not, so its a total inconvenience!!

Depends- my legs are pretty muscular, and my arms aren't incredibly toned, but you can defininitely tell when I make a muscle. I actually had a friend teasing me for my "guns" last week. XP

But, my stomach is another story, and I'm not overweight.

5'0" tall and yes, absolutely!! I am not doing any strength training at the moment, but in my 20s-30s i did a lot of it (one hour 5x's a day). My body responds very quickly. Since muscle has memory, I'm sure if I took it back up, even now in my 40s, I'd gain muscle fast.

I am an apple shape when I do nothing, with small hips and thighs and no waist. When I weight train, I end up with one of those aerobic fitness instructor-type bodies! That's the only way I can explain it. Not quite mesomorphic... for example Joyce Vedral is only 5'0" and if you google for a pic of her, I don't come close to that...which IMO is too bulky for a short frame. Just evenly balanced and proportioned all over. My thighs don't get huge or stocky or anything like that. I just get more definition everywhere.

I'm about 4'11", and it's very hard for me too lose the weight, but very easy for me to gain the weight. I've often said, if I were a little bit taller, then my weight wouldn't be an issue.  So then I resulted to praying about it, and so lets just say...I'm still praying...But my problem areas are in my hips, bust, and thighs...you know exactly were you want the curves, but not too much...As for my arms, I could stand to work them out...and I don't gain too much in my stomach, but I don't have a six pack either...My calves are very toned, being that I'm in college, and have to walk through a hilly campus at a swift pace everyday.  So this is my dilemma...

i find it really easy to build muscle.  i really dont mind it since i like the athletic look much better than the "thin" look but there is one odd thing that kinda bugs me... the more i run the bigger my trap muscles get.  i find it so strange, you'd think they would be the least used muscles during that kind of activity. i'm not saying i turn into a no-neck linebacker or anything, but for a chick, they are some pretty nice sized traps, lol.

legs are the first to build though.  ive always had it made up in my mind that its becuase if they are going to grow the only way they have to go is out.  there are no long and lean muscles in this 5'2" body, haha :)

if thats the way you are, i say embrace it!  i consider it a gift that i can lift for only two or three weeks and get visual results.  yeah yeah, i know im supposed to BE healthy, but if i already look it then who has to know?

I'm 5'2 and in the past I've bulked up easily.  Doing lighter weights at higher reps has helped me get a leaner look while still gaining strength and getting healthy.  I'll lift heavy with few reps for muscles where I want bulk (my chest, butt, calves) and light with more reps for a longer look (legs, sholders, hips and back).  That way my arms show that I work out, but my shoulders and quads aren't so big that I look like a fire plug.  Recenlty I've started more of a slow-burn workout which I really like. 

I'm 5'2 and can get pretty defined abs and arms, but my legs don't get very muscular and I really want my butt and thighs to be tone, but it isn't happening yet. Of course the problem may be that I don't lift weights (I can't afford a gym), I run for 30 mins 3 or 4 times week and do balance ball exercises.

I'm 5'2, and it's pretty easy for me to build muscle if I am not in a calorie deficit.  I do a minimal amount of strength training while I'm in a calorie deficit to maintain the muscle that I have, but I will do even less when I'm maintaining because my body just packs on muscle like crazy.  I'm okay with some, but once my t-shirt sleeve cuffs start getting snug, I back off, lol.