I’ve been getting asked this question a lot lately. Women approach me at the gym either while I’m working out or with clients express frustration: “I’ve been working out and lifting weights but I’m not getting any muscles: How can I build muscle?”
“I’ve been working out and lifting weights but my muscles aren’t getting bigger.”
There are a lot of questions I ask in order to flesh out the full picture of their workouts and nutrition. For starters: what types of workouts are you doing, what are you eating and what are your goals?
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The content in this blog is specific to the women who have been hitting the gym hard and aren’t seeing the results they desire: it is intended for women who have basic understanding of the principles of weight lifting.
The fitness world is inundated with the perfect fix for this, and the quick solution to that, there are countless articles telling you the solution to staying fit is spending an hour a day on the treadmill while other schools of thought preach the opposite. As a result, many woman are left feeling overwhelmed with choices and confused about what steps to take to achieve their specific goals.
In an attempt to help woman get on the path to building stronger bodies and growing muscles, I’ve put together the FIRST FIVE TIPS to consider when your goal is getting #superfuckingjacked and steps to take TODAY to get started.
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- Step away from the cardio. Steady-state, low intensity, long duration cardio, more or less breaks, down muscle. A few ways I work around this with my endurance athletes, whose passion is long duration forms of cardio is that I encourage them to space their cardio and lifting sessions 4 hours apart. After exercise, your glycogen stores are low if not depleted, and if and when you continue to do long duration cardio, the body breaks down what it readily available for energy – protein. Also, cardio releases cortisol without releasing much testosterone, which if performed prior to weightlifting,is detrimental to the building of muscle. When weightlifting, cortisol and testosterone levels elevate which do 2 things: give you energy to complete the workouts and 2, assists with the production of muscle.
- Going back to my endurance athletes, I also make sure their nutrition in-between training sessions supports the exercise volume – so within that 4 hour period between workouts, they are consuming at least 30-50 grams of protein and upwards of 100 grams of carbs, for example. But if you aren’t a competitive endurance athlete and you just like spinning your legs for an hour and then wonder “Where’s my muscle” my answer to you is STEP OFF THE BIKE.
- after establishing foundation of strength, move towards a strength based lifting program utilizing compound movements, full body workouts, 3 x week.
- Change up your rep scheme. This goes hand and hand with #1. Drop the reps, increase the weight. If you’ve done 3-4 weeks at the 60% weight with 15 reps scheme, spend the next 4 weeks at the 10-12 rep scheme with 70% weight, then 4 weeks at 8 reps with 80%, then a solid 4-7 week program at the 3-5 rep range with 80%+. Then repeat. The point is this: the woman whom I’ve spoken with all day they’ve been doing 3×12, this and that, here and there, but they aren’t following a progressive overload program. It’s not rocket science to overload the body, progressively, safely, but there is SOME science to it. The body needs to continually be challenged in order to adapt to the imposed demand and build muscle. If all of this sounds super confusing to you and you aren’t sure how to put together a program that gets you to your goals, I suggest working with a coach.
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- Eat more. Contrary to popular belief, you need to eat more to get bigger and build muscle. Increase your daily intake of lean proteins and complex carbs. Add a serving of lean protein to every meal and make sure you are eating plenty of complex carbs such as sweet potatoes, whole gains, etc. Generally speaking, to gain weight and muscle, your body needs an excess of calories, so, adding a morning protein shake with greens, fruit, and some rolled oats may be a good option for you. Overall, you need an increase in calories distributed into your protein and carbohydrate percentages.
- Accept your body for what it is and where you’re at. I’m going to say it again.
- Your body is perfect just the way it is. It is designed WITHOUT FLAW. Flawless. It is designed to efficiently move you through life. Weightlifting and building muscle is so fucking fun: putting a weightlifting plan into action and watching the body take form – witnessing the fruits of your labor, is like nothing else. But it is NOT about changing the way we look so we can change the way we feel. It’s usually the reverse: change the way you feel about the way you look, and you’ll look at yourself honestly, and with love and affection. Because we are all fucking perfect humans and our bodies are glorious. If you want to spend time adding some muscle to your body’s framework – go for it and know that yes, the journey of getting #superfuckingjacked takes time and requires your commitment, but the pay off is priceless.
We teach young girls to shrink themselves. To have ambition, but not too much, to be successful, but not too much. If your goal is getting #superfuckingjacked and leaning away from the idea of shrinking ourselves in order to stay desirable, I’ll see YOU in the weight room.
