Whether you already do regular exercise or are just starting a fitness program, you are ready to add some muscle-building exercises into your life. You know that building up your muscles will make you stronger, help your clothes to fit better and can improve your posture and strengthen your core. More importantly, as we grow older, having a healthy amount of muscle on our body can help prevent age-related injuries and ensure we can stay as active as possible. Building muscle keeps you feeling fit, healthy and young.
Although it can feel like the wild west in the fitness world when it comes to effective training, there are a number of female-focused muscle-building techniques that are very effective. The following tips are a great place to start, which also share interesting info on how women’s bodies differ from men’s when it comes to weight lifting.
Building Muscle: Different for Women
In order to determine the most effective and safest muscle-building workouts, it is important to understand some key differences in physiology between men and women. As Livestrong notes, while the skeletal muscles of men are faster and create a higher maximum output than women, women are more resistant to fatigue and recover more quickly. In addition, men have more skeletal muscle mass than women, which is why men tend to be physically stronger. But there are plenty of ways women can develop their skeletal muscles to increase their strength.
Focus on Exercises that Use Multiple Muscles
To get the best bang for your buck, Stack suggests doing compound exercises, which engage multiple muscle groups and joints. These include the deadlift, squat and bench press. For each type of these exercises, find a weight that will challenge you and strive to finish three sets of 8-12 reps. As this becomes easier, increase the weight. Strive to do this type of strength training at least two times a week; this will help you to see tangible results like muscle gain in six to eight weeks.
Add in Some Low-impact Cardio
In order to help boost your muscle mass, add in some light cardiovascular workouts—but nothing too strenuous. As Shape notes, cardio gets more oxygen into your blood, which encourages muscle growth. But to really build muscles, the focus should be on more strength training. A good rule of thumb is to do one day of low-impact cardio—maybe a one or two mile jog or brisk walk as opposed to a six mile run. If you do both workouts on the same day, don’t do the cardio before strength training, as it will make your muscles extra tired and increase your chances of getting injured.
Fuel Your Body
In order to build muscle, your body needs lots of healthy food. As much as you can, stay away from fast food and foods that have been processed and fried. Shoot for five or six smaller meals throughout the day. On your workout days, enjoy a healthy combo of clean carbs and lean protein about an hour before you exercise, and then about 30 minutes after you workout.
An effective way to get needed glycogen into your body post-workout and help restore your muscles is with a carb/protein drink. Also, to add extra nutrients into your system and help ensure that you get enough vitamins and minerals, even on those days when your diet is less than ideal, consider taking a high-quality supplement. If you are new to the supplement world, do some research on different companies to be sure what you are buying is made from top-quality ingredients. For example, Amway uses its Facebook page to post information about its Nutrilite and other supplements. Visit the company’s social media pages to research the brand, learn more about it and vet their products.
Enjoy Your Stronger and Healthier Body
By understanding the differences between a man’s and a woman’s body, and coming up with a plan that has your muscles in mind, it is quite possible to build up your strength. Don’t be afraid to add heavier weights to your routines as you become stronger, do some light cardio and give your body the food and supplements it needs. In a matter of months you will have reached your goal of becoming stronger and healthier.
Well Written. Learned some new stuff with very detailed information.