Whether you're new to weightlifting or have been doing it for years, men and women still gain muscle at similar rates compared to each other—experience doesn't change that difference.

When men and women do strength training, men tend to gain a little more muscle size than women—not because they work harder, but because they usually start with more muscle to begin with.

When men and women who are healthy and in their 20s to 40s do strength training, they both gain about the same amount of muscle relative to how much they started with—men might gain a tiny bit more, but it’s so small it doesn’t really matter.

When men and women do strength training, men tend to gain more muscle in their arms and chest than women, but both genders gain about the same amount of muscle in their legs and glutes.

When older adults (60+) do strength training, men and women gain muscle and get stronger in basically the same way—no big differences between the sexes.

If you're a guy between 18 and 40 and you start lifting weights, whether you're new to it or have been doing it for years, you probably won't gain much more muscle just because you're experienced—but the people who’ve trained the longest (4+ years) still tend to gain the most muscle, so experience doesn’t always make a clear difference.