2024-03-08 15:40:18
Women and bodybuilding are the subject of many preconceived ideas.
Importance of using a suitable program, building your sessions around “special women” exercises or even lowering the intensity during the period, let’s see together if these statements hold up in the face of science.
#1 Women must use appropriate strength training programs
By typing “woman bodybuilding” into your search engine bar, you will find dozens and dozens of articles, videos and “special women” bodybuilding programs, suggesting that women must train differently from men.
If you look a little closer at the terms used in these same articles, the exercises presented will often offer to “tone”, “shape”, “reshape”, “refine” or even “firm” the silhouette.
There is no trace of this vocabulary among men, for whom programs always boast “more muscles”, “more strength”, “more power”.
In the facts, whether for women or men, bodybuilding sessions aim at the same objective: transforming the body.
That is to say, lose fat and gain muscle.
End of debate.
Thus, it is much less gender than the objectives of each person which will determine the construction of bodybuilding programs.
Read also: 7 good reasons to start bodybuilding after 40 when you are a woman
#2 There are exercises that are more feminine and others more masculine
Here again, we stop everything!
A received idea is that thefemale anatomy is different from those of men, which should lead them to choose certain types of exercises over others.
False, false and more false.
The reason is simple: the disparity in anatomy within a group of the same sex is far too great to be able to precisely determine exercises more suited to the morphology of women and others more suited to that of men.
Thus, cases are not uncommon where a man and a woman will have much more similar anatomy than two women or two men.
The choice of exercises therefore does not depend on gender, but rather on the objectives of each individual and the muscle groups to be developed.
To strengthen the arms, both women and men will have to go through the same exercises. The same goes for the glutes and all muscle groups.
Also Read: How Many Pull-ups Should You Be Able to Do as a Woman? Compare yourself to the average by age group
#3 Women should do long sets to refine the muscles.
This preconceived idea poses three major problems.
Firstly, a woman may very well want to practice bodybuilding to gain volume and not to “refine the muscles”.
This prerequisite full of sexism simply testifies to the beauty criteria dictated by society.
Second, there is no proven difference on this point between short series and long series.
Third, bodybuilding is not intended to refine muscles, but rather to reshape the silhouette by losing fat.
However, fat loss is certainly a question of physical activity, but above all a question of diet.
However, it is interesting to note that this preconceived idea does not come out of nowhere.
Indeed, the assertion is based on a difference in constitution observed between men and women.
The latter would in fact have a slightly higher proportion of slow fibers than men, resulting in better efficiency on long sets (between 12 and 20 repetitions).
Knowing that for men, the recommendations would be around 6 to 20 repetitions.
However, a higher number of repetitions will not affect muscle developmentas demonstrated by this study.
On the other hand, genetics, developing certain muscle groups over others, and athletic experience can cause women to have a greater proportion of fast fibers than some of their male counterparts.
Once again, the individual takes precedence over gender!
Only practice allows you to refine the most effective repetition range for your own body.
Also read: Are you a physically strong woman? Compare yourself to the scale of a Strong Woman
#4 Women have the ability to train more often than men
This is an interesting misconception, because it is both true and false. Let’s go into detail.
THE studies have proven that women have the ability to recover more quickly than men, both nervously and muscularly.
The explanation would come partly from the fibrous constitution different from that of men, but also from hormonal secretions.
Women could therefore train longer and more often than men.
Having said that, this statement actually only holds for high-level practitioners..
Indeed, the increase in volume and session times is only valid from a certain experience of bodybuilding.
For beginners, increasing the training volume and number of weekly sessions, as well as shortening recovery times, are questions that should not be asked.
If you are starting, choose a program adapted to your level and pay attention to your feelings.
They will be the best guide to progress, whether you are a woman or a man.
Read also: 11 tips for women who start bodybuilding after 40 (+ training plan 3 sessions / week)
#5 Periods affect women’s performance in the gym
Let us thank science for closing this debate once and for all.
The conclusions published following a meta-analysis covering 21 studies arrived at the following result: physiologically, periods do not directly impact women’s performance.
Obviously, it depends on each person.
If for some the period of menstruation does not result in a drop in performance in the gym, others may on the contrary feel very tired.
Conclusion : having your period should not automatically translate into a drop in intensity in your sessions. Adapting the program in terms of volume, intensity and frequency of training is relevant if and only if you feel the need.
To conclude
You will have understood, there is no big difference between women and men when it comes to bodybuilding.
The most relevant approach is not to take into account gender, but the individual as a whole (physical condition, experience in practice, physical condition, age, etc.).
Gender is one variable among many others, the importance of which is only real among high-level athletes.
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