Women versus Men

codehandle
codehandle Posts: 12 Member
edited November 11 in Fitness and Exercise
I just read: http://bayesianbodybuilding.com/why-women-should-not-train-like-men/

In the article it says that women body builders should do lower carb, higher reps, and longer endurance training than men because estrogen gives advantages to number of muscle fibers, faster rate of repair, and better conservation of tissues. That translates into women performing physically better than men at certain types of routines.

Men on the other hand are typically advised to go low rep, high weight, and explosive to shock muscles into growth. HIIT is advised to help men burn calories when needed. And, of course, we all know with nutrition and training men will more easily bulk up while women don't do that usually.

What do people think? Is it sexist advice or sexy advice?

Replies

  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    I wouldn't call it sexist but I'm not sure he's right. Even if he is right, I'm not convinced the differences are substantial enough to make a difference. In the end, when you go work out, you end up doing what you can in the moment and that won't necessarily be what is most scientifically best for you. But I know very little about the subject.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    It's not sexist, no. Is it accurate? My own experience suggests yes, but I'm an N of 1. It makes sense, given estrogen, but again, I don't know if it's accurate.
  • Abbie_T
    Abbie_T Posts: 38
    Not sexist at all, unfortunately it is a fact that there are hormonal and biological differences between men and women that mean body differences, however I can't verify the science regarding the hormones.
  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
    ...If I wanted to do what I was naturally good at, I would sit around and eat doughnuts all day.

    I want to challenge myself, so I am gonna run far and bike fast and lift stuff as heavy as I want.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    I can only speak for myself. I do better with higher reps, more frequency, less rest between sets, etc. That works for me.

    It's not the first I've read that women can train more frequently though. Bret Contreras touches on it some in Strong Curves too.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    It doesn't sound sexist at all. There are definitely physiological differences between men and women so he might be right, but I wouldn't know. I suppose it might matter if you wanted to compete. My interest in the subject is a little more shallow than that. I lift because I like the results but I'm not ever going to get into it so much that I'm worried about cut/bulk cycles and or what works best to get the absolute best results. :)
  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
    I do what I want.
  • jkwolly
    jkwolly Posts: 3,049 Member
    _dracarys_ wrote: »
    I do what I want.
    Ditto.
  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
    If you do it long enough, you'll figure out through trial and error what works best. Just switch it up every once in a while to confuse your muscles and you should be fine.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    It's inaccurate, but whatevs. People want to believe whatever they want.
  • aplcr0331
    aplcr0331 Posts: 186 Member
    Why would be considered sexist to have different (generalized)workouts for different (generalized)people?

    I don't get the sexism part?
  • GingerbreadCandy
    GingerbreadCandy Posts: 403 Member
    Not sexist. Just accounting for physiological differences. Accurate though? Probably not, most often these things aren't.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    edited January 2015
    I dont know why it would be considered sexist. The author links to the studies that back up what he is saying. He may be incorrect or there may be room for debate but its not automatically sexist to say there is differences between the sexes when it come to nutrition and exercise responses.

    No different than if you compared young and old responses.
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