Train Like a Girl
Women can be both strong and feminine
The phrase “Look good, feel good, do good” resonates with most people. Specifically, the first two – most people agree they want to look good and feel good. There are a handful of people who also want to do good in whatever sport or physical activity they partake in.
Even if you relate to “look good, feel good,” but not to “do good” from a sporting perspective, most people want to have the ability to do what they want in life, and to be able to do what they want for as long as possible.
If you want to look good, feel good, and do good, there are two things proven by research you should be doing on a regular basis: resistance training and cardiovascular exercise. Most women default towards one of those two things (cardiovascular exercise) and shy away from the other (resistance training). Why? Is it fear of getting “bulky?” Is it that they don’t think lifting weights is necessary or beneficial for women? Is it that they don’t enjoy lifting weights? Is it that they don’t feel confident lifting weights?
All these perceptions will be addressed in this article. Women can be both strong and feminine.
If you want to look good, strength training is key. If you want to feel good, you must be strong! And if you want to do good, in sports and in health, you must have resilient muscles, tendons, and bones.
Look Good
What is it that makes someone “tone” and “lean?” It’s muscle mass! If you only do cardiovascular exercise to “lose weight” so you will be “more tone and lean,” you’re doing it wrong. If you only do cardiovascular exercise and you do lose weight, that does not automatically make you lean. Did you know there is an optimal number of lean muscle mass humans should have? The recommended FFMI (fat free body mass index), which calculates muscle mass relative to height, is 18 for women (20 for men). This can be determined by a body composition test. Anyone that looks “tone and lean” is probably hovering around this number. And they probably don’t look like a body builder. Female body builders are typically around a FFMI of 20-21. So, building muscle isn’t all or none. You don’t have to be a body builder, you can be whatever you want, as you’ll discover if you keep reading.
Now that we have discussed what it means to be “strong”, what does it mean to be “feminine?” Feminine means having qualities associated with women. Those qualities can include being graceful and strong, being nurturing and powerful. Just because you lift heavy weights doesn’t make you aggressive and confrontational. There are a lot of strong women who carry themselves with grace and beauty. After all, being strong isn’t just about lifting a lot of weight, it is about the journey that got you there, the willpower to push on, and how much you fight to keep going no matter what obstacles come along. It’s about developing grit and determination to push towards your goals inside and outside of the gym. It’s not just a physical journey, it’s about becoming stronger in all aspects of life - physically, mentally, and emotionally. What’s more feminine than that?
Feel Good
Maximizing health and fitness requires a combination of strength and endurance. Cardiovascular fitness is vital for many measures of health, such as blood pressure and cholesterol. In fact, VO2 Max, which is how efficiently your cells use oxygen for energy, is the gold standard test of cardiovascular or aerobic fitness. It is the biggest predictor of all-cause mortality. However, cardiovascular fitness alone is not sufficient for overall global health.
Strength training is not just for athletes or for making muscles bigger. Skeletal muscle occupies more space in your body than anything else, and it is the most adaptable. It is the system you have the most control over with lifestyle! You can literally change how you look by training the muscular system. Muscle health influences your cardiovascular health – your heart is made of a type of muscle called cardiac muscle, and cardiac muscle responds to exercise like skeletal muscle does. Muscle health is also related to nervous system health – nerves are what signal muscles to contract. Grip strength has been shown to be related to dementia – the lower the grip strength the more likely someone is to develop dementia. Not only is sports performance strongly correlated the quality and quantity of muscle, so is all-cause mortality. Basically, how long and how well you live is influenced by how strong you are. The greatest concern with not doing strength training is the loss of a specific type of muscle fiber, called fast twitch fibers. Fast twitch fibers are responsible for short, powerful movements. You also have slow twitch fibers, which are responsible for endurance movements, as well as daily activities such as walking or sitting upright in a chair. When we move, we use slow twitch fibers first. Then, if those fibers can’t produce enough force, we start to recruit fast twitch fibers. This is why fast twitch fibers are lost with age, only high force demands use fast twitch fibers, and if you don’t use them, you lose them.
