Women are the main consumers when it comes to health and fitness. They are the majority of the ones joining yoga studios, spin classes, working with trainers, and in this case, asking the question.
With that, women are targeted the most when it comes to ads and fitness content. A LOT of different things come up because of that, creating massive amounts of confusion.
Think of all the ads, commercials, and social media content around this. And every single one is trying to convince women that their option is the BEST option.
Now with all these things, a lot of confusion is created.
I made it a point to make note of the topics I’ve seen around women and exercise the past few weeks:
- Women can’t build muscle
- Lifting weights makes women bulky
- Lifting weight doesn’t make women bulky
- Women should lift like men
- Cardio is good enough to achieve all results
- Most women are hyper-mobile so they should not work on mobility
- Pilates will give women the “ideal female body”
Let’s address a few of these:
#1: Women can’t build muscle
Women can 100% build muscle. They might not build muscle at the rate of the people we see all over instagram or on magazine covers but, neither can anyone else in this world. Those people are professionals, their job is to look a certain way.
Muscle is just an adaptation in response to what you put your body through. If you send a signal to your body that It needs muscle (by lifting weights) then muscle will be built.
Now, if you are someone who is constantly in a “dieting phase” then building muscle will be extremely hard. That goes for anyone, women or men. Unless you are eating in a calorie surplus, muscle building will be difficult.
Muscle building is hard in general. But I guess what I am trying to say is that it’s EVEN HARDER if you are not eating more calories than you are burning.
A large majority of the women I currently am working with and have worked with in the past have the goal of losing weight. They are not in a calorie surplus, and if we reference what we just discussed above, building muscle will most likely not happen (at least as quickly).
This might be why this stigma of women not building muscle became a thing, but that’s just speculation.
For the people who don’t think this way, It leads us nicely into the next section.
#2: Lifting weights make women bulky
For the people who believe women can build muscle, It seems they dive off the deep end the other way and think that women will build muscle uncontrollably.
Anyone has the ability to get bulky if they do things a certain way. So, this idea of lifting weights and added size is not a fallacy, It can happen. But It isn’t necessarily easy.
If we reference the first section of this article— building muscle is hard in a calorie deficit. It’s like trying to build a house without any wood or bricks. You need more building materials if you want the house to get any larger.
For your body to get larger, you need to eat more food. If you aren’t eating excess calories your body shouldn’t get larger.
The women I coach, gaining extra size is NOT the goal.
Some women do see increases in muscle size in places they might not want to see It. Especially in body parts that get a lot of extra work. That usually means these areas are working hard and not holding much fat either.
One example I can think of is a woman I am currently training now. We work together in person a few days a week and online a day or two per week. She has 3 goals:
- Feel the best she absolutely can
- Move the best she absolutely can
- Lose body fat (not losing weight, but decreasing her overall body fat levels while maintaining of increasing her muscle mass)
During this process she has seen great results on every single one of these goals. As things moved forward she started noticing her shoulders were looking different. She doesn’t carry much excess mass in her shoulders whatsoever and is VERY strong in that area.
So what did we do?
We lowered the amount of targeted work on her shoulders and filled those slots with more of what she wanted—> stronger leg muscles, more strength in her core, and better mobility.
Did lifting weights make her bulky?
I’m not sure bulky is the word, but in one particular area size was added. It never became a problem, but something she wanted to avoid before it went any further.
Do I think lifting weights directly causes bulkiness?
Not at all. A lot goes into either gaining or losing size. Lifting weights will help with either one, but what has a bigger determination will depend on your nutrition and lifestyle habits, not just lifting weights.
#3: Women should lift like men
We are getting warmer…
But not quite there yet.
It just seems as if everything has to be a this or that statement. We make everything so polarizing that there is no middle ground.
Women should lift like men
Women can’t gain muscle
Women get too bulky from lifting weights
What if the answer to most of these issues falls somewhere in the middle? Pieces of the statements have truth but the individual context of each situation means more than the statement itself.
That’s my quick rant for this section, moving on.
When I look at the goals of every woman I am currently working with –> Improve strength, reduce pain in the body, improve energy, improve mobility.
These goals are quite straight forward and in line with just about every man we are working with as well.
That doesn’t mean women should blindly just train like men. The reason I find this topic closer to the right answer is because I think the idea people are trying to get across is that lifting weights can be good for everyone
But I wanted to go deeper because if you are a woman reading this and just start training like the guy at your gym, you might not be too happy with the results (depending on your goal).
Who is to say men train correctly anyway? Why don’t we say men should train like women? Why don’t we say lifting weights makes men bulky?
It could be because everyone is targeting the main consumers, women.
The way we handle this is based on the individual.
Break down what YOU want and work towards that instead of following what someone else might be doing.
#4: Cardio is good enough
Some people I talk to or even work with assume I find yoga classes, Zumba, spin, and boot camp style classes as a waste of time.
“You don’t think people should be doing spin classes do you?”
“I’m guessing you aren’t a fan of all those boot camps people are doing”
I use resistance training with almost every person that works with me. That doesn’t mean I think that’s the only way people can get where they want to be.
What these people may not know, I ran my own boot camps on weekends while I was in college. I found it to be an absolute blast, not only for myself, but for everyone working out too. It also gave a great group of people a reason to get up and move on a weekend!
You can do just about anything you want, as long as It has a positive effect. Well I guess you can really do whatever the hell you want despite the effect, but you get what I’m saying.
What I really mean—> Anything has its place in a plan, as long as you are making progress in the right direction.
These types of classes are great to get people to do something.
- They are low commitment
- They create a sense of community
- They make you feel really good afterwards
- And they keep you coming back
Anything that gets people up and moving is a positive in my book. Now that doesn’t mean it’s the best thing in the world. Just like with everything else we have discussed so far, the answer will fall somewhere in the middle.
Having these types of classes as a compliment to your entire plan might have some great benefits.
Here’s what a full week could look like if you implement multiple styles of working out:
- 2 strength training workouts (Monday and Wednesday)
- 1-2 cardio/bootcamp classes (Tuesday and/or Friday)
- 1 yoga class (Saturday)
This plan is not relying on JUST weight training, or JUST spin, JUST bootcamps. It’s finding a place where everything can fit. Not only fit, but actually compliment one another.
The strength training will focus on muscle and strength building. While the cardio classes will help improve your cardiovascular health. And the yoga class will tie it all together with full body movement and mobilization.
Not a bad week if you ask me!
These cardio classes alone may not the answer, but that’s not to say there is not a place for them in your plan.
So how should women workout?
The answer that comes from this question would be the same for any person asking this same thing.
Whether you are a:
Woman looking to lose fat
Man looking to improve mobility
Man looking to get stronger
Woman looking to gain strength
Person in this world with a health or fitness goal
You will train according to your individual goals and your personal situation.
That is it, end of story. I don’t know what your goals are, who you are, or what your situation is, so there is no perfect plan I can lay out in this article for you.
But I will tell you that being told you can’t do something, or that you have to workout this certain way, is not the truth.
Workout in a way that works for YOUR goals, that YOU enjoy, that gets YOU the results you want to see.
If you are having trouble and want some help, just email me and I will be happy to help get the ball rolling for you!
In good health,
Jeff
