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The 10 best diets for women to gain muscle mass
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Diets for gaining muscle mass in women. Why is nutrition important for gaining muscle mass in women?
When it comes to gaining muscle mass, you need to know that training hard alone is not enough; in fact, although women have greater resistance to fatigue and more efficient metabolic recovery after high-intensity exercise (Hottenrott et al., 2021). That alone is not enough; adequate nutrition is needed to meet energy needs and create new muscle mass.
Therefore, having a diet for gaining muscle mass as a woman will benefit you in the following ways:
- Know how many calories you consume.
- Understand how your body works when it wants to build muscle mass.
- Activates key hormonal processes.
- Maintaining good hormonal health.
- Contributes to a more aesthetic and healthy body composition.
- Prevents potential negative effects of nutrition.
Basic foundations of a diet for gaining muscle mass in women.
Before we delve into which diets are best for gaining muscle mass as a woman, you’ll need to understand certain concepts that will serve you throughout your life.
Macronutrients.
Let’s start with the basics: macronutrients are the elements that make up food and are responsible for providing energy to our bodies, in addition to performing various functions.
And there are 3, each with its own particular characteristics.
The carbohydrates, the most hated and feared macronutrient of all, are responsible for:
- Provide energy during training.
- Provide 4 kcal per gram.
- Be stored as glycogen in the muscles for future training sessions.
Studies recommend that they account for between 45 and 55% of total daily calories, which is approximately 130 to 250 g per day, although this amount may vary depending on the physical activity performed. (Gribbin et al., 2022; Seidelmann et al., 2018).
Protein is a fundamental macronutrient when it comes to maximizing results, especially if the goal is to gain muscle mass as a woman, for the following reasons:
- They have a structural function.
- They provide 4 kcal per gram.
- They not only build muscle but also repair DNA.
- They promote satiety while also repairing structures.
For active women or athletes, the recommendation is 1.2–1.7 g/kg/day, depending on the type and intensity of exercise. (Mercer et al., 2020; Wooding et al., 2017).
And if you want to ensure the right quantity and quality of protein, you can choose Whey 80 from Moremuscle, which comes in a wide variety of flavors and contains a large amount of amino acids.
The final macronutrient is fat; unlike carbohydrates and proteins, it has other qualities:
- They provide more calories—9 calories per gram.
- They have a primarily hormonal function.
- They are necessary for building muscle mass.
This occurs because sex hormones (testosterone, estrogen, progesterone…) are steroid hormones and require fats for their production and proper functioning.
The amount of dietary fat consumed by women varies according to region, age, and health context, but international studies (Zhao et al., 2023)2023) show that consumption is usually between 30% and 40% of total daily energy.
The type of fat is relevant: saturated and trans fats are associated with a higher risk of coronary heart disease and weight gain, whereas unsaturated fats may be protective. (Field et al., 2007)2007).
Know your calorie needs.
To gain muscle mass, you need to know your calorie needs and be in a caloric surplus, or in other words, eating more than you expend.
For this, you can use formulas such as the Harris-Benedict equation, although if you prefer, you can follow the steps below to calculate them directly.
How to adjust calories to gain muscle mass if you are a woman.
Follow these steps to determine and adjust the calories you need to maximize muscle mass gains as a woman.
1. Choose whichever formula you want to use; in this case, we will use Harris-Benedict to determine our basal caloric expenditure.
BMR = 655 + (9.6 X weight in kilograms) + (1.8 X height in cm) – (4.7 x age in years).
2. Now that we know how much energy our body expends at rest simply by living, we need to multiply it according to the exercise and movement we do; this is called the physical activity factor.
| Activity | PA factor in women | Approximate physical activity |
| Sedentary | 1.2 | No activity |
| Light | 1.56 | 3 hours/week of PA |
| Moderate | 1,64 | 6 hours/week of PA |
| Intense | 1.82 | 3 to 5 hours DAILY. |
Table 1. Physical activity factor in women. Prepared by the author.
3. Once we know how many calories our body expends in a full day (including basal metabolism and exercise), we need to create a caloric surplus. This means consuming more calories than we expend, with the goal of providing the body with the extra energy it needs to build muscle mass.
| Type of surplus | Extra calories |
| Moderate |
|
| Normal |
|
| High |
|
| Excessive |
|
Table 2. Caloric surplus in women. Prepared by the author.
Tracking and adjustments you need to make to your diet.
Now that you know how many calories you should eat, you will need to monitor your progress. As the weeks go by, it is important to evaluate key factors such as weight, body measurements, and body composition.
Based on these results, you should make the necessary adjustments to your diet or training, whenever truly necessary.
