Every time I see the ladies in the gym working abs on the floor & avoiding weights
I always chuckle because the days when I see most definition in my abs
Are the days that I lift weights for upper body using core stability
— Dr. Taylor Burrowes (@taylorburrowes) January 25, 2019
She’s right. And in a general sense, most workout advice given to women is absolute garbage. Nearly worthless. It’s better than nothing, sure, but not by much. And not just for this, as this is minor, but in every other arena too.
Most women are concerned with “not getting big” but it’s VERY VERY VERY hard for women to get truly heavily muscular absent taking lots of drugs that are extremely bad for anyone. Hell, it’s hard for most guys to get big absent this, never mind women. It’s not impossible for a woman, sure, but it takes years of work and lifting like a mad woman. And then you’ll still only get half as big as I can with 1/4 the work (and I am just average). So it’s not something to worry about at all as a woman unless you plan on spending 2+ hours in the gym nearly every day for 10+ years and eating correctly nearly all the time.
Back to my main point, though. The best advice I can give to women is to use the same exercise programs that men with good results follow. These are proven to be effective. There aren’t really any changes needed other than adjusting the weights. Obviously if you are disabled etc. the advice will be different, but if you want results cut down on cardio and do more deadlifts, squats, bench presses, dumbbell work. You can also integrate cardio in your weight training by using supersets and similar techniques.
To the right is trainer Kelsey Wells, at the same weight, who is about as big as a wom
an can get naturally in the right photo — all without changing her weight. (Massive bulking de-bulking sessions could make her bigger, but these are probably not healthy and certainly not fun.)
My advice will also spend a lot less of your time. Doing 20 minutes of hard deadlifting is the equivalent of many hours of flailing around on the floor doing comparatively-worthless ab exercises or wasting time on an elliptical. Note that I am not saying that you are wrong for doing those things, and anything is better than nothing, but if you care about using your time judiciously I am telling you how you can both optimize yourself chronologically and physically.
There are some physiological differences, though, that seem to matter but they almost all advantage women! For instance, women usually have faster recovery, can handle higher volume (higher reps), and more estrogen quickens muscle repair. So even though you’ll likely never bench 300 pounds without superhuman effort, as a woman you can reach your potential a lot faster than most men.
Ignore most fitness advice directed at women, especially outside of yoga (where it is more accurate). It’s designed to spend your money and waste your time without getting results. And avoid places like Planet Fitness if you value actually getting fit.