At Fitness Institute, we were taught in our first class that women should exercise just like men. There’s not much of a gender difference. A muscle is a muscle. Since men and women both have to do the same things in real life (walk, push stuff, pull stuff, etc.), they should exercise the same way.
The only reason there’s any question about this is because ignorant marketing companies have pushed stupid products where women are advised to be terrified of lifting any weight over 3lbs. Apparently, if you pick up that 5lb dumbbell, you will morph into the Hulk. No woman wants to become a ripped monster with a green skin tone. There aren’t any matching L’Oreal shades.
In our Strength and Conditioning class, we visited a lot of gyms in the Boca Raton area. One woman in our class asked over and over, “Is this exercise for women?” The answer was invariably the same. “Yes!” Here are a few ways to implement this in your own exercise regimen.
1. Women are not limited to machines. Machines are for people with very weak cores or zealous bodybuilders who want to make one specific muscle grow. You’re not restricted to the abductor and adductor machines.
2. Pick up some dumbbells. You can start light. There’s no shame in using the 5lb ones as long as that weight challenges you.
3. When there is no challenge in the right repetition range, there is no benefit. You won’t gain the muscle it takes to increase your metabolism if you do 100 repetitions with a light weight. It’s simply physiologically impossible. Use a weight that makes it very difficult to complete somewhere between 8 and 12 repetitions. If you can do number 13, it had better be ridiculously difficult… And you need to pick up a bigger weight for your next set.
4. Never forget that adding muscle increases your metabolism. If you want to have a fast metabolism, you have to do what people who have muscle mass do. As a female, your hormone levels will keep you from becoming the hulk. The heavy lifting will make you look like a fitness model. Unless you mess with your hormones by injecting steroids, it is impossible for you to become bulky.
Sadly, the misguided thought that weight lifting instantly makes women “bulk up” has caused women to stay away from the very exercise programs that will make them feel and look the way they want to. Beauty is found in having at least some level of strength. The woman who has no strength is shapeless. I’m very confident that is not what women want.
Tyler and Lisa Brown's Flow 
It is funny, actually sad, that I see so many women just using the stair master or elliptical machines at the gym. Few ever pick up a weight and the ones that do, use two pounds and throw it around like a pencil. Several personal trainers I have seen are just as bad as they are teaching them these methods.
There are two women in the gym I work out at, that were actually doing squats, on the Smith machine, using weight! They also were using, what I would consider heavy weight for women, for exercises, so maybe, some of these women are finally getting the point.
You are correct, it is very hard for women to gain large amounts of size. It can be done, but it takes a lot of work and time. But, you do need a certain amount of muscle to move around!
It’s sad that some personal trainers teach that to their clients. That really irritates me. A lack of education is likely the cause.
http://tlbflowllc.com/2012/02/25/the-simplified-science-of-how-to-be-healthy-part-1-who-to-listen-to/
Anyway, I like your thoughts, Eric! Thanks for commenting!
I first started doing squats in college. On the first day, I remember looking next to me and seeing a girl squatting 185 (more than what I was doing) and she was in great shape and wasn’t bulky at all. Most girl’s would probably have an incredibly hard time putting on bulk if they tried.
Dude, 185lb squats are no joke! That’s awesome!
And yeah, I fully agree that girls would have an incredibly hard time putting on bulk. It’s really difficult for them since they have 10-30 times less testosterone than males.
The women who actually get bulky are the ones who seem to attempt to defy their “woman” status and inject themselves with exogenous testosterone (aka anabolic androgenic steroids).
Thanks for the post, man. I really respect your thoughts.
Great advice! I am a big believer in strength training, but I often find I am the only woman in the weight room (and I am in there often)! I want to gather up all the ladies and show them the way! So many women are on a quest to lose weight and if they only picked up a dumbbell they could help themselves out!
For sure! Keep on leading by example!
Thanks for commenting. 🙂
I would imagine you are also one of the healthier looking women in the gym as well. A lot of women, who lose a large amount of weight, end up looking like zombies! Excess skin, sunken eyes, and are usually tired all of the time. They tend to concentrate on the weight loss number instead of how they feel. After a while, most revert to their previous eating habits and also, because they are tired all the time, work out less and less and eventually, gain most of the weight back and in some instances, weigh more than when they started their diet.
I saw a kettlebell in the shop the other day – 3lbs. And pink. Who on earth would use a 3lb kettlebell? I almost bought it for my 17 month daughter as her first weight!!
Ha ha. Get her swinging early! 🙂
Great article! Shared it all around! That’s why we love our products, to try and get everyone into lifting more weights. You have some excellent points which we agree with completely. Muscle is healthy, fit and beautiful!
Thanks! I loved the exercises you showed, too!