Female vs. Male Training

If you’re a woman training for hypertrophy, do you need to lift differently than a man would to see the best results?

No.

It’s a myth that high-repetition, low-weight training programs are ideal for females.

According to a meta-analysis by Greg Nuckols in Stronger By Science, men and women are “virtually identical” when it comes to muscle growth rate.

And as for strength gains, while they may be seen a little faster in women than men (I was surprised by this!), the relative long-term rate is “at least equal” between the sexes.

my training recommendations

So ladies, for best results, do the same thing as the guys:

• use moderate volume (60% to 80% of 1RM)

• aim for challenging sets of 6-8

• take longer rest periods (up to 5 mins)

How about menstrual cycle training syncing?

As a related side note, there is no strong evidence of a benefit to syncing your training with your menstrual cycle. This strategy is gaining popularity on Instagram, but current studies suggest that menstrual cycle phase has limited effect on strength and muscle growth. If it works for you, keep doing it! But if you don’t see a need, you probably aren’t missing out on any gains.