BOTH men and women can benefit from a strength training programme, they can also both gain results from following that programme.

The results may however be different, for example a male will have the ability to build more muscle mass as he has a higher level of the hormone testosterone which is needed for building muscle (muscle hypertrophy).

A woman will gain muscle tone and definition from a strength training programme, without the bulk.

Both the male and female will gain from reduced body fat and increased strength (so long as they both have a sufficient diet).

A common training myth is that women should perform higher repetitions of lower weights to gain tone and burn more fat, this is not quite true.

Performing higher reps (20,30,50) does not burn more fat than using higher weights for less repetitions (8-10).

The fact is that training with higher weights for low repetitions will increase muscle strength whereas lower weights for higher reps will increase muscle endurance.

These both target different muscle fibres. The fat loss will not be significantly better when using low weights for high reps.

For maximum fat loss muscles need to be worked to failure and rest periods need to be short.

Muscle failure can be reached with BOTH high reps or low reps, however if the weight is too low then this will not be achieved.

So, to summarise there is no specific ‘women’s routine’ or ‘men’s routine’ we can all train together, follow the same routine and gain results.

The main focus should be to work our muscles at a good intensity, keep good form and technique, be sensible with training times and of course, very importantly, eat well.

Without eating well and consuming enough ‘good’ calories our training goals are unachievable.

We cannot build muscle without sufficient calories and we cannot perform well or burn fat without the fuel to do so!