Strength training for women

I get asked if I train women. I certainly do train women, and in fact, my very best client happens to be a woman who gets asked all sorts of things at the gym:

"How long did it take for you to get that rockin' bod?"

"What exercise does that work?"

"How'd you learn to do pull-ups?"

Strength training for women involves the same training parameters for fat loss, but with slightly different exercises. In other words, if they're looking to lose fat and get toned, then they will follow the same set, rep and exercise sequencing a guy would follow on a fat loss program. The only difference would be the exercise selection, since women are looking to develop and/or minimize body parts different from men.

For example, men generally are looking to develop one of these body types: V-taper (classical bodybuilder), a T-shape (fitness model), an X-type (modern bodybuilder) or an A-type (athletic). Women, on the other hand, generally look to keep an hour glass figure. A lot of women have a pear shape, which is characterized by a disproportionate amount of fat around the thighs, hips and butt. This is a sign of excess estrogen. In fact where your fat is distributed tells a lot about your hormonal profile.

There are other female body types aside from the pear shape, but this is usually the client I have worked with most often over the years. For most women, I do not recommend back squats or lunges, as this tends to build their asses and thicken their thighs even further. I usually avoid exercises that develop their traps and focus instead on exercises that develop their delts. Widening the shoulders a bit helps to counterbalance the excessively wide hips of a pear shaped woman.