06/08/2026
The Myth of the “Women’s Workout”
For years, the fitness industry has marketed exercise differently to women than to men.
Men were encouraged to lift heavy, get stronger, and progressively challenge themselves. Women were often steered toward lighter weights, higher repetitions, and workouts designed to create “long, lean muscles,” a phrase that sounds scientific but has never really had any physiological meaning.
The message was subtle but persistent. Women should train differently because women are different.
The problem is that muscle cells do not appear to have received that memo.
When researchers compare how women and men respond to resistance training, the findings are remarkably consistent. Men generally gain more muscle in absolute terms because they begin with more muscle. If two people each increase their muscle mass by ten percent, the person who started with more muscle will show a larger absolute gain.
But when researchers look at relative improvement, the percentage increase from baseline, women and men build muscle at very similar rates.
The same is true for strength.
The body responds to tension by adapting. Muscle fibers do not know whether the load is being applied by a man or a woman. They simply respond to the challenge placed upon them.
That is one of the reasons I find the “women should lift light weights” advice so frustrating. It has likely prevented countless women from participating in the type of training that would benefit them most. Even in osteoporotic women, studies including the Liftmor studies have shown that heavy weight training is safe and effective.
