Hypertrophy for women

I've been doing hypertrophy for 7 weeks now. I would like to get a little range of how many pounds or maybe how many centimeters a women can get by building muscle. My weight is almost of stable (i'm still trying to lose some) but i'm not really good at evaluating my body so I can't tell if I gained much muscle.

I would just like to get an idea so I can set some goals. One thing is for sure: I love my new workout 100 times more than when I used to train in endurance!!

Thanks

Jen

you might not gain anything if you'r gianing muscle and losing fat at the same time which most chicks will do once they start training properly

do you look differenty?

like I said, I have trouble saying if my shape changed since the last 2 months. Otherwise, I'm not on a strict diet and stuff so I don't lose much weight. I just thought maybe you could give me an idea of how much weight can be taken by a woman without supplementing of stuff.

Thanks

Jen

I hope i'm understanding this correctly... you want to know how to tell if youre gaining muscle? I can tell that i'm gaining muscle when I can lift more in the gym. When you first begin lifting weights theres a good chance that you'll be able to increase weight pretty steadily for the first month or so. After that, when you find that you can easily increase weights then theres a good chance that you're gaining muscle. Also, you could have your body fat tested and use that with a scale. If your body fat is going down, but scale weight is staying the same or increasing then theres a good chance that you're building muscle. I take regular progress pictures to assess progress. Measurements can also be taken.

Honestly though, if you really want to build muscle you're going to have to get serious about it and take a good hard look at your diet. If you truly want to build muscle you'll have to fuel your body properly. Otherwise you might see some muscle gains, but will most likely not make any significant progress.

Thank you very much swanso and cassie, very appreciated. I guess that if you don't answer my main question, it is that it's hard to tell. I kind of wanted to know how much a women can gain weight. If I'm right, guys can increase their lean weight of much more pounds of muscle than women, so I wanted to get numbers to compare a little bit between men and women. Thanks anyway, I'll keep up the hard work on my workout, as long I find it really fun!

Jen

That is going to vary *widely* from one person to the next, as well as by body type.

There is absolutely no way to give you a number. Things like genetics, diet, training routine, testosterone (some women/men have more than others)... are going to play a HUGE role on how much muscle a person can gain.

Also keep in mind that your diet is going to make a HUGE difference. If you're not watching your diet and paying attention to macros you most likely won't see a whole lot of muscle gain.

To give you an idea here. Women have Testosterone levels, on average between 45-90 ng/dl, (Nanograms per Decilitre of Blood, a Nanogram being a billionth of a gram).

Even double that upper limit, might possibly start to induce little sprouts of facial hair and voice deepening.

Men have between 350-1,000, some around 1,200 ng/dl, as any less than 350 can increase Heart attack risk.

Yes Test production and GH production can be influenced by sleep Patterns and things like Zinc, Vit E and Monounsaturates as examples, some even claim by Fibre, though as a GH blunting not promoting effect.

Even stress, and associated Cortisol production, might have some part to play with other Hormones and especially in relation to muscle building, as Cortisol helps to negatively breakdown Proteins to my understanding, (aside from promoting Fat gains), such breakdown obviously would potentially cause Catabolism of some muscle, or reduce growth rates, where growth was still able to happen.

In general though for upper limits of Muscle, a Woman could get around 13.5-14" Arms max, as a natural probably, maybe 14.5" tops, Hormone levels dependant, but at higher natural levels, that would not necessarily allow for fat levels, much lower than 15%, if at all, without some kind of Prohormone or Steroid, to allow Fat burning coupled with muscle retention.

So having 13.5" Arms and a 6-pac, would be pretty much a no-no, without legal or illegal stimulants.

As already stated, other things like diet and caloric intake / ratios plays some part, as does training style, duration and frequency, and body type as also previously stated.

Thank you for the science class Bossman, that's the kind of infos I wanted. I was only curious cuz I don't think that I'm ready to be "really" serious about that muscle gain stuff. I'll continue working hard. Right now I still see much improvement in my weights so I'm happy.

Thanks again to all of you!

Jen

When I first started, I made bigger gains *much* faster than I could have hoped for. As I have progressed and concentrated my work in more specific areas (Lats & Traps for the last 3 months, Tibialis Anterior for the next 3...) I have seen more and more growth.

While I am proud and will be the first to admit I have worked very hard, genetics are on my side. My sister has a nasty freak back, and both my dad and brother have prominent tibialis anteriors, and from my "starting point" (two weeks ago), mine was already more visible than most (I surveyed four males to compare. I won!).

Keep at it. Eat right and do your w/o's and you will get some sweet results (:

you concentrated on anteriour tibialis????

Starting Next week!

Actually, I should point out that by "concentrating" I've replaced Cardio 1x/wk with running on the beach, and another day is HIIT on a bike (I hate bikes, and never ride, so this is a big deal for me). I don't actually do exercises for them.

it is SO motivating to share with girls who doesn't fear lifting weights and training with guys! Since I workout with men instead of women, I'm happier and feel confident about my performances. Thanks for the support!

Hey, anytime!

I have only met one woman I'd workout with, outside this forum. She focuses mainly on powerlifting, and is completely insane. My original goal was to beat her in a few lifts, and I did it last month. She's better at chest, but I can squat heavier, and my back is stronger (:

The guys I workout with are so awesome and amazing motivators. I like to think I bring something to the table, too. We compliment each other well I think.

Looking forward to seeing you around the forums!!

Not to sound rude Jev, but noticed you quoted something called Xistence Fat burner as favourite supplement. Do you still use that crap, do did you stop?

Oh and no you shouldn't be afraid to workout near guys. If any guys did act innapropriately like saying smutty things, or taking the piss, then possibly ignore them, workout in a different area of the Gym, or report them, but in general most places would have most or all guys, showing some respect.