Building muscle for women has gotten the stigma that it’s only for women who want to bulk up and get big muscles.

This is the content of a post I wrote a while back in response to an inquiry from several females on fitness issues. The subject matter is meant to explain how muscle works and its role in burning body fat, and it is helpful and informative for both sexes…

One of the most common reasons that women shy away from lifting weights, especially heavy lifting, is that they think they will end up looking too masculine. This misconception is generated from numerous sources, including years of misinformation from so-called experts.

For so long, when it comes to building muscle for women, trainers and experts have been telling women to concentrate on a high volume of reps with low weight. The idea is that this will create a cardiovascular effect that gets your heart rate pumping without putting too much stress on your muscles, essentially using weights to do cardio. The thought is that this helps avoid building the muscle mass that women and their trainers tend to fear.

But because of the differences in testosterone, metabolism, and body composition, it is simply not effective to shy away from building muscle, especially when we’re talking about how to burn body fat.

Men have anywhere from 10 to 15 times as much testosterone as women, and it still takes a very focused effort for men to put on muscle mass. So bulky muscles are very difficult to achieve for women, and pretty much impossible if you’re not focused on that specific goal.

Other Concerns
When it comes to building muscle for women, I know that some have experienced an effect from lifting weights that feels like you’re getting bigger without getting the definition or “toned” look that you’re going for.

This is a common trap that comes from low intensity weight training. And it eventually scares some away from weight training altogether. We don’t want that, so let’s talk about what is happening and how to avoid it.

Myofibrillar and Sarcoplasmic Hypertrophy
Hypertrophy simply means to increase in size, usually referring to an organ or skeletal tissue, like muscle. And the increase in size is due to an increase in the size of the cells, as opposed to an increase in size through cell division.

For hypertrophy to occur in the muscle for women, the muscle must be directly stimulated. And it matters how that muscle gets stimulated, because it will make the difference between sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar hypertrophy.

Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy occurs when the sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cell increases rather than the contractile protein. Myofibrillar Hypertrophy occurs when there is an increase in myofibrils, which are fibers that increase the contractile strength of the muscle.

In layman’s terms, sarcoplasmic hypertrophy increases muscle size by decreasing its density. Basically like filling it up with water and increasing the space between muscle fibers.

Myofibrillar hypertrophy increases the number of myofibrils in each muscle fiber, and this is what makes you stronger. Kind of like adding more ropes to help lift an object when one won’t work by itself.

How To Avoid It
In reality, building muscle for women (and men) will result in some combination of sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar hypertrophy. You can’t choose one or the other. But you can lift weights in a way that will make one kind of hypertrophy dominant over the other.

Typically, the low intensity weight training with low or medium weight and several repetitions will result in sarcoplasmic hypertrophy. While low repetitions with heavy weight will allow myofibrillar hypertrophy to dominate.

Now you see why the long-accepted strategy for building muscle for women or weight training for women simply does not work.

You can see the evidence of this in professional bodybuilders who want to increase both strength and size as much as possible. They do sets with very heavy weights and only 4 to 6 repetitions per set, which stimulates the myofibril growth. But they also do a lot of sets for each exercise. Where you or I might do 2-3 sets, they do 6-10 sets. And that volume helps their muscles look bigger by increasing the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle.

An Example
You might be wondering exactly how much you need to lift to be heavy enough to stimulate myofibrillar hypotrophy. A good general rule to stick to is to lift a weight that is above 80% of the maximum amount that you can lift one time.

So, for example, if you can bench press 100 lbs one time, then you should do 2 or 3 sets of a weight that is over 80 lbs. Try 4 to 6 reps, and adjust your workout accordingly.

There is no hard and fast rule that will be the same for everyone. So try it, see how it feels, and adjust to suit your needs and goals. And now, you females out there, don’t have to worry about getting too bulky or masculine. Work hard and enjoy your new physique!

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