When I'm not writing about health and wellness, I'm training clients,
modeling, and finding the time to get my own workouts in. The two questions I get asked the most are how often I work out and what exactly I do in the gym. My answer: it's always changing. Sometimes I work out five to six times a week,
and other times it's three days max. My preferred style of training is weightlifting, specifically Olympic weightlifting, and I also love to sprint. Show
Continue reading to see what an average week of working out looks like for me. Since everyone's strength levels vary, I did not include the exact weights I lift. Instead, I included weights that should work for beginners to advanced lifters. If you plan on doing these workouts, choose a weight that will challenge you, make any modifications necessary, and always warm up and cool down. The female bodybuilding lifestyle isn’t for the faint of heart. If you choose to compete, you’ll be required to diet, count macros, and meal prep for several months. You’ll also need to sneak in cardio sessions during your spare time and spend hours in the gym sculpting your muscles. There are a lot of sacrifices for female bodybuilders in the pursuit of a toned and lean physique that the average ‘gym-goer’ isn’t willing to make. But the result after months of hard work is building a body that you’re proud of, with capped shoulders, tight abs, and full-looking glutes. In addition to the physical progress, you’ll also harness an incredible mental strength, which will empower you across all areas of your life. In this article, I’ll discuss how female bodybuilders should structure their workouts. We’ll talk about the scientific principles that go into designing these workouts, and I’ll provide a sample 6-day workout plan that is specific for female bodybuilders. Setting Realistic GoalsIt’s important at the start of your workout plan to set goals that are realistic. It takes female bodybuilders longer than men to build muscle and lose body fat. This is because of lower natural hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone. As such, you’ll want to plan a time-frame of 6-8 months to reach your target physique. Most female bodybuilders use a 0.5lb rule when planning their training programs. For example, if you’re in a training phase to build muscle, a realistic goal would be to build 0.5lbs of muscle per week. Similarly, if you’re in a phase of training to lose fat, plan to lose 0.5lbs of fat per week. Of course, these numbers of generic targets, and in actuality your progress could be quicker or slower depending on your training background, diet, and overall training. Therefore, it’s important to track your progress by weighing yourself weekly (or daily), taking progress pics, and using body fat measurement tools. Bulking vs. Cutting for Female BodybuildersFemale bodybuilders split their training efforts into specific “bulking” and “cutting” cycles. Bulking CyclesIf there is no bodybuilding show coming up, this is when female bodybuilders enter their bulking cycle. The goal is to build as much lean muscle mass as possible, while at the same time limiting fat gain. This requires a higher caloric intake, usually 10-25% above their baseline. As well, higher training volumes are used by increasing the total number of sets and reps. A lot more sets are taken closer to their fatigue limit, and more compound exercises are programmed versus isolation exercises. Cutting CyclesDepending on how much fat loss is needed, female bodybuilders will enter their cutting cycles within some proximity of their bodybuilding show -- typically 16-24 weeks prior. The goal is to lose as much body fat as possible, while at the same time limiting muscle loss. This requires a lower caloric intake, usually 10-25% below their baseline, and sometimes even lower within the last few weeks of the bodybuilding show. At this time, training volumes are either maintained or slightly decreased, usually by keeping the total number of sets the same or less. Rather than taking weights close to failure, female bodybuilders will use special methods like ‘tempo training’, ‘supersets’, ‘drop sets’. As well, compound exercises are still used during cutting cycles, but a lot more isolation exercises are programmed. Compound vs Isolation Exercises For Female BodybuildersFemale bodybuilders will use a combination of compound and isolation exercises depending on their specific training cycles (whether bulking or cutting). Compound ExercisesCompound exercises are movements that incorporate more than one muscle group. These exercises are used to build overall muscle mass and strength. They also produce a greater metabolic response, which burns more calories. Examples of compound exercises: Isolation ExercisesIsolation exercises are movements that incorporate only a single muscle group. These exercises are used to increase muscle mass of ‘lagging body parts’. For instance, it’s important that female bodybuilders have capped shoulders and full-looking glutes, so extra isolation exercises for these body parts may be needed. Examples of isolation exercises: Use Progressive OverloadOne of the most important principles for female bodybuilding is “progressive overload”. This is the idea that you need to do “more of something” over time. Some of the ways you can think of progressive overload are:
