120 Tips on Strength Training for Women

120 Tips on Strength Training for Women

120 Tips on Strength Training for Women





For six months I’ve been taking notes while training my female clients, and I’m finally comfortable with the list. Here are 120 tips on strength training for women (many aren’t really tips, just observations). Please understand that I intend no disrespect or offense, I’m not trying to be controversial, I’m aware that I could be wrong in some cases, and obviously I’ve made broad generalizations and there are many exceptions to this list. My primary intent is to inform other trainers and coaches about my observations – it’s likely that your observations will differ from mine. Here they are separated into four categories:
Exercise Considerations

1. Women have to be taught that the eccentric portion of the movement is important, and most will let their form go down the tubes when lowering their last rep of a set (for example diromg deadlifts or chins)
2. Women are more prone than men to exhibit valgus collapse during squatting – while individual differences such as Q-angles contribute to this, “sitting like a lady” probably contributes to it as well
3. A woman’s glutes can become stronger than a male’s – indicated by a greater relative hip thrust strength seen in women (a 2xBW hip thrust appears to be much more common in trained women than trained men, as is a 3xBW hip thrust)
4. Proper push-up form is much more difficult to attain for women than it is for men
5. Women have good “reactive/elastic strength” or stretch-shortening cycle efficiency, but they have poor “starting strength” – for example if they start a deadlift or shoulder press from the top of the movement with an eccentric lowering first, the performance is markedly better than if they perform the concentric portion first (more so than that of men)
6. Some women struggle to activate their glutes with straightened legs (ex: planks and back extensions), but easily can when the knees are bent (ex: squats and hip thrusts) – I don’t quite know why this occurs
7. Women utilize a variety of lumbar-pelvic strategies when lifting and often resort to overarching (excessive hyperextension) the spine during planks, push-ups, pull-ups, and deadlifts
8. Most women prefer the EZ bar over the traditional barbell for hip thrusts as their pelvises can get beat up by traditional barbells (depends on the EZ bar though)
9. Some women have “coregasms” when training, and the hanging leg raise is the primary culprit (these orgasms usually aren’t welcomed as they’re inconvenient)
10. Bodyweight exercises for the upper body are much harder for women compared to men
11. Bodyweight reverse hypers are often more effective for women compared to men
12. Single leg RDL form comes more naturally to women due to better hip flexion mobility
13. Conversely, single leg squat form is more difficult for women due to anatomical differences (Q-angle) and greater frontal plane hip stability requirements

