How long does it take when building muscle as a female? Most women don’t understand what it really takes to change their bodies, and what is actually possible for a natural athlete.
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With all the performance-enhancing drugs being used by women in the fitness space these days, it’s easy to get confused about what is possible – naturally – in body transformation. In fact, it’s one of the main things I have to address when working with women, as perceptions are totally skewed.

It’s also one of the reasons why I went through a phase of not wanting to support women in this space any longer. But I moved past it, realising that it’s better for me to stick around and provide an educated and honest perspective, than it is for me to stop.

If you’re building muscle as a female, how long does it take?

This is my long-term client Susie’s progress, with a photo from 2015, 2017, and 2019 (it’s a bit of a flashback, I know, I am going through the archives to bring you the best content!). Susie is a NATURAL bodybuilder, thus she only uses food and training to build her physique. So that takes time.

Genetically, Susie is on the more ‘blessed’ side, with ‘full’ muscle in terms of shape. She doesn’t have a lot of trouble building muscle, so long as she eats and trains well. On the flip side she can gain body-fat easily. She started her journey from a much higher body-fat percentage than this. She needs to keep a close eye on her nutrition to ensure she stays within a healthy body-fat range.

A couple of kilograms of muscle per year is normal for a female athlete who adheres to consistent training and nutrition principles. Principles meaning, avoiding doing too much cardio, and eating a healthy amount of calories in general.

In this time between the photos, she dieted for a show in 2015, returned to maintenance calories, dieted again in 2017, returned to higher maintenance calories, then dieted in 2019. Now she is reversing back again to maintenance calories. Susie looks better and better each time.

If, for example she did heaps of cardio, or didn’t return her calories back to maintenance, she might not. Natural athletes need to be very particular about how they eat and train in order to maximise how much muscle is gained, and avoid losing it in dieting phases.

This is not an easy process. Building muscle as a female requires ongoing focus and dedication. Avoid taking extreme measures or trying to rush your journey. As a benchmark, this is awesome progress for a natural athlete!

Now, in 2024, Susie tracks her food for performance and sits at a healthy weight of 71kg. She loves her training and her lifestyle, and the next step would be to ease her off tracking all together.

I hope that helps clear the air when it comes to building muscle!

Jen X