If you’re not an elite athlete or weightlifter, don’t overlook the importance of fast-twitch muscle fibers. Everyone can benefit from training their fast twitch fibers - not just for performance reasons, but for life. Everyone should have some strength and power in their arsenal. Preserving fast twitch fibers allows you to perform movements such as quickly running across the street, lifting a heavy box, reacting to something unexpected while you’re walking or riding a bike, catching your fall if you trip, and not getting hurt doing daily tasks.
If you still don’t buy into the importance of fast twitch fibers, I promise you, you will want them as you get older. Spend some time around older adults, and you will quickly see why maintaining strength and power is important – they are the keys to independence. You might take for granted being able to stand up from a chair, climb stairs, and catch yourself from a fall now, but when you’re 80 years old those are the things that will maintain independence and keep you from being a burden to your loved ones. Who wants to retire and not be able to do anything or go anywhere? Or turn your significant other into a caretaker? The good news is lifelong strength trainers preserve fast twitch fibers. Resistance training is the number one tool to combat neuromuscular aging, no other form of exercise trains nerves to relay the message for muscles to contract forcefully and quickly.
Strength and endurance are independent predictors; if you only do one, you are missing out on a lot of health benefits.
Do Good
As stated earlier, sports performance is strongly correlated the quality and quantity of muscle. “The final goal of competition exercises in Olympic sports may almost always be related to the capacity to express power produced by the speed of movements and by the force of overcoming external resistance.”
A well-rounded foundation consisting of absolute strength, muscle size, as well as tendon and bone health, is necessary to produce optimal power. Power is a product of force and velocity, with force being the weight of the object being moved, and velocity being the speed at which the object is moved. Strength is absolutely necessary for power production, from the starting blocks of a 100-meter dash to hitting a golf ball. For a deeper look into power production, check out a previous article "Power Unveiled."
In addition to improving sports performance, strength training has been shown in the literature to reduce injury risk, both acute and overuse. To learn the mechanisms behind how strength training reduces injury risk, take a look at this previous article “A Game-Changer for Preventing Sports Injuries.”
Action
Hopefully by now it is clear why lifting weights is necessary and beneficial for women. Now for the question most concerning to women… how do I lift weights and not get “bulky?” Contrary to popular belief, the training methods to make muscles bigger are different than the methods to make muscles stronger. The training methods for these different qualities might come as a surprise. There is a way to avoid making muscles bigger while still making muscles stronger, and still attaining all the benefits discussed above.
However, if your goal is to “be more tone,” the training method should be aimed at making muscles bigger, because that is the key to looking tone. Rest assured knowing that whatever your goal is, there are specific training methods to get results you want and not get results you don’t want. Remember, your musculoskeletal system is the most adaptable!
The secret to getting stronger, but not bigger, is to keep the volume (number of sets and repetitions) low and the intensity (the amount of weight lifted) high. Yes, you read that correctly. If you don’t want your muscles to get bigger, you must lift heavier weights. The reason lifting heavier weights does not lead to bigger muscles is because when the weight is heavy, the body starts to recruit the fast twitch fibers we talked about earlier, to move the weight. The recruitment of fast twitch fibers is more of a neurological response (remember that muscle health is related to nervous system health) and does not stimulate muscle growth.
What does stimulate muscle growth, is lifting moderate weight at a high volume (lots of repetitions and sets). The primary driver for muscle growth, or hypertrophy, is volume. The primary driver for muscle strength (not size), is intensity (weight lifted). For a more detailed description on how lifting heavier does not make your muscles bigger, check out this article “Should Distance Runners Lift?”
If you want to look more tone, you should be training for hypertrophy (muscle growth). The way to do that is by choosing an exercise that moves through a big range of motion. The weight lifted can range from 30-70% of a 1 repetition maximum, and the repetitions typically range from 8-15, but you must train to or close to muscle failure. In other words, each set should be completed until you could only perform 1-2 more repetitions until failure. This allows you to choose the correct weight even if you don’t know your 1 repetition maximum. If you chose a weight and do a set of 15 repetitions, but you could keep going for 25 repetitions, the weight is too light, and you are essentially wasting your time. To increase the size of a particular muscle, you must perform 20-25 working sets per muscle per week, with 2 minutes rest between working sets.
