Female bodybuilding is something unique and different. Similar to male bodybuilding, it is a show of muscle, indicating dedication and hard work. However, there is no doubt that it is much sexier. Massive biceps in glittery or jeweled bikinis – female bodybuilding is glamorous, sexy, and muscular.
However, similar to male bodybuilding, it involves extremely hard work, dedication, and lots of patience. It involves 5 am cardio, extreme dieting, meal prepping, counting macros and calories, long, hard, and very intense strength training sessions as well as hands peeling from sunburn. Also, remember – we’re talking about women doing all of it. That sounds incredible. That’s why female bodybuilding is incredible and to a point – they are even more incredible than male bodybuilding.
So, if you’re a woman and have aspirations of stepping on stage in a bikini, or you’re looking to hit the weight for personal gains, without getting competitive – you must know that the world of female bodybuilding is no joke. Whether you plan to join professional bodybuilders, or you simply want to enhance your physique and/or performance for personal purposes, then this female bodybuilding guide is perfect for you.
What is Female Bodybuilding?
As everyone knows, bodybuilding is a professional sport that requires a lot of dedication and training as in any other sporting activity. Regardless if we talk about women or men. Female bodybuilding is the same as male bodybuilding. Those are professional female athletes who have an extremely strict and specific lifestyle that includes a detailed training schedule and a specific diet to provide precise nutrition to achieve muscle growth and fat loss results. They focus on hypertrophy training, aiming to strengthen, sculpt, and develop their muscles.
Nevertheless, bodybuilding is not only about professional sports. Bodybuilding actually means a regimen of exercise and nutrition that is designed to enhance the body’s muscular development, promoting general health and fitness. This doesn’t mean that it has to be competitive as in professional bodybuilding when you step on stage, displaying pronounced muscle mass, symmetry, and definition for overall aesthetic effect. Bodybuilding could be for personal purposes, not only competitive, as many people tend to think of it. So, there are both male and female bodybuilders looking to work out, diet, and train just to look and feel strong.
But yes, the purpose of diet and training for many can be to compete at actual bodybuilding competitions where you are judged in different categories based on physique and muscular development. Which one you go for is up to you. Yet, it is important to remember that participating in a sport where you are judged on your appearance can be very intense when you plan to win.
Therefore, as a female bodybuilder, you need to train your mind in addition to your body if you prepare to compete. It can be beneficial for those who struggled with body image in the past, as participating in female bodybuilding competitions can help.
Non professional female bodybuilding
Even if you do not plan to compete, keep in mind that the biggest trophy or prize in terms of female bodybuilding is gaining to your health, performance, and aesthetic. That’s why there’s no need to plan to step on a stage, be judged, or show off to start female bodybuilding. Competition can be a great goal to work towards, but you may find the motivation for female bodybuilding without competing. The point is – you will absolutely get a much better version of yourself with bodybuilding workouts and lifestyle programs. That’s why female bodybuilding is perfect for any woman, even without the intention of competing. Improving your physique and performance will lead to physical benefits, but it also leads to mental benefits.
Female Bodybuilding Workout Plan
When you’re going for a female bodybuilding regime, you are aiming for the best ways to make gains and build muscle. As you can expect, it involves a lot of strength training and correct dieting. Women bodybuilders (similar to men), will spend hours in the gym, working on their muscle definition from all angles over a period of years and years.
But even if we focus on a mild training regimen for bodybuilding, that’s still no joke. It usually involves working out two times a day, with about one hour of lifting heavy weights, and about 30 minutes to 2 hours of cardio. A female bodybuilding training regime is similar to those of men in terms of structuring their workouts by body part. This is known as “split”. This way, you can get the most results out of the strength training plan. An example of a 5 day training split will look like this:
- Monday: Legs
- Tuesday: Back
- Wednesday: Shoulders
- Thursday: Chest
- Friday: Arms
- Saturday and Sunday: Rest
But remember that female bodybuilding can be very different depending on goal, body type, response, ability, and other factors. Some may train across six days, while others are training three or four times a week. You may alternate two days of upper body and two days of lower body. Alternatively, you could have your week schedules like: pull, push, legs, pull, push, legs, and rest if you work six times a week. There are numerous other splits you could try.
Start Bodybuilding For Females
Regardless if you’re working out at home or in the gym, you need to start all your workout sessions with a light warm-up. You could have light cardio sessions, or do 3-5 different light exercises for the designated body part you plan to work out. Then, you have a number of exercises per workout session which depends on various factors. It could be anywhere between 3 to 10 exercises. Usually, you aim for three to four sets of six to twelve reps each. It is extremely important to go for a weight that feels challenging – doesn’t feel too light, but allows you to perform all reps with good form. Keep in mind that proper form and good technique are essential for muscle growth.
Most commonly you start your workout sessions with compound exercises – those that use multiple joints such as squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. Then you finish your workout with isolation exercises that use only one muscle – such as bicep curls or leg extensions. Compound movements are perfect because they allow you to lift bigger weights and use multiple muscles. But isolation exercises are just as important to really feel the burn as they focus on a single muscle, increasing muscle fiber tears, leading to hypertrophy – the goal of bodybuilding. As a beginner in female bodybuilding, you need to go for basic exercises that you need to execute with proper form. It will help you enhance your physique, and your form, ramp up the weights, and reduce the risk of injury.
Don’t forget about cardio. Cardio is essential for fat burning which will reveal all that hard work in terms of muscle growth. You should have at least 20 minutes of cardio 3 times a week. But if you’re already pretty fit, you could increase the amount of cardio time and/or sessions.
