Primal Strength Training for Women: Not So Different After All
I knew they were coming, as soon as I hit “Publish.” I knew I’d get at least one or two comments from our female readers asking if last week’s muscle building post applied to them, too. You see, Conventional Wisdom has somehow drilled into our heads the silly notion that men and women are completely different species, especially when it comes to working out. There are definite differences – anyone who’s been married will be able to tell you that! – but that doesn’t take away from the fact that we’re all homo sapiens with the same basic physiological makeup. And so an outfit like Weight Watchers will push the chronic cardio, the ankle weights, and the step classes because of some underlying, self-defeating assumption that women aren’t “meant” to lift heavy weights. It’s insane, it’s preposterous, and it’s downright insulting. Men and women have different work capacities and different natural inclinations, but their bodies still work the same way.
“But I don’t want to get big and bulky!”
That’s another common one, and I can’t really blame them. Have you ever seen a women’s bodybuilding competition, especially one where the drug testing bodies are asleep at the wheel? Those women are frightening and incredibly ripped (for my money, the dudes look just as freakish), but more importantly, they just don’t look right. In fact, this is one area in which the underlying gender-specific physiology is limiting (thank god!): women, being testicle-free, do not produce enough natural testosterone to get those bulging pecs (just where do the breasts go, anyway?) and engorged thighs without supplementing with steroids (synthetic testosterone, essentially). Men generally do produce enough natural testosterone (the ultimate muscle-building hormone) to get big, and most of us still have trouble building a significant amount of muscle. Just imagine how difficult it is to bulk up for a woman.
If anyone’s still worried about looking like a female bodybuilder, just take a look at this selection of videos.
Women’s Olympic-style weightlifting at the 2007 Arnold Weightlifting Championships (below): No Arnold look-alikes here, just strong women performing Olympic lifts.
Snatches at the 2007 American Open in Birmingham: I don’t even know if I’d look twice if I saw these women walking down the street. Well, I would, but for a different reason. They simply look like attractive women in good shape.
Here is another example: Watch a 108 lb woman clean and jerk twice her body weight. And another.
These are women whose entire athletic lives are devoted to lifting big and lifting heavy – the very same movements that I’ve prescribed as truly Primal and strength-intensive – and yet they aren’t big and bulky. You’d think if it were likely, or even possible, for a natural woman to build major size without resorting to steroids, you would see it happen with Olympic-style female weightlifters, but you don’t. Time and time again, you don’t.
Now, check out these women.
Armenian bodybuilder Lisa Moordigian shows some sample workout clips: Notice the exercises she does – curls, machine curls, tricep pulldowns, and even more curls. She’s doing nothing but isolation exercises.
Brenda Smith’s killer leg workout (check out her crazy calves!): The closest she gets to a real movement is the lunge, but even her squats are assisted. She’s obviously not interested in learning actual athletic movements or developing real strength; she only cares about stoking that PUMP coursing through her veins.
Look at the bodybuilders’ bodies, their workouts, and their focus. Notice anything? They’re solely focusing on individual muscles to the detriment of the whole. There’s no catlike athleticism, nothing that indicates actual functional strength. Leg extension machines don’t exist in nature.
Seriously, though: men and women should work out the same way. That is, provided they have the same goals of developing functional strength, promoting lean body mass over adipose tissue, and improving health, both men and women are best suited to lifting heavy, hard, and with great intensity. Hormonal differences and diet will alter how this lifting program affects you and how much hypertrophy occurs, but the end result is the same: an increased strength to body weight ratio, which is vital for true Primal health and fitness. You’ll increase musculature, but it’s not going to be superficial, bloated muscle. It’s going to be muscle that makes sense, fat-burning muscle that fits your body and fits your genes. After all, you’re just providing the right environment for your genes through proper diet, adequate sleep, normalized stress levels, and – now – the right kind of movements.
