Comments on: Should Women Do the Same Type of Workouts as Men?

By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:17:58 +0000

I don't know. I really go back and forth on this one. Sometimes I'll get really hyped and hit the free weights for a month listening to everyone saying ladies won't bulk up if we lift weights. Then I end up looking like a comic book superhero (I'm 5'10" and pretty lean), not the ones from the movies but the ones from the actual cartoon!

I'm trying to find a balance that works for me. Right now I'm doing HIIT, followed by steady state cardio with some planks and other core routines in it.

What is for sure is I'd rather be muscular over flabby soo that being said I'll definitely do more resistance training if things start to look out of shape.

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:31:49 +0000

Great article, makes sense. But I have a question though. I used to be a javelin thrower and now am stuck with huge shoulders and arms. Yes, women do get bulky, maybe not bulky to guys, but to us, HUGE.

Anyway, when training as a thrower, I used to lift really heavy weights, and I was thinking my bigger upper body is the result of that. Any advice on how shave off a little muscle mass in that area??

By: Great links for the weekend!

Great links for the weekend! — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:10:15 +0000

[...] Anna Dornier, recently certified as a Russian Kettlebell Instructor by Pavel Tsatsouline, writes about whether women should do the same type of workouts as men. [...]

By: carla

carla — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:35:10 +0000

Not natural? seriously, please tell me you are not training with pink weights doing 50 reps or whatever other silly training programme. Heavy training is relative, it depends on the person, how fit he or she is, and perhaps even more, how disciplined and how capable the person is of "hurting" him/herself while training.

Get off the treadmill people. If you are on it, hit it hard, do interval trainings. Get on to the weight training area and make sure you sweat. Sitting on a machine (I am not a big fan of machines anyway) for 2 minutes, looking around, making sure people can see you. it is working hard, intensity and at times not necessarily volume.

Personal trainers who claim that women shouldn't train like men, should revise their own training ideas. They are still in the days of horrid aerobics.

By: carla

carla — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:30:47 +0000

@ Manda: You check out your food intake. I am also a girl who lifts heavy and for a long time I was just getting quite bulky for my taste. And before anyone suggest that my body fat may have been high, no I was at a respectable 11%. Anyway, I took a hard look at my food and decided to make my portions smaller. 6 times a day of course but smaller portions. If you dont "overfeed" your muscles they won't get too bulky. Worked for me. No, I did not and do not starve and I also did not lose my muscle mass.

Anyway, these were my two cents.

By: Ty

Ty — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:52:22 +0000

That's rubbish to generalize and say that most men train chest and biceps only. Every gym I've been in has had everyone training their whole body in a balanced way. That's due to good education, people understand how to train properly.

Basically women can train the same way as men, but women have different priorities to men. It's just understanding what women want and customizing a workout programs to suit their needs.

By: Isis

Isis — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:15:54 +0000

what would you recommend for a women that wants to trim and cut up her upper body and gain in her lower body. I need at least two inches more in my glutes.

By: PowderBlue

PowderBlue — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:42:38 +0000

FitJerks Fitness Blog

your comment is rude. Sorry.

By: Denzel - Genf20

Denzel - Genf20 — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:13:18 +0000

Women are best sticking with calisthenics; lifting weights is for men. The idea of muscle bound women is not quite acceptable with us humans and I don't think it ever will. That does not mean women can't be body builders but somehow we are not hardwired that way.

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:36:37 +0000

I think women arent supposed to work out like men do, its not natural! When i asked my personal trainer from Carlsbad, he agreed with me and said I should stick to the basic exercises, and thats what I have been doing.

By: Helen

Helen — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:12:05 +0000

I'm new to strength training, but want to lose weight and gain strength since I spend my summers running round in 4 stone of armour, fighting with weaponry as a re-enactor, mainly against men, who often weight twice what I do. (I'm a 33-year old woman, approx 75kg/ 11 1/4 stone)
My wants for fitness are mainly to do with not feeling like I'm about to fall over at the end of a hour in battle, rather than from looks.
The weight is carried across the body, but mainly on the shoulders, either spread over the back, or armoured legs that hang off a harness, like braces…
Now… I've recently started working out approx 3 times a week, doing a combination of cardio and strength.
I'm happy with how thats working out on my shoulders, neck and arms, since I'm noticeably bulking and toning, ditto stomache and back and I'm ramping up the dumbell kilos…
However, I'm having problems with my thighs and bottom, where I am bulking under muscle really quickly, (using resistance machines) but the fat layer is just staying there, as an obvious moveable layer of an inch or so depth… they're getting like tree trunks and I'm putting on weight rather than losing… though I'll admit my circulation is improving and the cellulite's going..and its starting to hurt my hips, and my bottoms becoming quite a strange shape..

