Strength Training and Females

I am a level 3 sprints coach, who spent 20 years throwing hammers and a lot of time reading, learning and trying things in strength training.  This has lead me to be coaching 80% of the athletes I coach are in the gym.  Does this mean I am an expert in resistance training, no - but probably better than a lot of others due to practical experience.

What does this have to do strength training and females, nothing.

One of my athletes, who is a female middle distance, has been staying I don't want big bulky legs.  My argument is this isn't going to happen due to lower levels of testertone etc...   This hasn't washed due to my inability of being able to provide scientific evidence but also to what this athlete was taught at school.  This led me to read through my books and try and provide more empirical evidence as to why it isn't going to happen.

I guess a starting point is to look at what is considered the base for different elements of strength training;

Maximum Strength 2-6 sets x 1-8 reps x 80-100%
Power 3-6 sets x 2-11 reps x 15-60%
Hypertrophy 2-5 sets x 5-17 x 60-80%

(this is from Black Books from Christian Thibaudeau, based on fast to slow twitch)

I seem to recall, that Ian King said as the more experienced you got the lower these reps got.

I read somewhere, I think, that females respond better with higher repetitions.  Whether this is correct or not, from previous this seems to be how it works.

Whilst reading further, there is a lot of discussion with functional and non-functional hypertrophy.  My take on this, muscle growth is functional if it is usable and it is non-functional if it is not usable.

Others thoughts

 

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