[ti]fitness[/ti]Muscle Building for the female body

[Anato]

As someone who has a female body, I am trying to learn all I can about building muscle and mass so that I can sculpt my body to look more masculine (and be stronger too). Does anyone here have experience or can point me in the right direction to get some info on how to go about doing this? Books, vids, anything?

Much appreciated.

[EchelonHunt]

www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/no-equipment-workout (Sorry about the female-orientated website)

Basically, just do what guys do when they muscle build. It's the same concept, it's just easier for guys to bulk up because testosterone works in their favour.

Weight-lifting helps to build muscle and intense cardio to maintain or trim body fat down. When doing weight-lifting or muscle building, try to focus on each muscle group everyday (chest, arms, abs, legs, etc.)

You can use your own weight if you don't have dumbbells. I do push-ups, sit-ups and just walk everyday, making sure I walk longer distances and walk faster everyday. Ideally, I should run but I don't like running when I have boobs, even with the binder on.

Just be careful not to over-do it. I injured my quad muscle in my right leg from walking too much in one day.

Listen to your body, don't soldier on through the pain like I did. I ended up paying for it later. It wasn't pretty.

Good luck! Let us know how you go

[Anato]

Thankyou! Quick question, if someone lives an extremely sedentary lifestyle and starts working out, should you start slow or just jump right into a workout routine? I hear people have issues with plateauing in their progress and I don't wanna have that issue.

[EchelonHunt]

Definitely start slow and build up as your body adapts. Jumping in too fast can risk injury that can be a setback.

Plateaus will happen regardless of what you do, just don't let plateaus get you down, keep being consistent with the exercise and diet and the results will eventually kick in over time. Sometimes, switching up the routine (exercise & diet) can help one move past the plateau.

[Anato]

Alright, good cause I really didn't want to have to do intense workouts on day one. I tried that once out of ignorance and almost threw up >>

So plateaus are inevitable and can be overcome in the long term. Good! ty
 
(oh and I dont mind if you link websites that are female oriented. I have a female body. Gotta work with what you have.)

[Taka]

start slowly, it's possible to damage your muscles so badly that it kills your kidneys.
give yourself a couple weeks to a month to get into some sort of shape before starting to go heavy.

be careful with your legs too. if you're not used to running, don't run too much. you'll just get shin splint, and that will make you unable to even walk properly.
there are leg exercises you can do to prevent this by strengthening your muscles before putting too much strain on them.
careful with your knees too, don't run on hard surfaces like asphalt.

lots of people say that strength training is at least as effective for burning fat as cardio is.
you don't really need to run much unless you plan to become a good runner. but it's still necessary in order to warm up before starting any heavy exercises,
unless you do other light exercises to warm up.

be aware that hiit is recognized as the most effective way to get into shape and build strength.
the physiotherapist here says that 4x4 reps is a great standard, you just have to keep in mind that if you can actually make that very last rep, the weights are already too light. if there's no way to put on weight gradually, so you're always not really making it to the end, it's better to do fewer reps, like 4+4+3+3, rather than to do more reps to get tired enough.
says he at least, and it seems he's studied this stuff a lot. he doesn't mind that people don't work out though, since that just guarantees that his job will last...

[Taka]

and the easy tip for people who are horribly out of shape.
10 min a day is enough.
get your pulse up as high as it can go, even if all you can manage is walk fast, and keep it there for 10 minutes.
repeat once every day, you'll suddenly want to do more when your body gets used to it. and it won't be as challenging to start something else.
like hiit. that would be the next step. not hours of cardio that will only break your legs.

[DriftingCrow]

For the sake of less-thinking, I just do Beachbody's BodyBeast program. If you get just the DVDs, it's really not too expensive. The weightlifting is really quite traditional sets, so you could really just do it all on your own, but first thing in the morning, I like just hitting "Play" and not thinking about it. The most important thing though in achieving a more male-appearance though is really following a strict bodybuilding diet. I just follow what's in the nutrition plan the program comes with -- pretty traditional body building diet where the macros and calories are concerned. The macros are really important to follow in any weight lifting program.


www.teambeachbody.com/workout-routines/body-beast-workout

I'd also suggest making a profile on BodyBuilding.com.  there's tons of articles, forums, and workout & diet plans you can follow.

