4 Differences in Training and Diet: Men VS Women

1) Strength

Most women typically have very weak upper body strength.

Push ups, Pull ups, and other body weight upper body workouts are very tough for most women. But that doesn't mean it should be.

I've had many women become able to do many pull ups and even one arms push ups, it just takes work.

In contrast most men only care about upper body strength "How much ya Bench?!".  Something about Baby Boomers and Gen. X'ers that don't realize they have chicken legs.


The leap from 5 lbs in dumbbells is a moderate change for a man, but a be all end all for women. I'll have a girl press 20 lbs for for 12 reps easily, I add 5 lbs and they struggle to get 1.

Women will often benefit from having transitional weights in between. Only problem is most gyms don't carry the 12 lb and 17.5 lb dumbbells. So make sure if you're a woman to have the kinds of weights available for yourself.

2) Hormones

Women are often scared to lift, because they think they'll get too bulky and look like Chyna from the WWF. But they can't because of the lack of testosterone.



The women that you've seen that are bulky are doing just that, injecting testosterone and possibly other things into their body. And once again, scaring women from lifting weights.

Women will also have higher body fat than men due to hormones as well. That's why 10% is considered excellent body fat for most men, and 18% is considered high tier for women.

So much easier being a guy, I know.

3) Body Fat

Men put almost all their weight gain is their stomach. Usually getting the dreaded beer gut, even when not drinking. Even at lower levels of body fat, men will still have a tiny pudge until they get down to the single digits of body fat.

Men also put fat on their chest, which can be good if you can't afford a sex change.



Women put on fat in their thighs, arms, and now seen more frequently...stomach.

I've seen women with flat stomachs, but put all their body fat in their legs. It's weird how it can work.

Here's what's not different though. Women often want to know how to get rid of their "Teachers Arms", men want to know how they can get rid of their breasts and love handles, there's no workout that does it. It's all body fat. Get your body fat down low enough from diet and exercise and it all goes away.




Also there's just some times in the month, women shouldn't weigh or measure body fat.

4) Health at the cost of Fashion

Women wear these things called high heels, that may look great but shorten the Achilles tendon.

Much stretching, and foam rolling is necessary. And obviously, women should be careful about how often they wear them as well.

Men don't have this problem with sacrificing health for fashion, they do often however have a problem with fashion in general.

FINAL THOUGHT

Now I could  list all types of little nuances between the way men and women can or should train, but ultimately it's trivial.

However, it won't stop thousands of "Fitness Gurus" from trying to market it that way, because that's where the money is.

These are some of the only things I thought that were worth mentioning, the main thing is to stop making excuses and just workout and diet whether you're a man, woman, or even a canine quadruped.