How to Build Muscle as a Woman: The Ultimate Guide for Gaining Weight the Right Way

If you are interested in learning how to gain weight the right way, you have come to the right place! 

My name is Staci Ardison.

I overcame an eating disorder, discovered a love for heavy strength training, and now I help women like you get stronger for a living.

Believe it or not, I’m 50 pounds heavier in the photo on the right (and WAY stronger, and healthier, and happier!).

I’m currently a lead coach here in the Nerd Fitness Coaching Program, where we train women to pick up heavy weights, get strong, and build confidence.

Want to learn how to strength train like Staci? Learn more about our Coaching Program:

Speaking of picking up heavy weights, here I am deadlifting 455 pounds:

Staci showing you how to deadlift 455 pouds.

This is what I LOVE to do.

In this Ultimate Guide to Building Muscle as a Woman, I’m going to be covering:

Why building muscle is difficult for some women.

Should women build muscle? (7 reasons women should grow muscle)

How to eat to gain muscle as a woman.

What foods should I eat to gain weight?

Strength training for women to build muscle.

5 muscle-building workout routines for women

Best tips and tricks for gaining weight as a woman.

Next steps for women looking to build muscle.

Alright, let’s do this.

Why Building Muscle is Difficult for Some Women

A group of different LEGO women ready to build muscle. 

As Steve covered in “How to build muscle” and “How to bulk up for men,” the principles of weight gain are all the same regardless of your sex or gender:

“If you want to gain weight, eat more calories than you burn regularly. Want to put on the right KIND of weight? Exercise and eat the right way too.”

Now, there’s plenty of nuance to this when comparing men and women:

Due to our natural hormones, it’s generally more difficult for people with typical female anatomy to gain muscle than people with typical male anatomy.[1]

We have a lot of factors (such as hormonal birth control) that have been proven to make it even harder as well.[2]

But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible!

It just means we have to work harder for it.

Mary isn't happy, but will build muscle anyway.

Ugh, I know.

Now, one thing I want to touch on quick: if you see a woman who is absolutely jacked and at an extremely low body fat percentage, I guarantee she has been working her butt off for a very long time with the goal of building muscle.

It’s not something that happens overnight, or by mistake.

In addition, some women with larger amounts of muscle mass choose to take steroids to help assist them in gaining muscle, because we simply don’t have the hormones naturally to get to that size.

So if you’d like to build muscle, but not as much as a professional bodybuilder – don’t worry, it’s not something that happens by accident.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about body fat and body types:

As we point out in that body fat percentage guide, we women can look very different at any weight depending on our body shape and how much muscle we have. It comes down to our own personal goals!

This picture shows different body fat % of women.

This guide is going to primarily focus on two things:

How to eat to gain weight and build muscle.

How to strength train to build muscle.

We’ve helped thousands of women with our online coaching program, many of whom are trying to gain weight and strength train for the first time in their lives.

Have a Nerd Fitness Coach guide you to grow strong!

Everybody is on their own journey, at their own pace, and everybody will end up with different results too!

Should Women Build Muscle? (7 Reasons Women Should Grow Muscle)

This woman built lots of muscle on her journey to became an astronaut. 

If it can be harder for women to gain muscle (compared to men), why go through the trouble?

I’m glad you asked!

HERE ARE THE TOP 7 REASONS WHY WOMEN SHOULD STRENGTH TRAIN:

#1) When you’re stronger – everyday life is easier. No need to call for help to get that 50lb bag of dog food off the top shelf, or carrying an air conditioner unit up a flight of stairs. LIFE is easier when you’re stronger. 

#2) Less injury risk – when you build strong muscles, you’re also building stronger bones, ligaments, and tendons, making you less prone to injury doing things you love (like playing in a quidditch league).[3]

#3) Helps combat age-related muscle loss,[4] allowing us to remain independent longer as we age:

#4) Muscle is harder to maintain, which means you need to eat more just to hold on to it.[5]

#5) Reduce pain – having a strong body makes living easier on your joints, as well as allows you to hold a better posture, and reduce back / hip pain.[6]

#6) Appearance – this is a personal preference! Some women like to have a lot of muscle, and some don’t. While you can’t spot reduce fat, you can choose to build more muscle in specific areas, changing your body shape. Growing up, I was an extreme pear shape, but due to strength training, I now have more of an hourglass shape. 

You can see that Staci has changed the way she looks from strength training!

#7) Live longer – want to spend more time on Earth? Strength training and growing muscle will help you do just that.[7]