Programming Design Considerations

1. Women have much better stamina than men in terms of training density at higher intensities – they don’t require as much intra-set rest time as men
2. Most women initially possess “quad dominance”, which should actually be referred to as “posterior chain weakness”
3. Women are not initially very competent at executing 1RM’s, and this skill takes more time to develop in women compared to men
4. Women tend to go too light with resistance training, whereas men tend to go too heavy to the point where their form breaks down too much or they rely on excessive momentum (there’s a popular saying in our industry that women should add 10% to the bar while men should take 10% off the bar)
5. Women’s upper bodies are much weaker than those of men – lower body strength is around 70-75% of men, whereas upper body strength is around 40-60%
6. When the spine is taken out of the equation, women’s relative compound lower body strength is more comparable to that of men (example leg press, hip thrust), however, in lifts that require significant spinal stability, relative compound lower body strength lags even greater when compared to men (example squats, deadlifts)
7. Many women love isolation lifts and feeling the burn with them, probably too much, as most of them love these movements for the wrong reasons (see next point)
8. The vast majority of women believe in spot reduction – even if they’ve heard the truth about spot reduction on numerous occasions (many mistakenly believe that tricep, adductor, and low ab exercises burn fat in those regions)
9. Most women think there’s some magic fitness secret out there and therefore try to juggle every fitness methodology under the sun, which results in being mediocre at a variety of things rather than highly skilled in one or just a few areas
10. Many women can tolerate greater training frequency of heavy lifting for the upper body due to less neural demand on account of lower strength levels
11. Women absolutely love it when they perform their first legitimate push-up and chin-up, and many love doing “masculine” things in the gym such as pushing sleds
12. Some women who have boob jobs have to permanently alter their programming, others don’t, and some can resume normal training after a period of time (for example, prone exercises, pec exercises, and even lat exercises can be problematic)
13. Women tend to appreciate excellent form more so than men and aren’t as prone to “ego lifting”
14. However, many women lack the fortitude and dedication to ever see incredible results from lifting due to “being a lifter” rather than “being a student of weight lifting”
15. Many women will never appear “too muscular” no matter how much resistance training they perform
16. Some women, however, can indeed get too big of quads through progressive overload with squats/lunges, contrary to popular opinion
17. And some women can indeed get too big of traps/back through progressive overload with deadlifts, contrary to popular opinion
18. Some women can get too muscular for their preferences in the upper body and should simply utilize variety rather than progressive overload for upper body lifts
19. Women can indeed build blocky abdominals with too much core training
20. The vast majority of women will never have “too much booty” as in gluteus maximus musculature no matter how much resistance training they perform
21. Most women feel that plyos have some special fat-zapping properties for the legs (they don’t)
22. Many women resort to sprinting for glute-building and end up injuring themselves due to inadequate preparation – a better strategy is to simply master the hip thrust as it’s markedly safer for non-athletes
23. If you let them, many women would perform their entire workout as one giant circuit (therefore you have to teach them to rest adequately for strength gains)
24. Women require smaller jumps in progressive overload – smaller plates are therefore critical (example 1.25-2.5lbs), as are smaller barbells (and smaller jumps in db’s, kb’s, and bands)
25. Women prefer variety with training – put a man in a garage with pair of squat stands and a barbell loaded with bumper plates and he’d be accepting, whereas a woman would sorely miss her kettlebells, suspension system, and elastic bands

