You Don’t Need To Be An Oxygen Model To Have A Body Like One

As I walk through my gym, I cannot help but notice the typical trends regarding the female population. First of all the majority of them are on the cardio machines despite not even being the slightest bit overweight. I rarely see these same women doing anything else but cardio. Every once in a while I notice them venture over to the machines for a few leg curls or to perform the abductor/adductor exercises. I also witness them doing lots of high rep bicep curls and tricep kickbacks with the tiny pink dumbbells. Month after month goes by and they still look the same.

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My Little Chat With The Aspiring Figure Model

I mustered up the courage one day to interrupt a particular female’s routine. It’s not normal for me to randomly pull someone aside in the gym to interrogate them, however I sincerely wanted to help and my suspicions were that she most likely had been misinformed. After our workouts were over, we went out for a post workout bite.

I explained that I had noticed her efforts in the gym over the past 2-3 months. I then asked her what sparked her interest to begin training. She replied by saying she found a copy of her roommates Oxygen magazine and scanned it front to back. She mentioned that she did not particularly read the articles, but stared jealously at the models on every other page. She began to tell me about this fear of getting big bulky muscles and that in order to prevent this, she must do lots of high rep workouts to build long, lean muscle. I also recall her mentioning she did 6 cardio sessions a week to ward off any fat gain. I must say she was far from being overweight at all. She alluded that all of her previous trainers had given the same advice over and over again. Yet, after months of training she’s still not any closer to achieving that sexy, toned physique she envied in the publication.

I jotted down her email address in my phone so I could send her a few pointers to get her going in the right direction. I explained she needed to:

Lift Like A Man

I broke down the importance of strength training and how it would help her build the body like those she admired in the magazine. I explained that she would not get bulky like males do as she has roughly 10% of the testosterone that males possess. I then reassured her that it’s nearly impossible for her to build the amount of muscle mass of a man unless she is one of the genetic elite or decides to take drugs. I advised she focus on:

• Full Body Training 3 times per week
• Making Strength Gains on the compound movements (bench press, overhead press, squats, deadlifts).
• Challenging Herself with weights that are heavy(for her). The last few reps of each set should be intense.

Limit Her Cardio

Cardio is great when you are dieting or if you are looking to improve your heart health. However many females tend to be obsessed and usually overdo it. I recommended she:

• Perform Cardio No More than two days per week.
• Only Do Low Impact cardio on two of her four rest days. Cardio tends to cut into our recovery ability that we wholly need after intense strength training sessions.

Focus On Healthy Eating Habits

This is a no brainer, but I figured I would bring it up after we ordered our lunch. She asked the server to hold the fruit as she was extremely anal about carbohydrate consumption. I then learned she was eating like a bird daily which was doing nothing for her in terms of health and recovery. I then encouraged her to:

• Eat At Least Maintenance Calories on Rest Days. – I told her to start at about 14-15x bodyweight in pounds as she was fairly active. For a 120 pound female this would put her at about 1680 to 1800 calories per day.
• Eat Slightly Above Maintenance Calories on Training Days. – I explained that the extra calories would go towards building that sexy muscle she wanted so badly. I advised no more than about 300 calories over maintenance as females build muscle more slowly than males do.
• Eat Carbs If She Wants To. – I explained that carbohydrates do not make a person fat, only excess calories over time will make one fat. I then shared with her the importance of carbs in the recovery process.
• Aim for 1 gram of Protein Per Pound of Bodyweight – To fuel muscle growth and recovery.
• Consume Fat + EFA’s – To maintain hormonal levels,  promote satiety and to make sure about 30% of her calories come from fat.

For any females reading this, I hope you take these tips to heart. Again, I want to reemphasize that lifting heavy weights will not make you big and bulky. Doing high rep isolation movements will do nothing for the long, lean look and lots of cardio will not magically make one thin and sexy. The process is a combination of a sound exercise program, healthy eating habits and a nice balance between rest and activity. How many of you females out there are lifting like your counterparts? How many of you are actually out lifting them?

Tagged as: Diet, Female Fitness, Fitness, Strength Training