You might be putting in all the hours in the gym, but you’re just not getting the same results. We hear you girl, we’ve all been there. Whether you’re in a plateau or you feel like you’re missing out on the size you’re looking for, it can be frustrating.

Luckily for you female fitness fiends out there, we’ve got the answer to your woes. If size and shape is your goal, muscle hypertrophy is the key to success.

Read our guide to hypertrophy and discover how you need to be training to achieve muscle growth in all the right areas. Whether you’re looking for booty growth or toned arms, we’ve got you covered.

What is hypertrophy?

Hypertrophy is used to describe the way cells adapt to a change in your body. These changes can be a different diet, a new fitness regime or even a hormonal alteration. In the case of hypertrophy, the cells respond by increasing in size to allow better function in their new environment.

The hypertrophy process

The hypertrophy process is when the cells adapt by increasing in size. In muscle hypertrophy this occurs through a pattern of stimulation and repair.

Stimulation happens when you’re lifting weights in the gym. This contracts your muscle, puts them under strain and damages the muscle fibers. Your body then repairs these fibers, which causes muscle growth.

To help you body adapt to the strain you’ve placed it under, it replaces the damaged cells with larger, stronger ones. That’s where the bigger muscles come from.

Why do you need hypertrophy?

If you’re in the weights room, you’re probably looking for one of two things as an outcome of your workout. Strength or shape.

We hear you girl. You’re saying, “but surely if I go to the gym and smash a weight workout I can get those things?!”

You can. However just going and hitting a few sets might not be the optimal way to achieve your goals. At SMG we’re all about training smart to take us closer to our overall goals.

By opting for a hypertrophy workout, you’ll be getting shape. It’s a faster way to grow muscle to get the gains you’re looking for. Whether that’s boosting your booty, toning up your arms or crafting shapely legs, muscle hypertrophy is your best friend.

If you’re looking for strength, muscle hypertrophy training isn’t the best bet for you, girl. Science has shown that, although this type of training can improve muscle size, it can actually decrease maximal power output.

How to achieve muscle hypertrophy

Muscle hypertrophy can be achieved through some careful training and workout planning. If you’re not sure where to start, don’t sweat it. We’ve pooled all our knowledge and expertise to bring you a comprehensive guide on how to make some serious gains.

With muscle hypertrophy, it comes down to your rep and set patterns.

You need to be opting for high-volume reps and a medium load to get your muscles pumped up and growing at speed.

Ideally you should be doing between 10-15 reps over 3-4 sets. Reduce your rest periods to around a minute to keep the intensity high and increase your muscle growing potential.

To keep your progress on the up, you also need to keep challenging your body. If you start to feel a weight is too easy for you, it’s time to up the number, otherwise you’ll start to plateau.

You should also look to focus in on compound movements, along with a selection of isolation movements too. By drilling your squats, deadlifts and bench you’ll be working more muscle simultaneously, for an aesthetic final look.

Muscle hypertrophy workout

To help you achieve your dreams of aesthetic muscle, we’ve got a range of hypertrophy workouts for you to check out. Each one focusses in on a different area of your body, so you have everything you need to create the shape you’re after. Take a look at these and transform your physique the smart way.

Legs hypertrophy workout

Grow thicker, swooping quads and perfect defined hamstrings with this legs hypertrophy workout. We’ve developed this one to be your go-to workout if you’re trying to firm up your legs and create some shape.

Front squat – 4 sets of 10 reps

Leg extension – 3 sets of 15 reps

Good mornings – 4 sets of 12 reps

Leg press – 3 sets of 15 reps

Hack squat – 4 sets of 12 reps

Tip: Remember to keep your rest periods short to maintain the intensity.

Booty hypertrophy workout

We know a lot of girls out there are here to build the perfect booty. You want it perky, peachy and rounded – we hear you. We’ve got you covered with a hypertrophy butt workout that will help you achieve some Instagram-worthy peach gains.

Back squat – 3 sets of 15 reps

Split squat – 3 sets of 12 reps each leg

Hip thrust – 3 sets of 15 reps

Landmine deadlift – 3 sets of 15 reps

Weighted hyper extension – 3 sets of 15 reps

Back hypertrophy workout

Take your back game up a notch with this fiyah hypertrophy workout. Your back won’t know what’s hit it, and you’ll soon be able to see that coveted definition. Absolute goals, girl.

Deadlift – 3 sets of 12 reps

Bent over rows – 3 sets of 15 reps

Lat pull downs – 4 sets of 12 reps

Seated cable row – 4 sets of 15 reps

Pull ups – 4 sets of 12 reps (assisted if you can’t do a full one)

Shoulders and arms hypertrophy workout

Get your toning on and craft enviable arm definition with this shoulder and arms hypertrophy workout. From your triceps to your biceps, we’ve covered all areas of the arm for an all-round burner that will give you results.

Bench press – 4 sets of 12 reps

Shoulder press – 4 sets of 12 reps

Bicep curl – 4 sets of 12 reps each arm

Skull crushers – 3 sets of 15 reps

Lateral raises – 4 sets of 12 reps

Tricep pushdown – 3 sets of 15 reps

Tips to maximize your hypertrophy workout

If you’ve got the workouts down, your next move is to make sure you’re maximizing the gains you’re making. We’ve got a few tips that will help you make the most of every movement and keep your progress going up.

Carb up.

These workouts are high-volume, high-intensity and pretty damn exhausting. To get the most out of each session you need to fuel up on carbs. Carbohydrates give your body the energy to push right to the limits. Without it, you might not have it in you to get to the end of your set.

Plan your protein.

Nutrition is key to building muscle and protein is the most important macronutrient to support muscle growth. To maximize muscle growth from your hypertrophy workouts, we recommend you have some protein and carbs before you head to the gym. This will help to optimize protein synthesis. Then, after you’ve finished working out make the most of your anabolic window and take another portion of protein between 30-60 minutes after you’ve finished.

Get plenty of rest.

Muscle repair takes place when your body is resting. With that in mind it’s imperative that you get plenty of rest every night to give your body the time it needs to recover and grow muscle. Between 7-8 hours a night is perfect for repair.

Eat enough.

Growing muscle takes energy, so you need to ensure your body has enough fuel in the tank to maximize growth. If you’re cutting, you’ll find it much harder to develop muscle, so try to up your food intake to keep the gains flowing. You could also add a pre-workout into the mix to really take it up a gear.

Train regularly.

We recommend you train at least three times a week to keep you body working hard and growing muscle. You can train more often as your body adapts to this kind of exercise, but don’t overdo it. A rest day is key to helping your recover, repair and grow muscle. At the most, aim for three days on, one day off.

Choose the right weights.

It’s key you get the right weight for the best results in this kind of workout. Too light and you won’t feel the benefit, too heavy and you won’t be able to finish the optimum number of reps. Test out a few options to start with to find the best one for your workout. A good rule is to find a weight where you feel like you could only do one more rep when you get to the end of your set.

Now you’re a pro on all things muscle hypertrophy, it’s time to take that knowledge to the weights room. Put these workouts and top tips into action and you’ll soon be the envy of every other girl in the gym.

Take your fitness journey to the next level with these Spot Me Girl articles:

• Essential Lifts Every Woman Should Know
• Get Shredded with the Best Cardio Workout for Fat Loss
• Active Recover: What it is and How to Nail it

Hitting the bar for the first time can be a little intimidating. Especially when there are gym bros all over the place. Even if you’ve been smashing the weights for a while, or you’re feeling super confident, you still remember the first time you went over to the squat rack and nailed some lifts.

To help you start your love affair with the barbell, or to help give your workouts a refresher, we’ve got a list of the essential lifts for women.

We’ll take you through each movement, so you know exactly what to do before you get started.

Article Preview – Essential Lifts for Women:

• Back squat
• Deadlift
• Bench Press
• Hip Thrust
• Pendlay Row
• Shoulder Press

Essential Lifts for Women

Begin your journey into the world barbell lifts, or hit refresh on your usual routine – whatever your goal, our list of essential lifts for women will give you a head start.

Back squat

The squat gets just about every muscle in your leg firing. Whether you’re trying to build an enviable booty or want to boost your leg strength, this is the place to start. At the core of every effective leg day is this compound movement, because it’s just so damn efficient. You might struggle getting up the stairs the next day, but you’ll thank us later.

