The Best Muscle Building Workouts for Women

Going to a gym can be difficult, especially for those who aren’t comfortable with the way that they look. Luckily, there are many efficient workouts that can help women build muscle mass while not being necessarily dependent on the equipment offered by a gym.

Prepare for the burn

The first step towards any muscle-building workout is to get on a diet. During a workout, the body converts carbs into energy and protein into muscle. Eat healthy and drink protein shakes in order to give your body enough fuel to make it through the workout.

Rice, bread, or fruit are great sources of energy, and eggs, almonds and milk are only a few of the foods that have a very high protein content.
The Workouts

1. Brad Borland’ s “Muscle & Strength’s 30 Day Workout Plan For Women”

This plan is perfect for beginners due to the low intensity of the workout, but it does require that you have access to a bit of equipment.

The plan is requires that you work out for 6 days every week and is aimed at muscle growth throughout the body. It is also important to remember the fact that this whole plan has been built especially for women.

As far as the required equipment goes, you will need a barbell, dumbbells, and a few others, but these can be easily substituted. 

One thing that this workout does not include is a diet plan, but this can be easily created with the help of a trainer or a nutritionist.

2. Stephanie Foley’s “Leg Gauntlet”

One of the most efficient workouts out there that is meant to build leg muscle, this plan requires a bit more equipment and is more suited for those with an intermediate training level.

As opposed to full body workouts, this one can be mixed and matched with almost anything else. With the Leg Gauntlet, you only have to exercise one day per week, but you will need a barbell and a leg press. 

A great thing about this routine is the fact that the writer specifies how the weights should be increased after each set and what to do if you cannot continue a specific exercise for the indicated number of repetitions.

3. Holly Blumenberg’s Back and Shoulder Workout Routine for Women

This is a great workout that you can mix with the previous one previously listed. It has been designed in order to develop a single muscle group, and is suited for beginners. The plan requires only dumbbells, as far as equipment is concerned and you will have to work out for two days every week.

Blumenberg carefully explains how every one of the exercises should be done in order to get results as fast as possible. This back and shoulder routine will require that you push yourself in order to overcome the limits of your own body. 

In essence, it allows you to get the exact results that you want, without making you feel forced to do so.

You can choose to build your out workout plan, but this requires that you pay attention to amount of exercise that you do in order to avoid any accidents. You can do most of these at home and they do not require any kind of special equipment.

This having been said, here are a few exercises designed to develop muscle mass, which you can integrate into your workout:

1. Overhead Squat.

For this exercise you only need a weighted gym bag that you will have to hold over your head while doing squats. Remember to keep your hands straight and to grip the bag at the ends for stability. As far as repetitions go, try to do a minimum of six. If you can do 12 without much effort, then increase the weight. Be careful to always keep your hips parallel to your knee joints in order to avoid injuring yourself.

2. Kettlebell Swing

This one will require holding a wighted water jug with both hands, below your pelvis. While keeping your hands straight, lean down as you would during a squat, after which quickly get back up in standing position and let the thrust of your movement propel the water jug to chest level. Try to do about 20 swings, followed by a 1 minute break, and then do another 20.

3. Jump Squat

This exercise can be done with or without additional weight. In order to do it, start from a straight position (with feet positioned shoulder-width apart), bring your hips back and bend your knees. It should seem that you are trying to sit in an imaginary chair. Once your hip joints are parallel to your knees, push up on your legs and try to jump as high as possible while straightening your body. Once you land, squat back and repeat the exercise. You should try to do between 5 and 12 repetitions in order to see results. If you want an extra challenge, do the exercise while holding a weighted jug in each hand.

Both the workout routines and the exercises are meant to help you quickly increase muscle mass, but it is important to remember the fact that if you don’t eat properly, your body will not have anything to convert to muscle.