[CloneClubber]

I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd post here anyways. I'm currently trying to figure out how to masculanize (is this a word? ) my body. Problem is I'm too afraid to do this at the gym. So, I'm working on doing it at home. I definitely need to fix the way I eat. I'm also vegan. Which I know I can get enough protein doing, I just don't know what kind of workouts to do to get those epic abs and arms that I want so badly. Any help or just commentary would be greatly appreciated

edit: I just read through this post and I find it very helpful...maybe I'm just looking for some people to say "I've been there too, and I finally found that such and such worked." Maybe a workout buddy?

[EchelonHunt]

Going low carb will eliminate overall fat, including the troublesome belly fat.

Cardio is excellent for keeping cardiovascilar health in top shape. It will also help you lose weight. Weight loss is mostly 80% diet and 20% exercise.

Weight-lifting is helpful for muscle gain. It doesn't have to be lifting weights like bodybuilders do, although it can help if you start small and gradually increase as your body adjusts, just using your own body weight is effective in of itself.

There are plenty of at home exercises you can do. I occasionally do push ups, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, squats combined with regular walking. Aside from walking, I've been slacking off on the other stuff so for sure, I'll be your working out buddy!

To get the abs and arms visible, low carb to shed the fat, body exercises to build definition and throw in a little cardio if you want to.

Remember, start slowly and listen to your body, if something hurts, immediately stop doing it. Best of luck!

It won't be easy but its not impossible. It will take patience, perseverance and time to see results.

[Taka]

if it exists near you, capoeira would be one of the best workouts for your upper body.
no static exercises, but a whole lot of them with your arms holding your entire body weight.

can also be combined with weight lifting.

hiit may be more effective than classical cardio. or at least it trains your heart very good.

low carb on a vegan diet doesn't sound luke the smartest thing ever, but the advice to avoid raffined carbohydrates is still valid. no white sugar or wheat flour.

a smoothie with slow carbs as well as some faster, to get your insuline levels up before workout. helps your muscles grow stronger.

there have been guys who made it work. i'm not one of them. only thing capoeira did back then was make me stronger. because of my diet, of course. no matter how much one works out every day, it's still possible to add weight from a bad diet.

though i remember one of our instructors was a woman with a very manly body shape. she'd definitely taken both training and diet seriously. and capoeira does make the shoulders bigger and back stronger.

the abs are muscles that will only show with less body fat though. and they'll show even if you don't focus any training on that body part.

this one's funny though:
www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cheat-training-18-lazy-ways-to-develop-awesome-abs.html

i'd compete, if not for all those annoying ailments i've suffered lately. not working out till i can at least digest my food properly.

[CloneClubber]

Thanks for all the awesome tips! @echelonhunt thank you for all the at home workout ideas! I am going to work those in for sure! And I would totally be your motivation workout buddy

Taka I like the idea of capoeira. I've heard about it before but don't know a ton of info about it. I LOVE the lazy ways to get abs! I know if I just increase my water alone it would help with the weight loss. And adding hot sauce to things will be easy peasy since I already do that!

[Taka]

capoeira is like break dancing, except that there's martial arts hidden within.
it's also acrobatics, for those who like that sort of thing.
it's playing with friends, developing trust.
singing with friends, developing community.
and it's a way of life, if you get that much into it.
or at the very least, you'll learn to know your own body really well.
going from no arm strength, to standing on one hand. and feeling annoyed that i can't do a macaco.
if you can do that move, you've got abs whether they show through your belly fat or not.

[Deleted]

Mar 13, 2016 5:26:07 GMT 8 CloneClubber said:

I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd post here anyways. I'm currently trying to figure out how to masculanize (is this a word? ) my body. Problem is I'm too afraid to do this at the gym. So, I'm working on doing it at home. I definitely need to fix the way I eat. I'm also vegan. Which I know I can get enough protein doing, I just don't know what kind of workouts to do to get those epic abs and arms that I want so badly. Any help or just commentary would be greatly appreciated

edit: I just read through this post and I find it very helpful...maybe I'm just looking for some people to say "I've been there too, and I finally found that such and such worked." Maybe a workout buddy?

Like you with this...vegan and wanting the upper body muscle and bulk 🙂

[Deleted]

I realise this is an old thread...however thank you for asking the question and allllll the great replies with tips, ideas, advice and support.
I do daily weights as part of my MS workout, and due to MS am on a strict (and successful) vegan diet. So having turned my MS on it’s head I’m ready to get more chest muscle, especially to minimise upper chest which is small already.
Thanks for this post folks