How to back squat:

1. Step under the bar and allow it to rest across the back of your shoulders.
2. Grip it with both hands and stand up straight, raising it out of the rack.
3. Stand with your feet just outside hip width apart and your toes pointing outwards at around 40 degrees.
4. Keeping your chest as upright as possible and your back strong, push your hips back and down until they’re just below your knees.
5. From there, squeeze your glutes and push up and out of the squat.

Notes and tips:

• Keep your weight on your heels throughout
• If you feel your knees starting to cave in, push them out to stay strong
• Try not to lean forward – keep your chest high
• Before you start your squat, pick a spot at the top of a wall and keep your eyes on that throughout the movement. This should help you keep your back straight, core strong and your chest up.
• Perform muscle activation exercises to power up and get the most out of the movement.

Deadlift

This is one of the most effective lifts out there when it comes working your body hard. With good form, this lift can work your back, your core, legs and glutes. It really is one of those all-rounder movements that works a huge range of muscles.

How to deadlift:

1. Stand with your feet at hips width apart and place them under the bar. You shouldn’t be able to see the top of your shoelaces.
2. Grip the bar so your forearms are just touching the outside of your knees.
3. Bend your knees slightly, push your butt back and flatten your back.
4. Your shoulders should be just over the bar. Gently pull on the bar and raise your chest to create tension.
5. Keeping your back straight, push through your heels and stand up. Straighten your legs for the first pull and push the hips through for the second.
6. To return the bar to the floor, push your hips back again and bend the knees. Keep your back strong the whole time.

Notes and tips:

• Keep your back straight, core engaged, and your chest high throughout this movement. Both on the way up and the way down.
• When you stand up fully, aim not to overextend at the hips.

Bench Press

This movement is key to achieving all round upper body strength. It’s the perfect way to kick-start your upper body day. Now, you might have to fight the gym bros off the bench, but it’s definitely worth doing. This movement will help toned up your arms and create that all round physique we’re looking for.

How to bench press:

1. Lie on the bench with the bar above your face
2. Grip the bar around shoulder width apart
3. Push the bar up and out of the rack, holding it straight up above your chest
4. Lower the bar to the middle of your chest
5. Push up until your arms are straight again

Notes and tips:

• To get the hang of this one, aim to make it a smooth, controlled movement. If you start to feel the bar wobbling, lower the weight until you get it tight.
• It should move in a straight line from your chest to the start position.
• As you start to go heavier, grab your gym bestie and ask them to spot you. This way you can go hard without worrying about dropping the bar.

Hip Thrust

This move right here is the queen of booty building exercises. With hip thrusts under your lifting belt, you’ll be able to make some incredible butt gains in no time. It’s about as close as you can get to an isolation exercise for your glutes, so get the form down and add it to your workout routine pronto.

How to hip thrust:

1. Sit on the floor with your back to a bench and roll your bar until it sits across your hip crease.
2. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor.
3. Rest your upper back against the bench, push through your heels and raise your hips up.
4. As you push your hips upwards, aim not to slide up onto the bench.
5. At the top of the movement, squeeze your glutes before lowering your hips and the bar to the floor.

Notes and tips:

• Use a barbell pad to protect yourself from bruises across your hips
• If you’re new to lifting, try out the form on this movement without a weight to start with. Move on to adding load when you start to feel comfortable.
• Don’t slide too far onto the bench so you’re hinging off the bench with a straight back. If you slip back too far, you could place the pressure on your lower back rather than through your glutes.
• Keep your rib cage down and your core strong to ensure your back is straight.

Pendlay Row

Otherwise known as the bent over row, those is a key lift for building strength in your back. With the right form you can really drill into the big muscles in your back for some incredible results. The back has a huge amount of muscles in it, and by working this area you can improve your posture and even you other compound lifts. It’s not one you want to miss.

How to hip thrust:

1. Stand with your feet hip width apart and under the bar
2. Bend over and take hold of the bar
3. Break at the knees, keep your hips high and your back strong and flat
4. Lift your chest and pull on the bar slightly, bringing your scapula’s together
5. Pull the bar up and off the floor so it touches your lower chest

Notes and tips:

• Keep your chest up and your back strong throughout this movement. If you feel yourself start to arch, lower the weight.
• Really think about pulling your upper back together and squeezing the muscles for the most effective results.
• Lift your elbows high in this movement, so your wrists are strong and straight. No T-Rex arms here girls.

Shoulder Press

We’ve also added this to our list of essential lifts for women because it’s a fantastic way to grow more upper body strength. Shoulders are often neglected in women’s workouts, so if you want that all fit-girl look, you gotta work ‘em girl.

How to shoulder press:

1. Grip the bar with both hands at just inside shoulder width apart
2. Step under the bar, with your elbows raised high in front of you and lift it out of the rack
3. The bar should be resting across the front of your shoulders, at the bottom of your neck
4. Lower your elbows so they are 90 degrees to the floor
5. Push the bar directly up, moving your chin out of the way, until your arms are straight
6. Return the bar back down to your shoulders

Notes and tips:

• Avoid arching your back as you press up, as this could put pressure on your lower spine.

With these essential lifts for women in your workout plan, you’ll be ready to take your fitness to the next level. You’ll be stronger, feel more confident in the weights room and start to tone up more quickly.

These kinds of compound movements are amazing for working a range of muscle and improving your strength. Afterall, that’s why they’ve made our list top essential lifts for women.

Find more gym wisdom in these articles from your girls at SMG:

• Becoming a Personal Trainer – a Guide for Girls Who Lift
• What is the Keto Diet and Can it Work for Weight Loss
• The Benefit of HIIT Workouts for Women

It might sound like a bit of a miracle cure, but there’s miraculous about it.

With some simple changes to your warm-up routine, you can flick the switch on your muscles and get fired up for your best gym performance yet – all with muscle activation exercises.

When used properly and regularly, muscle activation has the power to help build muscle, correct flaws in your lifting technique and even help you reach new PBs.

With these simple movements that perfect booty, your first un-aided pull-up, and your next squat PB are all within reach. Read up on muscle activation exercises and discover how they can transform your workout today.

What are muscle activation exercises?

The majority of us occasionally have those moments in the gym where we’re working our hardest, but we’re stuck in the dreaded plateau phase. You could spend hours at the squat rack trying to perfect that booty, but without the results you dream of. The fact is your muscles might not be working to their best capacity.

That’s where muscle activation exercises come in.

By performing a few movements before you start your full workout, you can fire up those lazy muscles so you get the very best out your workout. By drilling down to those specific muscles and giving them a little extra attention, you can prime them for a hardcore workout.

Weave these simple movements into your normal routine you could reach new PB’s, you’ll feel stronger and more flexible and you could even be on your way to crafting that all important perfect butt.

How do you know you need muscle activation exercises?

You might be squatting your socks off at the rack or drilling your pull-ups every session but getting nowhere. You might even go for a lunge and feel like one leg is stronger than the other. These can all be signs that your muscles aren’t activating in the right way to get the most out of the exercise.

Most of us spend our days sitting at a desk working, which isn’t the best thing for your body.

It’s easy for your muscles to become neglected, or tight when you’re sat down a lot. By remaining still for long periods of time in the same position, a lot of your muscles won’t be getting the activity they need and they can start to weaken.

This kind of sedentary lifestyle can lead to dreaded bad posture, where some muscles go soft and others are working overtime to compensate. Not ideal if you’re trying to create a physique that’s the envy of every other girl in the weights room.

If you find yourself feeling tight, you feel weaknesses in your workouts or your posture is going, it might be time to incorporate muscle activation into your routine.

Muscle activation and brain power

Here comes the interesting bit. Your brain, like every other muscle in your body, plays a big part in your overall physique and muscle activation (or neuromuscular activation) is a mind game.

When you work out and break down muscle, it’s your brain that tells your body to repair and grow stronger. The two are intrinsically linked and building your dream physique is more than a matter of sheer strength – it’s about brain power too.

With that in mind, you should try to consider developing physical strength as a key function of your neuromuscular system – the combination of your nerves and muscles. When aligned, these two systems can work together to help you smash results at the gym.

But how do you get them working in perfect harmony?

There are two ways to maximize the use of your neuromuscular system.

The first way is to increase the amount of muscles you use in your exercises. That means focussing on compound movements, rather than isolated.

The second way to get the most out of your brain-body relationship is by using your head more. Performing slow, controlled movements where you focus your mind on the muscles you’re using is key. This is essential to your muscle activation exercises.

