Do Females Need to Train Differently?

I guess it’s not really so much that there’s a difference between men and women, but that there’s a different between trainees of different sizes, body compositions, and muscle fiber-type distributions.

It’s pretty obvious, when we look at the biological sexes, that there are some key differences between males and females. Overall size, muscle and fat distribution, and body composition are just a few.

We also have to consider things like hormone allotment and the menstrual cycle.

But at the end of the day, do men and women need to train differently to optimize their results?

The short answer is no. Considering the 80/20 rule in this situation, males and females should train in a similar fashion 80% of the time. This means applying the rules of specificity, progressive overload, and frequency, intensity, type, and duration to our exercise plans. 

We should consider the basic principles of adaption and recovery and then individualize programs along all of these axes. 

However, there are some differences that you may want to consider (especially if you’re reading this and are female).

The first difference is overall recovery ability. It has been noted in the literature that female trainees may have a higher capacity for recovery. This leads us to the conclusion that females can usually rest less between sets, rest less between sessions, or add volume to their total work with equal recovery when compared to their male counterparts.

In practice, this probably means being able to add an extra set to an exercise or hitting a movement or muscle group more often during the week.

The second main difference is the menstrual cycle. Some phases leave you feeling energetic and ready to tackle anything, while others leave you plodding through workouts.

The takeaway here is that females may stand to gain more benefit from listening to their body and pushing hard on the good days, opting to scale back the others. 

The last thing that has often been noted for female trainees is that they may stand to benefit more from single-leg work than their male counterparts, especially in terms of injury-resistance. 

This is mostly due to pelvic structure and joint angles, but I wouldn’t go overboard and throw away all of your regular squats and deadlifts over it. A few single-leg exercises each week (e.g. lunges, lateral lunges, or single-leg deadlifts) should close the gap.

At the end of the day, the most important thing to remember is that exercise programs need to be individualized and the general differences between male and female trainees are no different than the specific differences between two separate gym-goers.

Smaller lifters lift less weight and can generally recover better.

People with certain fiber types are more endurance-biased, while others seem to be built for strength and power.

The best advice is to simply listen to your body and learn as you go. You’ll find the best approach for you personally if you stick with it.