Thanks for the topic. In short: no, I don't think women's and men's training should look different at all, unless, at an individual level, the goals or motivation are quite different. I train an equal amount of women as men and both genders respond well to the same training programs. I do think that women can sometimes handle more volume then men, but as they become stronger the amount of volume they need decreases, because the intensity and weight increased. I could say the same thing about beginner men though – they're not as good at lifting with intent (maximizing target muscle contractions per rep) so we use a bit more volume to get more practice at stimulating the given muscle. Over time, both men and women improve the skill of lifting weights to stimulate the targeted muscle, fatiguing that muscle more quickly with heavier weights and better quality sets, so the amount of sets we do decreases. Typically, I find 2-3 sets per exercise for both men and women works well. Most differences I've noticed in training people comes down to individual and personality differences rather than gender differences. So again, no, I do not believe men and women need to train differently.
Btw, I have not forgotten about your request to write on the topic of the good and bad of Stuart McRoberts HardGainer Abbreviated Training principles. I'm hoping to get some time to write my thoughts on the topic within the next few days.
Thanks again
