Why Women Need to Exercise Differently?

We live quite rightly in an age of equality where we are slowly but surely tearing down many of the traditional barriers that exist between men and women. Despite this though, there are still some areas where differences do, and will continue to, exist and exercise is one such area.

Physiologically speaking, women and men are different, no real news flash there, but these differences even affect how we exercise. There are many differences in women which make it mandatory for women to have a different exercise pattern from men. These differences are:

• Women have different ratio of lean muscle to fat: Women have a lower ratio of lean muscle, also the areas where women need strength is very different from a man. Women's muscles respond very differently to exercises as not only there is less muscle but the biological response to exercises is quite different.

• Women's needs are different: Women need to retain some fat on their face, especially because women are prone to hollowed checks and under eye wrinkles. This gives a soft younger look (a pinched look in women is avoidable). Where they need to knock out fat is the chin and the under the jaw line.

• Women have a very different fat distribution from men: This is because of hormones. Men's fat is under the hormones insulin and testosterone. Women's fat cells are under the influence of estrogen and progesterone. Unlike other hormones, the female sex hormones fluctuate along with the menstrual cycle. Anyone with a basic knowledge of biology would know that they affect many aspects of a women's body like the fat metabolism, food cravings, fat deposition, water retention and emotions.

• Women's body has different angles: The center of gravity is lower and the way a woman walks, sits and carries the weight is  different. This is because the way the pelvic bones and the bones of the arms are aligned are at a different angle than a man. Some exercises of women need to be done differently for women to actually benefit from them. Range of movement is also different. Ask anyone from the fashion apparel industry and they will know the exact details in centimeters.

• Women need strength in different areas than a man: The first is abdomen, particularly the lower abdomen. This is the area where the woman pushes during childbirth and after childbirth this area becomes weak. The corresponding area is the lower back. The lower back of a women takes a lot of pressure and as women wear heels and with excess weight the pressure increases. The lower back needs special exercises. The women also needs to exercise pelvic floor muscles to ensure that before and after childbirth these muscles do not become very lax and weak.

• A women needs to maintain strength in the core muscles: These are muscles which maintain the torso strength. Another special area of focus in women should be the spine. The spine in a woman is generally very flexible, but with age it tends to become rigid which is one of the major reasons of accelerated aging. The spine is the core of all the nervous impulses network of the body and with aging the spinal alignment gets affected.

To summarize, women need different exercise machines, different kind of exercises, a different exercise routine which is responsive to her cycles, a different diet, different body treatments for her skin and a fair bit of traditional time tested techniques like Yoga and Pilates along with an sensitive coach/guide who understands a women's biology and can motivate her consistently and gently.