Geschatte leestijd: 7 minuten
Strength training for women is underrated. Due to misconceptions about muscular women, cardio receives too much attention at the expense of results. When you look at the results women are trying to achieve and know how to achieve them best, the typical ratio in a gym doesn’t make sense: 80% of men in the weight room and 95% of women in the “cardio corner” aiming to lose weight.
I know: Those weightlifting, grunting, and muscular men can be a bit intimidating. But as a woman, you shouldn’t care about that. You benefit just as much from bench pressing as they do, so use your charm to make some space for yourself.
Where many men already underestimate the value of bodybuilding, women are even more likely to undervalue it. In this article, I will discuss the history of women in bodybuilding and the development over the last few decades. Additionally, I will argue why I think women undervalue strength training in general and bodybuilding in particular, and how this can affect the results they achieve in the gym.
From Bodybuilding to Bikini Fitness
The development of various classes in women’s bodybuilding competitions is a reflection of the search for the ideal body type for trained women. Over the past 40 years, we have seen the development where women became increasingly muscular at the expense of their femininity (at least according to most viewers), and then the development of classes where women are less muscular.
Women’s bodybuilding competitions can be traced back to the late 1970s, stemming from men’s competitions. The big popularity arose in 1979-1980 when the first world championships and Mr. Olympia for women’s bodybuilding were organized. The first winner of the Olympia (1980) for women was Rachel McLish (photo on the right). As you can see, she looks athletic but feminine in every way.
This was not surprising given that she had not been doing strength training focused on muscle mass for very long. After all, this had only just started among women. Her appearance naturally helped a lot, and she was frequently featured on magazine covers to promote women’s bodybuilding.
Rapid Growth in Women’s Bodybuilding, Literally
We see the same development in women’s bodybuilding competitions as described in the previous part of this series, but accelerated. The gap in training years was quickly closed, and in the 1980s, we saw more and more women who had years of experience in strength training and were getting bigger. If we look at the finalists ten years later, we see the much more muscular Lenda Murray who won and former powerlifter Bev Francis who came second.
Finally, if we look at the current ten-time (!) Ms. Olympia, Iris Kyle, we must make a considerable effort to see anything feminine alongside the bikini she wears, the lipstick, and her hairstyle. She possesses muscle mass that most men could never achieve, naturally or with the necessary chemical aids. I respect the fact that she has achieved this and the sacrifices she has had to make, but even I cannot visually appreciate it.
This is aside from the fact that the use of anabolic steroids for women is even more dangerous than for men.
Firstly, anabolic steroids are based on the male sex hormone testosterone, so you can imagine how this can disrupt women’s hormone balance even more than in men. Additionally, research shows that women are more prone to a mental addiction to anabolic steroids once they have the desire to build a lot of muscle mass (often stemming from a history of abuse).
“Female Bodybuilders Too Muscular”
So, we see the same phenomenon emerging as with men. Generally, people quickly found it too muscular. However, the difference with men is that for women, it compromises their femininity, while men become even more masculine (however exaggerated). Bodybuilding for women has always been less popular than bodybuilding for men. The further decline in popularity is evident, among other things, at this year’s Arnold Classic. The Arnold Classic is the second-largest bodybuilding event of the year after the Mr. Olympia and the most prestigious title. This year, women’s bodybuilding was not part of the event for the first time.
This is despite efforts by the IFBB to present women in the bodybuilding class as less muscular on stage. In 1992, the federation instructed judges to deduct points from “too large” participants [2]. In 2000, the federation expressed again the wish that women should appear less muscular on stage, and in 2005, it was even determined that they should show 20% less muscle mass [3].
- http://www.ifbb.com/pdf/Women_Physique_Rules_150712.pdf
- Jennifer, Hargreaves. Sporting Females: Critical Issues in the History and Sociology of Women’s Sports. London: Routledge, 1994. Print
- Racanelli, Tony. “The Evolution: From Women’s Bodybuilding to Women’s Physique”, RX Muscle, 3 February 2012. http://rxmuscle.com/rx-girl-articles/female-bodybuilding/4958-the-evolution-from-women-s-bodybuilding-to-women-s-physique.html
The federation would experience a total exodus if such an instruction were given to men. Moreover, you can keep “messing around” with requirements. What is too big anyway, and based on what criteria is that determined?
Figure, Women’s Physique, Figure, and Bikini Fitness
This has led to the development of various classes where women could appear less muscular. The names may differ in different federations. I will stick to the terminology of the IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilding) below.
Women’s Fitness (IFBB)
In the
Fitness class, women appear who in the early years could still have participated as bodybuilders. Clear muscle mass that many will still find not very feminine-looking (again a matter of taste). In this class, the ladies had to have a tight and trained body, but more emphasis was placed on fitness. They had to perform all kinds of acrobatic tricks such as one-handed push-ups, high jumps, etc. You saw a lot of gymnasts and dancers who were very good at this relatively.
