How Should Men and Women Train Differently?
When you walk into the gym, you may notice the “gender polarity” in the weight room. Women are often focusing on leg machines and Stair Masters while men are generally hogging curl bars and bench presses. These tendencies often lead to inefficient workouts and unbalanced results. So how should men and women train?
Boil any weight training question down to its simplest terms, and you’re talking about muscle. From that vantage point, men and women are more similar than different. Muscle is muscle no matter what your gender, and the process for building muscle is fundamentally the same. To build muscle, you must first push your muscles to perform, then allow for sufficient recovery time to rebuild. The resulting stimulation of human growth hormone means the muscle fibers rebuild into larger and stronger versions of their former selves.
One of the reasons behind the common misconception that men respond better to weight training is average size. Body size plays a key role in the way we build, as does body composition. Typically, men are larger-framed (a larger frame can support more muscle), and they have more lean mass. (Men average 45 lbs. more lean body mass and 10 lbs. less fat than women.) Men are on average 50% stronger than women and will experience muscle growth at about twice the rate of women. However, if a 100 pound woman goes from being able to lift 50 lbs. to 70 lbs. in 10 weeks, and a 200 pound man started lifting 100 lbs. and goes to 140 lbs. in 10 weeks, their percentage change is the same.
When it comes to body fat, on average, women have a higher percentage. A man’s primary sex hormone is testosterone, a woman’s is estrogen. These hormones influence how much body fat each stores. Nonetheless, fat-loss rates may be more alike than you’d expect when you look at the percentages. In a large study that looked at fat loss in subjects who were exercising, but not dieting, the women lost an average of 3.5 lbs. in two months and the men lost 7 lbs. The men were losing fat at about twice the rate of the women and gaining muscle at about twice the rate, but on a percentage improvement based on body size, the changes were similar.
So if men and women respond almost the same, should they train differently? When it comes to exercise selection, trouble areas are a part of it, but it can be a minor part. If a man wants to build a big, strong chest; he may do two types of pec exercises—a flat bench press, and an incline dumbbell press, where a woman may just do a flat dumbbell press. For legs, a man may work quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes, while a woman will do the same, but add inner and outer thighs or lunges. But overall, the workout is almost the same.
However, there are several differences to consider:
BULKING UP
Generally, women tend to fear building too much mass—they want definition and tone. For many men, bulking up is just what they desire. I typically recommend that women do 2 to 3 sets per exercise and 1 to 2 exercises per body part. Men looking to gain size should add a little more volume to their routine, 3 to 4 sets per exercise and 2 to 3 exercise per body part.
HEAVY WEIGHT/LOW REPS vs. LIGHT WEIGHT/HIGH REPS
A common misconception is that women should lift lighter weight and higher reps to tone instead of build. While the statement is generally true, it’s usually misunderstood. You should not lift 30 pounds for 30 reps. High repetitions (20 or more) are better for building endurance, not muscle. Low reps (1-5) are better for building strength and power, than building muscle size and definition. Men should perform between 6 to 12 reps to gain more size, while women tone well performing 8 to 15 reps. The proper weight to use is one that will challenge you to perform 15 reps. You should NOT be able to do 16!
THE NUMBERS ON THE SCALE
Women are often on the scale watching for the numbers to go down, while many men by contrast, watch to see if it goes up, showing much-wanted gains in muscle. Since building lean muscle and losing fat is your aim, it’s best to keep your focus off the scale. It won’t let you know that you gained 3 lbs. of lean muscle, in addition to losing 5 lbs. of fat. It will just tell you that you’ve lost 2 lbs. Seeing small changes on the scale might discourage you. Instead focus on how your jeans your T-shirt fits. To know exactly how your body is improving, consider getting a body composition analysis every 6 to 8 weeks. This, along with before and after pictures will tell you far more than a scale can ever tell you. In addition, it will inspire and motivate you when you see actual recorded progress as you get closer to your goal.