Happy International Woman’s Day!!
International Women's Day is powered by the collective efforts of all
Collective action and shared ownership for driving gender parity is what makes International Women's Day impactful. Gloria Steinem, world-renowned feminist, journalist and activist once explained "The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights." So make International Women's Day your day and do what you can to truly make a positive difference for women. - https://www.internationalwomensday.com/
DMPFitness: Should Women Approach Fitness Training Differently Than Men?
When it comes to fitness training, should women approach reaching their goals differently than men based on gender alone? Could this train of thought be due to society’s perception and pressure for women’s to do certain exercises versus men, or is there an actually biological and chemical rationalize behind how women should approach adapting an exercise program? Today we’re going to look at 5 considerations that women should keep in mind when starting or participating in an on-going exercise program.
1. Women Have A Smaller Percentage of Muscle Mass Than Men
Men have 50 - 60% more muscle mass than women which allows them to increase muscle mass and strength faster than women, but women possess the same strength relative to the muscle mass they have. As a woman, it’s important to understand that you may not increase muscle mass as quickly as men, and to not add weight to your exercises too soon as this may lead to a breakdown in form and can lead to injury, stalling your progress even more so. If you’re doing normal reps a better may to progress your workload is to modify your reps to include the following strategies: eccentrics, isometrics, adding reps (dependent on type of training), and adding sets (dependent on time-constraints and managing overtraining)
2. Women Build Legs Quicker, Men Build Upper Body Quicker
Women posses are greater percentage of muscle mass in their legs relative to their upper body so they will build their legs faster than their upper body. So that means that you don’t have to work your legs 4-5 times per week to get results. 2-3 leg days per week should be more than sufficient to build legs. Also, a lot of women neglect working their upper body (with maybe the exception of abs) and since it’s a little more challenging to get results versus leg workouts, it’s especially important not to skip out on upper body workouts. Aside from the aesthetics of having a well-toned upper body, a strong upper body helps assist in the performance of certain lower body workouts, especially squats and deadlifts.
3. Women Rely More on Aerobic Metabolism During Exercise. Men Rely More on Anaerobic Metabolism
Women muscle fibers typically contain fewer anaerobic enzymes than male fibers which would increase their reliance on aerobic metabolism for energy, which leads to more fat burning during the exercise session. This allows women to maintain a steady state workload much longer than men, resist fatigue better than men, and recover more quickly between sets than men. For these reasons, women will excel more in higher rep/ longer duration type workout sessions.
4. Women Can Recovery From Muscle Damage Faster Than Men
Women posses a greater percentage of estrogen versus men and this can actually assist in muscle repair after damaging exercise. But even though estrogen might assist in recovery from exercise, when considering muscle damage, it doesn’t have any effect on muscle fiber size. Studies have shown estrogen to have both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Antioxidants have been shown to negatively affect protein signaling and resistance training adaptations and inflammation has been shown to be important for growth signals following damaging exercise – so reducing inflammation might also impair muscle growth following training.
5. Women Can Tolerate More Carbohydrates Than Men, But Suffer More On Low Calorie Eating Plans
Again, having a higher estrogen level than men allows women to burn carbs (glucose/sugar) more effectively than men do. On the other hand, having a too restrictive daily caloric intake, especially coupled with a high intensity workout program, can more likely lead to higher cortisol levels and eventually lead burnout versus other males in general.
To Wrap It Up
Men and women are not that different when considering fiber composition and initial training adaptations. The major differences between the genders appear in: metabolism, muscle fiber size, and anabolic hormones. Does this mean women should train differently than men? Not necessarily, but it is important to keep in the differences in mind so that if you’re not getting the results you want, you may want to tweak your program based the advantages you have naturally as a woman.
A long term plan between a male and female will be slightly different when considering progressive overload and periodization. There will be a point when a female no longer progresses as quickly as a male and training alterations may have to be made to continue their progress, albeit at a slower pace. For now, we don’t have enough evidence to say whether or not women or men should train more frequently than one another when considering recovery times. Men might recover more quickly from normal training, but females will experience less muscle damage and less inflammation which enhances their perceived recovery over men.
Women will be naturally better in endurance situations and men will usually be stronger and faster – but you should always train doing what you love to do no matter what!
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To your health!
DMP Fitness
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Email: Darryl@dmpfitness.org
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