Anatomical, Physiological, Psychological, and Random Considerations

1. Women in general complain about pain more frequently than men (by the way, the notion that women have higher pain tolerances than men is not supported in the literature)
2. Many women loathe calluses and prefer to wear lifting gloves as they feel it allows them to retain their femininity – and I have absolutely no problem with this as a trainer
3. The hip thrust strength discrepancy between men and women is strange because the literature shows that women’s glutes are smaller compared to men, both in an absolute and a relative manner, though individual variation in glute size is enormous
4. Women’s muscles, when expressed per unit of area, produce the same amount of force as those of men, but women carry less muscle mass (18-22 less kgs of lean body mass)
5. This spinal stability discrepancy between men and women may have to do with the lesser leverage (moment arms) of core muscles on account of smaller torsos in women compared to men, which translates to lesser spinal stability strength per amount of muscle force
6. Compared to men, most women have better hip, t-spine, shoulder, and pelvic mobility
7. It is common for women, however, to have poor ankle mobility – just as it is for men
8. Many women initially possess very poor levels of core stability; even more so than men
9. An alarming number of female beginners possess very little noticeable levels of glute activation during various glute exercises
10. Women tend to be very grateful and appreciative of their trainers, more so than men
11. Some women giggle when they’re struggling with exercise form or when pushing a set near failure – men don’t do this
12. Women love feeling strong, contrary to popular opinion
13. Women often bring drama to the gym and have more trouble detaching from everyday life-struggles when training
14. Women are great motivators and encouragers in the gym
15. Women have different physique goals than men, and this needs to be taken into account with programming
16. Women often struggle to load and unload plates off of barbells properly due to pulling or positioning them off-track rather than centering them perfectly and pushing/pulling straight-on
17. High heels likely contributes to certain women’s quad dominance and tight plantarflexors
18. Certain female sexual positions might contribute to women possessing good hip mobility and pelvic control (ex: ones that have the woman in a deep squat position, ones that have the woman in a bridge position, ones that have the woman rocking their hips back and forth, etc.)
19. More women than men tend to look to the side during sagittal plane lifts – their eyes veer off to the left or right rather than remain focused straight ahead
20. Women don’t tend to look at themselves in the mirror as much as men when training
21. More women possess hypermobility than men
22. On average, women are not as consistent as men at keeping training logs
23. Women are not as proficient at learning gym lingo, learning the names of exercises, and learning which exercises work the various muscles compared to men
24. Women differ anatomically compared to men (for example, the average male over 20 yrs of age is 5’10” and weighs 190 lbs, whereas the average female over 20 yrs of age is 5’4” and weighs 163 lbs – in addition, women possess wider pelvises and larger Q-angles than men)
25. Women differ physiologically compared to men, which influences anatomy (for example they possess greater bodyfat percentages of 25-31% compared to men at 18-24%)
26. Women differ psychologically compared to men (for example they’re motivated to train uniquely, and what revs up a man to max out doesn’t necessarily rev up a woman to max out)
27. It is common for women to miss periods (menstrual cycles) upon embarking on an intensive training regimen (not to be confused with amenorrhea which happens when body fat drops too low)
28. Menstrual cycles usually have a huge influence on factors such as training motivation, irritability/mood, water retention, and self-esteem during exercise
29. The size of women’s breasts and also butts can fluctuate markedly throughout the month, which can lead to frustration
30. Some women experience urinary incontinence when exercising, and the likelihood increases after giving birth
31. Woman are better than men at fostering camaraderie but not quite as good as men at holding training partners accountable for showing up
32. Many women don’t activate their pelvic floor muscles properly
33. Women tend to prefer different training music than men
34. More women than men like to offer up the phrase “they say” as proof of evidence (who exactly is “they”?)
35. Most women don’t like getting weighed on scales, and many prefer to see how clothes fit as measures of progress (I don’t agree with this practice as I like to utilize all measures of progress)
36. Women like wearing pink workout apparel and take their training attire much more seriously than men (for example they tend to match their shoes with their shorts or shirts, etc.)
37. Women love putting chalk on their hands and then clapping hard – thereby getting chalk everywhere rather than keeping it solely on the hands (they probably do this because they saw gymnasts do it)
38. Women are not as natural as men at adjusting machines and apparatuses
39. Women love compliments – it fuels their fire to train even harder
40. Most women are initially very insecure about lifting weights – many desire private or small training environments since they’re less intimidating
41. Many women are very intimidated of free-weights in general – especially in gyms, and especially in free-weight sections of heavily populated gyms – which is why many opt for the cardio area
42. Many women overvalue the importance of cardio, met-con, and high-intensity interval training
43. Many women overvalue the importance of stretching
44. Many women overvalue the importance of abdominal training
45. Many women undervalue the importance of strength
46. Many women fear getting bulky – and sometimes this fear is warranted as it can indeed happen, especially with certain muscle groups (despite most trainers and coaches saying it’s not a concern)
