Weight Training Recommendations for Women

While intense weight training has a place in any fitness program for men or women, female physiology dictates that slight adjustments to training protocol be made. The most fundamental difference between women and men in terms of strength in the gym is that the guys tend to have greater low-rep strength, while women tend to have greater endurance. In more technical terms, the typical women will be able to get more repetitions during an exercise at a higher percentage of her one-rep-max.

For example, lets say a guy in the gym (we'll call him John) can bench press 300lbs for one rep, while his girlfriend, Jane, can bench press 100lbs for one rep. For John, 80% of his one-rep max is 240lb; most men will be able to do 6-8 reps at this weight before they reach muscular failure. Jane's 80% one-rep max set, however is 80 lbs; the typical women will be able to do in upwards of 15 reps at this weight. This is why women tend to respond to higher rep-ranges than men, and is also why for endurance-oriented exercise, pound for pound women can run circles around men (sorry guys).

There are no special requirements for women as far as specific weight training exercises go, although any weight training program should be designed to address any weak points, either physiologically or simply based on what needs to change in order to look like you want. A good rule of thumb for women with upper body exercises is to perform sets of 12 reps at the low end, and as much as 15-20 reps on the higher end. For lower body, with compound movements such as the leg press, squat, or lunge, most women respond nicely to reps in the 20-25 rep-range. There are exceptions which apply to both sexes of course; the quads tend to be more endurance-oriented, so they respond to higher reps. Rep ranges as high as 50 reps on compound movements such as the leg press are extremely productive (and challenging!) for both men and women. The hamstrings are a much more explosive muscle with more fast-twitch muscle fibers, so they are optimally trained in the 10-12 rep range for men, and the 12-15 rep range for women. For abdominal training, time-and time again I have seen with my personal training clients that men generally respond to lower rep ranges (under 20 reps- mostly because guys just can't do any more at a significant workload), while women respond well to reps in upwards of 25-40, even while using significant resistance. While there are differences between individuals and the muscle-groups within that individual, the above rules for rep-ranges are a good starting point. Pay close attention to what works well and what does not in your weight training program and make the necessary adjustments. It is very helpful for most people to hire a personal fitness trainer; this way you can avoid much of the initial trail-and-error involved with starting a weight training program so you can get much further in a shorter amount of time.