Implementing progressive overload creates additional stress for your internal body structures. As a result, your body is required to adapt and overcome. As you continue to stress the body and continue to adapt to the stimulus, you will start to see significant changes to your physique. Training Frequency For Female BodybuildersFemale bodybuilders typically workout 5-6 days per week, which may include additional cardio sessions. There are several training splits that you can implement (I’ll give you a 6-day training split below). However, most training splits for female bodybuilders place more priority on certain muscle groups over others. For example, I mentioned that female bodybuilders typically need to have capped shoulders and full-looking glutes. This is because capped shoulders give the illusion of a smaller waist and full-looking glutes provide the ‘hour-glass’ figure. Therefore, a female bodybuilding workout will usually include a lot more shoulder and glute exercises than back, biceps, and chest. This is something to keep in mind when you’re looking to do female bodybuilding programs. Cardio Recommendations For Female BodybuildersFemale bodybuilders do a combination of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and low-intensity steady state (LISS) cardio. HIIT CardioHIIT cardio is short in duration (5-20-min) and is higher in intensity, meaning you’re working closer to your max heart rate. It involves short bursts of very hard work followed by a short period of recovery. An example of this is sprinting as hard as you can for 30-seconds, then jogging for 60-seconds, and repeating this series 6-10 times. HIIT Cardio has been shown to be more efficient at burning calories. However, it’s a far more stressful type of cardio so you can’t do it every day. Several top female bodybuilders use HIIT cardio before their weight training sessions. LISS CardioLISS cardio is longer in duration (30-90 minutes) and lower in intensity, meaning you’re working further from your max heart rate. It’s performed at a steady state so that you can sustain your energy for the entire duration. Some examples of this could be biking, running, brisk walking, or rowing. In order to use LISS cardio to burn the same or more calories as HIIT cardio, you need to perform longer durations. But since it’s not as stressful on the overall system, you can perform this type of cardio more frequently. Several top female bodybuilders use LISS cardio after their weight training sessions or on ‘off days’. Post Workout RecoveryFemale bodybuilders will incorporate many recovery elements so that they can continue to progress without risking burn-out or injury. Recovery can include ensuring that you take at least 1 day off from the gym each week; listening to your body when you feel pain or excessive soreness; ensuring you’re maintaining a proper diet with high amounts of protein; getting at least 8 hours of sleep, and partaking in non-stressful activities such as meditation, reading, or socializing with friends. Outside the gym, several female powerlifters use Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS), incorporating a tool like PowerDot that increases blood flow and circulation, which wards off inflammation. This helps bodybuilders reduce muscle soreness and recover more quickly between workouts. Sample Bodybuilding Workouts For Women (6-Day Split)The following is a female bodybuilding program that can be used during a ‘cutting cycle’ where the goal is to maintain muscle mass and lose body fat. You can add HIIT cardio 2-3 times per week before each workout and LISS cardio 3-5 times per week after each workout. Day 1: Legs
Day 2: Calf, Back, Delts, Biceps
Day 3: Legs
Day 4: Glutes, Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Day 5: Legs
Day 6: Calves Back, Shoulders
Final ThoughtsFemale bodybuilding programs need to have a large focus on glutes and shoulders over other body parts. As well, female bodybuilders need to structure their training in ‘bulking’ and ‘cutting’ cycles, which is designed to build muscle and lose body fat. Important elements of the female bodybuilding program also include progressive overload, recovery, and cardio. About The AuthorAvi Silverberg holds a Master's of Science Degree in Exercise Science with a research focus on powerlifting training. He’s been the Head Coach for Team Canada Powerlifting since 2012. As an athlete, his claim to fame was always his bench press, competing at the World Bench Press Championships on three occasions and winning a bronze medal in 2010. How can a girl build muscle fast at home?So you must include push-ups, pulls-ups, squats, shrugs, curls, triceps dips, deadlift, lunges, and chest press in your routine. All these exercises target multiple muscles in one go, and are some of the best moves when it comes to muscle gain. Repetitions and sets make a lot of difference.
How many days a week should I workout to build muscle female?You need to be hitting the weights at least three days per week. The research says that at the very least, training a minimum of two days per week is needed to maximize muscle growth.
Can I tone up in 4 weeks?Yes, absolutely! How much of a transformation depends on how restrictive you are with your food and how much effort you put in. It involves a combination of healthy eating, resistance exercise and cardiovascular exercise. You need to build muscle and burn fat which are two totally separate processes.
What is a good workout schedule for a woman?The 7-Day Workout Schedule. Monday: Cardio.. Tuesday: Lower body.. Wednesday: Upper body and core.. Thursday: Active rest and recovery.. Friday: Lower body with a focus on glutes.. Saturday: Upper body.. Sunday: Rest and recovery.. |