This video is sponsored by Squarespace.
We’ve all seen the glaring differences in marketing when it comes to women versus men
in fitness.
Men, we have the overwhelming need to build muscle and lift an impressive 16 bags of groceries
into the house in one trip.
Fitness marketers cater to that need, telling us to pump all the iron we can.
Women, the general approach is much…
lighter, so to speak, with an emphasis on cardio and anything with the letters “lbs”
and a number higher than 5 next to it it shall be avoided at all cost.
In essence, it leads us to believe that men and women should train differently from one
another.
Of course, as an astute fitness enthusiast, you’re not going to just sit idly by and
accept this concept without more literary evidence to support it.
At least I hope so.
And when we jump into the evidence, we’ll notice that, yes, there are some clear physiological
differences between the two sexes.
But, are they great enough to warrant men and women to train differently?
Let’s first look at body composition.
Men do naturally have more muscle mass due to their higher levels of the muscle-building
hormone testosterone.
Women have, on average, two-thirds the muscle mass of men, carry about twice more body fat,
and have a greater distribution of muscle in their lower body.
You would think with the lower musculature and testosterone, women will have a harder
time actually building muscle.
But that’s actually not the case.
In fact, there’s hardly any difference in relative muscle growth rates between men and
women.
This was elucidated by Greg Nuckols of Stronger by Science in an amazing article in which
he dissected 25 studies directly comparing muscle growth rates.
In those studies, on average, there was only a meager .97% difference in muscle growth
rates between men and women.
He also found that women had slightly better relative strength gains than men, dispelling
the misconception that women struggle in getting stronger.
I’ll provide a link to Greg’s article in the description below if you wanna check
it out yourself.
Now, this is clearly a great thing for women if they want to build muscle and get stronger.
But for those women scared of looking too muscular, this finding can actually turn them
away.
But reminder, women start off with significantly less muscle mass than men.
Even though relative growth rates were similar in both sexes, men still have the advantage
of gaining more absolute muscle since they have more muscle to begin with.
So no, ladies, unless you’re beasting it at the gym 5 times a week for many many years,
lifting weights and putting on some muscle won’t make you look bulky.
Growth and strength rates aside, one distinction favoring women is endurance.
This endurance advantage allows women to do more reps at any given exercise intensity.
This is thanks to a host of factors, primarily the difference in muscle fiber types.
Men have larger Type 2 muscle fibers, fibers that provide a great burst of force production
but also fatigue very quickly.
Women, on the other hand, have larger fatigue-resistant type 1 muscle fibers.
These fibers are better at mobilizing and oxidizing fat for energy, preserving other
energy sources, like glycogen, which allows for greater muscular endurance.
Women also have more estrogen hormones like estradiol.
Estradiol have shown to increase fat oxidation, limit muscle damage and inflammation, as well
as stimulate recovery.
And recovery is another benefit that tend to favor women.
Studies have shown that women can not only recover strength quicker than men in similar
training protocols, but also tend to experience less soreness and muscle damage.
One potentially negative consideration for women is their menstrual cycle.
Performance does vary between the follicular and luteal phases, which might be heavily
attributed to menstrual symptoms affecting emotional and energy states.
This needs to be accounted for and training intensity and frequency should be adjusted
based on the effects of the symptoms.
And that’s the gist of the differences in training-related physiological parameters.
Now, how exactly do these differences translate into training adjustments based on sex?
For the most part, not much.
Responses to training are still very similar in both men and women.
It really comes down to the goal each individual is shooting for.
For weight loss, both men and women need to achieve a calorie deficit over time along
with a solid exercise program.
Women having better endurance, though, means they can do more work, thus burn more calories.
Having some high intensity resistance training is still important.
It helps preserve lean mass and aid in fat loss, achieving the so-called “toned”
or “defined” look many women desire.
But the overarching factor is diet in both sexes.
For just building muscle, resistance training and progressively increasing work volume is
imperative.
Women might want to achieve greater volume through more heavy reps thanks to their endurance
advantage.
Men should rely simply on maximizing volume through many ranges of intensities.
Sure, there might be differences in a specific muscle most men want to grow versus what most
women want, but the training for them doesn’t change much.
Get your volume in.
And for getting stronger, it will undoubtedly require either group to consistently lift
heavier and heavier weights.
Women might be able to recover faster, which can help them gain strength relatively quicker.
Men, however, do perform better in short, all-out bursts, giving them an advantage to
work effectively in maximal intensities.
But now we see that, although there ARE some sex differences to consider when programming
a training plan, they aren’t drastic enough to justify a complete overhaul in order to
accommodate the opposite sex.
Women should be lugging iron just as much as the men do.
And men, no, cardio won’t kill your gains.
So, ladies and gents, get out there and just get the work done.
That’s what matters most.
And you know what matters most in making a great website?
Having an all-in-one platform that provides great customization and designs.
And you can get that when you make it with SQUARESPACE!
And I’m sure that there’s a lot of you fitness lovers here that really want to create
your own website, whether to showcase your own personal fitness achievements or run an
online training program.
If that’s you, or if you want to make a website for any reason really, then head over
to Squarespace.com to start your free trial and make your new website today.
Plus, once you’re ready to launch, you can head to squarespace.com/picturefit to save
10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
I hoped you enjoyed this video and found it helpful in planning your own training goals.
Please thumbs up and share it with your fitness-loving friends!
And as always, thank you for watching and GET YOUR PROTEIN!