Does a females muscle building routine need to differ from a mans

[2tone]

I've been going to the gym now for 2 months. I am trying to build some serious lean muscle. When I go to the gym I observe what the guys do on the machines and with the free weights. There are not really any muscular women to observe or learn from, so I usually try to follow what the men are doing but with less weight. My results have been less than I have hoped as I haven't really noticed much improvement from when I started. I'm sure I must be doing something wrong but not sure what.

Please tell me if women need to do anything different from men if they too want to get really muscular?? I only last week went to GNC and purchased some Isolated Whey Powder. I eat 3 times a day plus 2 snacks. I really want to give Creatine a try because I hear some of the guys saying that it does work but I don't know if I should....any advice on that would be grateful too??

 

[Sassy69]

A woman's training routine does not need to be any different than a man's. Don't forget that your diet may need to be different though because women will tend to hold more fat than men (thanks to that wonderful thing called estrogen). The amount of cardio you choose to do may be something that would differ from a man's training regimen.

What do you mean by "really muscular"? Don't forget that for a woman to achieve similar muscle mass to a man either requires several years of heavy training , dedication , correct diet and often the "right" genes. This is thanks to that little thing called testosterone.

With regard to creatine, generally it just makes yoru muscles hold more water. You can do more research on creatine online as well. Its not that big a deal. The bigger deal to achieve muscle & leanness is diet & training in that order.

Can you post your current diet, training schedule, your current stats & your goals? Then we can give you some more specific information.

 

[2tone]

Current Diet:

Breakfast = Total cereal, Non-fat Milk
Snack = Protien Bar 30gms Protien/18 Carbs/8 Fat
Lunch = Lunch Meat or Tuna Sandwich, Fresh Fruit, Non-fat Milk
Snack = Whey Protien Shake with Non-fat Milk
Dinner = Beef Steak or Salmon Steak (broiled only), 1 or 2 pieces of bread dry, green salad

Also I include extra vitamins (c, zinc, silica, omega 3 fish oil, vitamin E, calcium supplement) Always, I feel like I'm starving. I'm constantly hungry and craving more food than what I have listed and many times go to bed hungry because I'm afraid to eat after 7:00pm because I don't want to aquire a weight problem while here I am trying to tone and muscle up :-(

Training Schedule:

Gym 3 x per week Mon, Weds, Fri (2 sets/10 Reps of each body part)

Monday = Chest, Arms, Abs
Wednes = Legs, Calfs, Glutes, Abs
Friday = Shoulders, Back, Abs

Stats:

Body Frame = Small
Height = 5'4"
Weight = 130
Body Fat = 24% :-(

Goal:

Very Strong and Muscular Body
Washboard Abs (want a six pack)
8% Body Fat
Able to BP around 150 (currently benching 1/2 that amount)

 

[Daisy_Girl]

If you are always hungry/starving then that is the first problem. you are NOT getting enough food. Without enough food, you will never get the results you want. If your body is not getting the necessary nutrients from food, it is catabolize ("eat") your lean muscle mass to fuel itself. Your body will always outsmart you. Make sure you ALWAYS eat every 3 hours or so. And make sure you get healthy fats in there too.

You have to eat to get results. Your goals, while great goals, are a little broad. Most women do NOT maintain below two digit bodt fat percentages. 8% is contest weight for many women, and that is something they do not maintain for more than a couple weeks (if that). Something like 10-14% is more reasonable and easier to maintain.

If is nearly impossible to get very low body fat percentages while gaining muscle. You have to diet two separate ways for these goals. To gain muscle, you need more food, to lose body fat, you need less. You can do the 2 simultaneously, but the results will be very slow and a long process. Not that that is bad, just know that to achieve the results you desire, you are looking at YEARS of hard work and clean eating - not months or weeks.

You diet definately could use some cleaning up (who's couldn't? ). The cereal is a lot of carbs, and very processed. Same with the bar. Eating "clean" for results and eating "healthy" are very different.

