Women Are Not Small Men: 3 Keys to Training for Longevity

Stacy Sims has become famous for the statement “Women are not small men”.

Training men and women, especially general population work, has tons of similarities and crossover but we shouldn’t look at everything the same.

As we move through Women’s Health Month, here are a few things to consider for women’s training:

– Women are tougher! This means they have greater fatigue resistance, can handle more volume and will recover faster between sets of strength training.

– Women are at greater risk for bone loss. This means you have to up your weights and impact exercises so that you are staving off the propensity for bone density loss. Unilateral exercises are of particular importance so that all body parts get worked equally.

– Women generally carry less lean muscle mass BUT need to continue to build muscle particularly during perimenopause and menopause. Being under muscled heavily impacts bone density and glucose regulation resulting in poor skeleton and metabolic health.

It’s great to embrace your unique needs, whether they are lifestyle, sport specific or gender related, and make sure that you and your trainer are developing the proper training techniques to help you live your best life!

Author Jeremy Hyatt, MS, CSCS is a personal trainer and co-owner of Hyatt Strength + Wellness. He believes it’s important to start with the basics and move from there. Too often, people get into complicated movements and goals before they have the proper fundamentals, which can lead to negative results. Jeremy has been working in the fitness industry since 1995 and co-founded Hyatt Strength + Wellness in 2011.