The science says the fundamentals if strength and conditioning don’t change based on gender and that has real implications for how operators program and market to women.
In this episode, hosts Luke Carlson and Rachel Chonko break down the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s newly published position statement on strength and conditioning training of female athletes. The paper challenges a wave of social-media-driven claims about how women “should” train and offers operators a clearer, evidence-based framework for programming.
What This Episode Covers:
Luke and Rachel go through the position statement’s core findings and where the research pushes back on popular fitness narratives.
Key discussion points include:
- Why the foundational principles of strength training apply equally to men and women.
- Why the research doesn’t support syncing workouts to the phases of the menstrual cycle and what to track instead.
- Why individual differences matter more than gender when it comes to programming.
- Why women generally start with less upper body strength and what that means for training focus.
- Why injury prevention should be based on individual anatomy rather than gender.
Why This Matters for Operators:
This research has direct implications for how clubs program, coach and market to female members.
Those implications include:
- Marketing that promises gender-specific training protocols isn’t backed by current evidence.
- Coaches can simplify programming for female clients rather than layering in unnecessary complexity around gender.
- Individualized coaching based on a client’s goals remains the standard, regardless of gender.
- Overcomplicating exercise prescriptions for women may create a barrier to entry, a simpler approach can support greater participation.
Listen or Watch:
Audio: Available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Video: Watch the full episode on YouTube.
