Female bodybuilding. Muscle growing tips for females

It is no secret that among women bodybuilding and bodybuilding is now as common as among men. Today, sport is firmly entrenched in the lives of women. And sometimes ordinary activities, plus powerful perseverance and a special diet, bring them to a completely new professional level.  This is female body fitness and female bodybuilding. Bodybuilding for girls is, rather, not a craving to equal or measure strength with men. It is a desire for ideal, health and love for an athletic body.

Some women are convinced that in order to create a good figure, you need to devote your whole life to cardio training, constantly starve and achieve the lowest possible weight. Many people think that you need to count calories all the time, you should not miss a single workout. Some people think that you will also need to spend a lot of money on coaching services. These are very common misconceptions. In this article, we will analyze the basics of female bodybuilding, and how to quickly pump up for a girl.

History of a female bodybuilding

The history of female bodybuilding begins in the 1970s when women first began to take part in competitions. The first women's bodybuilding contests started back in the 1960s with competitions such as Miss Physique and Miss Americana. However, these early competitions were actually not much different from ordinary beauty contests. The first women's national bodybuilding championship in the United States, organized by Henry McGee and held in Canton, Ohio in 1978, is considered the first real women's bodybuilding competition, as it was the first where women were judged primarily by muscle.

The competition among women was constantly growing, everything went in the direction of increasing muscle mass to the detriment of aesthetics and the “right” proportions. Girls began to use female bodybuilding steroids, which led to pronounced symptoms of masculinization (rough voice, atrophy of the mammary glands, male facial features).

In 2005, the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) introduced the twenty percent rule. The memorandum indicated that women in the bodybuilding category should reduce their muscularity by twenty percent for medical and aesthetic reasons. "Men's faces" in female bodybuilding attracted fewer viewers and sponsors.

Instead of the classic female bodybuilding, they formed the direction of women’s physique. But the meaning has remained roughly the same. The main criterion is large muscle volumes and relief (“dry” body). As a rule, athletes take non-prescription anabolic steroids - building the body necessary for this category is impossible because of the low production of testosterone and the natural hormonal background in women.

What is the difference between female and male bodybuilding?

Initially, it is quite difficult for women to increase muscle mass, since their blood levels of testosterone are much lower and estrogen predominates. The latter also causes a set of extra pounds. Men rarely suffer from a lack of testosterone, and therefore they should not worry about problems with increased muscle. Women's and men's training programs are strikingly different from each other. The differences are in the form of worked out muscles, the frequency and intensity of exercises. Also, you can not do it without proper nutrition.

Many underestimate the role of estrogen in sports, although the hormone has a positive effect on abdominal fat stores, and also has several more useful properties:

• Estrogen helps in muscle recovery.
• It has anti-catabolic activity and helps to avoid muscle loss.
• It protects ligaments, bones, and tendons from injury.

Since women produce much more estrogen than men, this gives them certain advantages. Women can recover after exercises for fast muscle growth faster.

Nutrition for fast muscle growth in girls

So, to gain muscle mass, a girl needs an excess of calories and a positive nitrogen balance so that the body can synthesize muscle tissue. A girl should gain calories mainly from carbohydrates, but one should not forget about fats! Fatty acids should make up about 20-25% of the total amount of nutrition in women.

The amount of protein should be approximately 1-1.2g per kilogram of its own weight. Eat more often, in small portions, approximately 5-7 times a day/You should eat like this because you need a lot of energy from food. From the diet, it is necessary to exclude sweets, fast food, in general, everything that contains trans fats and a high glycemic index, since an increase in blood sugar reduces the level of growth hormone, and girls also don't have that much.

The differences in training in female and male bodybuilding

The differences between conventional male and female bodybuilding workouts are mainly in the emphasis on the muscles, the frequency and intensity of the exercises. Otherwise, male and female organisms respond equally to training, and muscles are formed using the same methods.

Nevertheless, there are some recommendations for training in women bodybuilding. It is recommended to pay more attention to training the muscles of the hips and buttocks. Do not forget that the muscles of the chest and back need the same target load as the buttocks, biceps or abs. Therefore, choose exercises for the upper body, too.

It is advisable that the duration of the training for girls is not less than 1 hour. Because only it will give the desired effect on burning fat. You can finish the training with a low-intensity cardio load for 30-60 minutes. To preserve muscle, you can take protein or amino acids.

A training program for women who just want to tighten their muscles and stay in overall good shape will be similar for bodybuilders. Bodybuilding - this is the process of creating the perfect figure, just professional bodybuilders do it longer and stronger.