If you want to get stronger without making your muscles bigger, you should choose an exercise that you can still move through a big range of motion, but that you can do for a heavy weight. Remember the primary driver of strength is intensity. So, if you choose a bicep curl and you can only lift 10lbs, but you can do a lot of repetitions, you probably won’t get much stronger (but your bicep will get bigger!). A better choice for making your arms stronger would be a bench press, because you can do much more weight on a bench press than a bicep curl. The intensity for strength training is at or above 85% of your one repetition maximum. The volume is simple: 3-5 exercises, 3-5 repetitions, 3-5 working sets, 3-5 minutes rest, 3-5 times per week. Again, if choose a weight and plan to do a set of 5 repetitions and you could have done 15 repetitions, you are not getting stronger and you are again wasting your time. For a more on hypertrophy vs strength training, see “What They Don't Teach You in Physical Therapy School.”
This knowledge of how to choose exercises, weights, sets, and repetitions should empower confidence when lifting weights! If you know your goal, simply stick to the training methods proven to produce those results and stay away from the methods that produce results you don’t want. And the goal can change! If you want to get more tone, but not too “big,” train for hypertrophy until you achieve the look you want, then you can maintain the muscle you have gained by reducing the volume to 10-20 working sets per muscle per week. Let’s say you want certain muscles bigger, but not all your muscles, you can do that too! And if you want to get stronger for all the reasons discussed above, the minimum you must do to achieve that goal is choose 3 exercises, do 3 working sets of 3 repetitions, 3 times per week. The possibilities are endless!
Now, time for the reality check. None of this is easy. Or convenient. Or comfortable. If it were easy and convenient and comfortable, everyone would look good and feel good and do good.
Most people want results with no discomfort and no inconvenience to what they want to do. You can’t get results for work you’re not doing. You can’t avoid discomfort and expect worthwhile results. No matter the training goal, lifting a weight close to failure is not comfortable. This isn’t to say you must torture yourself every time you work out, but you should definitely feel a bit uncomfortable during the majority of your workouts. This also isn’t to say you can’t ever go out to eat, have a drink, or miss a workout. You can do these things on occasion if you are consistent most times!
Some people enjoy lifting weights simply because they enjoy exercising. Other people enjoy lifting weights because it allows them to look good, feel good, and do good. Again, you have the most control over your musculoskeletal system. When you see the results for the work you put in, it makes the work more enjoyable.
Women can be both strong and feminine. There is something beautiful about being strong physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Feminine:
having qualities associated with women such as strong, nurturing, powerful, and graceful.
What does this look like?
Resistance training:
Day 1: deadlift, front squat or goblet, bar bench press, cable row
Day 2: back squat or leg press, RDL, overhead press, lat pull down or pull up
Day 3: split squat, bent over row, DB bench, back extension
Hypertrophy (muscle growth): ~8-15 repetitions (moderate weight) and 2-3 sets per exercise with 90 seconds rest between sets
Strength: ~3-5 repetitions (heavier weights) and 3-5 sets per exercise with 3-5 minutes rest between sets
Cardiovascular training:
Day 1: moderate intensity cardio, 35 minutes at 75-80% of max effort
Example: running, rowing, cycling
Day 2: HIIT (high intensity interval training), 20-60 seconds all out sprint + 10 seconds rest x 8-12 rounds, trying to get to max heart rate
Example: assault bike, sprint intervals, rowing
Day 3: long endurance, > 30 minutes, ideally 60-75 minutes
Example: jogging, rowing, cycling
Sources
(n.d.). Empowering Women Through Fitness. Grow Strong. https://lauren-fisher.com/pages/grown-strong
(n.d.). VO2 Max. Physiopedia. https://www.physio-pedia.com/VO2_Max
(n.d.). FAST-TWITCH VS. SLOW-TWITCH MUSCLE FIBER TYPES + TRAINING TIPS. NASM. https://blog.nasm.org/fitness/understanding-fast-twitch-vs-slow-twitch-mucle-fibers
(2024, March 28). Huberman Lab: Dr. Andy Galpin: How to Build Strength, Muscle Size, and Endurance [Podcast].
(2023, January 18). Huberman Lab: Dr. Andy Galpin: How to Assess and Improve All Aspects of your Fitness [Podcast].
(2024, June 19). Perform with Dr. Andy Galpin: Why Muscle Matters and How to Build It [Podcast].
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