What Women 'Cannot Do' — and What Is Actually True

Most of the restrictions that are still repeated were lifted decades ago or were never confirmed in the first place. There are few real differences, and they are not about bans.

7 min read

Heart rate no higher than 140

The rule was introduced in 1985 and rescinded in 1994. It was never based on evidence of harm and relied solely on caution. Today, it is not present in any current guidelines, yet it is still repeated in gyms to this day.

Relaxin and 'loose joints' during pregnancy

Joint mobility does indeed increase. But no link between relaxin levels and injuries has been found. Increased mobility does not mean that load should be removed; it means that technique should be monitored more carefully.

Kegel exercises for diastasis recti

Directly refuted by a randomized study of 175 participants: they do not affect the width of the separation. What works is something else — progressive loading of the deep abdominal muscles while controlling intra-abdominal pressure.

Screening for 'knee valgus'

Testing for knee valgus does not predict injury: the area under the curve is about 0.6 in a sample of 710 female athletes — barely different from a coin toss. The angle between the thigh and lower leg doesn't predict anything either: prospective data simply does not exist.

What actually reduces risk is plyometrics with landing technique instruction and Nordic hamstring curls. Not screening out those who are 'predisposed', but training the skill.

The only adjustment with an evidence base

At equal relative load, women on average recover faster between sets and perform more repetitions at the same percentage of 1RM. This is an argument in favor of shorter rest periods and higher rep counts — not light dumbbells.

This is not medical advice. If you have pain or a medical condition, a doctor decides your workout load, not an app — and we'll tell you directly when that's the case.