Everything you need to know about building muscle mass for women

The muscle gain in women is subject to many preconceived ideas. Less popular than weight loss, gaining muscle can nevertheless tone the body and offer many benefits. However, it is important to follow a strict diet to achieve this, as women store fat more easily than men.

What is mass gain?

Definition

Muscle mass gain refers to a period during which an individual seeks to increase their body weight. This requires a caloric surplus.

For women, the muscle gain can meet a number of objectives. First and foremost, it's an excellent way to tone the figure. Gaining lean muscle mass is ideal for looking more athletic.

Some athletes also use bodybuilding to gain strength or prevent injury. In this way, they can improve their sporting performance in other disciplines such as athletics, basketball, handball or rugby.

Attention, any increase in mass implies gain fat. Once you've reached your target weight, you'll be able to shed those few extra kilos of body fat.

What are the differences between men and women?

The human body has a number of gender-specific characteristics. This is particularly true of hormones.

In general, women have a body fat percentage higher than in men (in the order of 25 to 30 %, versus 12 to 15 %). This is due to the lower presence of androgens.

Androgens are steroid hormones produced in very small quantities by the ovaries and adrenal glands in women.

Testosterone is the main hormone in the androgen family. It plays an active role in muscle building. This is why men find it easier to produce muscle and reduce body fat.

For women, it's vital to take these parameters into account when building muscle mass.

Can women gain weight?

Yes, of course!

Despite a rate of testosterone women can optimize their muscle development. It will just be slower.

As you can see, we're a long way from the myth of the woman who starts working out and becomes a mountain of muscle after just a few weeks. Ladies, rest assured, your physique won't resemble that of a bodybuilder, even if you train 2 hours a day in the weight room. It's physiologically impossible.

Muscle mass gain for women must be done gradually, with a controlled diet. If not, you may experience significant weight gain with a lot of fat.

It is therefore recommended to get help from a professional sports coach who will know how to set up a clean weight gain.

Clean bulking (as opposed to dirty bulking) involves adopting a healthy diet and light exercise. caloric surplus (between 200 and 400 calories). This strategy promotes muscular progress and limits the appearance of fat cells.

This is the choice Clotilde made when she opted for personalized follow-up over several months. Eager to put on weight, she had previously been unable to achieve the desired results.

Together, we set up a sports and dietary support. His food plan is now adapted to his metabolism, which allows him to see his weight on the scale increase in a linear way. After only a few weeks, his physical transformation was already widely visible.

Muscle mass gain for women: how to do it?

The crucial role of diet

Your diet is the key to your muscle gain. Indeed, a slight caloric surplus is essential to develop your muscle mass effectively and sustainably.

To reach your goal, eat healthy, unprocessed foods such as fruits and vegetables. Avoid industrial dishes and foods rich in sugar, otherwise your extra pounds will be mostly composed of fat.

Here are some tips for following quality nutrition.

Let's start with the macronutrients (proteins, fats and carbohydrates). Consume 2 grams of proteins per kilo of body weight. So if you weigh 55 kilos, you'll need to plan on 110 grams of protein, divided between your various meals. Eggs, chicken, turkey, beef or cottage cheese are examples of protein-rich foods.

As far as lipids are concerned, 1 gram per kilo of body weight is sufficient. Choose good fats from fatty fish, avocados, oilseeds or vegetable oils.

The rest of your daily caloric intake will be reserved for carbohydrates.

This distribution of macronutrients is essential to slow down the build-up of adipose tissue.

To gain mass more easily, spread your calorie intake over 4 to 6 meals a day.

Is it necessary to consume food supplements?

It's impossible for me to discuss the dietary aspect of weight gain for women without mentioning food supplements.

These are not miracle products, but they will help you on a daily basis to reach your goal.

Let's look at this in more detail.

Whey protein

If you are having trouble meeting your daily protein intake, you can eat whey protein powder for breakfast or snacks.

Two main types of whey are offered by manufacturers:

• concentrated whey, less expensive and richer in carbohydrates and fats;
• whey isolate, which is purer and more expensive thanks to an advanced filtration process.

In both cases, whey protein will enable you to accelerate your muscle development. It's best to choose a native whey isolate for best results.

BCAAs

Consumed during or after your weight training, the BCAA (branched-chain amino acids) play an important role in muscle building.

BCAAs contain three amino acids that promote anabolism:

• leucine;
• isoleucine;
• valine.

BCAAs are always marked with a series of three numbers (2.1.1 or 8.1.1, for example). They simply correspond to the content of leucine, isoleucine and valine.

To increase your performance, choose leucine rich supplements (BCAA 6.1.1, 8.1.1 or 10.1.1).

Creatine

The creatine is a non-essential amino acid found in certain foods such as meat and fish.

Consumed as a dietary supplement, creatine increases sports performance (strength, endurance and muscle hypertrophy).

A study conducted in the United States in 2000 looked specifically at the effects of creatine on women. Supplemented athletes gained in strength. They also achieved significant fat loss.

Pre-workouts

Pre-workouts and other boosters are consumed before training. They are often composed of caffeine, taurine, arginine, beta-alanine and sometimes creatine.

They aim to provide the energy needed to lift heavier and longer. These supplements also speed up muscle recovery.

By maximizing the quality of your sessions, you're putting all the chances on your side to gain muscle mass. But you don't have to use them to gain weight.

Gainers

A gainer is a dietary supplement rich in protein and carbohydrates.

It can be useful if you're not getting enough calories from your meals. Ideally, opt for homemade gainers to benefit from high-quality nutritional intake.

If your diet is providing you with enough calories and your weight is gradually increasing, then there's no point in taking a gainer.

Weight training

While diet accounts for 70 % of successful muscle mass gain, physical activity should not be neglected.

And to successfully gain a few pounds of muscle, the strength training is your best ally. Plan to do 4 to 5 workouts a week (including 2 for your legs) at the gym to train all your muscle groups. Each workout should last around 60 minutes, including the warm-up.

Your bodybuilding program should be based on multi-joint exercises (the deadlift, squat, bench press, pull-ups or the military bench press).

Isolation movements complete the sessions to achieve a harmonious, balanced silhouette.

To conclude

Women gain muscle mass in much the same way as men. It's simply slower, and needs to be done gradually to avoid excess body fat. This inevitably requires a controlled, high-quality diet.