Try something like this: (these are just my thoughts)

Meal 1: Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat, 4-6 Egg Whites, 1 Whole Egg
Meal 2: Shake, almonds
Meal 3: Lean Meat, small potato or 1/2-1 cup brown rice
Meal 4: Shake if post-workout. If not post workout, Lean Meat and green veggie
Meal 5: Lean Meat and green veggie
Meal 6: (late evening, bedtime) Shake, 1 tbsp Flax Oil

Don't worry about gaining fat if you eat after 7pm. If the food is clean and you are suffiently active, your body will chew right throug the food anyway. You just have to make smart choices about later-night fare though. A protein shake or lean meat is good. Some people eat cottage cheese before bed too.

Think about how long you are sleeping - your body is going hours and hours without nutrients. How is it going to fuel all the things it does while you sleep? Catabolizing muscle tissue. Not to mention that while you are resting is when your real gains come. Muscle doesn't grow in the gym, it grows while you rest.

Why do you drink so much milk? Not that milk is necesarilly BAD, it's just that milk adds extra calories. I make my shakes with water and take a Calcium supplement. Like I said, eating to get results isn't necessarily balanced. Make sure you have healthy fats in your diet. Don't be afraid of fat - good fats. Fat is necessary in your diet. Fat sources such as almonds, flax oil, olive oil - good sources. Almonds are good to snack on and the oils can easily be added to a shake.

Hope this helps a little. Let us know if we can help anymore!

 

[Sassy69]

What D_G said -

Unless you are looking to compete you don't need to pursue an 8% bodyfat. 24% is "normal" for most women. I wouldnt' even go further below than 12% bodyfat (probably more realistic 12-15%) for a "maintenance" bodyfat. Of course you will find some women who can maintain 12 % bf but that's an individual thing. Without getting hung up on actual % of bodyfat as long term goals, definitely keep track in the mirror as well. You can be very solid and lean looking at 15% without problems. But that's a personal thing and specific to what your body is comfortable maintaining at.

The "6-pack abs" is primarily a diet thing and I would venture it is also a body-specific thing. Some people can have a 6-pack at higher bodyfat, some people have to be in the last week of contest prep to get the washboard to pop out.

As D_G said, if you are hungry, obviously your body isn't getting enough fuel, especially if you want to train hard. If you broke down the calories in the diet you listed, you might find yourself low on fats and I'm not sure where in carbs, possibly low in protein. The non-fat stuff usually has more sugar in it to make it taste like something besides spackle. You will generally find most people pursuing a "clean diet" have pulled out most, if not all dairy. The cereal is best replaced w/ oats. It's just a better, cleaner source of carbs. For breakfast protein, egg whites with a yolk or two are good. I've also mixed some good quality protein mix into the oatmeal. I would also lose the bread on the sandwich & at dinner. For the food you eat, there are better sources of carbs. Consider sweet potatoe, brown rice. The fruit is not bad, but if you are looking to seriously target your diet to the best options, fruit is essentially sugar. You can get many of the vitamins from fruit in vegetables. Add more vegetables to your diet. You can probably do better by tossing the protein bar & replacing it with another small meal w/ protein. Generally put the carbs in meals earlier in your day instead of later and add in some flax oil as a good fat source. You can mix this in w/ your protein shake or oatmeal in the morning. I also use it as a vinegar & oil topping on salad.

Training-wise, I'm not sure if you need to do abs 3x/week. It's a muscle group just like any other muscle group, which you will notice you are only working 1x/week. Situps will not get you a washboard stomach - diet does that - because you can't "spot reduce". And if you have been doing the same training routine for more than 2 months, switch it up alittle so your body doesn't get comfortable with your current routine. You could split up chest & triceps on one day, back & biceps on another. Or change the exercises you do on the different body part days. To give a larger scale break, try taking a week off training & do some serious cardio.

Do you do any cardio in there? Throw in some cardio 3x/week after your training or before breakfast (to split it up from your training) to enhance the fat burning process.