Women's Physique

Q: How Long Can I maintain an ultra ripped physique?

It really does depend. It won’t be as concerning for a woman who naturally holds low body fat as this is what her physiology is adapted to. The bigger concern is if a woman is practicing excessive calorie restriction or excessive exercise to sustain that low level of body fat. This is a stress to the body and will eventually have consequences. Every woman’s body is different, but generally the cessation of the menstrual cycle is an indicator that a woman may have too low a level of body fat for her well-being. This level is different for every woman. If a woman stops menstruating due to show prep, I wouldn’t recommend holding that level for longer than two to four months.

I’m big on hormonal health for women, and I believe that proper balance is important for bone health, mental health, heart health, and overall metabolic well-being. I really don’t like to see people doing show after show and staying contest-lean for longer than a few months. They risk catabolizing large amounts of muscle, overtraining, lowering immune health, and possibly altering the body’s capability to pick up proper hormonal function if they go longer than this. Metabolic consequences also come with this. The body adapts to lowered calorie intake and training volume, which could lead to metabolic damage if done too low or too long. I also see women developing distorted body image if it goes on too long, and this is a danger zone that will migrate them away from good metabolic, mental, and overall health. A naturally very lean woman doesn’t have to train super-hard to be lean and can eat a lot of nutrient-dense foods. This would be healthy for her, and she could sustain that with no stress to the body. I don’t know any women who don’t have to put in an effort to get truly ripped. 

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