Brain and brawn are a match made in heaven. By working larger groups of muscles and really thinking about what you’re doing as you exercise, you can maximize your activation exercises.

Why is muscle activation important?

Let’s get down to some more science.

If you’ve got a few muscles that aren’t pulling their weight when you work out, others will start taking the load. This means your weak muscles will continue to get weaker while the ones helping out are overworking. Overall this won’t help you create the well-rounded physique you’re looking for and it could lead to flaws in your development.

For example, your glutes are the biggest muscles in your body, so you definitely want them maxing out when you work on your squats. Unfortunately, if you’re in a job where you’re sitting down all day, this might not be happening. Your quads might be taking the load instead, which means your body isn’t utilising one of it’s biggest assets and you’re not reaching your full potential.

You might be a dedicated squat queen or a loyal lunger, but without the right activation, your muscles won’t work properly and you won’t see the results you’re hoping for.

With a round of glute activation exercises before you start your main lifts, you could start to see the difference in your body shape and your weights very quickly.

How to include muscle activation exercises in your workout

One of the many good things about activation exercises is that they’re easy to fit into your usual routine. They only take a few minutes to perform, but can make a huge difference to the weights you lift and your rate of improvement.

Simply take about 10 minutes before you begin your workout, grab some floor space and get to work. To really make the most of this session, follow these tips:

• Take it slow. For once you don’t need to blast through your reps like you’re smashing a CrossFit workout. Make each rep slow and deliberate, squeezing at the top of the movement.
• Think about it. It might sound crazy, but this is all about connecting your brain and your muscles. As you perform your reps, really think about the muscles you’re trying to activate. You’ll be surprised how much this works.
• Sets and reps. Aim to perform about 8-12 reps over two sets. Combine one activation exercise with another to really get the muscles fired up.
• Keep the weights low. These movements aren’t done with lots of weights involved. This is about activating your muscles, building them up comes later.

Muscle activation exercises

Prime your muscles for your workout and try out a couple of these activation techniques to take your performance to the next level. It’s best to perform these movements before you start your main workout, so your muscles are fired up and ready to work.

Glute activation exercises

It’s all about the butt. Max out on your squat and make every lunge count with these simple activation techniques. You’d be surprised how much you can improve your workout by performing these exercises before you get started.

Side Clam

1. Lie on your side with your knees and feet together
2. Bend your knees about 45 degrees
3. Keep your feet together and your hips still, lift your top knee
4. Squeeze your glute at the top and slowly lower it back to the start position

Complete 2 sets of 10 reps.

Glute bridge

1. Lie on your back
2. Place your feet flat on the floor, about a hips-width apart
3. Pushing through your feet, raise your hips until your body becomes a straight line
4. Squeeze your glutes in this position, before lowing your butt to the floor

Complete 2 sets of 12 reps

Tip: As you get into your activation routine, you can up the ante and put a light resistance band around your knees as you perform your side clam and glute bridges.

Back activation exercises

Take your back definition to the next level and nail your pull-ups with this muscle activation technique. You back has a huge selection of muscles to recruit. Make sure you’re using them all for the best possible workout results.

Scapular pull-ups

1. Hang from the pull-up bar with your hands a shoulder-width apart
2. Keeping your arms straight, pull your scapulars down and together
3. Squeeze your upper back and hold for a second
4. Return to a relaxed hanging position

Complete 2 sets of 8 reps.

Superman

1. Lie on your front with your arms out straight in front of you
2. Keeping them straight, raise both your arms and feet about a foot off the floor
3. Squeeze your back muscles together
4. Lower your arms and feet to the floor

Complete 2 sets of 10 reps.

Pec activation exercises

Set yourself up for the optimum bench workout and drill these chest activation exercises before you head to the bar. With your muscles fired up and ready to go, you’ll transform your bench.

Squeeze press

1. Lie on a bench with a light dumbbell in each hand
2. Hold the dumbbells together on your chest
3. Slowly push upwards
4. Keep squeezing the dumbbells together as you reach the top of the press
5. Lower the dumbbells back down to your chest

Complete 2 sets of 12 reps.

Svend press

1. Stand up straight with your feet shoulder-width apart and tight abs
2. Take a weights plate and hold it by pressing your flat palms on either side
3. Begin with the weight close to your chest, with elbows out flat
4. Keeping it at chest height, push the weight away from you until your arms are straight
5. Slowly pull it back in towards your chest

Complete 2 sets of 8 reps.

Combine mind and muscle to prime your body for maximum results. Muscle activation could be the key to taking your physique to the next level.

If you’re looking for more ways to prep your body for an intense workout,  try a quality pre-workout. A well-balanced supplement can give you the energy, focus, and edge you need for your best gym performance yet.

Inspired? Take your workouts to the next level and transform your physique with these related articles:

• Booty Builder- The Ultimate Round Butt Workout
• Best Female Fitness Model Workout
• Ultimate Female Pull Up Program

Sorry girls, the short answer is no! In fact, we’re not even sorry about it.

Hey, wait a minute! Don’t leave disheartened just yet. What we’re about to tell you about is an idea even better than the original. We’re going to debunk that useless myth and replace with an exciting fact instead.

Well, in reality, we’ll really be replacing unwanted fat with lean, strong, and awesomely toned muscle. Yes, you heard us right. You sure as hell can’t turn fat into muscle, but you can definitely exchange one for the other.

Article Preview:

• Fat (Myth) Fighters -The science of body fat
• Building Muscle – Putting all the right shapes in all the right places
• Fact: Why fat can’t become muscle
• Out with the Old & in with the New – What really happens
• Challenge Accepted! – How you can do it yourself
• Summary: The Final Debunk

Fat (Myth) Fighters – The science of body fat

As much as we curse it sometimes fat is a pretty useful thing. In fact, let’s face it, without a little extra cushion on our bodies we’d be screwed. Possibly in more ways than you could even imagine.

Body fat, or as scientists call it Adipose Tissue, plays a pivotal role in keeping us healthy. We really shouldn’t bash it too much because it does so many amazing things.

Like the simple fact that fact surrounds and cushions many of our vital organs. Let’s face it, the clue here is in the word vital.

Then, of course, we know that fat helps insulate us from the cold. If you don’t care about that now, just wait until winter comes around, or the new boss relocates your entire department to Alaska.

One more thing we mustn’t forget is that fat is also an energy source! Once we were strong AF cavewomen who needed to rely on our bodily stores when food was scarce. Back then times were tough, but at least f*ckboys got eaten by sabertooth tigers more regularly.

But the problem for most of us today happens when we carry a little extra than necessary.

Because excess body fat can often be damaging to our health. Ultimately increasing the risk of illness, affecting our overall confidence and impacting the enjoyment of life…

Too much of a good thing?

Yeah, we guess you could put it like that.

Excess body fat is simply something that happens when small amounts of goodness mount up into something else entirely. Kind of like how a little rain can help a garden grow, but too much starts to cause problems.

This kind of body fat accumulation happens when we eat in a calorie surplus. Rather than waste the vital energy, our bodies decide to store it away just in case we ever go hungry.

As far as our bodies are concerned we’re still living in prehistoric times. Food was always a luxury back then and evolution hasn’t quite caught up with today’s Dominoes and drive-thrus.

So if we eat more calories than our daily energy burn, we carry on packing away those kcals as non-lean mass. Before you know it, those few extra Caramel Lattes last week are sticking to your butt and tummy. Not that there’s an issue with enjoying life, but we shouldn’t ignore the science for the sake of tasty treats.

Building Muscle – Putting all the right shapes in all the right places

Now more than ever women are empowering themselves by building lean mean bodies of muscle. They’re redefining what it is to be feminine – showing that strong is sexy for the whole world to see.

And because we’re not all trying to get skinny, whatever that means, we’re lifting weights. God damn heavy ass barbells that shake when they hit the floor and intimidate the dumb bros in their silly stringer vests.

For most of us, that means we’re building muscle too. Because all those hard reps create tiny microtears that grow back bigger, thicker, and stronger than before.

As the fibers get larger, our overall muscle size grows. Their cross-section and mass increases and suddenly we notice them begin to shape and sculpt our body. This phenomenon is known as muscular hypertrophy.

