Female Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding Does Not Make Women’s Features Masculine There is a widespread perception that doing weights make women develop big muscles which makes them look bulky. The perception has grown from seeing photographs of women bodybuilders which appear on various fitness magazines. But such figures are not natural. As unfortunate as it may be, most of the professional woman bodybuilders use muscle growth inducing drugs such as anabolic steroids. But, generally speaking, women bodybuilders will never gain huge bulky muscles as men do simply because the way their body is composed. Women’s bodies do not produce as much testosterone as men’s bodies do. Testosterone is a key muscle building hormone, and since women lack that they have very little chance to bulk up and have bulging muscles. If you are training with weights and staying away from the anabolic steroids then you are going to develop a lean body without any excess flab. Weight Training Does Not Lead to Stiffness Another common misconception is that if women do a lot of fitness training and weights, their body becomes uptight and stiff. Nothing can be further from the truth. In fact it is the opposite that happens. Provided your workout routine is fine and you are doing your exercises properly you should gain more flexibility with your body. Those who never exercise may feel that the developed muscles can be a hindrance to the movement. But that is simply not true. Exercises such as chin ups, dumbbell presses and flyes actually help you to stretch and be more flexible. Muscles Don’t Get Converted Into Fat Some people hold the belief that once you stop the weight training all the muscles that you had developed will get converted into fat. This is just not possible physiologically. What actually may happen is that once you drop out of your routine, your physical activity comes down. This would result in the reduction of your muscle mass. At the same time once you are out of the routine, your eating habits deteriorate and soon you start having more fat than your body requires. Decreased rate of metabolism combined with bad eating habits lead to more fat and less muscles. But it is not that your muscles get converted into fat. Cardio Vascular Exercises Are Not Enough Cardio vascular training will help you to burn up the stored muscles and fats in your body. So they are very good exercises if you are aiming to reduce weight. However, the idea that women should only undertake cardio vascular exercises and should not do weights does not make sense. The purpose of doing weights is completely different. It helps you to tone your body and develop the muscles properly. It is one thing to have body without any flab, but it is completely different to have a body that is well toned and properly defined. Weights Should Not Be Too Light Being a female bodybuilder does not mean that you will do very light weights. The purpose of doing weights is to create a resistance for the muscles so that they try hard to overcome that resistance. In the process the muscles grow and get stronger. If the weight is too light and does not offer any resistance, then the whole exercise is pointless. You Will Have To Control Your Diet One more misconception about female bodybuilding is that once you are doing the weights there is no longer the need to keep an eye on the diet chart. But you must remember that you have to cycle whatever you are eating, as otherwise if your metabolic rate is unable to keep up with the calories you intake the excess calories will get stored as fat. There is also a limit to how much you can exercise.  Going overboard can cause injuries. And it is also to be understood that all of your exercise should not be spent on reducing your weight but should also help you in building your muscles.