How to Build Muscle for Women: When You Don't Want to Get Ripped

Why You Need Strength Training

Strength training is an integral component of working out. If you pay money to work out with a physical trainer, he or she will absolutely do strength-training workouts with you, and in fact most will do more strength-training exercises than cardio-based exercises. Why is this? The fact is that strengthening and toning your muscles has just as much ability to burn fat off your frame and burn calories as cardio does, and it also has the ability to tone and strengthen your muscles as an additional benefit. Clearly, you want to know how to build muscle for women so you don't wind up with a mannish build, but you first need to understand that strong, healthy muscles don't necessarily mean bulky muscles.

Getting Lean Muscles

So just how do you build lean, strong, yet feminine-looking muscles on your frame? To understand how to build muscle for women, you need to understand how building muscles works. To get ripped, many men will max out their workouts and use the heaviest weights they can manage. This results in small tears in the muscle, and as those tears heal through the assistance of extra protein in their diets, their muscle mass grows. Women generally don't want to do this, so you will want to work out with lighter weights. You want to avoid pushing the weights to the limit, and instead use weights that feel comfortable to you, doing many repetitions with lighter weights.

Does Protein Matter?

When you want to know how to build muscle for women, your diet absolutely does matter. You will find that you are able to shrink away the body fat and reveal your shapely, toned muscles much more quickly when you follow a diet that is higher in protein and lower in fat. You should also drink plenty of water and include plenty of fresh fruits and veggies in your diet. Keep in mind that whatever results you get from working out will not be revealed to the world if you have a thick layer of body fat covering your muscles.