Do Women Need to Train Differently? Strength and Menopause with Dr Tony Boutagy

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Episode Summary
Dr Tony Boutagy is a strength coach and exercise physiologist based in Sydney, with a PhD in exercise and sports science from Charles Darwin University, around 30 years of coaching behind him and more than 70,000 training programmes written. He is a returning guest on Mikkipedia, and this conversation starts with the rise of the unqualified coach before getting to the main question: do men and women actually need to train differently? Tony's short answer is no. He argues that goals, training history and individual needs decide sets, reps and exercise selection, and that studies comparing men and women on the same programme show they respond similarly. He is clear that this is his reading of the human research, and that much of the opposing case leans on differences seen at rest in untrained people or in animal tissue.
From there the conversation gets practical. Tony covers what matters for women through menopause and beyond, why "hard and easy" is enough for most people instead of worrying about zone 2, and why he would keep sprint work on a bike. Mikki, who is training for a marathon, asks how runners should lift, and Tony explains his low-volume, heavier-load approach and why he would pick a leg press over a back squat for many runners. They finish with the minimum amount of strength training needed to maintain muscle, meeting people where they are, and what Tony sees in clients using GLP-1 medications.
Key Topics
  • The rise of the "cortisol coach" and "menopause coach": Tony says the issue is not coaching itself but people coaching from personal experience and a big following, and he frames it as consumer protection
  • Whether men and women need different programmes: Tony's answer is no, and he says NSCA position statements comparing male and female responses to resistance training have reached the same conclusion since 1989
  • Fat burning and fibre types: why Tony thinks differences measured at rest in untrained people should not become training rules, since fuel use and fibre type change with training status and habitual diet
  • Menopause and beyond: the main difference for women is urgency around bone, and the answer is resistance training that covers muscle mass, strength and power, plus balance, stability and tendon loading
  • Zone 2, HIIT and sprint intervals: for most people "hard and easy" is enough, and Tony would do all-out efforts on a bike or assault bike instead of sprint running because of injury risk
  • Why recovery from maximal strength, power and sprint work takes longer with age, and why stacking heavy lifting and sprint sessions on consecutive days leaves no recovery
  • Strength training for runners: four to six reps with a weight you could lift for eight, not to failure, at least twice a week, followed by an easy day
  • Exercise selection: why Tony would choose leg press, leg extension, seated leg curl and hip thrust over back squats for runners who are not experienced lifters, and why short warm-up sets are about focus, not warming the muscle
  • The minimum dose: in Tony's view one total-body session a week maintains muscle and two brings slow gains, and outdoor activity cannot replace resistance training
  • GLP-1 medications: Tony, who notes he is "not a medico", describes training clients three times a week, using protein around training and carbohydrate during sessions, and both agree the aim is not the fastest possible weight loss
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
03:08 The rise of the unqualified coach
15:43 Do men and women need different training?
20:55 What the sex-difference research shows
29:47 Training through menopause and beyond
34:56 Zone 2, HIIT and sprint training
45:18 Strength training for endurance runners
53:32 Leg press, rep ranges and warm-ups
1:02:47 The minimum dose of strength training
1:06:35 Meeting people where they are
1:10:32 GLP-1 medications, muscle and training
1:16:09 Tony's current work and podcast
Guest / Resources
  • Dr Tony Boutagy's website, including his courses for personal trainers and the general public: tonyboutagy.com
  • Tony on Instagram: @tonyboutagy
  • Stronger with Time, Tony's podcast, where he interviews researchers who are leading their fields
  • Tony's earlier Mikkipedia episodes: From olympians to everyday athletes: mastering strength and endurance with Dr Tony Boutagy and Fuelling Athletes: Context is Everything with Dr. Tony Boutagy
  • The NSCA position statement Tony refers to. The latest version is Dabbs NC, Binkley H, Bott C, et al. National Strength and Conditioning Association Position Statement on Strength and Conditioning of Female Athletes. Part II: Training Adaptations and Program Design. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2026: doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000005493
  • Tony is finishing a review on resistance training for women across the lifespan with a team of contributors, and is editing a book on personal training that Mikki is contributing to. Neither is published yet
  • Also mentioned: Jordan Syatt and the Syatt Fitness podcast, Rhonda Patrick on Tabata training, and Tadej Pogačar
  • Training tools and methods discussed: DEXA scans, the assault bike, Tabata, HIIT and sprint interval training, zone 2
  • GLP-1 medications are discussed in general terms. No specific product is named, and Tony is clear that prescribing sits with his clients' doctors
  • Mikki's recipe portal, mentioned at the end of the episode

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