That’s why we can target specific areas in the weight room. We go ass-to-grass every time for a reason because we want the amazing legs and glutes we deserve. Effectively, by getting specific like this is how we put all the right bumps in all the right places.

Fact: Why fat can’t become muscle

If you haven’t worked out yet, fat could never be turned into muscle. Non, nein, and nada. 

The only possibility could be if you were somehow transported to Hogwarts Fitness Academy, or took a time machine to the year 2525. We’d be totally down for some HIIT Quidditch or hyper-futuristic CrossFit workouts, but it’s not gonna happen, girl.

That’s because fat and muscle are just two completely different types of tissue.

According to assistant professor of exercise science Brad Schoenfeld from the City University of New York; “The best analogy I can use is, you cannot turn an orange into an apple.”

Boom, knowledge bomb dropped right there.

Actually, it’s more like an obvious truth reminder pleasantly posed by a friendly neighbor. Because at the end of the day, it all seems a little too crazy to start morphing fat cells into lean and powerful muscle. Come on, ladies, think about it…

Out with the Old & in with the New – What really happens

So now we know the science, what can we do about the whole situation?

Fortunately for us girls who love to lift, we’re already halfway there.

All we probably need to do is tidy up our dietary edges, neaten up our workout routines, and simply watch the sneaky scoops of Ben & Jerry’s melt away.

By hitting the gym hard we can blaze through calories like there’s no tomorrow. And once we safely overtake our daily calorific intake, our beautiful cavewomen bodies will do what comes naturally. Albeit with a little less hair, nicer smelling skin, and definitely fresher breath.

Eventually, we will pull energy from our fat stores to energize ourselves. However, we must consume adequate amounts of protein to ensure muscle catabolism does not become an issue.

Then once we begin peeling back the layers of body fat we leave behind an empty space. So why not fill it full with lean, toned, and strong muscle? Exactly, why wouldn’t you?

Imagine knocking down a shabby unflattering shack and building a shiny block of luxury apartments with an infinity pool on top. It just makes so much sense to us to make the most of that freed up space.

Challenge Accepted! – How you can do it yourself

As we have just mentioned, replacing fat with muscle requires you to get your diet and workouts on lock. Yes, you can get results by half-assing it, but guess what? You’ll get half-assed results.

But we know you’re the kind of girl who only ever gives it her all. So we at SpotMeGirl recommend you seriously consider getting a high-end transformation plan. The best one we’ve ever come across has to be Boss Workouts Shape & Burn, which you can check out our full in-depth review here.

Shape & Burn was written by none other than top bikini competitor, model, and trainer, Niki Zager. Alongside the expert team at Boss, she has created a total 12-week plan; complete with weekly workouts, a full diet program, recipe book, and even exclusive full HD training videos.

However, if you’re not quite ready to mix it with the pros yet, just keep reading.

What to eat

Focus your diet on tasty nutritious whole-foods. Ditch the quick-fix fast foods, and throw the sweet treats in the trash. Take control of your plate and be accountable for your food choices. Trust us, you will feel amazing for your absorbing so much nutritional goodness.

Aim to eat 1.4 – 2.0 g of lean protein per kg of body weight every day. According to the International Society of Sports Nutrition, this is the right amount for maintaining and building muscle. By eating this way you’ll ensure you preserve and build lean mass, whilst still cutting fat.

Studies have also shown that high protein diets are great at supporting weight loss. That’s because satiety, our feeling of fullness, is positively impacted by protein consumption. Simply put, a lean chicken breast will satisfy you much more than a handful of sweets or a pop-tart.

Also, aim to eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables every day. Varying up your fruit and veg attack will give you the best possible chance of bagging all the essential vitamins. Plus, you can pile natures goodness on your plate without feeling bad – vegetables are often incredibly low in calories.

Obviously, guys, this is just a short simple solution to help you clean things up. If in doubt, reach out to a professional nutritionist or dietitian. Knowledge is power, especially on the quest for a killer body – don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Working out

You’re a dedicated fan of SpotMeGirl so we’re not going to tell you how to work out. You’re a she-wolf in the weight room and could eat an entire spin class for breakfast.

Let’s face it, you kick the I want to be skinny stereotype in the ass and empower other women to become strong too. But we’re still going to mention a few things just to refresh your memory or help other less experienced female lifters.

Okay, first thing, cut out any jogging. It isn’t very effective for building muscle and at best will leave you skinny-fat. We’re here to build sleek and defined muscle, not just lose weight.

Instead, opt for quality time spent under the bar. Whether that be squatting ass to grass, ripping ground shaking deadlifts, or even completing your first bicep curl. Treat the barbell like your new best friend.

Why resistance training?

Remember, resistance training challenges the muscle, causing metabolic stress and forcing adaptations. Plus, according to studies, it’s absolutely awesome at torching through calories compared to steady state cardio.

When our muscle fibers experience trauma through lifting a torrent of chemical activity takes place. Satellite cells rush to the site to fix the torn tissue, rebuilding and adding contractile proteins to make our fibers extra resilient (bigger and stronger) for the future.

But this can only happen by forcing a reaction from the muscle. The most effective way to achieve this is to employ progressive overload.

Simply put, keep stepping up the weights or reps to push yourself to your limit. Force that change and watch the entire former you transform into a sleek, strong and toned woman. Become your own 2.0, girl.

Summary: The final debunk

Turning fat into muscle is a common misconception that is totally inaccurate.

Science states that because fat and muscle are two different tissue types, it is a physical impossibility. Simply put, it is a myth.

However, excess body fat can be replaced with lean and powerful muscle. This requires a number of protocols to be in place before it can happen.

Nutrition must be optimized for muscle growth without leaving behind extra calories to be stored as fat. This is best achieved by maintaining a healthy diet, often known as clean eating.

Lean protein and vegetables should make up the majority of this diet to provide nutrients essential for muscle building and general health. A helpful fat burning supplement may actually speed up your weight loss process, whilst also keeping energy levels topped up throughout the day.

Exercise is simply a must, with a high focus being centered around resistance training. Resistance training should take priority over steady state cardio such as jogging, as it specifically promotes muscle development.

Finally, go do it, girl! Just follow our advice, believe in yourself, and remember to have fun.

If this article gave you the fat fighting it maybe you’ll like:

• Boombod 7 Day Achiever: Does It Work or Is Is a Scam?
• 10 Best Fat Burners for Women
• Best Fat Burning Exercises for Women

The shift over the last couple of years has been awesome.

More and more women are ditching the treadmill and using weight training to build athletic, strong and downright sexy figures. The days of legwarmers, aerobics and little pink weights is well and truly behind us.

At this stage of your lifting life, you might have two main questions when it comes to weight training… How much weight should females lift, and how strength training affects female hormone.

You already know that an exercise program with weight training can melt fat, build shape and help to keep you trim and toned. The next stage is finding out how it affects your cycle and your hormones.

In this article we answer that very question.

So find a space on the sofa, grab a protein shake and give yourself some time to read this enlightening guide on weight training and female hormones.

The Female Weight Training Revolution

For years and years, women shied away from the weights room.

Some avoided the iron because the gym was an intimidating environment fully of sweaty men grunting their way through a heavy workout. Others avoided strength training for fear of growing huge slabs of muscle and masculine bodies.

And those that did choose to use weights would often follow celeb trainers who advocated using only light weights.

That’s all changed.

Women are now ruling the iron game. You’re not afraid to mix it up with the guys and through education, scientific research and some fantastic female pioneers we’ve all learned that weight training provides a huge number of benefits:

The benefits of weight lifting for women

• Tones, shape and lift specific muscles
• Increase daily energy expenditure and fat burning
• Protects your muscle and bone mass
• Lifts your energy levels and mood as well as reducing stress, anxiety, and depression
• Improves posture and reduces injuries
• Teaches you new skills that improve functional and sports performance

What Happens During Your Menstrual Cycle?

The benefits of strength training for women are all determined by changes to your body.

The mechanical load of weightlifting forces your body to adapt by growing new muscle cells, remodeling bone tissue, using stored fat as fuel and strengthening nervous system communication networks.

It really is the fountain of youth.

Several things control the way that your body adapts to exercise. And one of those is your hormonal system.

Men and women share a number of the same hormones. Insulin, thyroid, glucagon, cortisol etc.

But the one thing that differentiates you from the guys is your menstrual cycle.

