When it comes to losing weight and getting fit, I have advice for women that may or may not go over well. Don’t genderize your workout – instead, just do it his way. There’s a reason why. Have you ever made a pact with a husband or male friend to diet, lose weight and workout? Have you ever been frustrated because he gives up one thing and just drops the pounds like they were nothing?
Don’t be upset. We’ve all been there. Men are biologically stronger than women and they naturally have a lot more muscle than we do. Women are also programmed to store a whole lot more body fat than men are. This is just how it goes. This is who we are biologically.
Understanding this biology helps us to understand ourselves better. It also provides a guide to what we need to do to build muscle, fat burning and more. Women need more body fat because we get pregnant. We need to insulate our own internal organs and we need to be able to be able to protect the baby. Men also typically weigh more and thus need more calories than women do to sustain themselves.
Also, men are usually a lot more physically active by their very nature. So, taking a page from their book means we need to adopt the following masculine (for lack of a better term) fitness techniques.
- Starvation diets lower metabolism so we need to eat more, smaller meals throughout the day to increase our metabolism.
- We need to add more protein to our diets. Protein foods are considered guy meals (steaks and eggs), but they also have an amino acid called leucine, this is critical for increasing metabolism and preserving muscle – we need to avoid sugar crash foods and use protein instead.
- Lift weights – women typically believe that weight lifting is a male thing, but weight loss is 25% muscle and muscles are a primary fat-burner, the muscles you build will help you burn fat more efficiently.
- Push your limits and compete with yourself. Men like to push themselves harder – sprinting instead of just walking, harder pushes at the end on an uphill on their bikes or increasing weight to failure on their last set – this can make an aggressive workout that challenges the body to build muscle and more efficient internal organs.
While successful programs require lifestyle changes, doing it his way can help us to improve our workout; but also our chances to succeed.