If you’re a woman trying to gain muscle mass, it can seem as if life is unfair: why have men been gifted with the natural ability to grow muscles with ease? Well, we’re not in the business of answering philosophical questions but if you want to know just what types of exercise will be most effective for helping women build muscles, that’s a question we can and would love to provide an answer to.
We also understand that for a lot of women, finding time to go to the gym can be hard, as there might be work and family to focus on. Working out at home is a good option to be considered and can be just as effective at building muscles for women, as pumping iron in the gym. Read on to learn about the different options, for home workouts, that you can use to stack on muscle mass.
Push-ups
Push-ups come first on this list because they are one of our favorite exercises. They are a compound exercises–great for developing multiple muscle groups–and are quite effective at burning fat. If your goal is to develop a lean muscular look then push-ups are a great choice.
There are multiple ways of performing push-ups with focus on different muscle groups in the body, particularly the upper body muscles such as triceps, biceps, deltoids, trapezoids, and pectorals.
Pull-ups
Pull-ups are similar to push-ups in the range of muscles targeted but are probably more difficult to perform. We’d recommend that you start off developing your upper body muscles by doing push-ups and then work in some sets of pull-ups, to provide variety, once your muscles are strong enough. Pull-ups can also be performed in different ways in order to focus on different groups of muscles. All you need to perform a pull-up from the comfort of your own home is a pull-up bar.
Swimming
Swimming is not exactly a great muscle builder but we think the overall body toning provided by swimming still makes it a good option for women looking to develop a muscular look without having to sweat it out at the gym regularly. Best results are achieved when swimming is combined with a muscle building exercise such as push-ups or pull-ups.
Boxing
Boxing is such a rigorous sport that, depending on your level of fitness, even a 15 minute session with a boxing bag can leave your arms feeling like they’ve been put through a blender and the rest of your upper body, feeling sore in places you didn’t even realize you had muscles at. You don’t even need professional boxing training to be able to build muscles from boxing; a few Youtube videos will show you how to throw a punch well enough and if you practice at a high enough intensity, your muscles will reap significant gains.
The Plank
The plank is a great choice for a multi-purpose exercise that can be performed anywhere in the house. All you have to do is get into position to do a push-up but instead of pushing up and down, maintain the starting position. The plank will work your core muscles (abdominal and lower back), shoulders, quadriceps, and glutes. Aside from the obvious benefit of strengthening multiple muscle groups at the same time, performing the plank is important because having a strong core is critical for your fitness plans. The muscles that form the core are responsible for maintaining proper form during exercise and for transmitting power to the lower limbs.
There are also multiple ways to perform planks to increase the intensity and focus area of the workout.
Conclusion
Building muscle for women does not have to be done from the inside of a gym and you may follow the techniques we have shown you in this list to help you develop stronger muscles from the comfort of your home.
Remember that effective muscle growth and development will be a mix of many factors including proper nutrition, sufficient sleep and of course, consistent hard work.