4 Mistakes Women Make When Building Muscle
Women who have the goal of building muscle have many options available to help them improve their physical conditions and personal images. These of course are positive changes and can influence both the way you accomplish daily tasks and how you get better results in sports.
However, just as the options for building muscle are numerous, the mistakes you can make are too. Do you believe you’ve made some mistakes when building muscle?
You may have gone down the wrong path, although unconsciously. For that reason, we invite you to get to know some of the common mistakes women make when building muscle. You might identify with some of them.
What mistakes do women make when building muscle?
Mistakes during training for building muscle can happen due to various causes. Some of these can be a lack of accurate information, impatience, or following bad advice. Below, we’ll show you some of the most common mistakes and practices that you should change or improve so you can get better results.
1. Lifting weights
You might read something to the contrary. But one of the most common mistakes women make when building muscle is all about this issue. To start with, if you want to increase muscle mass, the idea is to lift weights other than your own body weight, right?
However, this mistake can be made due to a myth that’s been around the training and fitness environment for a long time: lifting a lot of weight will make women build muscle the same as men. The fact is that this is nothing more than a myth, that only gained popularity due to misinformation.
During the process of building muscle, a hormone called testosterone has a lot to do with it. Men have much more of it than women. That’s why men find it much easier to build muscle quicker than women. The process simply just isn’t the same. Weights can help, but less so than with men.
2. A bad diet
Another common error that you might make when you’re trying to build muscle is forgetting about improving your diet. Or perhaps you even think that your diet doesn’t have anything to do with your training routine.
It’s not about starting miracle diets or stopping eating (a very damaging practice for your whole body in general), but rather including healthy foods with the right portion sizes in your daily meals. This will help you to build muscle healthily, the right way.
3. Using a girdle
There are also many myths around the place about using a girdle, especially during training. Among these is the common idea that you can lose more fatty mass thanks to a girdle because it makes you sweat more.
It’s important to understand that the process of perspiring is based on the regulation of your body temperature. This means that when your body is at a higher temperature than it should be, your body starts to sweat to be able to bring your temperature back down.
Due to the foregoing, you need to understand that sweating isn’t synonymous with losing weight, and even less so with building muscle. Take that into account.
A little further on this point, it’s fitting to note that a girdle’s job is to protect areas such as the back or abdominal regions from injury. Using a girdle reduces the probability of hernias or back injuries, for instance. It’s just not designed either to make you perspire or help you to build muscle.
4. Don’t leave your comfort zone
Sometimes women who want to build muscle stick with the same training routines that they’ve always done. They even stay with the same loads and intensity level. This can be a mistake that can mean you get stuck in the same spot and you don’t make any progress.
It’s a common practice because it’s comfortable. At the start, you might begin a new routine and struggle at first, but later you get used to it. This creates a comfort zone that you don’t want to leave. Because it’s easy, you stop pushing yourself to do more and more.
The worst thing is that you think you’re still getting results from the exercise. However, training should always be progressive and structured to be effective.
Knowledge and discipline for building muscle
Just as we mentioned above, the majority of mistakes that both men and women make when building muscle is based on a lack of knowledge or bad advice.
With that in mind, we suggest you try to gain as much information as you can on the topic. Look for trustworthy sources, and if you don’t understand what you find, ask for help from a professional. Working with a good personal trainer can also be a great help.
Lastly, remember that you need to be self-disciplined. Discipline is essential to put into practice the knowledge you gain and reach the muscle-building goals you set for yourself. Go for it and get training!
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Borba Pinheiro, C. (2014). Efectos de un programa de entrenamiento concurrente sobre la fuerza muscular, flexibilidad y autonomía funcional de mujeres mayores. Revista Ciencias de La Actividad Física.
- Kraemer, W. J., & Spiering, B. A. (2008). Crecimiento muscular. Entrenamiento de La Fuerza.
