One of the common myths about bodybuilding is the idea that this type of training necessarily means you will blow up to an enormous size. This idea turns a lot of people away from weight training. When I bring up weight training to someone who is new to it, many times their immediate response is, “Well I don’t want to get all big and bulky.”

Let me clear this up.

It’s easy to look at bodybuilders who compete at the highest level and be turned off by the idea of bodybuilding. But it is important to understand that, in addition to the fact that they are taking anabolic steroids (let’s not kid ourselves), they eat a LOT of food. These individuals eat 6-8 meals every day, regularly averaging 4000-6000 calories. If they did not eat that much – even on steroids – they would not be able to grow to such gargantuan proportions. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that the average person does not regularly consume such an enormous quantity of food, at least not healthfully.

The point is: lifting weights does not necessarily make you huge. Your body grows according to your food intake. In order to build lean muscle, your body needs a surplus of calories in the form of an appropriate ratio of protein, carbohydrates, and fats. How big that caloric surplus needs to be depends on several factors including your age, gender, and current bodyweight, to name a few. But one thing is certain no matter what: whether you want to get big or you want to just get toned, you need to eat properly.

Like many elements of exercise and nutrition, how much you eat will depend on your individual muscle-building goals. If you want to get big, eat more. If you don’t want to get big, don’t eat more. In both cases, however, eat clean, stay lean, and lift mean.