Here's another way to think of it:

Let's say there's a man with 150 lbs of lean mass and he does 15 lb curls. He is doing the same amount of lifting per lb of lean mass as a woman with 100 lbs lean mass doing 10 lb curls. Lighter weight, but no proportional difference, and the analogy holds even if both are men or both are women. Now, because muscle mass is distributed differently on men than on women, you will see the common variations such as men having more upper body strength than women even accounting for lean mass differences. Conversely, women distribute more muscle in the their lower body, so they often seem surprisingly strong when it comes to legwork.

Some of the reasons many women appear to train so differently (lower weight, reps til boredom sets in) are that either the women themselves are wrongly afraid of 'bulking up', the wrongly believe that they can't do more, or misguided trainers, magazines etc actually tell them to do lesser workouts.

I personally 'lift like a guy.' I work up a sweat, make funny faces and push hard for failure. My upper body is 'wussy' compared to a lot of the guys at the gym, but my lower kicks a$$. Most of the guys can't do what I do on things like leg press and calf press.

Personally, I think it comes down to taste and goals. I *like* intense weight training, but aerobic exercise bores me to screaming. I do am cardio 3-4 times a week, but I do intervals, and even then I don't like it. I also want to add as much muscle as I can because I know it will have the fastest and most efficient effect on my metabolism.

Cheers!

Friday