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Female Bodybuilding

Female bodybuilding began with Lisa Lyon who was a UCLA graduate and a student of the Japanese martial arts called 'Kendo. She won the first World Women's Bodybuilding Championship in Los Angeles in 1979.

There was a time when being a female bodybuilder was unheard of and certainly taboo. Unfortunately, it is still viewed as going against society norms and "unfeminine" if a female bodybuilder has a great deal of muscle.

For these reasons alone, many females who may want to become bodybuilders and who may in fact have the genetics and dedication to become great bodybuilders, shun away from even trying. However, female bodybuilding came along and brought some equality in the sport among both genders.

All things being equal, a female will have significantly less muscle mass than the male. Furthermore, the manner in which the female body metabolizes differs from the manner in which males do. Female bodybuilders have to be even stricter because of their higher levels of fat and it is an equally strict and tough routine as for male bodybuilders.

With women requiring more work than men in burning fat, many women use low carbohydrate diets and seek out foods that help increase metabolism to overcome some of the physiological disadvantages that females have.

Of course, the exceptional dedication, demands and commitment to the development of the physique is required by both males and females and regardless of whether a bodybuilder is male or female; they handle and work through the same physical challenges. Among recreational bodybuilders, there is a tendency for females to focus more on "toning" and shaping their bodies.

When coming to competition even the prize money differs with female bodybuilders being paid a lot lesser than their male counterparts which is discouraging and also means lesser appreciation for women in the sport. This is at times due to lesser sponsors for competitive female bodybuilding and at other times just because men are the ones who organize the shows.

Calories

A 260 pound professional male bodybuilder requires consumption of greater calories and protein than a 160 pound female bodybuilder to maintain and gain further muscle mass. The diet for both men and women still requires the necessary calories and macro/micronutrients to achieve anabolic growth, and getting proper amount rest to grow, except, the body masses involved differ, although males do have a significant advantage in making progress due to testosterone advantages.

The theory of being calorie deficient suggests that one exerts, burns or puts out more energy (in calories) than one takes in. Your reduced intake of calories makes it almost impossible to get all of the nutrients your body needs to remain healthy and active. In contrast, having a calorie surplus; or taking in more calories than one burns, is needed to increase mass and size. The added calories should be mostly protein and some complex carbohydrates (no added fat calories).

It's clear that you should reduce your consumption of fat in order to decrease your body fat level, because fat is a highly concentrated source of calories. There are 3500 calories in one pound of fat. That means that by reducing your food by 500 calories per day, you should lose one pound of fat per week, right. For example, assuming that you weight 150 pounds, and you're eating 5 meals per day (highly recommended), you should reduce each meal by 60 calories (total of 300 calories reduction over a full day). The reduced calories should come mostly from fat calories, and NOT protein.

Physical Training

Training at the competitive level between the two sexes is more similar than different. Training angles for all exercises are the same for both genders and both need the same amount of muscle contraction to stimulate muscle growth. Women bodybuilders at the competitive level tend to include more cardio and high rep training to aid them in tightening up certain areas of the body, this is more easily achieved by their male counterparts who burn the excess fat more efficiently.

With a lower amount of muscle mass women in the sport are unable to lift as heavy as men and so their training is a little different from men. So for women circuit training which can burn more calories is better and some extra cardio has to be incorporated in the routine to help in keeping the fat down.

Male and female bodies do not react in the same way to training and nutrition and the female body produces a lower amount of energy surge. Metabolism of the female body is a lot slower than the male body which means nutrients will not convert as fast into muscle.

Supplementation between both males and females differs depending on their bodybuilding goals. There are numerous supplements marketed exclusively to females to try and overcome the physical differences, but these products are only marginally different.

Natural testosterone boosters are not made for the female body and so are not taken by female athletes. Testosterone being androgenic is the hormone that leads to natural muscle growth in men at puberty while estrogens in the female body lead to what we call a feminine body.

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