Female Strength

Ladies, Want to Be Strong? Lift More Than You Assume You Can – Three studies show that women who want to get stronger just aren’t lifting heavy enough to accomplish their goals.

To build maximal strength, a woman must lift over 85% of her 1-rep max. In these studies, when women were allowed to “self-select loads” or choose their own weights, both untrained and experienced women undershot that amount.

I doubt most of these women were sandbagging it out of laziness. My hypothesis: they were probably playing it extra safe or simply underestimating themselves. (Men typically do the opposite on both counts.) Ask any good trainer, and they’ll say their female clients can usually hit a 5-rep target with more weight than they would’ve guessed. Most women are stronger than they think.

Excerpt from “The New Science of Women Who Lift” by Chris Shugart (@chrisshugart)