Something is Not Better Than Nothing – Female Athletes in the Weight Room

Did you know that females are at a much greater risk of a sports related injury than males? If so, do you know why, and most importantly, do you know how to reduce that risk?

Research and statistics show an overwhelming number of female injuries compared to their male counterparts, particularly in knee injuries. In fact, ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries are three to six times higher in females.  When girls hit puberty, obviously a number of changes occur.  Differing hormones, alignment, form, physical performance, and human physiology all play a part in why females are so much more injury prone than males (1).  Let me elaborate.

Ladies – our shoulders are smaller, hips are bigger, we are squishier, and we DEFINITELY have different hormones than men.  I’m speaking the obvious here.  It’s not because we are lazy or work any less hard than men, it just happens to be this thing called human physiology – it’s the way our bodies are.  Through puberty we also develop muscle imbalances, poor movement patterns, and unfortunately without organized strength training to correct the less obvious, we develop injuries as well.

Before I go on, let me clear one thing up.  “I don’t want to get big and bulky…” A comment I get too often when I mention strength training, particularly weight training with anything more than fifteen-pound dumbbells.  Physiologically, women have different hormone levels, particularly estrogen, which is why we have more body fat and less musculature than men.  This is absolutely normal and we actually need more body fat to function optimally and normally.  Differing hormones is also the reason we cannot become “big and bulky” like men can.  Go ahead, try to argue “but what about those women that get up on stage, flex, and you can see all of their muscles?!”  You cannot get this way without a LOT of nutritional strategy, time, dedication, time, goals to get this way, time, and sometimes there are other hormonal replacements involved, oh and did I mention a lot of TIME? Just trust me when I tell you that you will never be big, bulky, or ever this lean with sport-specific strength training alone.

Weight training not only increases muscle strength, it strengthens the bones too– something quite critical in the adolescent phase.  In female athletes it’s especially important because it makes the body robust, and able to endure more of the stressors of physical activity and sports. It is important to strengthen the hips and legs, as to reduce the high risk of knee injury.  With athletes involved in upper body intensive sports (softball, volleyball, and tennis to name a few,) it is important to strengthen the rotator cuff and shoulder girdle specifically, since females physiologically tend to have less upper body strength.

So, if anyone would have talked to me about all of this while I were in high school, I would have responded with “Cool! I lift weights and we do strength and conditioning in the off season for soccer, so I must be preventing injury!” yeah… WRONG. Wait.. Why?

Any time I was ever in the weight room at my high school or at the local gym, I never had structure or a program to follow. In fact, the girls soccer team didn't even train in the weight room my junior year, so the "strength" aspect was somewhat lost there. On my own though, sure, I did “leg day” and “upper body,” but what exactly was I doing? Leg extensions and bicep curls are two that I remember.  I can also say that I didn’t know how to properly squat or deadlift until I was in college.  

As an adolescent, I was doing all my favorite exercises, and they were my favorite because I was good at them.  The bicep curls were useless because they are an accessory exercise meant to supplement a larger lift, which was absent.  The quad extensions were strengthening my already strong quadriceps (front part of the thigh) and increasing the imbalance between the front and back of my legs. I didn’t do hamstring curls because I hated them…because I sucked at them… because my hamstrings were weak. In retrospect, it was a blessing in disguise that I never made it past JV soccer and the most extensive injuries I had were strained hip flexors and guaranteed shin splints.  Where did the strained hip flexors come from? A speed treadmill set to a speed that was faster than I could sprint, causing me to push myself as hard as I could to attempt to keep up.  Ultimately, some of my imbalances and weaknesses came through, resulting in an injury.  This is typically how most injuries occur. In reality, I needed to be doing more hamstring work to lessen my imbalance, weighted sprints to make me faster, and more multi-jointed exercises (such as weighted squats, deadlifts, 90 degree jumps, etc.) that were relevant to my sport. Lets be honest though, how was I supposed to know better and what kid wants to do something they are not good at?  None, whom I’ve ever met. 

That’s where coaches that know the science of strength and conditioning come into play.  At The Spot Athletics, we help kids strengthen their weaknesses so they become stronger and better equipped for their sport, and life overall.   We expose them to jumping, sprinting, throwing, lifting, and everything in between in a controlled environment. Then, they can safely apply their improved athleticism in the uncontrolled environment of their sporting events.  We train athletes in all planes of motion because life happens in all dimensions of movement.  We identify imbalances to help fix them and we correct poor movement patterns.  Athletes at The Spot learn to strength train with weights correctly, they learn proper form for every movement, how to spot each other during heavy lifts, how to coach each other, and how to work together as a team.  

Most importantly, coaches at The Spot know and believe in the importance of having a structured program.  With this, I mean more than just designated days for certain exercises.  I’m talking a program that builds on strength, power, speed, joint stability, recovery, injury prevention, and athleticism as a whole. Strength training is not about lifting heavy things until we can’t move, and conditioning is not about running until we feel like death.  It’s about having a program built of exercises with a specific reason for each exercise, a reason for each rep and set range, and a purpose for each workout to effectively achieve the overall goal. Now, that’s definitely something that I never had any idea of when I was in high school and would have completely blown my mind.  

Ladies (and gents too), strength training is obviously the answer.  So, why don’t we see many females in the weight room pumping out heavy squats with the guys? Why don’t we have many structured high school strength programs required for female athletes?  Research and statistics have proven that females need it even more than males to reduce injury, and it definitely increases athleticism and sport performance, so what’s the hold-up? The coaches at The Spot Athletics know the differences, tendencies, are able to quickly recognize weaknesses, and most importantly provide progressive, structured strength and conditioning programming to decrease injury risk and increase athletic performance.  If you and/or your athlete are serious about your training and sport(s), I encourage you to experience elite level strength and conditioning at The Spot Athletics for yourself.

-Coach Chelsea



Work Cited:
1. Lasalandra, M. (2011, March 1). Women and Sports Injuries: Why It's a Different Game | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Retrieved September 27, 2014.