Dont get me wrong, I'm happy to bulk here, but the fat layer feels like I'm doing something worng/ out of balance.

I'm now a UK size 10 top half, 8-10 waist, and I'm finding size 16 trousers tight round the leg (not to say loose at the waist!)
I'm cutting calories to perhaps 1000 per day, avoiding carbs and upping the 'coloured' veg content.

I'll happily push myself as far as I need to, and actively enjoy it but my 2 biggest problems are
1) A minefield of info on exercising so where to start safely, and sensibly means I'm relying on intuiton, and thats probably not the best..
2) something that works for me with the leg issue, and hyper-mobilitiy meaning that many of the extension exercises are a bit dangerous for me since i get lots of side-to-side wobble (joint instability), and over-extension can cause problems, so for instance, whenever I do leg or arm extensions I have to lock out before my natural limits.

Any assistance from more experienced people welcome!

Apologies if this is basic stuff to ask, or its not the appropriate place.. but this is the first website I've come across that seems to carefully consider stuff and appears to have a good dollop of common sense, as well as considering that not everyone who wants to get fit is a guy, and not everyone has the same goals or body types!.. thanks Rusty and Anna!

By: Islandgyrl

Islandgyrl — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:56:43 +0000

I'm looking forward to learning to lift without bulking!! I love lifting but as several women commented earlier, some of us do bulk easier than others. For me, I bulk in the arms and legs, which is not a good look for a 5' 3" woman. lol

Maybe early 2010 for the new material?? Give us enough time to lean out and look great for summer and beyond. This was an excellent post.

By: Shaun

Shaun — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:24:57 +0000

@ The First comment

It is true that most women cant get bulky (and its not a look that I am a great fan of) However it can be done and women can do the same workouts as men. It's just that they will never reach those super weights that men do. But heres a good example of a lady that can build a body well with a mans workout. Fighterdiet.com

By: Reka

Reka — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:26:00 +0000

oh, sorry for the double post, I just have to add that I left two gyms because the "trainer" people there told me not to use heavy weights because I would put on mass. They told me to use small weights for endless reps, so I switched to another gym, then, for the same reason, to the next one.
By lifting heavy big weights and doing mostly HIIT (and some steady sate as well) I have lost 27 kg's so far (and am very close to my final goal) while getting stronger and feeling better than ever before. So much for those know-it-all guys, I was quite fat back then so they probably thought I was new to training but I already knew much more than falling for their advice.

Now the trainer and owner of the gym I'm visiting is wise and up to date, he even encourages me to raise the weights, do more compound exercises with weights as big as possible – which I was already doing, with results.

I was so fed up getting those strange looks in my previous gyms, and here the owner one day just told me I should try to do chinups (being able to do them was one of my big dreams), and finally I did my first one (and many others since then).

So, anyway, the stuff written in this article works and is worth solid gold!

By: Reka

Reka — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:12:02 +0000

As woman, I can only say: Perfect. Finally!!! Great article, thank you.

By: Kitty

Kitty — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:36:03 +0000

I'm in the same boat as Manda, I put on muscle, particularly on the legs, so all lower-body-weights are absolutely out of the question.
As for FitJerks suggestion of calorie restriction, I still managed to gain leg muscle doing exercise on a diet of 750calories/day
FirJerks should also note that Manda's original post said she put on muscle from walking – this is a VERY high rep exercise!!!

Nice to see a post for women, Rusty
Thanks

By: Maria

Maria — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:44:35 +0000

Great post.
I find your blog and there are some good posts.
I spend hours here readng everything and I loved.

and the michael's music in the video was great too!
hahahah

By: Studio Element Personal Training

Studio Element Personal Training — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 22:35:43 +0000

It depends less on gender and more on goal desired. If someone is looking for weight loss, their program will focus on high repetition, lower weight, circuit, fast moving workout regardless of gender. Likewise for other goals. The only difference is that women generally have less upper body potential per their size.

By: Links from the week « The Complete Body

Links from the week « The Complete Body — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:32:37 +0000

[...] Dornier guest posts at the Fitness Black Book about why women should use the same weightlifting routines as [...]

By: FitJerks Fitness Blog

FitJerks Fitness Blog — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:37:36 +0000

@Manda

You consist of 75% fast twitch fibers? Damn, most dudes would KILL for that composition since they could grow very, very quickly. But then again, supermodels wished the had my metabolic rate so you know.

As for your "problem"… you need to stick to super high rep training sweetheart. And remember, if you don't feed it as much, it won't grow. The best seeds in the world won't grow if they aren't given water so caloric restriction along with high rep training 20-30 should go a long way for you if you pack on size THAT easily.