47. Compared to men, women carry a greater percentage of their weight in their lower bodies and a lower percentage of their weight in their upper bodies
48. Most women will name types like Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, or Jamie Eason as their ideal physique – men tend to assume that all women want to look like J-Lo or Shakira
49. The female body makes around 10% as much testosterone as a man’s, but androstenedione levels are similar (however testosterone levels vary dramatically between women)
50. Genetics for muscle building varies dramatically between women, possibly due to the variances in T-levels, muscle fiber type proportions, and/or satellite cell efficiency
51. Genetics for fat loss varies dramatically between women – some stay very lean despite consuming a surprisingly large amount of calories and/or “junk” food, whereas others seem to do everything right yet can’t improve their body composition
52. Where women store fat varies dramatically between women – typical problematic areas for fat storage are the inner thighs, buttocks, and back of the arms, however some struggle in the lower abdominal and lower back regions too
53. Where women build muscle varies dramatically between women – for example some women can grow a booty by just looking at a barbell, whereas others seem to do everything right but still struggle (some can even grow a booty by just doing tons of cardio, whereas this recipe would spell disasters for most women for that purpose)
54. Most women, when looking in the mirror, hone in on their “problem areas” rather than focus on their best parts
55. A small percentage of women possess what I call “Tasmanian devil syndrome,” characterized by a barrel chest with two chicken legs – this is the hardest body type to improve!
56. Most women have well-intentioned male friends who give them horrendous advice pertaining to their goals
57. If a woman has a boyfriend/husband who is a coach/trainer, she won’t listen to him no matter what his credentials are (never a prophet in your own land)
58. More women than men attempt to chat during lifts, and they’ll even do so with maximal attempts (men instinctively shut their traps and focus on the task at hand when maxing out)
59. Women prefer to hear feminine terms such as “firm,” toned,” “tight,” “lean,” “long,” “sculpted” and “sexy,” rather than masculine terms such as “jacked,” “yoked,” “swole,” “huge,” “ripped,” “shredded,” or “muscular,” and even the word “hypertrophy” can scare them off
60. Women don’t tend to value training partners in the same manner that men do
61. Women sometimes dress very sexy for the gym and are then annoyed when males show interest while they’re training, which on the surface doesn’t make the best of sense
62. However, women often aren’t dressing to impress men, they like looking and feeling their best in the gym for personal reasons related to motivation and confidence
63. Women usually don’t want to be bothered in the gym – unsolicited advice from meatheads and cheesy pick-up lines get old quickly, yet men will nevertheless remain persistent
64. Women don’t tend to care as much about science and research – anecdotes are often sufficient for evidence
65. Some women make sexual-sounding grunts when lifting; men grunt but it doesn’t sound sexual
66. Women respond differently hormonally to exercise than men (they tend to release more growth hormone, less testosterone and more cortisol)
67. Some women prefer hiring a female trainer because they feel more comfortable and that a woman can relate better to their needs, whereas training with the same sex or they feel that a woman will better relate to their needs, while other women prefer hiring a male trainer since they feel that men can better motivate and push them to new levels of development
68. Many women feel that all upper body training is “arm” training (they refer to chest, shoulder, and back exercises as arm exercises)
69. During casual conversation, when most women imitate weight lifting form to friends, family members, or peers, all of a sudden they get the form all wrong (for example they’ll imitate a deadlift like an upright row)
70. Many women are self-conscious about the way they look when lifting – for example they’re initially insecure about performing RDLs or hip thrusts, they’re keenly aware of how their clothing is situated on their bodies, and they try to avoid grimacing when the intensity rises
71. Some women seem impossible with their complaints; for example one day they’re worried about getting too bulky and the next day they’re upset that they lost muscle size somewhere
72. Women sometimes twist compliments into insults, and they’re more sensitive to criticism than men

Nutrition and Health Considerations

1. Women are more gullible and prone to gimmicks and fads in regards to exercise and fitness
2. However, women spend less money on muscle building supplements than men
3. Women have better sleep quality compared to men – they sleep longer, they fall asleep faster, and their sleep is more efficient, but despite this, women have more sleep-related complaints than men (this is shown in the literature)
4. Women are more prone than men to getting fooled into buying “fake” healthy foods (they trust labels and don’t inspect the ingredients and nutritional info)
5. Many women don’t like the taste of protein shakes, whereas most men enjoy the taste
6. Many women don’t consume optimal protein intake because they assume that items like yogurt and nuts are high in protein
7. Many women have unhealthy attitudes about their body images
8. Due to this, many women have unhealthy relationships with food – women are more prone to eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating
9. Some women end up permanently damaging their metabolisms by engaging in unsafe dietary practices when training for competitions (often recommended by their trainers and coaches)
10. Women tend to be better than men at getting in their fruits and veggies, whereas they don’t tend to crave meat and eggs as much as men

Wow he knows his stuff

Women differ anatomically compared to men

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