Female Bodybuilding

Your goal is probably to lose weight and gain muscle tone. Female bodybuilding is about aiming for the latter and achieving the former as part of the process. The key is that your metabolism (the base rate at which your body burns calories) is directly correlated with your muscle mass.

One pound of muscle is very different from a pound of fat in that it's like an idling engine even if you're sprawled on the bed, the muscle actively burns energy 24/7. As a bonus, weight training, the foundation of bodybuilding, is especially beneficial to women for avoiding age-related problems like osteoporosis later in life. This brings us to the reason many women still hesitate to embrace weight training.

The Myth of Female Bodybuilding

Many women are wary of the competitive-level female bodybuilders look and use that as a reason to avoid heavy weights, but the truth is there's very little to worry about. Unless there are substantial amounts of illegal drugs involved, nature simply hasn't wired women to become hulks of rippling muscles.

Think of it this way: Men are genetically designed to have a lot higher levels of muscle building hormones, yet they have to work their tails off to add even an inch or two to their biceps. If it were that easy to become an oversized freak, we'd live in a world where every teenager looked like Arnold. That's not the case, and you won't risk waking up tomorrow three sizes larger than you intended. It's truly a case of having everything to win and nothing to lose.

Weight Training vs. Cardio

As a bodybuilder, weight training is always more important than cardio. That doesn't mean NO cardio; just that you plan your cardio around your weight training rather than the other way around.

For example, a female bodybuilding regime could be:

• Monday: Weight training (upper body)
• Tuesday: Weight training (lower body)
• Wednesday: Cardio (60 minutes spinning)
• Thursday: Weight training (upper body)
• Friday: Weight training (lower body)
• Weekend: Rest plus five-mile countryside hike or similar low-intensity activity

This workout schedule works well for a beginner or intermediate trainer. You learn to hit your muscles with experience, and the first year you simply haven't quite figured out how to wring the last drop out of each muscle group yet. This mean they won't get as sore, and you can train them against fairly soon. As you get more experienced, however, you will probably need a whole week to allow for a full recovery.

Example of a weekly workout schedule for intermediate to advanced bodybuilders:

• Monday: Weight training (arms, chest, abs)
• Tuesday: Cardio (60 minutes spinning)
• Wednesday: Weight training (back, shoulders, abs)
• Thursday: Cardio (60 minutes elliptical trainer)
• Friday: Weight training (legs, abs)
• Weekend: Rest

Important Factors for Success

Sleep

Most of your recovery and progress takes place while you're curled up in bed. Aim for the traditional eight hours per night to maximize the benefit of your hard work. Any less and you're short-changing yourself. Why miss the easiest part of the equation?

Diet

It doesn't have to be that difficult, really. Aim for a basic, healthy diet and increase the protein intake to about 0.7 to 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. For a 140 lb woman, that'd mean 100 to 140 grams per day -- a goal easily reached by adding a protein drink or a couple skinless chicken breasts at lunch.

Water

Dehydration is a big obstacle to progress in general and female bodybuilding in particular. 24 oz/day of pure water -- not soda, coffee or the like -- is the bare minimum, but double that to be on the safe side (or even more if you live in a hot climate).

Supplements

Health food and gym stores can have a dizzying array of products, all promising miracles. For our purposes, the only mandatory supplement is a good multivitamin/mineral, preferably in capsule format as hard-pressed tablets can be hard to digest. Another good supplement is a pure protein powder, in other words no carbohydrates (unless you're naturally skinny, in which case you should go for a "gainer" product with protein and carbs).

Safety

Obvious as it may seem, avoiding injuries is actually a big issue for long-term female bodybuilding success. If you pull a muscle or injure a knee or elbow, you could be out of the loop for weeks or even months. So instead of making slow but steady progress, you're giving back some of your hard-earned gains. Bottom line: If you're not sure you're doing something right, ask a professional trainer.

Mental Attitude

Finally, a small but important part of the equation lies in your own head. If you can visualize success and set small, realistic goals for yourself on the path to a bigger, distant goal, odds are infinitely better that you'll stick to the program when work gets intense or your friends break out the gourmet chocolate.