It’s a question that many assume they already know the answer to. Of course men and women are physiologically different, meaning that there will be differences in how they need to care for their bodies and increase their strength. The reality is, however, that most of strength training is going to be identical for men and women. Both men and women benefit from incremental improvements in strength – their bones get more dense, their muscles get injured less, and they become more practically useful in everyday life. Both sexes should be doing squats, standing presses, deadlifts, and bench presses. Both sexes should be resting at least five minutes between worksets. Both sexes should be warming up sufficiently. Both sexes should be adding weight every training cycle – every session for novices.
However, there are a few notable differences.
Women need high intensity to drive progress.
The conventional wisdom is that women should be doing sets of eight to twelve reps, because we can’t have women getting all bulky and manly and ugly, as though a woman’s sole purpose in life is to be attractive. Ironically, sets of eight to twelve will not make a woman bulky and mainly, because only testosterone and anabolic steroids do that. What actually happens is that she will not make strength progress as quickly.
Sets of fives are effective for strength because they are a good compromise between high reps and low reps and produce general health and strength improvements. Sets of five are the happy median for men. Sets of three are the median for women. This is because women cannot recruit as many motor units as a man can. This is why dunking is so rare in women’s basketball but so common in men’s basketball. This is neither good nor bad – only different. The positive benefit of this is that women can do a lot of volume (total reps) without overtraining. Men have to be much more careful about doing too many reps too often.
The first time a lifter will plan for this in her training is in her novice linear progression – when three sets of five reps start to stall, she should switch to five sets of three reps.
Women cannot “eat through” plateaus like men can
Men can solve a lot of their strength plateaus by taking in more protein and calories. Women cannot metabolize protein or use calories as effectively; extra calories will just make them gain fat. It is still crucial that female trainees are eating enough protein and calories – 1g protein per pound of bodyweight is a good start. However, increasing by 1000 calories may not be helpful if the original amount was facilitating progress.
Women cannot increase by as much as weight as fast.
On average, women are not as strong as men and cannot adapt as quickly. Men can add five or ten pounds to their squat, deadlift, press, and bench for a long time. Women will have to quickly change to only add 2.5 pounds to the press and bench press, and eventually the squat and deadlift. Women may find that they have to add only 1.25 pounds to their press and bench press even later in their training. This can be frustrating, but 1.25 pounds every week for a year is still an increase in 62.5 pounds a year.
In short, the answer is yes – strength training is different for men and women, but not by much. Women can train in almost exactly the same fashion as men, but slight adjustments to the training program and eating habits will help women make more consistant progress with fewer complications than if they did everything the same as a man.
Andrew of Blackmetal Strength Training has worked with both men and women who have seen incredible results after as little as 30 days of training. He works from the Starting Strength method and believes that proper strength training can help improve anyone’s quality of life. If you’re interested in improving your physical wellbeing, You can sign up for a 30-day trial with Blackmetal Strength training and, if you’re not satisfied, you’ll get double your money back. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!