A lady at the gym walked up to me and told me that she wanted to get more toned but not too bulky. She explained to me that she was spending an hour a day running on the treadmill or cycling and explained to me that this would get her that toned look she was seeking. I told her that weightlifting may be her best option, she had this befuddled look on her face as soon as I said it and I think she was probably imaging herself looking bulky, thick and masculine until I clarified why thought that was her best option.
You see, when you do any form of weight resistance training, not only are you increasing your strength but you are simultaneously shaping your muscle for that ‘toned’ look. And even though women have a high potential of building muscle, weight training will generally lead to a more aesthetically pleasing physique and not the bulky look that women are so afraid of (unless they follow a steroid cycle).
After I was done explaining I started thinking to myself, can women train the same way as men? The answer is a resounding YES. The potential for women to build muscle is not that different when compared to men and this has been backed up by research. The only difference is that men will build muscle at a faster rate and this is because of two reasons, 1. Men have more testosterone than women and 2. Women are naturally smaller and hold more body fat than the average man.
So how exactly should a woman train in order to attain that toned look? Before answering that, let’s talk about to 3 points real quick.
Oestrogen
Women have 9 times more oestrogen than men and the upside to this is that muscle repair happens at a much faster rate (which explains why women can train legs 3 times a week) and catabolism (breakdown of muscle tissue) is prevented. This means that women can train for more sets and reps then men, so for example, I would tell a man to do 4 sets of 10 reps of a squat at a challenging weight but for the woman, I would tell them to do 6 sets of 15-20 reps in order to get the same results in terms of muscle growth. In short, women need to do more than men in the gym.
Testosterone
Men have more testosterone than women and we all know that testosterone is the muscle building hormone. This is good news though because it means women can train more often and recover quicker without adding too much muscle too quickly. Simply put, your body will naturally become toned through weight training and not bulky so you don’t have to worry about it (unless of course you want to look jacked).
Strength
As mentioned earlier, men are naturally stronger than women but what is interesting is that women tend to be much stronger in their lower bodies which explains why they enjoy training their lower body so much. Another factor to point out is fatigue…. generally, women don’t fatigue as much as men or as quickly as men. This means that they can do more reps and sets and have shorter rest periods.
Okay, so how exactly should women train? I would say keep the exercises more or less the same barring maybe one or two exercise when training with a man but the only difference should be the following:
1. More sets and reps
2. More endurance exercises
3. Less explosive exercises
4. Shorter rest periods between sets
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