Why Women Need to Lift Heavy!

“Intensity is the independent variable most commonly associated with maximizing the rate of return on favourable adaptation to exercise.” – Greg Glassman

Alright, so pretty much everything that follows applies to the men as well but, boys don’t need to be told to lift heavy, most of them tend to do this anyhow.  Even when their coach advises them to stow the ego.  But women have often been culturally conditioned to avoid heavy lifting. 

The good news is this is changing.  Thanks to experts in the field of women’s health like Dr. Stacy Sims and Dr. Gabrielle Lyons, we are seeing a positive shift that emphasizes the importance of strength development for women’s health and longevity. 

Why?
The negative physiological symptoms many women experience during/post menopause are a result of the changing hormonal profile.  But the way you train can counteract these changes.  Specifically, sprinting and heavy lifting trigger a positive hormonal response resulting in better outcomes.

In addition to the hormonal benefits, jumping, sprinting and heavy lifting are effective in improving musculoskeletal health leading to healthy ageing.  As they age, women are more susceptible to osteoporosis leading to serious injury and debilitation.  All the calcium supplementation in the world will not prevent this.  In fact, calcium supplementation has been implicated in development of bone spurs and arterial calcification increasing cardiovascular health risks.  Absent sufficient external stress, bones demineralize and weaken.  Aquafit, cycling and yoga will not cut it.  Jumping, sprinting and heavy lifting provide the stress necessary to maintain strong, healthy bones.

The problem is that for many years women’s training has emphasized cardiovascular respiratory endurance and toning using light weights for high reps.  And before menopause this may have even worked for some women.  Not so much after.

Why do women avoid heavy lifts?

Some have been led to believe that heavy lifting leads to a bulky, muscular physique.  As a former gym bro, I can tell you that this is not the way to get swole.  Every body builder knows that you need volume to put on mass.  Medium weights for high reps are what is required to build size.  Strength is developed with heavy weights at low volume.  Think 1-5 reps.  This is because strength is as much neurological as physiological.  Have you seen BC Masters Women’s Weightlifting record holder Silk recently?  Strength does not equal size.  So, if you want to get strong without getting buff, think lower reps, higher loads.          

Fear of injury.  Women are generally more cautious (and sensible) than their male counterparts.  I am not suggesting that you lift loads that exceed your threshold of competency.  Form first.  I am advocating for you to have a little courage to push yourself when you are working in lower rep ranges in workouts scored for load rather than time.  It is okay to lift more than your previous 1 rep max.

No need to go crazy though.  I max per day is enough.  Add 5lbs to your previous best, call it a win and leave the next PB for another day.  Even if you feel strong, it is okay to finish with a little left in the tank as long as you commit to pushing your threshold every training session.

This is not a license for reckless lifting.  Listen to your body.  Every day can’t be your best day.  Form will always dictate.  Progress is never linear.  Some days your previous max will be out of reach.  As long as your perceived exertion is at or near a max effort, you will get the benefits. 

Incidentally, all this holds true for men as well.  Though manopause is a long, drawn-out affair with no clear demarcation point, men also see a hormonal profile shift as part of the ageing process.  And guess what?  Sprinting and heavy lifting also address their woes and help rebalance their waning testosterone levels.  So, while this blog directly addresses women, it holds equally true for men.  Except the next parts:

Women, the following tips apply uniquely to you:

Physiologically women tend to possess more slow than fast twitch muscle fibre relative to men.  This means that your 5-rep max will be very close to your one rep max.  Not so for men who may struggle to complete 2 reps at 90% of their 1 rep max.  Women’s maxes are lower, but you can do many more reps near your peak effort. 

This also means you recover better between lifts.  While a trained man may need 5-8 minutes recovery between max lifts, women can often get away with much shorter rest intervals. 

The takeaway: where exercise science is concerned, women are not simply smaller versions of men.  In a mixed class, a one size fits all strategy cannot possibly address the physiological differences between men and women.

For example, to get through a workout consisting of 10 heavy single front squats most men may have to use a load closer to 80% of their 1 rep max while some women may get more out of it by lifting at 90% of their one rep max.  They may also benefit by taking shorter breaks between sets and working through the 10 sets at a pace few men could survive.

Because the variations between individuals of the same sex may be greater than the variations between the sexes, in the end, you will have to listen to your body.  .  

What you need to know:
On lifting day, go heavy!

We very recently tested your 1 rep max front squat with HeroWOD Big Cat.  Today your aim is to use 80-90% of your 1 rep max for each of the 10 sets of a single front squat.  We will a lot 2-4 minutes between sets.  Form should ddictate.

Share a rack with a few friends close to your height (you do not need to lift the same amount).

Friday

Warm Up
3 min AMRAP
10 Ring Row Squats
10 Goblet Squats

Tech
Front Squat
5 @50% 1 rpm
3 @60% 1 rpm
2 @70% 1 rpm

WOD
Front Squat
1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1