Bulking isn’t just for men! Women can also benefit from cycling bulking and cutting to enhance their physique. Surprisingly, embracing a bulking phase can bring you closer to achieving the coveted hourglass body shape and improved athletic performance than constantly restricting calories and training.
Here, we’ll go over the benefits of a female bulking diet plan and how the hourglass figure cannot be achieved without the additional calories.
Female Bulking Benefits
Surprisingly, bulking for women can lead to some amazing benefits, including:
-
Improved Athletic Performance: More muscle and strength transfers onto the field or in the competition gym. Plus, you become anti-fragile with all of this training under your belt. By proofing your body with extra muscle and healthy ligaments, tendons, etc., you can perform better as an athlete without the risk of severe injury.
-
Enhanced Hourglass Figure: Funny enough, getting enough calories and lifting for hypertrophy will lead to muscle gains in ALL the right places. That means your upper legs grow in proportion to your waist. Also, the more muscle on your frame, the higher your metabolism. As muscle burns more calories per pound than pounds of fat, your figure will look better after bulking.
-
Hormonal Reset: Eating plenty of food and using it as the fuel it’s supposed to be will do wonders for your internal chemistry. The brain regulates hormone production and secretion, but undereating prevents it from functioning optimally. But feeding it more than enough? That ensures everything is running smoothly.
How To Bulk As A Woman
A female bulking diet plan will be similar to a male bulking diet plan in that you’ll eat more food than you’re used to consuming. Of course, it’s proportional; multiply your current bodyweight (in pounds) by 1.5 to get the protein you need daily (in grams). For example, a 130-pound (58.97 kg) woman will look to eat 195 grams (6.88 ounces) of protein on a given day. As well, you’ll need more fuel in general for your workouts.
You can get these extra calories in two ways: clean or dirty. Our recommendation is clean, which means adding high-quality protein sources. Here is a solid list of where to get your protein:
-
Chicken breast
-
Lean ground beef
-
Steak
-
White fish
-
Whole milk
If you’re vegetarian or vegan, tofu and plant-based protein powders are your best bet to hit your numbers.
When it comes to carbohydrates and fats, categories matter. Starchy carbs like potatoes, rice, and pasta will be your number one options. They will yield more energy than simple carbs rampant in processed foods. Sugar is an okay carb source, but try to time the sugar bombs right before a workout. (Use your treats as a pre-workout of sorts.) For fats, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, grass-fed butter, and ghee are great for cooking or topping any meal.
Bulking Tips
One more thing: Break a decent amount of calories into manageable meals. That means adding a meal or two while keeping your other meals relatively the same. Protein shakes or late-night snacks that blend sweetness with protein are ideal. This ensures the mass you add is lean muscle rather than fat. And also makes adding more calories to your diet manageable.
To effectively add weight, you must eat 3500 calories above maintenance every week. That means 500 extra calories per day, which can be tackled in a single additional meal. Make that extra meal laden with protein, and you’re golden.
You’ll see bulking results when you eat more food, eat more protein, time your carbs, use healthy fats liberally, and train incredibly hard in the gym (while also getting proper rest). Then that hourglass body is as good as yours! (Expect to see results in about three to four months.)
Article by Terry Ramos