There are three main hormones that are involved during your cycle:

• Estrogen – the primary female hormone that promotes health, regulates sex characteristics and triggers ovulation.
• Progesterone – responsible for thickening the lining of your uterus.
• Testosterone – a natural anabolic hormone found in small amounts in females.

When it comes to weight training and female hormones, these are the ones you need to know about.

Your menstrual cycle is split into three phases

Every woman is different, and menstrual cycles are a perfect example of why each female is special in her own right.

Most women have a cycle that lasts somewhere between 21-35 days. The average is 28 days. Some women have irregular periods, and some don’t have one at all (amenorrhea).

If you have a ‘normal’ cycle, this is what you can expect to see…

• Follicular phase – days 1-14: This is where your uterine lining is shed and menstrual bleeding occurs for the first 3-5 days.
• Ovulation – days 14-15: During this short phase, an egg is released from your ovaries.
• Luteal phase – 15-28: In this last phase, the egg implants itself ready for fertilization. If this doesn’t happen, your uterine lining begins to degrade and your body prepares to shed it

Hormonal fluctuations across the cycle

As you can imagine, the peaks, valleys, and changes to menstrual hormones are what controls your period. These have both a physiological and psychological influence, and should be taken into account when weight training.

Estrogen

As the primary female sex hormone, estrogen is responsible for promoting bone health, protecting your vascular system and even reducing the risk of some female cancers.

During the follicular phase, estrogen starts to increase. It peaks during ovulation, and then dies down again during the luteal phase. There’s a second, much smaller dip during the mid-luteal phase.

Testosterone

This natural steroidal hormone regulates lean mass, endurance, fitness, and stamina. It is also highly correlated with libido and sex drive too.

Levels of testosterone remain fairly constant over the course of your period, with a small peak around the time of ovulation.

Many evolutionary scientists think that this peak coincides with the best time for you to get pregnant (when you’re ovulating), so ramping up your libido makes sense from that point of view.

Progesterone

This hormone remains low throughout the whole of the follicular and ovulation phases, peaking midway through the luteal phase.

It falls again once the luteum lining begins to degrade.

The Weight Training and Female Hormones Connection

Your menstrual cycle is a beautiful thing.

The concerto of different hormones working together to manage, regulate and maintain your cycle is a scientific and evolutionary phenomenon.

And with the right approach, the changes in hormone levels during your period can be used to your strength training advantage.

Here’s how weight training and female hormones work together to help you build a better body…

Estrogen helps you recover fast and reduces muscle damage

As the dominant female hormone, estrogen plays the role of protector.

It reduces fatigue and muscle damage, meaning you can tolerate higher levels of volume during weight training (and high-intensity cardio too), without negative effects.

Estrogen also helps to blunt pain.

During the follicular phase of your cycle, in particular, you’ll develop machine-like tolerance and stamina when weight lifting. 

This means your time-to-exhaustion and general stamina in the weights room will be optimal during the follicular and ovulatory phases.

Key Points on estrogen:

• Heavy weight training sessions with lots of volume are best during the follicular phase when estrogen is high.
• You’ll experience lower levels of muscle damage and fatigue when estrogen is elevated, so you’ll be able to train hard and recover much faster.
• Your exercise performance is optimal during mid-to-late follicular phase and through to ovulation when estrogen is at its highest.

Testosterone builds fitness and lean mass

As a regular reader of SpotMeGirl you’ll know how much we value the role of testosterone for athletic women who want to develop a sexier, leaner body with toned muscle and no huge mass.

Women who have optimal levels of testosterone also have:

• More energy and endurance
• Better strength and lean mass
• Lower levels of body fat
• More confidence
• Fewer mood swings during their period

Normal levels of testosterone for women is a low 25-70 ng.dL – that’s nearly 15 times lower than a man, and one of the reasons why women can’t build muscle mass like men can. 

With 90% of women over 45 suffering from low testosterone levels, it’s a hormone that needs boosting. The biggest drop in natural anabolic hormone levels occurs between 20 and 40 years of age.

Discover our top T-boosters for women here:

Weight training has been shown in numerous research studies to elevate testosterone levels, especially during late follicular and ovulatory phases when the hormone is elevated already.

In fact, many women chasing PRs on big lifts such as the bench press or squat attempt a new record between days 10-15 of their cycle to try and use the natural spike in testosterone to their advantage. 

When it comes to weight training and female hormones, testosterone is hugely important.

Key Points on testosterone:

• Testosterone promotes increases in lean mass, while at the same time helping reduce excess body fat.
• The best time to go for a PR or hard strength workout is from the follicular phase through to ovulation. The combination of elevated estrogen and testosterone is key to optimal athletic performance.

Progesterone elevates body temperature

Your body temperature is higher during the phase when progesterone is elevated, meaning tough weight training workouts can leave you feeling hot, tired and uncomfortable.

It’s common for women to reduce the intensity of their weight training workouts during the luteal phase when body temperature is around 1 degree Celsius higher than normal.

Progesterone has a catabolic effect that increases muscle damage and can lead to an increase in fatigue and reduction in athletic performance.

On the plus side though, your body burns more fat during the luteal phase, so a bit more cardio and circuit training, with less heavy weight lifting works well here.

Key Points on progesterone:

• Progesterone can elevate muscle damage and make recovery from weight training hard, especially at high intensity.
• Due to catabolic effects of progesterone, heavy weight training during the luteal phase can be tough.

Summary – How Weight Training and Female Hormones Are Related

Natural female hormones such as estrogen, testosterone and progesterone go hand in hand with strength training.

Adapting the way you train based on menstrual cycle hormone fluctuations can take your muscle-toning, fat-burning results to the next level.

If you enjoyed this article you can learn more here…

• What are the benefits of exercise during your period?
• How your cycle affects your lifting
• Fast weight loss – cardio machines that burn the most calories

Gone are the days when women focused on cardio to develop athletic, sexy figure they deserved. It wasn’t efficient and many women struggled to achieve the figure they were after.

Now it’s all about lifting heavy weights. And pressing, squatting and pulling your way to your best body ever.

Strength training on a regular basis has numerous benefits for your body and your mind. But have you ever wondered if you’re actually lifting heavy enough to reach your goals?

Or how your numbers compare to other women?

Here’s our guide to how much weight you should be able to lift as as woman…

Women and Weightlifting – The Revolution

Back in the day, the only women who chose to lift weights were hardcore bodybuilders. They didn’t mind mixing it with the guys. Over time, we’ve become less intimidated and that’s led to women practically taking over.

Now we’re absolutely smashing it. And with strength training being an effective cure for flabby abs, weak muscles and low confidence, we’ve never felt so good in the gym.

According to statistics, there are still less than 25% of women lifting weights the minimum twice per week.

But that number is going up year upon year.

There’s a revolution coming.

And as women, it’s us that are at the forefront of it.

Not every woman knows if what they’re doing is right. You might be a complete noob when it comes to strength training, or you might be experienced, but still unsure.

Being new to the gym can leave you feeling flustered and unsure where to start. And with so much equipment and weights to choose from, you might still be uncertain if you’re making the right choices.

You don’t want to go too heavy and cause yourself an injury. But on the other hand you know that going too light won’t help you craft the figure you’re dreaming of.

Power your workout sessions with the right pre-workout:

Rule number one: form before load, technique before ego

When it comes to optimizing results from strength training, one thing’s for sure; never sacrifice good technique.

Ensuring proper form above all else means you’re more likely to hit your targets. You’ll reduce unnecessary soreness and niggles that undermine your fitness goals.

Here’s your checklist for keeping your form strict and safe:

• Don’t use momentum or ‘cheat’ the weight
• Keep your movements controlled and under tension
• Avoid muscle failure and don’t train past the point of fatigue
• Get a spotter on lifts where you need one
• If it hurts, stop right away
• Choose weights that are appropriate for your abilities

How to choose the right weights

Whether it’s “how much weight should I lift for my size”, or “how much weight should I lift to gain muscle”, the answer is that it depends.

When it comes to strength training for fat loss and building toned muscle, it’s all about the weight you lift.

You don’t want to go too heavy as you’ll not reach your desired rep range, you could get injured and you’ll more than likely lose form.

But go too light and you’ll not achieve progressive overload or create the microscopic damage needed to force your muscles to adapt and gain shape.

The weight you should be able to lift is one that allows you to only just complete your designated number of reps.

For example, if your rep range is 8-12, the weight you choose should allow you to perform more than 7 reps, but less than 13. If you can blast out more than 12 reps easily, it’s not heavy enough.

