Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there on how to build muscle for women. Most girls have been wrongly told by the so-called “gurus” and personal trainers to focus on high reps to get toned muscle and burn fat, since women can’t really build muscle due to their hormonal setup.
If you’d been told that before, you’ve been lied to. Don’t worry though, here I’m going to reveal 3 hot tips to help you build gorgeous, sexy muscles and embarrass all the guys at the gym.
How To Build Muscle For Women Tip 1 – Lift Heavy Weights
The real secret of how to build muscle for women is to lift heavy weights. The only way to gain muscle mass is to force the body to lift ever-increasing loads, and the only way to do this is to stay within a low-rep range. If you’re doing loads of reps with light weights…STOP! This will never help you to build muscle. Stick with between 4-8 reps per set, and make sure your last rep is almost undoable.
How To Build Muscle For Women Tip 2 – DON’T Spend Hours At The Gym
The key to heavy lifting for muscle-building women is to keep your workouts short…long workouts are simply impossible with this approach. Your workouts should consist of around 8-10 sets total. Any more than this and you’ll be forcing your muscles to over-train, or sacrificing the quality of your reps. Both things will stop you from building muscle mass.
Remember that muscles are built during rest…so make sure you have an off-day between workouts to allow your muscles to repair themselves and grow.
How To Build Muscle For Women Tip 3 – Eat More…MUCH More
A woman looking to build muscle should begin eating more and more often too. 6 smaller meals as opposed to 3 big ones is far better for building muscle mass and keeping your metabolism and energy levels consistent.
Increase your protein intake – around 1-1 ½ grams per pound of body weight is good, and try to have 1/3 of your daily carbs an hour and a half before your workout. Eat loads of green veggies as these take longer to digest and make you feel full for longer.
Building muscle will not only make you look great, but the more muscle mass you have the faster your body is able to metabolize and process fat meaning you’ll find it easier to stay trim.
Build Lean Muscle and Torch Off Body Fat
If you want to transform your body in the least amount of time, there are two things you need to accomplish: burn off body fat and build lean muscle. Yes, women, this applies to you, too.
By building lean muscle and burning body fat, you will sculpt your body and develop that lean, athletic look.
So, the question is this: how do you accomplish both of those goals in the least amount of time with dumbbells workouts?
Simple – you just apply a few basic, but very effective, principles to your dumbbell workouts.
First things first, you need to use the best dumbbell and bodyweight exercises. Most people only workout with isolation exercises such as dumbbell pec flyes, lateral raises, curls, kickbacks, and other useless exercises.
Yes, those exercises are useless. They will not help you burn body fat or even build lean muscle.
To accomplish those goals you need to use exercises that recruit a lot of muscle mass. Here is a brief list of the best dumbbell and bodyweight exercises.
Note: the abbreviation “DB” means dumbbell
Back/Biceps
-Chin-ups and all variations
-Inverted Rows
-DB Rows
-DB Renegade Rows
-DB Pullovers
Legs
-Jump Squats and Lunges
-DB Squat (front, suitcase, etc)
-DB Bulgarian Split Squat
-DB Deadlift/Romanian Deadlift
-DB Swings (double, 1 arm)
-DB Lunges and all variations
Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
-Parallel Bar Dips
-Push-ups and all variations
-DB Bench Press (neutral, incline, flat bench, etc)
-DB Floor Press
-DB Push Press
-DB Overhead Press
Total Body Exercises
-Burpees
-Bear Crawls
-DB Snatch and Split Snatch
-DB Clean and Press
Those exercises will allow you to burn off body fat and build lean muscle in the least amount of time possible.
Along with using the best exercises, you should perform total body workouts. Performing three total body workouts per week is the ultimate way to get more body-transforming results in the least amount of time.
Since you will be working for every muscle group three times per week, you will be sure to jack up your fat-burning metabolism and stimulate your body to build lean, sexy, fat-burning muscle. That is the ultimate way to get more results in less time.
Now we will combine those two very important tips with some sample dumbbell workouts. Note that each workout will include one exercise from each category listed above.
Sample 1 Dumbbell Workouts
-1 Arm DB Clean and Press x 6 reps each side
-Alternating DB Reverse Lunge x 6 reps each side
-DB Renegade Row x 6 reps each side
-DB Bench Press x 6 reps
Perform those exercises back-to-back and use one of the following workout methods: 1) perform a total of three to six circuits and time yourself to see how long it takes you to complete them all, or 2) perform as many circuits as possible in a set period of time; example 15-30 minutes.
Sample 2 Dumbbells Workouts
-Burpees x 12
-DB Front Squat x 12
-Chin-ups x as many as possible or DB Row with Palms Up Grip x 12
-1 Arm DB Push-Press x 12 each side
Perform those exercises back-to-back and complete a total of three to five circuits, or perform as many circuits as possible in 15-30 minutes.