Is ‘Running like a girl’ a thing?

For those of you who do not know me, I have been a performance coach for over 25 years and have an undergraduate degree in physical education. I was lucky to be taught by giants in this area that taught me that girls and women do not move like their sex, but rather move in a way that simply represents how much good coaching & development they have received.

According to my colleague Dr. Nimphius: “We’ve over-attributed performance differences between males and females to biology, and underestimated the role of training, coaching, and opportunity.”

1. The way a female athlete moves is NOT inherently biological

Nimphius has shown that when you control for strength and training, many supposed “sex differences” disappear:

• In strength-matched studies → no meaningful movement differences between males and females

• Adaptation to training → similar magnitude between sexes

Translation: If you equalize strength + exposure + coaching, movement patterns converge.

2. The real issue = exposure + coaching quality

Female athletes historically:

• Had less access to high-quality S&C

• Had less experienced coaches

• Had less early motor skill development

Nimphius explicitly points out: Female athletes may appear biomechanically different because they haven’t had the same motor learning opportunities or coaching systems.

It’s not a female running style; It’s an underdeveloped running style

• Poor front-side mechanics

• Low stiffness / force application

• Limited projection angles

• Weak arm action coordination

• Lack of sprint exposure at high velocities

Those are novice or immature sprint qualities, not “female qualities.”

Watch the New Zealand’s Women’s rugby 7’s team run - I rest my case.

3. Training history > gender

Training history matters.

This is huge for coaching:

A well-trained female athlete will look like a skilled sprinter or jumper.

A poorly trained male athlete will show the same “inefficiencies”

4. The real problems

• Late entry into strength training

• Lack of sprint coaching

• Over-reliance on sport play without physical prep

• Lower expectations for female physical development

“Running like a girl” is:

• Not biological

• Not fixed

• Not inevitable

It is:

• A coaching problem

• A development problem

• A motor learning problem

5. Most observed differences in movement are modifiable

• They are driven largely by:

  • Strength levels

  • Skill exposure

  • Coaching quality

• And historically, girls have simply had less of all three