Must Women Approach Fitness Training Differently Than Men Do?

By Joe Mullen

We were startled when the manager of a group of women's fitness centers once told us: "During exercise, the only way to prevent women from developing muscles like a man is to have them breathe out deeply between repetitions."

The sad part of that statement is that she was sincere as she made the statement. There are probably hundreds or thousands of women who received instruction from this misguided, misinformed soul and then passed the myth on to their children, family and friends, thereby continuing the circle of myth and misinformation.

Many women still believe that they should perform exercise programs differently than men do and many so-called fitness professional’s still teach client's that there are certain exercises specifically for women and other exercises specifically for men.

The most common misconception women are led to believe is, if they followed similar exercises as men, they would develop a masculine physique. Contemporary women know better than to believe unsound information like this. At least I hope they do. There is absolutely no need for men and women to perform different exercises. They can if they wish but there is no cause why they must.

A woman's muscle structure closely resembles the muscle structure of a man. The functions of male and female muscles are the same. A woman's arm muscle (as an example) performs the same function as the arm muscles of a man; so do her leg muscles and other muscle groups in her body.

The function of a muscle group dictates the exercises needed to strengthen, firm and tone them. This applies to fitness training, physical therapy and work hardening programs.

Rest assured that women may follow a similar exercise program as a man and that the program is safe to use (when the directions are followed) and unless you have inherited a body type that is already heavily muscled, there is no way that you will build massive muscles like a man.

If it were true that when a woman follows a “man’s exercise program” she will develop muscles like a man, then the opposite would be true: If a man followed a woman’s exercise program then he should become feminine looking. Does that sound as silly to you as it does to me?

As with an exercise program, women and men can follow the same weight loss program. The diet recommendations in legitimate diet books can help both women and men to lose unwanted body fat, improve energy and self-esteem. Valid scientific exercise principles and dieting laws, when properly understood and followed, will benefit everyone on planet earth and can be adapted to the goals of all. In truth, we are all one!

We feel it is misleading and fraudulent to perpetuate the myth of separate exercises for women and men and it may come as a surprise to some to also find out that there is no tooth fairy.