If you want the results you’re looking for in your workouts, then you need to tailor your workouts to your body and its particular biology. This means that a workout suited for a male body will not necessarily suit a female body. Charleston-based fitness coach Andrew Demetre explains what makes a great workout for women and how that workout should differ from men’s.
Women Recover Faster than Men Between Sets
If you’re a woman, taking your cues about rest and recovery from men may not offer the most effective workout for you.
Men require more time between sets to properly and safely train, which means you might be wasting valuable time following their lead. Your ability to recover more quickly means you can take less time between sets and work out faster.
This doesn’t just apply to the individual workout, either. A female’s upper body can also recover faster than a male’s, which means that you can hit the bench press more frequently over a week without losing muscle strength, as men can.
Men Recover Faster than Women in Sprints
While some regions of strength training favor women in terms of recovery time, that’s not necessarily the case regarding sprints.
Men tend to maintain their sprint speed longer than women, which means they can get more out of each round. So, if you’re a woman, reducing your sprints in favor of additional strength training may be the more beneficial option.
Higher Reps Are More Beneficial to Women
The female body has more slow-twitch muscle fibers than fast-twitch, making it highly suited to endurance training. For men, the opposite is true, as they have more fast-twitch muscle fibers than slow ones.
Because of this, women are more likely to get more out of higher rep/lower weight sets, since these kinds of workouts better use their slow-twitch fibers.
Women Should Focus More on Endurance Training
While the female body’s greater concentration of slow twitch muscle fiber lends itself to more endurance activities, that is not the only reason why women should focus on endurance more than men.
A woman’s body uses more fat than carbs as fuel during endurance activities, while men use more carbs than fat. This means that women don’t break into those glycogen stores so quickly; therefore, they tend to have the ability to last longer in activities like long-distance running.
In other words, when a man reaches the point of diminishing returns with endurance training, a woman can typically continue to gain more.
When deciding on a workout routine, it is important to consider your body’s individual needs to achieve the best results.
About Andrew Demetre, Charleston Health Coach
Andrew Demetre, Charleston physical trainer, and bodybuilder, first found his calling during the pandemic when he realized that many of his clients preferred working out from home. These days, Demetre uses his expertise to train clients from home, whether in the greater Charleston area or worldwide. Andrew firmly believes every client can achieve their ideal body through hard work and dedication — no gym membership needed.