There are a few other physiological differences that might crop up when it comes to working out. The “Q” angle, which describes the angle measuring from hip to knee, is larger in women. As a result, the quadriceps can pull on the patella and eventually cause knee issues. Cutting sports, like soccer and basketball in particular, can place additional stress on the knees and increase the chance of injury. This just makes maintaining proper form even more important (as if it wasn’t already). Here’s a great YouTube series of tips on improving your squat form. I should also mention that pregnancy, especially during the 3rd trimester, can soften the pelvic cartilage and relax the hips to prepare for childbirth. It’s absolutely essential for safe birthing, but doing deep squats with such tender cartilage and overly-relaxed hips will increase pressure on the knees and should be avoided.
Last week, I suggested that eating an extra dozen eggs on top of your regular daily dietary intake might be the catalyst for hypertrophy, especially for hardgainers. For women who perhaps aren’t so interested in adding a lot of muscle, skip the extra eggs. Keep eating Primal, get adequate protein, hit those deep squats and heavy deadlifts, and you’ll begin shedding fat and putting on lean mass that (because of the physiological differences between the genders) won’t be “bulky” or “big.”
In the end, though, it’s your choice. You could do the basic strength exercises and end up looking like this (thanks for the photo, Crossfit Rockwall), or you could spend hours in the gym and spend hundreds on steroids and stuff yourself with protein shakes to look like this. I think I know who Grok’d rather have on the hunt. What about you?
amber in norfolk Flickr Photo (CC)
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
All women are not the same. In general women will not bulk out like men since it’s not genetically possible. I’m 5’3″, 115 lbs, and lift considerably heavy weights for someone my size and I haven’t bulked out at all, in fact, it’s made me leaner. However, I have a female acquaintance who claims she cannot lift heavy weights because she actually does bulk up. She finds it very hard to lose weight because she’s so weary doing any kind of resistance training. I’m suspecting she must have some kind of hormonal imbalance issues. So, my point is, it’s very possible for some women to actually bulk out from lifting – but for the rest of us, it can only do us good.
It’s very true. It’s really not that uncommon for women to have elevated levels of testosterone. My aunt for example had difficulties getting pregnant because of it.
I for one tend to ‘bulk up’ as well, but I don’t have issues with it. Either way it’s better to have muscles than to end up like a half-starved runway model.
I love strength training. Who wouldn’t want to be stronger? Squats have really given me great muscle definition on the thighs and prevented my bum from going flat.But I have not been able to convince any female friends to try the upper body stuff. They are scared of it but I don’t want spindly little arms. Weight training gives you shape and has actually enhanced the waist-hip ratio for me. I never had curves at all; now I’ve got a nice chunky bum and curve around the hips and my tummy has shrunk. I never thought I would have the beginnings of muscle definition in my stomach. I was the only girl in the weights area at my old gym and I just copied what I saw the men doing.
Explain Serena Williams!!!
Doesn’t matter what you show them. I like to show my lady friends that are worried about “bulking up” pics/footage of Yoon-Jin Hee because she in particular has a lovely feminine form. Doesn’t help to sway them though. They even think she is “too bulky” but guaranteed if they didn’t know she was a strength athlete they wouldn’t say that.
The only fundamental difference between men and women…men respond favorably to logical arguments!
It will take courage to lead an existence. Any life.
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Hate to break it you, folks, but no one is going to take up heavy lifting. Oh, maybe some will try it, but they’ll go back to lighter routines very quickly. That goes for both men and women. Heavy lifting is difficult, its draining, and unless needed for a specific reason (sports?), squating with max weights is the last thing any girl (or guy, now) is going to do to tone her/his flabby ass. Not when they can walk for an hour, do some light lunges, then get a massage.
Times change.
:shrug:
I have a question. I have been doing Crossfit 4 X week for 9 weeks now. My pants are tighter in the thighs but I am not fatter. They are a minor amount tighter in the waist but my bulge over the top of the waist band is gone. So my question is, obviously my thighs have gotten bigger from muscle but I have not started to necessarily burn the fat on them yet. When will I see this happen? I am getting frustrated with my pants being tighter. Also, I am following the GAPS diet and I have been on Phase 1 of the intro for 5 weeks.
