Today I want to share the primary factors to building muscle for women.
No matter your goals or ideal body type, all women can benefit from building muscle. Lean muscle helps you function in daily life and decreases your chances of osteoporosis – not to mention the toned, fit look you get from adding a little muscle.
And building muscle through strength training can also have a huge positive impact on your psychological health as well.
There are lots of factors that affect a woman’s ability to build muscle. Some you can control, and some you can’t. If you want to achieve a more toned look, then it’s important to what to expect out of your body and what you can focus on changing.
Factors To Building Muscle For Women
Factors You Can’t Control
• Your Gender
Let’s get the obvious out of the way – does gender affect your ability to build muscle? The short answer is yes. Men and women have the same quality of muscle tissue, but men typically have more of that muscle tissue (thanks to testosterone).
• Your Age
When building muscle for women, your age will effect your results, which of course, we have no control over. If you were an athlete in high school and college, you have an advantage because muscle gain is most rapid in our early years.
Once you cross the threshold into your 20s, your ability to build muscle slows down.
• Your Genetics
This is a big one! Genetics play a huge role in your body type – from size to strength to appearance.
First, let’s look at muscle fibers. There are two basic types of muscle fibers: slow twitch and fast twitch.
Weightlifting and other explosive exercises focus on fast twitch fibers.
You may inherit a higher percentage of one type of muscle fiber over the other, and those with a higher percentage of fast twitch muscle fibers have an advantage when it comes to building muscle.
Another genetic factor is the length of your limbs and muscles. You may have noticed that many elite Olympic weightlifters are relatively short and stocky.
There’s a reason for this: People with shorter limbs tend to lift more weight because they have better leverage.
Similarly, the length of your muscles also impacts how effectively you develop size and strength. In this case, people with longer muscles have an advantage.
Factors You Can Control
• Your Training
When it comes to building muscle for women, the type of training you choose plays a HUGE role in your overall muscular development. This isn’t the time for long cardio sessions – instead, focus your energy into strength training.
Practice good lifting technique as well, so you target the right muscles in the right ways.
If you hit a plateau with your weight training (or just get plain bored), switch things up. This serves up a new challenge for your muscles to adapt to, leading to more strength and size.
Don’t forget about recovery. Rest days are essential for your body to recover and rebuild muscle, so pencil in at least 1-2 days of complete rest each week.
• Your Diet
While I could talk endlessly about the importance of diet in your body composition, in this article, I’m focusing primarily on protein – the building block of muscle.
Make sure to include a lean protein source in every meal and add extra protein in your meals immediately around training to repair and regrow your muscle fibers.
Becoming A Stronger Woman
Now that you understand the factors of building muscle for women, you can ignore the ones that are completely out of your control, and focus your attention and focus onw aht you CAN cotrol when trying to tone and build muscle.
But why should you focus on building muscle in the first place?
Weightlifting is hard work, but it’s worth it. As I mentioned at the start of this article, building muscle boasts a lot of health benefits – but it also has a big positive effect on your mental health.
Sculpting a toned, fit body improves your overall well-being, self-esteem, and self-worth.
If you love the way you look in that little black dress, then you’ll instantly get a boost of confidence that shines through in so many areas of your life.
If you’re ready to start your journey to a stronger you, keep in mind that this is YOUR journey. Don’t compare yourself to others.
Instead, focus on accepting your body as it is each and every day, while knowing that you’re working toward big changes.
You should also celebrate the small victories.
Did you notice a subtle change in your arm definition this morning? That’s amazing! Were you able to hit more reps during your workout?
High five! Notice and appreciate all the improvements you’re making along the way.
Now that you know the factors you can and can not control when it comes to building muscle for women, you need to get your diet to match your training to better help those muscles grow and show.
I’ll help you incorporate diet and weightlifting into your routine, so you can become a more confident, sexier version of you.
Become a stronger woman, both inside and out, as you get in shape and love the way you look!