Female bodybuilding weight vs reps
We all have our limits which are calculated as one repetition maximum (1RM or one-rep max). This is the maximum amount of weight that a person can possibly lift for one repetition. When you are aiming to do 6 to 12 reps for each exercise, you will need to focus on 60-70% of your 1RM. Lifting fewer reps closer to 100% of your 1RM is more efficient to gain strength. Lifting more reps in lower than 50% of your 1RM is more efficient to gain endurance. However, female bodybuilding is focusing on hypertrophy (increase in muscle size). That’s why you need the correct weight and the correct amount of reps (and sets) for each exercise.
Not only that, but the tempo of your training is crucial too. You will need to be in total control of the weight, meaning that you lift slowly and keep consistent motions through the full extension. Such a type of lifting will ensure you cause muscle fatigue, creating micro-tears in muscle fibers. It ensures you work your targeted muscle, really feeling the burn. While “burning muscle”, “muscle fatigue” and “micro tears in muscle” all sound like a bad thing, this is exactly what you’re aiming for. You aim to create micro tears when lifting, so your body can repair them during rest periods, as the muscles will grow back thicker, resulting in hypertrophy.
- There are also various other ways that can help achieve hypertrophy via micro tears. Supersets, slow reps, no rest, half reps, and pyramids are just some examples of things that can help you grow muscle.
Nutrition in Female Bodybuilding
In bodybuilding, exercising is just one side of the coin. Diet is the other side, which is just as important. In fact, without dieting, you won’t achieve much (if any) results in the gym. Nutrition is vital to support your goals and muscle gains. Correct nutrition helps your muscle recover and grow bigger post-workout, and allows you to correctly workout in the gym, in the first place. That’s why a lot of women in bodybuilding will follow a macro counting diet. It means that you need to find your daily calorie needs, then decide whether you maintain, bulk, or cut, and then split calories into three key macronutrients: quality proteins, healthy fats, and complex carbs.
To build new muscle, you will need protein, healthy fats to keep you satisfied and fuller for longer, and complex carbs to fuel your workouts. All work in combination and each is extremely important to support your goals and to help keep you healthy, with a lot of numerous other functions (than just those I mentioned here).
Overall, keep in mind that this is just a very short and brief introduction to the female bodybuilding diet. There’s just so much more to know about how bodybuilders run bulking cycles and cutting cycles when they are preparing for competitions, or simply want to improve their physique and performance. You can read much more about it on our site. While they are primarily male focused, they are pretty much the same for women too.
Are You Looking For An Actual Female Bodybuilding Competition?
Then you really should check into the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB), National Physique Committee (NPC), World Natural Bodybuilding Federation (WNBF) and others as well. These are bodybuilding organizations with female bodybuilding competitions (among others). You should know, however, that they are all a bit different. That’s why it is important to do a bit of research on what competition and genre of female bodybuilding is best for you. Almost all competitions require you to wear a swimsuit and pose in front of the judging panel to be evaluated and scored according to various criteria. There are five common female bodybuilding categories. Check them below:
- Bikini – most popular category. It focuses on a balanced physique with a moderate amount of muscle.
- Figure – a step up from the bikini category. It focuses on muscular balance and symmetry, usually with larger muscle mass.
- Women’s physique – an even more of a step up with even more focus on muscle. It judges the athletic appearance.
- Bodybuilding – this is the most muscular category in women’s bodybuilding. It focuses on serious muscle building. We’re talking about beefy females full of muscles.
- Fitness – it is a category that also judges you on your physique and muscular appearance, however, it also includes a fitness routine adding elements of dance, gymnastics, and strength moves.
How to Start Female Bodybuilding?
So, you may be full of motivation and ready to jump in. But you may wonder “How to start female bodybuilding?”. Check below some of the top tips that will help you get started:
Hire a coach
That’s very important because they will guide you through a good training program. That includes the number of workout sessions per week, exercises, how to combine them, proper form and good technique, the correct amount of weights, sets, and reps, and so on. They will also help with the right nutrition plan. Do some research and go for actual trainers, not those who just look impressive on Instagram.
Keep track of everything
Start logging your training so that you can strategically increase your weights. Keep track of food so that you can watch your macros and calories. While a trainer can log your training progress, you should keep track of resting time, diet, and so on. There are great fitness apps available that can help you.
Use machines
Again, a trainer will help with this, but you can start the world of female bodybuilding with strength training machines. They are less likely to allow you to go without a correct form throughout the exercise. This ensures you increase muscle and reduces the risk of injury.
Be patient with yourself and the journey
Keep in mind that bodybuilding is a very structured, organized, and progressive process. At the same time, we’re all different, meaning that we need a plan tailored particularly for you and your goals. This will keep you safe, allowing you to be effective and efficient in your gains. Also, remember that gains take quite a lot of time, effort, and consistency!
Give yourself enough time
That’s especially true if you plan to compete. If you’re a beginner, not even a very intense 12-week program may not be enough to prepare for competition. You need to train hard, and diet consistently and regularly for a good while in order to step on stage.
Keep pushing the limits
Similar to any program, the body will adapt. That’s why you need a progressive overload that will keep on pushing the limits in order for you to continue seeing gains. You will need to test yourself with various weights, reps, intensity, and rest periods to ensure the gains keep on coming.
Speed Up Your Results
Female bodybuilding is nothing easy and it is very slow. Nonetheless, you can speed it up and make it easier with the right compounds. At HGH.to you can find everything you need as we offer the best quality products that can support your goals, be it competitive female bodybuilding or just for personal purposes. We work with the best manufacturers, ensuring the best quality. Additionally, you can save a lot of money, as we provide the best prices for each compound.
We have anabolic steroids for women, HGH for women, and numerous other fat-burning and weight-loss compounds that can support your needs. If you are looking for an intense challenge and strength workout program, then our bulking or cutting compounds will definitely support your goals. At HGH.to you can get compounds that will help you maximize your gains safely and efficiently.