You should be just about able to squeeze that last rep out.

At a push.

Over time your body will adapt and you’ll get stronger. The minute you can lift that weight easily, you’ve got to increase it to keep pushing your fitness levels.

So How Much Weight Should a Woman Be Able to Lift?

Every woman is different. It’s what makes us the beautiful individuals that we are.

One woman might be able to squat with 50 lb easily. Whereas for another it might be far too much.

Finding the correct loads takes patience and practice.

Keeping a log of your weights is useful as it helps you know exactly what you should be lifting.

Here’s how much you should be able to lift…

If you’re female, healthy and over 18 years old (because the available data only includes women aged 18 or over), here’s how much weight you should be able to lift…

These are 1-repetition maximum (1RM) scores. This means you should be able to lift these weights for 1 full rep.

The only limitation is that these charts are restricted to the ‘big 3’ lifts – bench press, squat and deadlift. Presumably because there’s no data available on other lifts.

All of the weights in the table are in lbs.

Bench press

Back squat

Deadlift

Women hold around 60% of their total muscle mass in their lower bodies (men only have 50%). If you notice, you should be able to lift much heavier weights for the squat and deadlift compared to the bench press.

Remember though, these are only guidelines.

How much weight a woman should be able to lift depends on experience, body weight, muscle mass and strength.

If you need an extra energy boost, try a pre-workout.

Will Lifting Heavy Weights Lead to Bulky Muscles?

One concern that many women have is that lifting heavier weights might lead to huge muscles and a loss of femininity.

That couldn’t be further from the truth though.

Regular weight training and a controlled diet lead to better fitness levels, lower body fat, toned muscles and a sexy, feminine shape.

The benefits include:

• More confidence and better mood
• Enhanced energy
• Lower risk of obesity, osteoporosis and sarcopenia
• Burns more calories
• Gain strength without muscle bulk
• Better menstrual cycles

The reason why weight training won’t lead to big, bulky muscles is that you don’t have testosterone levels as high as the guys do.

In fact, with 15-70 ng.dL of the natural hormone in your blood, that’s almost 15 times lower than the 300-1,000 ng.dL the average man will have.

And while testosterone is important for women, you just don’t have enough of the androgen floating around your body to cause any masculinity whatsoever.

Whether you’re new to exercise, or you’ve been active all your lift, strength training is important for all females.

Lifting weights and building muscle will boost both your health and physical performance. It’s not about growing huge slabs of manly muscle mass either.

In fact, introducing hard strength training to your daily routine won’t suddenly turn you into a deep-voiced, broad-shouldered body builder – if anything it’ll help you develop a more womanly, confident, shapely and athletic figure.

Plus, you’ll improve your vascular, metabolic and functional health too.

Strength training for females over 50 is pretty much essential.

Here’s why…

Why Building Muscle After 50 Is Important for All Women

There’s been a huge shift in the way that females perceive strength training over the last few years.

Gone are the days where women focus solely on cardio as a way of keeping fit. Okay, it helped many of us get off the sofa and increase our fitness levels – but it led to frail, weak physiques with no muscle or strength.

The so-called ‘cardio bunny’ approach is dead in the water. And in it’s place has exploded the super-strong, ultra-feminine strength training approach.

When it comes to building muscle after 50, it’s all down to two things – diet and the right exercise program. Without a plan, you’re not channeling your energy and efforts as well as you could.

And that could leave you with less-than-perfect results in the long term.

Strong females lift for health, beauty and muscle build

But why exactly should a female over 50 build muscle?

Wanting to be strong, lean and athletic reaches far wider than just looking your best. The impact that strength training has on your life is phenomenally wide.

From mental health, to physical longevity. And from bone health to muscle health.

Here are the most important reasons you need to know about…

More muscle means a leaner figure and higher metabolic rate during dieting

Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. The more you muscle have, the more energy it needs to sustain its own mass.

When you’re muscle building through strength training, your metabolic rate increases; and this can have a positive effect on body fat levels – presuming you monitor your food intake.

A few more pounds of muscle won’t make a huge difference to metabolic rate on it’s own merit. But there’s a pretty positive correlation between women over 50 that take part in regular strength training and lower levels of body fat.

If you’re dieting to lose fat, you’re at risk of losing muscle mass too. That’s because when your body in low on energy intake, it can also choose to break muscle down for fuel as well, not just excess fat.

The best way to stop this from happening is to combine strength training with a high protein diet.

That way you spare lean muscle tissue and target fat more effectively.

And your metabolic rate will continue to tick over at a higher rate.

Muscle building reduces your risk of sarcopenia

Sarcopenia is an age related loss in lean muscle tissue and is significantly associated with elevated risk of obesity, bone health issues and metabolic diseases.

By the age of 60, you could have lost as much as 15% of your total muscle mass – that’s a huge amount. And it’ll have a drastic effect on everything from your strength to your stamina too.

It’s thought to be caused by a drop in muscle building hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone, but inactivity plays a large part too.

Side effects of sarcopenia include: 

• Loss of strength and endurance
• Weight loss
• Increased body fat
• Loss of balance and functional capability (walking, carrying, standing from a sitting position etc.)

From the age of 50 onward, it’s important that you train to build muscle. Risk factors for sarcopenia are higher if you’re inactive, have a bad diet and follow poor lifestyle choices.

By strength training to build muscle you can offset symptoms of sarcopenia and maintain functional health and quality of life.

Strong muscles means strong bones

Another side effect on being inactive after 50 is that your bones can become weak and brittle. This increases the risk of fractures and other skeletal issues such as osteoporosis and osteopenia.

In women, disorders such as osteoporosis are linked closely to the menopause. This is because estrogen is responsible for maintaining mineral content in bone tissue.

At 50, you’ll more than likely at menopausal age, and therefore at a higher risk of bone loss.

When you strength train to build muscle, you stimulate bone cell remodeling. This simply means that you ‘load’ your bones with a mechanical stressor that forces it to maintain its strength and integrity.

If you squat, your thigh bones remain strong. If you do press-ups it’s the same for your arms.

High-intensity muscle building training has been shown in numerous studies to help reduce the risk of bone loss in females over 50.

How to Build Female Muscle Over 50

Hopefully at this stage, the benefits of muscle building in females over 50 is pretty clear.

And that’s without even touching on the fact that strength training helps with self-confidence, libido, quality of orgasms and decreased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

But not all muscle building programs are made the same. And to really optimize results you need to cover all bases – from diet and lifestyle to exercise selection and the right weights.

Follow a muscle building diet

If you’re wanting to build muscle, it makes sense that you eat enough food to fuel your workouts. If your priority right now though is to lose extra body fat, you should spend time in a calorie deficit for the first few weeks until body fat decreases.

You can still build muscle in a deficit if you’re a beginner (your muscles respond better to strength workouts if you’re untrained), and you can definitely ‘tone up’ too, even without sufficient incoming energy.

So don’t think ti has to be one or the other.

The key thing here is that you take on enough protein to build new muscle cells. Presuming you’re fit and healthy and don;t have any kidney issues, shooting for around 0.7-1 gram of protein per pound of body weight each day is a good starting point.

And because protein also helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer, it can also help with fat loss when in a calorie deficit.

Strength training exercise for muscle building

For some reason, women over 50 are often wrapped up in cotton wool.

Workouts like ‘chariobics‘ for example presumes that just because a female hits 50 they all of a sudden become weak and fragile.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

And there’s absolutely no way you’ll build muscle and strength playing around with such an easy workout program.

You job is to work hard in the gym.

You aren’t lifting huge weights during strength training and it’s certainly not unsafe. But to stimulate muscle cells you’ve got to get out of your comfort zone and push your limits.

Aiming to target your body with multi-muscle exercises that cover all of your major muscle groups is key. So is choosing weights that fatigue you within the last couple of reps.

Don’t worry about building big, bulky muscles either.

It just doesn’t happen in females, especially if you’re over 50 and your testosterone levels are running slightly low.

Sample workout for muscle building in over 50’s females:

1. Lat pulldown – 8-15 reps x 3
2. Leg press – 8-15 reps x 3
3. Chest press – 8-15 reps x 3
4. Leg curl – 8-15 reps x 3
5. Shoulder press – 8-15 reps x 3
6. Seated row – 8-15 reps x 3
7. Leg extension – 8-15 reps x 3

You should follow this plan for 2-3 sessions per week for 4-6 weeks before looking to take on a more advanced strength and muscle building workout.

