Challenges Women Face With Bodybuilding

The body chemistry of a woman is more complex than that of a man, and women face many mental and physical challenges that men do not to reach their fitness goals. I'm sure you've heard it said before. Maybe you've even said it yourself.

Women are not as strong as men. Well, there is some truth to this statement. The body chemistry of a woman is more complex than that of a man, and women must face many mental and physical challenges that men do not to reach their fitness goals. Women have less muscle than men. The average woman has half the muscle mass of the average man. You can't shape what you don't have. The less muscle to shape and refine, the more difficult it is to promote muscle tone. Women have a greater amount of body fat stores than men, meaning women's bodies store more fat, making it harder to see any muscle tone. Women also develop cellulite - fat deposited in clumps. Cellulite is often genetic and despite low body fat, may still remain apparent.

Women produce less testosterone than men. Testosterone is known as the "male hormone" because it produces male characteristics such as facial hair and deepening of the voice. However, women also produce a small amount of testosterone which aids in muscle development. Low levels of testosterone makes it difficult to tone the muscles but higher levels would give a woman male features that would be very undesirable. So again, genetics have given men the advantage. Women usually have delicate bone structures.

A woman's joints are often weaker than her muscle causing her to end an exercise before she has fully stimulated the target muscle. Women are also more susceptible to conditions such as osteoporosis and bone fractures. The bone and muscle are connected and work together in training. Weaker bones will cause weaker muscles. Hormonal fluctuation during menstruation can also hinder a woman's ability to train.

Many women develop cramps, nausea, fatigue, and water retention that make training more difficult. Mood changes and irritability can decrease a woman's desire to work out and food cravings and fluid retention can cause weight gain that can be very discouraging. Pregnancy can also greatly alter a woman's fitness abilities. Metabolism can slow down, weight gain will occur and certain parts of the body will stretch and sag. Hormonal balances will change and can alter her physiological structure. Much of the training and sculpting of the body will reverse, and it is often hard to get back in shape after delivery.

Many women have to start their training all over again, reworking those muscles that have lost tone during the pregnancy. In conclusion, a woman can sculpt and train her body just as men do theirs. However, she will need to train her body in a different way and she will most certainly face challenges in her activities that her male counterparts do not have to experience.