5 Awesome Tips to Maximize Muscle Building for Women

With the new year comes a move toward healthier choices. People are focused on losing weight and getting more fit. One avenue many people explore is building greater muscle. However, many of the articles out there are focused on building muscle for men. We’re here to help the women out with these tips and tricks for muscle building for women. 


Muscle Building for Women

Train Consistently

While it can be tempting to fit your workouts in where you can, this won’t help you to gain muscle. Instead, you should be training consistently with muscle-building exercises. When you leave gaps in your workout that are not healthy recover days you are leaving room for your work to be undone. 


Instead of taking a week or two off, set a realistic schedule for your workouts that you can stick to. This may mean taking advantage of bodyweight exercises when you can’t make it to the gym. 


Training consistently will also help you to avoid giving up. Muscle building can be challenging at times and it can feel easier to give up. By having a consistent workout plan, you will be able to push through these challenges and build muscle safely. Start by setting a goal of muscle training exercises two to three times a week. This will leave you room for recovery days while giving you a consistent training routine to establish. 

Take advantage of bodyweight exercises

Getting into the gym isn’t always easy but that doesn’t mean muscle building has to stop. Instead, this is a great time to take advantage of bodyweight exercises that can be done anywhere. By taking advantage of some of these exercises you can keep moving towards your muscle-building goals no matter what curveballs life throws you. Even better, many of these exercises can be completed with minimal equipment and still have a high yield on results. 

Muscle Building Bodyweight Exercises for Women: 

  • Flat out Burpee
  • Single-Leg Pike Push-up
  • Clap Jacks
  • Jump Lunges
  • Overhead Squats
  • Push-up Side Plank
  • Wide Climber Jumps
  • Up Downs
  • L-Sit
  • Pistol Squats
  • Push-ups 

Add in gym workouts

For many women, the gym can be intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be. In fact, the gym can be a great place to add in weight training in a safe environment. Not only does it give you access to more equipment, but it also gives you access to the trainer support if needed. While bodyweight exercises can be fantastic for muscle building sometimes you need the accountability of the gym or more involved weight training. 

If you are going to the gym for the first time it can feel overwhelming to see all of the gear and not be sure what will help you with muscle building. We highly recommend having a trainer walk the gym with you and show you how to use the different machines safely. After you have done this, you can try some of the muscle training gym workouts for women we list below. If you are uncomfortable with these, you can also join a class or partner with CrossFit and programs like it to reach your goals. 

For women who are new to working out, you may find you need to supplement your nutritional intake to aid in the recovery of your muscles. Our Beginner Body Builder Stack is an easy way to be sure you are getting all the support you need.

 

Muscle Training Gym Workouts for Women

  • Deadlift 
  • Lying Tricep Extensions
  • Leg Press
  • Leg Extension
  • Lying Leg Curls
  • Wide Grip Lat Pulldown
  • Butterfly
  • Machine Bicep Curl

 

Ways to help muscle building beyond your workouts

Doing any of the above exercises will definitely help you with muscle building. However, there are some things that work against that workout and limit muscle growth. The last thing you want to do is invest all of the time and effort into working out and have no gains. We have put together a list of a few items below that could be working against your muscle building. Hopefully, this can help you to continue to successfully grow muscle.  


Food and Nutrition

Many of the foods you will eat can help your body to be ready for your workouts. In fact, items like protein, certain fats, and some carbohydrates can aid in muscle growth and overall health. However, there are some foods that will work against your fitness goals. Items that are high in sugars, heavily processed or fried can definitely work against your goals. If you are not seeing the results you hope for, try taking a look at your diet and seeing where you can change things up for better results. 

 

Rest and Sleep

Many people will begin a workout routine by pushing hard in hopes of seeing huge gains. While this can seem like a great plan, it can actually work against your muscle-building goals. When making your muscle-building workout routine make sure to add in rest days. Your body will need those rest days so that you can get better results in the long run. You will also want to make sure you are getting enough sleep. Without getting enough sleep, you will see fewer results. 


And remember the effect nutrition has on our sleep, too. Be sure you are getting enough Omega 3 Fatty Acids, which aid in better sleep for our bodies.