By Dr. TRACY MOUNTFORD, MBBS MBCAM
Building lean muscle has a range of benefits for a woman’s overall health and wellbeing. When a woman builds up muscle mass and improves her muscle tone, it not only makes her body look leaner and feel stronger. It can also speed up her metabolism while maximising her body’s ability to burn through calories. Muscle-strengthening also reduces a woman’s risk of developing long-term health conditions like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Perhaps this explains why more women than ever are embracing the benefits of strength training and giving men a run for their money in the weight rooms.
In this article, we explore the trend in detail, while offering our best tips on how women can build up their muscles in a strategic and results-driven way.
Top muscle building tips for women
Most experts agree that building muscle for women is not an easy overnight fix. It is often considered as a long-term project involving ample dedication and hard-work – from weekly full-body weight train workouts to muscle building diets and supplements. In this article, we walk through these approaches to show how effective they are at helping women to build up their muscle mass. We also introduce new muscle-building technologies like EMSculpt that have started to transform the name of the women’s muscle-building game for good. First up, we explore tried-and-tested classic approaches before delving into the benefits of breakthrough technologies.
How to build muscle for women
Building muscle mass for women involves taking a methodical and strategic approach to diet and exercise regimes. Most personal trainers would recommend adopting a minimum of 3 muscle building workouts per week to achieve noticeable gains over time. These should also be combined with a healthy eating programme that incorporates optimal nutrition levels to stimulate muscle mass growth. Seeking the assistance of professional dieticians and personal training experts will enable you to create a personalised plan that suits your own bodybuilding goals. But the following guidance is a useful starting point:
Women’s training plan for muscle building:
Regular strength training is key for women who want to tone up their muscles while giving them a stronger definition. Adopting three 20–30-minute strength training sessions per week, with rest days in between is ideal for most women. During these weekly workouts, aim to target all of the muscle groups you want to enhance at least twice.
However, the way that you train is paramount to making an impact. Choose strategic exercises that contract different muscle groups. This enables your muscles to recover and build back stronger muscles. Choose dumbbells or kettlebells that are challenging but not too heavy to lift. Speak to a personal trainer to determine how many exact reps and sets you need to complete to strengthen your muscle groups adequately each session. It is also a good idea to spread out each strength training session over the course of the week to give your muscles enough time to recuperate and rebuild afterwards. This is a critical process that will help your muscles to build back bigger and stronger over time.
Muscle building diet plan for women:
A healthy, balanced diet is vital to aid muscle building for women. Choose food groups that give you the right nutrients you need to stimulate muscle growth successfully. Proteins are rich in amino acids, the fundamental building blocks needed for muscle growth. Lean meats, poultry, eggs and dairy products are great protein-rich food sources, as well as beans and lentils for example.
But don’t neglect carbohydrates. Complex carbs supply you with the energy you need to successfully complete rigorous muscle building workouts without cutting corners. Women’s supplements for building muscle, like protein powders or shakes can also play their part. But seek help from a qualified sports nutritionist or dietician first to determine the right nutrient and calorie goals for your own personal body sculpting goals. Every person is different in terms of their muscle toning goals. So gaining expert help will guide you in the right direction.
How long does it take to build muscle in women?
Once you have adopted an approved muscle growth eating and exercise plan, it will take time to build up your muscles. So don’t expect lightning-fast results. If a woman follows this outlined plan, then they can expect to gain 2-4 pounds of muscle mass in the first 2 months of training. Building muscle fast often depends on your ability to stay focused towards the end goal without deviating from tried-and-tested methods.
However, in the last few decades, body contouring technologies have changed the muscle-building landscape by giving female bodybuilders the option to fast-track their gains. Innovations in aesthetic medicine have led to the creation of electromagnetic muscle contracting solutions like EMSculpt that speed up the rate of muscle toning. These breakthrough technologies have given women a newfound power to flex their muscles at a much faster rate than any traditional exercise programme or gym workout.
How can women build muscle fast with EMSculpt?
EMSculpt is the world’s leading body sculpting technology. It is scientifically proven to be one of the most efficient ways that females can build up their muscle tone. As a non-surgical and non-invasive treatment, it helps females to increase their muscle mass while burning through body fat without any surgery or downtime. It does this by utilising high-intensity electromagnetic energy (HIFEM) to induce thousands of supramaximal muscle contractions.
Women’s muscle-building with EMSculpt
EMSculpt treatments last 30 minutes and involve placing specialised applicators on the targeted muscle groups. A unique electromagnetic field then penetrates your skin to contract these muscles at a rapid rate. Just one EMSculpt treatment session is equivalent to doing 20,000 sit-ups, manual crunches or squats. This makes it one of the most efficient methods that women can use to build lean muscle mass fast.
As an FDA-approved treatment, it has been proven to work across a range of difficult-to-treat areas:
- Abdomen – tighten up and redefine your six-pack
- Buttocks – sculpt and tone your gluteal muscles
- Arms – increase the size of your biceps and triceps while minimising bingo wings
- Legs – firm up your thighs and reduce the appearance of saddlebags
- Calves – add bulk and definition to your calf muscles
The results
On average, one single EMSculpt session can generate a 16% increase in muscle mass, seen 2-4 weeks after the treatment. Patients will also gain a 19% average reduction in fat across the targeted treatment area. The induced muscle contractions force muscle tissues to remodel and readapt in the process. This helps women to not only visibly improve muscle definition around key areas like the abs, legs and arms, but also sculpt and minimise their fat stores.
Maximising muscle gains with EMSculpt Neo
EMSculpt’s technology has also been improved recently thanks to the invention of EMSculpt Neo. This newly upgraded electromagnetic technology builds upon EMSculpt’s already impressive results. By blending pre-existing electromagnetic technologies with radiofrequency (RF) stimulation, EMSculpt Neo now offers women best-ever muscle strength and fat loss gains in the quickest amount of time.
On average, treated patients gain a 25% average increase in muscle mass and a 35% reduction in fat after 4 30-minute sessions. As a fully approved, clinically tested treatment, this makes EMSculpt Neo the best muscle-building technology available on the market today to tone up muscle mass in the fastest amount of time.
Best ways for women to build muscle
When reflecting on these approaches, it is clear to see that building muscle mass for a woman takes a lot of effort and dedication. However, the most effective approach to increasing muscle mass relies on combining traditional methods like diet and exercise with technologies like EMSculpt that are proven to accelerate your gains. Follow this simple 3-step approach to achieve the best possible muscle growth results over the long-term:
- Regularly Weightlifting Exercise: carry out 3 20–30-minute weight training sessions per week, with rest days in between. Target focus muscle groups at least 2 times throughout your weekly workouts.
- Muscle Building Diets: eat a nutritionally balanced diet that is rich in proteins and carbohydrates.
- Body Sculpting with EMSculpt: utilise non-surgical body sculpting technology to maximise your muscle-building gains across targeted muscle groups.
EMSculpt at The Cosmetic Skin Clinic
Our award-winning clinic was one of the first clinics in the UK to offer EMSculpt body-sculpting treatments. Dr Tracy Mountford, our clinic’s founder, is a key opinion leader for EMSculpt and is an officially recognised ambassador for the newly launched EMSculpt Neo product. We also have a 5-star Trustpilot rating, with an unrivalled reputation for delivering natural-looking results.
So if you are already adopting a healthy muscle strengthening routine but want to maximise your gains in a natural way, then contact our expert team today for more information on our EMSculpt muscle toning treatments. Contact us to book a consultation with one of our expert clinicians using our online contact form. You can find us in London and Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire.