- Make sure your average weight does not increase by more than 0.25–0.5 kg per week.
- If your weight remains stagnant for more than two consecutive weeks, try increasing your intake by 100 kcal.
- If your weight increases excessively quickly—more than 0.5 kg per week—recalculate your calories; you may have overshot and need to reduce them.
- Maintain a minimum daily step count of 8,000 to 10,000 to avoid excessive fat accumulation.
- Prioritize nutrient-rich foods while avoiding excessive junk food.
- Always weigh yourself while fasting after using the bathroom; remember that the amount of water in your body directly affects your weight.
- Be patient; building muscle mass is a slow process.
- Evaluate digestive symptoms; if you are not digesting well, it may be time to temporarily reduce your calorie intake.
Hormonal and metabolic considerations for women’s diets.
Unlike men, women have lower testosterone levels and higher estrogen and progesterone levels; this has a direct effect on nutrition.
- Hormonal changes, especially in estrogen and progesterone levels, affect energy metabolism, fat distribution, and insulin sensitivity, which can influence the risk of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases (Bailey et al., 2022)2022).
- After menopause, when estrogen decreases and abdominal adiposity and insulin resistance increase (Ko & Kim, 2020)2020).
- Considering hormonal fluctuations and their impact on macronutrient and micronutrient metabolism, supplements such as Vitamin D y Omega-3 are especially relevant during menopause (Mazza et al., 2024)2024).
- Estrogen promotes insulin sensitivity and fat oxidation.
-
Progesterone can increase appetite and body temperature and cause bloating.
The 10 best diets for women to gain muscle mass
Here you will find the 10 best diet options for women to gain muscle mass:
- Balanced high-calorie diet combining carbohydrates (40%), protein (30%), and fats (30%).
- High-protein diet without excessively displacing the other macronutrients: we maintain carbohydrates at 40%, increase protein to 30%, and reduce fats to 25%.
- 4+3 cyclical ketogenic diet: This approach is designed for women with insulin resistance or certain metabolic issues. It consists of following a ketogenic diet for 4 days, followed by 3 days of carbohydrate consumption.
- Diet high in complex carbohydrates: Since these foods are digested slowly, they provide more sustained energy over time, which is especially useful for women who train frequently or have polycystic ovary syndrome.
- High-protein vegetarian diet for women who do not want to consume animal-based foods but still want to gain muscle mass. You will have SOY Protein, a protein made especially for you.
- Step-up diet: This involves gradually increasing calories week after week, avoiding the accumulation of an excessively high body fat percentage. Therefore, the calorie increase should be very gradual (+100 calories/week).
- Flexible diet or macro-based diet: It allows you to eat any food as long as it fits within your macronutrient and calorie requirements. You can eat anything from a donut to a plate of paella; however, you should bear in mind that foods are not just calories, so you should prioritize real food over fast food.
- Mediterranean diet: You can obtain all the benefits of the Mediterranean diet (anti-inflammatory, rich in antioxidants, and cardioprotective) while gaining muscle mass, as long as you consume enough calories.
- Strict bulking diet: This involves a diet based on “unclean” foods; you will gain weight quickly, but also increase your body fat percentage. It may be useful for women who have a great deal of difficulty gaining weight or need to increase their body fat percentage. Even so, it is not recommended for more than 2–3 weeks.
- Carbohydrate cycling diet: We alternate days with low, moderate, or high amounts of carbohydrates, with the goal of adapting intake to the amount of activity we do; this allows us to obtain enough energy to perform and recover while keeping body fat percentage low.
Conclusions
Gaining muscle mass in women is more complex than is often believed, at least if you want to maximize your results. It requires strategic, well-periodized nutrition adapted to your preferences, foods, number of meals, and schedule.
If you want to avoid plateaus, knowing your macronutrients, calculating an appropriate calorie surplus, and choosing from the 10 best diets—from a balanced high-calorie diet to carbohydrate cycling—will help you achieve better results.
The key lies in patience, consistency, and the long term, always prioritizing nutrient-dense foods, training hard, and taking female hormonal characteristics into account for optimal muscle-mass development.
References
Wooding, D. J., Packer, J. E., Kato, H., West, D. W. D., Courtney-Martin, G., Pencharz, P. B., & Moore, D. R. (2017). Increased Protein Requirements in Female Athletes after Variable-Intensity Exercise. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 49(11), 2297-2304. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000001366
Zhao, J., Zuo, L., Sun, J., Su, C., & Wang, H. (2023). Geographic and urban–rural disparities in dietary energy and macronutrient composition among women of childbearing age: Findings from the China health and nutrition survey,1991–2015. Nutrition Journal, 22(1), 23. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-023-00851-y