Training Women different than Men?

by Dave Gluhareff founder of Strength Runner

 

                Okay a while back I was told by a long-time client that she wanted to do more ab workouts to see more abdominal definition.  She is looking great and has been kicking-butt with her workouts but we are trying to lean-out the last little bit of tummy (very little bit of tummy)!  

 

I get hit with this all the time and people really think that doing a hundred ab routines and more of them more often will get them 6-pack abs, well it WILL NOT!  

 

We can do all the ab work we want to but if we do not expose the abs by losing the Fat covering the abdominals up then we ain’t gonna see nuthin!  

 

She then followed this ab recommendation with the comment that “women and men have to be trained differently and that we Men have it easier to lose bodyfat around the tummy than women”.  Well that isn’t true either!  

 

Look I am not picking on this client at all, I really have enjoyed working with her and she brings high energy and persistence to each and every workout!  She is not lazy!  

 

I am just referring to these few comments and using them as examples because it’s part of my work each week helping people get in better shape.  We all have trouble areas where we store body fat more than other areas.  Some of us it’s the chest, some of us the tummy, some of us the arms, some the hips and buns.  We all have trouble areas but we all need to workout the Total Body each week with Resistance Training (3xper week), then do Cardiovascular Training (3xper week), Stretch, Eat Healthy, and Get Plenty of Rest for general fitness planning.  Can we put a little more emphasis on one trouble area?  Sure, but you have to train the body as a whole because each part plays off of the other.  You cannot effectively work the chest muscles if your shoulders are weak, you cannot effectively work the abs if your low-back is weak, and you cannot effectively walk, bike, or jog if your legs are weak.  

 

As far as the Women training differently that Men idea – a dumbbell curl works the biceps of a man the same as a woman, a pushup will firm the upper body the same for a man and woman, a squat will work the low-body the same for a man or woman.  Now hormonally YES we are different and maybe our diets should be adjusted accordingly, but when it comes to exercise we really are similar.  Come to think of it, I don’t think the Military trains the women and men differently?  I will have to look into this idea and let you know in another article!