As with anything, these differences are not true for every individual or all the time. They are overall themes I have come across while coaching both men and women in weightlifting.
- Men do better taking a light week every 4th week (especially heavier weight-classes), while women typically do well with a light week every 5th week.
- I find women can do snatches, cleans, and jerks at higher intensity work-sets without getting as beat-up. This difference is most pronounced on clean and jerks.
- Most women require more upper body assistance work then men. For most women I am adding in push presses, bench press, dips, or handstand work. I look for athletes to bench and push press their 1RM snatch weight for a couple reps, this gives me a gauge to evaluate upper body strength. Depending on the athlete I will also look at number of strict handstand push-ups.
- In terms of exercise selection (block vs. hang) I find little difference between genders and my choices are based on individual needs.
- Experience shows me women miss lifts more often for mental or confidence related reasons then men, while men more often miss lifts due to fatigue or technique. Visualization techniques and heavy lifts closer to competition benefit women more then men.