Where next?

There are a huge number of more advanced muscle building workouts for females over 50 out there.

We’re big fans of the advanced female training programs over at greatest physiques. They’re obviously written by experts who understand female physiology and how to write effective, time-efficient programs to get you in shape fast.

They’re definitely worth checking out if you’re already training hard, want to build muscle and develop a lean and womanly figure.

Perhaps you want some of the physical benefits of improving your hormone balance? A testosterone booster may help you build lean muscle and a better body composition.. and we have just the list for you:

You train hard and you want to look your best. But you don’t want an aggressive, vascular body when we get the kids from kindergarten – only in the gym where it matters. When you’re in that weights room it’s time to rip off the lid on muscle pump and swell up like a strong, feminine animal.

While the guys would be happy to walk around with a 24-hour pump, you don’t.

You want a pump in the gym, but silky smooth skin when we decide to ditch the gym wear and dress up for a night out.

The bottom line is that getting a muscle pump as a female isn’t easy.

But it’s definitely achievable.

Here’s our guide to getting a great muscle pump but still remaining womanly, sexy and feminine.

What is a muscle pump?

When it comes to the best feeling from exercise, sportswomen have winning, cardio bunnies have their runner’s high and us lifters have our muscle pump.

But how exactly does it happen? And why?

A ‘muscle pump’ is really just short-term cell swelling. 

It’s a completely normal reaction to increased blood flow from exercise.

When muscles start contracting because of exercise they increase blood flow dramatically.  This is achieved through various process such as vascular compression and increased perfusion (delivery of oxygen and nutrients).

The main reason is that for your muscle to keep contracting and working against the resistance of the barbell or dumbbells you’re holding it needs oxygen, glycogen and a range of important metabolites and enzymes.

Without them, the muscle just couldn’t contract properly.

How does muscle contraction cause a pump?

In order to increase the amount of blood that travels to your muscle, the blood vessels that attach to it have to dilate. The wider your vessels are, the more blood can travel to it in any one go.

On top of that, you also get fluid drawn into your muscle cells during contractions because of changes in fluid pressure outside of the cell.

In other words, lifting weights changes what happen inside and outside cells.

Exercise also increases production of a compound called nitric oxide. This is important, as ‘NO’ has a direct effect on the inside cells of blood vessels, telling them to expand through a process called ‘vasodilation’.

This is one of the reasons why exercise is good for helping lower blood pressure.

When you lift weights your muscles literally start ‘filling’ up with blood. They become engorged, just like a water balloon full of water would be.

The more reps and the longer you repeatedly contract the muscle for, the more intense the ‘pumping’ effect of blood gets.

It really is a thing of beauty.

And the feeling is immense!

How to get a female muscle pump 101

If you’re serious about chasing the pump you’ll need a physiology cheat sheet to hack.

These simple to follow tips will help to maximize muscle pump and swell your muscles to the point where they’ll feel like they’re ready to blow.

Lift moderate weights with high volume reps

For years and years, female bodybuilders have used light weights to ‘pump up’ before competition.

This way their muscles look fuller because of vascular cell swelling.

Heavy weights force your nervous system to fatigue before much of the cell swelling effects have taken place. In other words, your brain tells your muscles to stop firing before they’re engorged with blood.

And that’s no good for a great muscle pump.

But lighter weights bypass nervous system fatigue and allow the gradual increase in blood flow to take place. Every rep leads to more blood, more fluid changes and the build up of more and more fatigue-induced by-products.

Perfect.

The result is a huge pump that’ll leave you feeling like your muscles will split right through your skin.

You’ll get a far better pump using a rep range of 8-15 than you will with a heavier 3-6 range. And the more sets you throw in, with limited rest time, the better.

Drop body fat

This is an easy one to fix.

Even the most intense pumps can be masked by body fat. If you’re currently storing just that little bit of extra puppy fat, you might be hiding your gains.

If that’s the case, make fat loss your priority.

• Drop your calorie intake and make sure you’re in an energy deficit
• Increase protein intake to 0.7-1 gram per pound of body weight
• Increase daily exercise levels and unstructured activity (NEAT)
• Lift weights 3-4 times per week

As your body fat comes down you’ll find that there’s less tissue masking what’s happening under your skin.

Result = better muscle pumps.

Use a pre workout with nitric oxide nutrients

Pre workouts are fantastic for boosting muscle pump effects.

They use specialized nutrients to trigger the release of nitric oxide – remember, this compound directly dilates your blood vessels and lets the surge in blood flow take place.

Here are the best nitric oxide stimulation you’ll find in your pre workout…

Citrulline malate

Found in foods such as watermelon and garlic, this amino acid converts to L-arginine in your body, and then to nitric oxide after that.

It has a high absorption rate, meaning it works more effectively for muscle pumps than other nutrients.

Not only does citrulline malate increase blood flow, nutrient delivery and muscle pumps; it also reduces fatigue and enhances muscle recovery too. As pre workout nutrients go, this is a great one if your gym focus is on muscle building or endurance.

Bottom line: Citrulline enhances muscle pumps, improves stamina and optimizes recovery between sets.

Red Beet

It’s unlikely that you’ll fancy chewing on raw beets before a workout. But a red beet powder gives you all of the pre workout benefits, without the food bulk.

High in vitamins and minerals, beets are also a great source of inorganic nitrates. These are compounds that regulate vascular health, blood pressure and also nitric oxide production.

Bottom line: Red beet reduces fatigue from exercise and significantly improves endurance at high-intensities.

Boost female muscle pump with the best pre workout around

When it comes to awesome female muscle pump, intense blood flow and off-the-chart energy levels, we recommend 4 gauge by Roar Ambition.

Not only is it formulated using completely natural ingredients, it’s also one of the smoothest, effective pre workouts we’ve tried.

Containing expertly dosed nutrients such as citrulline malate, red beet, L-theanine and acetyl L-carnitine, 4 Gauge is a sure fire bet for great female muscle pumps and gym-smashing results.

• Boost energy, stamina and endurance
• Use biofeedback nutrition to optimize female muscle pump
• Enhance motivation, resolve and carve out a ‘never quit’ attitude
• Clean formula that delivers results with no side effects

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Or check out the best pre-workouts for women here:

The answer to this ladies is YES we can! Here, we’ll run through everything you need to know when it comes to lifting weights and building lean muscle as a women.

If your main goal is to become lean, with added muscle, and less body fat, then you’ll need to follow a few steps.

How To Build Lean Muscle

• Lift weights
• Perform light cardio 
• Do HIIT 
• Eat correctly 

Let’s run through these steps in more detail to show you how you can build lean muscle!

Use compound exercises

There’s one reason why compound resistance training has been used time-and-time again, it’s because it works!

Performing a weight training routine twice per week will help your muscles to grow, and become lean, as well as strong.

Use these basic, ‘tried-and-tested‘ weightlifting exercises to build lean muscle:

• Squat – works the whole lower body, including the quads, qlutes, and core.
• Lunges – looking to build a better booty? then lunges will get you there.
• Deadlift – this is a great exercise for whole body strength, it’s a full-body exercise.
• Bench Press – looking to build more muscle on your upper body, then use the bench press.
• Shoulder Press – having nice round shoulders looks great on anyone – use the shoulder pres to build nice shoulders.
• Leg Raises – we all want a great looking core. Leg raises will help you build good looking abs in no time.

Perform light cardio

No workout is complete without a cardio routine. Cardio not only helps you feel more energized, it also clears out toxins in your body.

Light cardio also help you lose fat in a controlled and healthy way.

Light Cardio Options

• Walking
• Swimming 
• Cycling 
• Jogging 
• Skipping 

Incorporating two cardio sessions per week into your training plan, will help flush out lactic acid that may be present from your resistance training sessions.

In short, it will help you recover from weight training and burn fat simultaneously.

Add HIIT to your workout

Now that we’ve covered resistance training and light cardio, let’s move on to HIIT.

HIIT offers a quick solution to fat loss, however, you must be warned, HIIT should be used in moderation; for example, once a week.

The reason for this is; it’s aggressive on the whole body and takes more time to recover form each workout.

HIIT Options

• Sprinting
• Spinning Sprints 
• Rowing Intervals 
• Boxing Intervals 
• Tabata Training 

You may not necessarily feel sore. But, you may feel slightly tired the day after a HIIT workout.

