How Does Weight Training Differ for Women Vs. Men?

Does weight training differ for men versus women? There are a lot of misconceptions about this topic—let's talk about it.

Weight Training for Women Vs. Men

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about training, especially when it comes to women lifting weights. And if there should be any differences between what women are doing versus what men are doing.

Honestly, there really shouldn't be any major differences.

For men versus women, the only difference would really be the amount of volume that you're dedicating to certain muscle groups for that gender. This is a very generalized statement. But in general, women tend to like to have a little bit more shoulder volume, a little bit more short broader shoulders, and bigger butts. Men focus a little bit more on their chest and their arms.

That would be the only case where maybe women are doing a little bit more in the sense of doing more, you know, shoulder exercises, some arm exercises, and focusing a little bit more on the glutes versus males who would maybe be doing more chest exercises, and some bicep exercises. But that would be the only difference, right?

When it comes to training and lifting weights and building muscle, the principles don't change for genders. Things don't change from men to women—we're still making sure that we're doing all the things that matter for muscle growth. That includes following a smart, structured program, and implementing progressive overload training.

That just means that you're doing a little bit more every time you go to the gym, or you go to your session, making sure you're focused on that is going to be the biggest thing for everybody—regardless of gender. That's one of the main principles of building muscle is just making sure you're doing a little bit more so that you can effectively stimulate your muscles and they can break down and then that will cause them to grow. 

Recovery for Men Vs Women

We have to make sure that we are recovering right. When you break your muscles down at the gym, you want to make sure that they are building up when you're recovering. You don't build muscle in the gym—you break it down. When you're sleeping, when you're resting—that is when your muscle is built. All of these principles still stay the same. You want to make sure that no matter what gender you are, you're still focusing on the main rocks that make a difference.

When it comes to training, differences between males and females, really just depend on what your goals are. And some people's goals are different, right? So I said in the beginning, the generalized statement of males wanting to have bigger chests or maybe bigger biceps, but maybe some women want to have a bigger chest.

The difference is in training it shouldn't there shouldn't be many differences for males were first females really just depend on what you're focusing on and what your personal goals are. But all the principles stay the same. And you really just want to make sure that you're focused on what matters.

Have more questions about women-specific training? Check out the other resources we have on the blog and podcast to learn everything you need to know.