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How Women Can Build Muscle – Here’s a Sneak Peak of What I Do
I realize there are all kinds of online fitness websites that will tell women exactly what they need to do to gain muscle.
Some use a lot of scientific jargon and tell you that you need to eat certain foods and take supplements.
The truth is, its just people trying to complicate your life.
Gaining muscle is not that difficult.
I can’t speak for every woman, but I think most women want a toned and firm body with low body fat.
I used to spend hours a day in the gym and at first, I started making gains, but after a while, I reached a sticking point.
Why?
Because I was overtraining.
Sometimes the simplest things you do offer the best results. This is not to say that gaining muscle is easy, it’s not, but it’s not that hard either.
In this article, I will tell you about my workout routine and what I did to gain muscle.
My routine is not that complicated
I workout 4 days a week, I don’t commit to certain days I just make sure I get my 4 days in.
What days you workout is up to you, I do try and make sure I have a rest between two workout days this gives the muscles time to rest and recover.
Train two muscle groups per day
Yes, this may seem like a lot but it’s not.
I train two muscle groups each day and this is how I break them up.
- Day 1 legs and Abs
- Day 2 chest and Triceps
- Day 3 back and Biceps
- Day 4 shoulders and Abs
Legs and Abs
I always start off my week with leg day, this for me is the hardest muscle group to train, and for good reason, the legs comprise half of your body and are a major muscle group.
If you want a nice ass you have to squat, you don’t have to go heavy, just focus on the contraction and the squeeze.
Building your legs and glute muscles will not only help you gain muscle they will help you burn calories.
While this is not a favorite exercise among women it is the one that offers some of the best benefits for women.
Legs target your quads, thighs, glutes, and calves.
If you want a nice looking bum and firm legs squatting is how you get them.
I don’t go overboard with my training but I do make every rep and set count.
I try to keep the reps between 10-12 and no more than 3 sets, this goes for each muscle group.
After I do squats I will follow my routine with:
- Dumbbell Lunges
- Side Lunges
- Stiff leg deadlifts
After I complete my leg workout, I will do some leg raises and crunches for abs.
Chest and Triceps
I like to train my chest the next day after legs, this gives my lower body a chance to recover.
I love training chest, and if done right you can perk your boobs up nicely since breasts are a fatty area, I try to focus as much as I can on the squeezing movements.
Working out chest builds up the underlying muscles in the chest and firms it up.
My personal preferences are training with dumbbells.
Using Dumbbells helps me focus a lot on the chest muscles.
I use moderate to heavy weight on this exercise. I find it is the staple movement that offers the best muscle stimulation in the chest.
Keep the reps between 8-12 and 3-4 sets.
After I do dumbbell presses I follow up with:
- 3 sets of dumbbell flies
- 3 sets of standing cable flies
- 3 sets of push-ups
After training chest will do two tricep exercises, these are usually dumbbell kickbacks, dips on a bench, and closed grip bench press.
Back and Biceps
You are probably asking yourself, I’m a girl I don’t want a big back.
Don’t worry your back is not going to get massive.
Training your back is important for two reasons, your back is a major muscle group and it’s a core body part.
Building your back muscles will make everyday activities easier and you will gain strength.
My go-to exercise for training back is deadlifts.
If done properly deadlifts can help you build muscle, this exercise targets just about every muscle in your body, secondary muscle groups include, glutes, thighs, calves, and even arms.
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If you have never done deadlifts before, make sure you start with light weight, when I started doing them I perfected my form with the naked barbell, I then gradually began adding weight.
Once again, keep your rep range between 8-12 and 3 sets.
After deadlifts I follow up with:
- Dumbbell Rows
- Rack Pulls
- Seated cable pulley rows
I note about rack pulls.
I realize this an exercise mostly done by men but it’s one exercise where I can focus more on lifting heavy weight which I have found has helped me increase core body strength.
After I have completed my back workout I will do a couple of exercises for biceps.
I always change my bicep workout with dumbbell or barbell curls and some cable pulley machines.
I find it does not take much to get a pump in my arms.
Shoulders and Abs
Shoulders are not a major muscle group but they should be trained they are what give your body symmetry,
I start with either a dumbbell or barbell shoulder press.
I should note that training shoulders do not require you to lift a lot of heavy weight, on the contrary, training shoulders is all about stimulating the muscle.
After dumbbell shoulder presses I follow up with the following:
- Front Raises
- Side lateral raises
What about Cardio?
Friends ask me all the time why I don’t do much cardio.
For starters, I am pretty active, my job requires a lot of walking, I realize that cardiovascular exercise is essential for heart health.
When I train with weights I try and keep my rest periods brief, no more than a minute between sets, this in itself will get your heart pumping.
I will step on the treadmill 3-4 days a week for 15-20 minutes but no more.
When I first began working out I used to spend 45 minutes doing cardio, I found this was also burning muscle.
If you are serious about maintaining muscle, keep a close eye on how much cardio you do.
Diet
This will all depend on you.
I have found the one thing that has helped me maintain muscle is not trying to watch too much what I eat, rather I try to eat healthy and quality foods.
I eat a lot of whole grains, fresh beef, and chicken and a moderate amount of fruits and vegetables.
If you avoid complex carbs and sugars you should not have any problems maintaining a lean body.
Supplements
I do take supplements, however, this is a personal choice, I have already reviewed many of my favorite supplements here on my blog.
If it worked for me I have reviewed it.
I mainly use supplements right before summer, the biggest benefit I find from taking supplements is that they help me maintain muscle while getting rid of the last couple of pounds of body fat.
For gaining muscle I use one particular supplement called Sutolex which I have found gives me the best results, plus it is also loaded with a lot of minerals and vitamins which help give me an energy boost when I feel tired and run down.
Final thoughts
My suggestions above are just that and should only be used as a guide. It has worked for me but you will probably want to try different routines yourself.
Working out should be fun, experiment around with different exercises until you find a winning combination for building muscle and keeping fat levels low.
Hi My name is Rosalie and the author of Womenandmuscle.com I started this blog to help women understand a little about the side effects of anabolic steroids and share some of my favorite alternatives that have helped me stay in shape and improve my performance in the gym.