Here you can see an example of a routine in the women’s fitness class:
Figure and Women’s Physique (IFBB)
This did not appeal to many potential participants who wanted to show off their physique without all the frills. Like the men, but with a modified standard for women.
To meet this demand, the
Figure class was created, where similar demands were made of the body without the requirement to bounce around on stage. In this class, the ladies are “athletic.” A tight six-pack, and tight, but not too big muscles.
The gap between bodybuilding and
figure/fitness was finally filled with the
Women’s Physique class. However, these ladies are already more muscular than the women in the original bodybuilding class of the early 1980s (but less muscular than the ladies in the current bodybuilding class).
The Women’s Physique category, which is aimed at women who prefer to develop a less muscular, yet athletic and aesthetically pleasing physique, unlike today’s
current bodybuilders.
IFBB
Here are the favorites in the Figure class during the 2014 Olympia weekend:
Bikini Fitness: An Example for Many Women
Now, some people from, for example, the
Figure and
Physique classes might still say: “I don’t find a six-pack attractive on a woman, but masculine.”
Again, this is a matter of taste. But apparently, many still felt that way about these classes. When the “Bikini Fitness” class was added last, it quickly became the most popular class at bodybuilding competitions for women. In this class, you can still have the illusion that the participants on stage just got lucky and were at the front when the most beautiful figures were handed out.
However, the reality is that even for this level, hard work is required and a lifestyle is needed to achieve these results!
It remains a true art form to have the curves and shapes where you want them and at the same time burn the fat in the places where you don’t want it.
“Bikini Fitness models train like bodybuilders”
Actually, the whole article so far has been a prelude to the most important point:
Aside from making bodybuilding competitions much more entertaining to watch, I am very happy with the bikini fitness models for another reason. They show that you train and eat for such a body as bodybuilders, but in different proportions and quantities and with a different objective. So much strength training, especially in the kitchen to ensure that the fat percentage does not rise too much, and cardio where necessary to burn extra fat if needed.
Correct ratio of strength training to cardio
For a Bikini Fitness figure, you do more strength training than cardio! In principle, for every training session for a better figure, strength training is the most important. Many bikini fitness athletes therefore do at least twice as much strength training as cardio.
Now, I’m sure many women would dream of having a bikini fitness figure like that of the current
Ms. Olympia Bikini Fitness Ashley Kaltwasser (photo right). However, because many do not know how these women train and have a wrong idea of strength training, I see many women doing cardio day in and day out. Some of these women are actually already lean enough and are therefore only breaking down muscle mass because there is very little fat left to burn.
The more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body burns. By doing cardio, muscle mass can be broken down because of the calories needed for this. For example, if you do cardio four times a week and no strength training, there is a good chance that you will break down muscle mass alongside fat. Your body will then need even fewer calories. After that, you will need to eat even less or do even more cardio to stay at the same weight! Do you understand that this is a shame if you are already slim? I applaud it when young girls are smart enough to start training when they are still happy with their bodies and want to keep them that way. However, I find it very sad to see if they then approach this totally wrong by only doing cardio.
However, if I ask why such a person does not do more strength training, the standard response is: “I don’t want to become so muscular.” I then like to point to the bikini fitness participants as an example.
Emphasizing cardio only makes sense if you are really training for endurance because you want to run the marathon, for example. Also, when you have a much too high fat percentage, cardio will always have to go hand in hand with strength training.
Below you can see a video of Ashley Kaltwasser. In the video, you can see how she prepared for this year’s Olympia. Of course, it’s just a glimpse of her training, but the fact that you don’t see any cardio is telling….
Conclusion: Strength training for women
So, ladies: Do not neglect strength training, but make it the most important part of your training. Don’t be afraid that you’ll turn into She-Hulk right away because it takes years of strength training combined with ridiculous amounts of food and anabolic steroids, etc., to look like the women at the top of women’s bodybuilding. Believe me, this doesn’t happen overnight, and long before you get there, strength training will already show you better results than that treadmill has ever shown you!
References
- http://www.ifbb.com/pdf/Women_Physique_Rules_150712.pdf
- Jennifer, Hargreaves. Sporting Females: Critical Issues in the History and Sociology of Women’s Sports. London: Routledge, 1994. Print
- Racanelli, Tony. “The Evolution: From Women’s Bodybuilding to Women’s Physique”, RX Muscle, 3 February 2012. http://rxmuscle.com/rx-girl-articles/female-bodybuilding/4958-the-evolution-from-women-s-bodybuilding-to-women-s-physique.html
