How to gain muscle
If you are a woman wondering how to gain muscle, it is important that you learn some of the key secrets of what it takes to achieve success so that you can get started on an effective program right from the start.
Unfortunately, many women looking to learn how to build muscle do things the wrong way because they are simply too afraid of getting big and bulky by doing so.
This is far from the case. If you want to build muscle effectively, you need to follow tried and true strategies so you can transform your body forever.
Let’s see what you need to know.
Requirement 1: An overload stimulus
The first thing you need to do if you hope to be successful in building muscle is to make sure that an overload stimulus is present. This is basically subjecting the muscle to a force or stress that it has never experienced before.
But will a few dumbbell exercises really challenge them?
Chances are they won’t, and that’s why you won’t see the results you’re looking for.
If you want to learn how to gain muscle, you need to be prepared to challenge yourself to the max. Lift heavier weights – this is what will add more muscle tone, definition and shape.
Always keep in mind that as a woman, you simply do not have the levels of testosterone present in your body to build significant amounts of lean muscle, so you can put that concern to rest.
Requirement 2: Rest
The second requirement to learning how to gain muscle is to make sure you are getting enough rest between training sessions.
Again, this is where many women fall short. They do their strength training routine, but then think that every day in between they need to do a high volume of cardio training.
After all, cardio is what prevents fat gain, right?
Not so. Excessive cardio training can actually take away from your ability to build lean muscle mass, so you need to keep it under control.
A few sessions a week are fine and should be done for overall health benefit, but if you’re doing cardio every day of the week for an hour at a time, that’s definitely overkill.
Remember that your body needs rest to recover from the tissue breakdown it has experienced during your training session and if you are doing cardio training, you are not giving it the rest it needs.
You should aim to have at least one full day of rest each week and you should also take at least 48 hours of rest between working a particular muscle group again after a training session.
If you skip the break, you’ll skip the results.
Requirement 3: Adequate nutrition
The third requirement you need to keep in mind if you want to learn how to gain muscle is proper nutrition. Many women struggle with this as they are perpetually on a diet program.
They firmly believe that they are on a path to gain body fat so they are aiming to eat as few calories as possible each day.
The end result of this is that they suffer from a slower than normal metabolism and they definitely will not build lean muscle mass.
If anything, they will be burning lean muscle mass because they are not taking in enough calories or the right types.
To build more lean muscle mass, you need to consume more energy than you burn throughout the day. If you don’t, you’re literally trying to build something out of nothing – it’s just not going to happen.
It will be essential to consume a slightly higher amount of calories and make sure to provide the body with both lean protein to provide the building blocks for building new muscle and carbohydrates to provide the energy to build that muscle.
If you are not providing your body with these nutrients it needs, you are not going to see any change.
Requirement 4: Specific concerns of women
Finally, the last point to keep in mind regarding how to gain muscle for women, is the female-specific concerns that you need to consider.
As a woman, you are likely looking for a slightly leaner and longer musculature, so for this reason, you will want to target slightly higher rep ranges than your male counterparts may be using.
There is no reason to perform more than 20 reps per set, as that will require you to use much less weight than you should, meaning you won’t feel challenged.
But, taking your rep range to around 8-12 reps for most exercises will be a smart plan. This will allow you to still lift a heavy enough weight to see good results, but the metabolic boosting benefits you’ll get will be slightly higher and you’ll be doing more to produce greater muscle tone than actual muscle size.
Women who are following their exercise program may also want to consider keeping the overall rest periods they are using between exercises lower, as this can also help to keep you leaner as you progress through the muscle building process.
If you make sure to keep these points in mind and aren’t afraid to challenge yourself by lifting heavier weights than you’re used to before, you’ll be able to see the results you’re looking for.
Don’t be intimidated by this powerful form of exercise any longer. You’ll actually be much happier with your body if you turn to weight lifting instead of doing cardio session after cardio session.
