16/01/2015
Should Men and Women Train the Same Way? Why Not?
It always baffles me why some (read most) people believe that men and women should train
differently. “Guys should train 6-8 reps and mostly with weights, hitting bench and squats, while
girls should stick to higher reps and exercises like cable cross-overs and lunges..
Anatomically speaking men and women are very similar. We have bones, skeletal muscle and
many of the same organs. Our bodies process food in the same manner and our skin reacts the
same way to the sun. When it comes to bodybuilding (which covers all manners of physique
transformation involving weight training), the biggest difference between men and women is
testosterone. Testosterone is the anabolic hormone that allows men to build superior muscle mass
to that of women.
The belief that training like a man will make a woman look like a man does not hold water.
Without testosterone a woman simply can’t build a body like a man, no matter how she trains.
So, the question doesn’t become what is the best way for a man to train versus a woman… the
question is how to best train for a human being. And the best way to train is determined by your
goal, NOT your s*x.
If both are looking for balanced, muscular development then that comes with smart training and
proper nutrition and supplementation.
When training for a balanced physique, one of the things that you need to pay attention to is
symmetry. We all have body parts that seem to respond better than others so we need to take that
into consideration when forming our routine. The reason I bring it up is because some girls say
that they build a certain body part quickly and are frightened they will look like a man.
Oftentimes, women will say their thighs build quickly.
The thighs are the place where, traditionally, most women hold the highest amount of body fat.
Coincidence? I think a lot of women mistaken thick thighs with muscle mass, but for those few
who actually do find they build muscle quickly, this would be one instance where scaling back
leg training would be applicable. But this does not mean men and women should train
differently, as this same strategy applies to men as well. If triceps are a guy’s strong part, to the
point of being out of proportion, then he would do well to scale back his triceps training.
If you’re training for a sport, you should make adjustments to your training to suit your goal.
Once again, it doesn’t matter if you’re John or Jane; you need to train to suit your objective.
Whether you’re training to be a competitive weightlifter or an MMA fighter or hockey player,
the training you undergo will not (should not) change because of your s*x.