Add to all of the other benefits that weightlifting is very good for women’s bones.
“(just where do the breasts go, anyway?)”
I’ve been asking myself that question since I was a teen! I finally hit puberty, at the age of 34, but then became addicted to rock climbing. I looked down one day and screamed, “my muscles ate my boobies!”
Your article is quite validating! While it’s taking me time to adjust to my new physique, I am so stoked I finally have natural upper body strength and an inclination toward healthy, “primal” eating. And all from muscle building via a sport I love…so it doesn’t feel like a workout!
Finally a gender balanced article!! And one that recognizes our hips. The Q-angle explains why my knees hurt from running. I look forward to future articles that address this more.
~A New Fan
I also want to add, I have a heart condition (Mitral Valve Prolapse) that kept me from working out. Upper body muscle has strengthened my heart, lungs,and attitude. Don’t be afraid of muscles, ladies. They are good for the heart!
I am a female and after starting to follow a more Primal diet and lifestyle, have added weight training to my exercise. When taking tape measurements, should the numbers still be going down or should some go up in certain areas due to muscle growth? Any info on this would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
I see this article and comments are a bit old, but if anyone is reading this, I do have a question: I’ve only recently started strength training. I am a female 5’5 about 120lb. I have the look of some minimal muscle tone, but it is deceiving. People think I am in shape and look at me funny when I can hardly do a few pushups. Anyway, I have been curious about the bulking up thing for some time. I constantly hear that woman can’t bulk up. While I have never seen a drug-free female bodybuilder looking anything close to the size of a man, she still doesn’t look feminine. Even the bulk of fitness trainers I see on you tube have masculine looking arms for a female (but great abs!). It is a relative thing. I don’t want to look big for a female, not thinking as compared to a man. I have also seen a slect few strong and small women like the few portrayed in this article. Is this a matter of genetics, training style or diet? I have yet to find a source that addresses this completely. Any ideas out there?
Whenever I think about muscle strength vs bulk I think about this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MBlFy64i18
On top of being a woman who won various strongest woman in europe competitions, she’s gorgeous. I would love to look like her. She does have a bit of bulk in the arms, but I’m really ok with that. Screw what society tells me I should look like. I want to be strong.
I get frowned upon ALL the time cause I talk about weight lifting. I’m 18, a senior in a preppy high school where all the girls are thin as rails with no strength whatsoever. iCK! I lift weights 4x a week, love feeling strong, and think all women should lift weights. F the mindset of bulk. It’s bs. A lot of it stems from body image issues. Women believe in THIN. I believe it should be replaced with the word STRONG!!! Grok it…..
Keep doing what you are doing. Women with good muscle tone are far more attractive than those that are “skinny-fat” with no muscle.
Hi,
I’m having the same problem although I don’t think my metabolism is as fast as the girl who posted this! Since starting the Primal diet about 3 weeks ago I have seen the fat literally drop off my stomach and hips – Im very slim anyway, 55kg and 5 foot 7, but I looked too slim before so have been trying to gain lean muscle and definition, and it’s not really working so far. On a typical day I have an apple and 2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast or sheeps milk yoghurt and nuts, with 1 tsp coconut oil in my tea in the morning, then snack on a handful of almonds whilst at work (I have a very sedentary job), then for lunch I have a huge primal salad with about 1tbs olive oil or avocado oil, and 100-120g lean meat or chicken or some other fish, and sometimes I throw in half an avocado. I workout 4-5 times a week in the evenings after work, usually 20-30 minutes cardio at no more than 60-70% of my maximum heart rate, then I do bodyweight exercises for 40 minutes, use the viper/weights/kettlebellss/trx etc.
For dinner its usually 1 sweet potato or other carby veg, with lots of chicken or a whole fish such as mackerel, and I load up on veg. I can’t seem to put on any muscle though? on fitday I usually get 1000 calories so maybe this is much too low for my height and age, should I be adding in more carbs or upping my fat and protein? I reckon I get about 40 g protein average a day, and 40-50g fat and about 100g carbs.
thankyou I would really appreciate any advice!