In response to comments on our last podcast on this topic, we dig further into the research on how much muscle a woman can gain. Nancy's goal of 6 lbs. of muscle gain in a year seems realistic.
In this podcast (Quicktime, 57 MB; Google Video, no download), Nancy and I continue our discussion concerning how much weight women should gain as they attempt to build muscle. Available research on the topic has been sparse, but a recent report in The Journal of Women's Health (originally spotted by Maspik Teruzim in Wired via Instapundit) sheds some light on the issue. Women are indeed very different from men but respond to intensive training.
Three studies are cited in the article, in particular one from The Journal of Applied Physiology. That article suggests that a woman weighing 150 lbs. and following a moderately strenuous training regimen focused on strength and endurance could gain about 2 lbs. of muscle in 6 months (or a 2% increase in muscle). As a response to our last podcast on this topic, John Yeo (blog defunct), suggested Nancy might gain 6 – 8 lbs. of muscle in a year, sacrificing 2 as she dieted down to bodybuilding perfection, leading to a total gain of 4 – 6 lbs. That number seems attainable as the women in the study lost fat as they put on muscle.
In the podcast, we note that Nancy intends to follow the recommendation from Serious Strength Training that she gain no more than 15% above her ideal contest weight. The question will be what body fat percentage she can hold to. Women in the Journal of Applied Physiology study had 33% body fat and so were relatively poorly conditioned even at the end of the study. Nancy is in extremely good condition.