This is due to your central nervous system catching up in an effort to heal your body. At this point, you’ll want to get as much rest as possible.

Eat whole foods

There are sayings which I’m sure you’ve heard of, and that’s; ‘abs are made in the kitchen,’ and ‘you can’t outrun a bad diet.’ 

These two statements couldn’t be more true. No matter how much you train, you cannot eat a bad diet and expect to have a lean and healthy body – you have to eat whole foods to achieve this.

Okay, so what do I mean by whole foods? I mean anything that has one single ingredient, such as brown rice, sweet potato, beans, chicken, and all vegetables.

Whole Food Examples: 

• Brown rice 
• Sweet potato 
• Chicken, beef, turkey, eggs 
• All vegetables 

Eating single food ingredients will be much easier on your body to digest, thus, helping you to lose weight, and build lean muscle at the same time.

Conclusion

Building lean muscle as a woman can be done with the right planing and dedication.

By following our tips, and using weight training as a base of your lean muscle building program, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a strong, powerful, and lean woman!

If your goal is to build lean muscle mass, then there are many things that are recommended to do, and at the same time, not recommended by other people. This is because there are many ways to grow muscle mass.

However, the primary things stay the same, and there is nothing more you can say about it. If you really need to increase muscle mass, then you should remember and follow these tips for as long as you plan to grow bigger.

1. Perform Compound Exercises

Compound exercises are great when it comes to hitting multiple muscles at the same time. Moreover, because you incorporate many muscles while doing these exercises, you can perform them while using heavier weights as this is important to trigger muscle growth. If you train too easily, your body won’t think that it needs more muscle mass to survive harsh training conditions.

So, such compound exercises like deadlifts, squats, lunges, bench presses, shoulder press, and similar movements should make the biggest part of your training. Of course, you should leave some time to isolation exercises, but you shouldn’t spend too much time on them while you build muscle mass.

2. Eat More, But Not Too Much

To build lean muscle mass, you need to eat enough food to trigger muscle growth. But if you eat too much, you’ll grow not only muscle mass but a lot of body fat too.

Of course, even if you build lean muscle mass, you’ll still gain at least a little bit of body fat. But body fat gains can be decreased if you eat just enough to trigger muscle growth without encouraging your body to store too many calories coming from the food you eat as body fat.

3. Experiment

Most people want to find the greatest way to do something and then just continue doing the same thing forever. However, the greatest results are often achieved by those people who aren’t afraid of trying something new to learn the best way to achieve their success.

You should also try something new as it might help you to find new effective exercises, healthy foods, or any other things that can benefit your fitness life.

4. Grind

If you plan to build at least 15 pounds of lean muscle mass, then it can easily take longer than half a year. This is because without using steroids or anything else that could enhance muscle growth, people are able to grow two pounds of lean muscle mass per month.

If you grow muscle mass for the first time in your life or after more than six months of not building muscle mass, then you might see faster muscle mass gains. But be careful as most of it can be extra body fat. To avoid it, try measuring your body fat levels after one month of bulking.

So, stay patient and continue doing what you need to grow bigger because it’ll take months if not years.

5. Know What is Needed and What is Not

You can often find that while building lean muscle mass, you need to consume loads of protein and a tiny amount of carbs, perform cardio, use special supplements, or do something else.

But the truth is that none of these are necessary. Such things are just recommended as they might help for some people but may be useless to you. So, the best thing you can do is to do it the hard way by trying what is useful by yourself.

If you’re looking for an easy way, well, you may never find it. But if you continue doing your best, sooner or later you’ll reach your goal.

If you think about it, there is no muscle group that gets put on the backburner more than your hamstrings and glutes. Many people opt to not squat, or even train legs at all.

In this guide, we will go over several different exercises that you can perform to enhance your hamstrings and glutes. Let’s start with training your glutes first.

Training Your Glutes

1. Bodyweight Squats

Bodyweight squats are a super-effective exercise to train your glutes. You can add a bit of variation by holding a light weight in your hand, but let’s start with bodyweight squats.

Stand with your legs slightly wider than shoulder width, and extend your arms straight in front of you. Looking straight ahead, fix your eyes on one spot of the wall, do not look towards the floor.

Now, break at your hips and push your butt back. Keep drawing your body downwards until your knees are bent. Make sure that you keep the tension on your hips and glutes, not on your knees. Right before your knees fully bend, stand up again to the starting position.

Try for at least 20-30 squats in the beginning and strive to hit 40-50 a day.

2. Hip Thrust

The hip thrust trains your glutes so that you have a powerful, rounder, and firmer booty. Once again, we’ll go for bodyweight hip thrusts first, then add weight later.

For the starting position, put your shoulder blades against a flat bench and spread your arms across the bench for better stability. Take a deep breath and brace your core. Now, squeeze your glutes, lift up your hips and hold that position for a few seconds.

Adding weight to this exercise is easy, and it will make your hip thrusts much more difficult. You can use chains, weight plates, dumbbells, or even a barbell.

Aim for three sets of 10.

3. Cable Kickbacks

Cable kickbacks will really lift your glutes and make them much firmer. Stand straight facing the weight stack and grab the cable tower for support. Slowly kick your leg back until your hip is fully extended. Your glutes should now be fully contracted.

Hold this position for a couple of seconds, gradually bringing your leg back to the starting position. Repeat the same move with your other leg.

Aim for 1 set of 20 per leg.

4. Glute Bridges

This exercise is extremely simple, but proper technique is required to make it effective. Lie on the floor, bend your knees, and keep your feet flat on the ground. Keep your arms to your side and have your palms facing down.

Lift your hips off of the ground until your knees, hips, and shoulders come into a straight line. Finally, hold this position for a couple of seconds and slowly descend down to your starting position.

Aim for three sets of 20.

5. Deadlift

Deadlifts are a great posterior chain exercise. Perform deadlifts with a conventional stance, and make sure you use a lifting belt. Focus on proper form and really squeezing your glutes on lockout.

Aim for 3 sets of 10.

6. Single Leg Hip Thrust

Start by lying with your back on the floor with your knees bent. Leave your hands by your side with your palms facing up.

Raise your left leg off of the ground while pulling your knee to your chest. Next, execute the movement simply through driving your heel, extending your hip upwards, and raising your glutes off of the ground. Extend as much as you can and gradually come back to starting position. Repeat with your right leg.

Aim for two sets of 12 per leg.

Training Your Hamstrings

1. Low Bar Squat

Low bar squats are a great posterior chain exercise that will really enhance your glutes and hamstrings. You will need to have a power rack for safety. Start by sliding your back under the barbell down to where your shoulder blades are located.

Now with a narrow grip, squeeze your upper back and keep your body tight the whole time. Take a deep breath, and squat. These are much more difficult than bodyweight squats, so take your time and learn proper form.

2. Lunges

If you aren’t familiar with how to do lunges, place your hands on your hip and stand up straight. Step forward with your right leg and gradually lower your body until the front knee is bent at 90-degrees.

Make sure your back knee does not touch the floor. Push yourself back to the starting position and repeat the same process with your other leg. Walking lunges may feel more natural if you have a hard time balancing.

Aim for two sets of 20.

3. Split Squats

Start off by grabbing two dumbbells of your desired weight. Stand with your rear foot on a flat bench, and your other foot in front of you. Think of this exercise like a lunge with your rear leg elevated.

Like lunges, you will slowly descend, flexing your knee and hip. Make sure you have good balance and keep your front knee aligned with your foot. When you reach the bottom, hold this position for a second, then drive through your heel and extend your knee to return to your starting position.

Aim for 2 sets of 20.

4. Heel Drags

There are several different ways to perform heel drags; the best way is sitting in a chair with wheels. Straighten your legs and maintain your contact with the floor. Now, drag yourself forward using your heels.

Heel drags are great for those who have anterior knee pain. These will help build a balanced load on your knees while targeting your glutes.

Perform 2 sets of 15 per leg.

5. Hamstring Thrust

Last but not least is the hamstring thrust. Set up a barbell in front of you, and lay your shoulder blades on a flat bench. Make sure you wear shoes with flat soles.

Keep your legs planted and bring your torso up by extending your hips. Extend your hips until the bar is above your knees and slowly descend back to your starting position.

Aim for two sets of 10 reps.