I train with my husband. We do all the same exercises. Granted my weights are lower but basically we train the same. So when I would read about how women needed to be trained differently, I scoffed. However, recently one of my favorite fitness professionals, Bret Contreras, did a post on differences he had found in training women. When Bret writes something I read it and pay attention. He is one of my must read blogs.
The list is rather long but I highly recommend reading it. Just remember it is written for other trainers and not everything is true of every women.
Here are a few of the items that made me stop and think:
1."
Women utilize a variety of lumbar-pelvic strategies when lifting and often resort to overarching (excessive hyperextension) the spine during planks, push-ups, pull-ups, and deadlifts." I notice myself doing this on Glute Ham Raises. If I'm not careful I arch my back to get up rather than using my hamstrings.
2. "Bodyweight exercises for the upper body are much harder for women compared to men." As a person that has struggled to do an unassisted pull-up, it was good to hear that I'm not just a weak person. It took me a year to do a Chin-up and I hope to get a pull-up under my belt this year.
3. The vast majority of women will never have “too much booty” as in gluteus maximus musculature no matter how much resistance training they perform. I was glad to read this as I don't find the Kim Kardasian look attractive. Plus, I don't want to have that much trouble finding jeans/pants.
4. It is common for women, however, to have poor ankle mobility – just as it is for men. I have noticed this and think it is directly related to wearing heels. I love my 4 inch heels but they leave you in a position that shortens the Achilles for long period of times.
5. Women often struggle to load and unload plates off of barbells properly due to pulling or positioning them off-track rather than centering them perfectly and pushing/pulling straight-on. Being short as well, this is always an issue for me and probably why I dropped that weight. I now ask for help with larger plates above my waist.
6. Some women experience urinary incontinence when exercising, and the likelihood increases after giving birth. Ladies, go to the bathroom before maximum lifts. Contrary to some people's belief it is not cool to pee while lifting!
7. Women tend to prefer different training music than men. While I understand the love of rap and death metal the guys have while working out, it would be fun to hear some dance music sometimes.
8. More women than men attempt to chat during lifts, and they’ll even do so with maximal attempts (men instinctively shut their traps and focus on the task at hand when maxing out). I'm trying really hard to stop this as it drives my husband nuts. But I really don't understand what the problem is with it.
9. If you let them, many women would perform their entire workout as one giant circuit (therefore you have to teach them to rest adequately for strength gains) This is totally me! I have to set a timer to slow down. I think it has to do with thinking I should be exhausted at the end.
10. Women require smaller jumps in progressive overload – smaller plates are therefore critical (example 1.25-2.5lbs), as are smaller barbells (and smaller jumps in db’s, kb’s, and bands). I quickly found this to be true and got a set of Fractional weights. They have been very helpful and I highly recommend them.
There are many observations that I don't necessarily agree with. I think most men tend to start out with more knowledge then women, so women appear to have a steeper learning curve. If you took a man that had never been exposed to weight training and put them in the gym, I think most of the observations would be the same. Well, maybe not the stress incontinence
With the popularity of Crossfit and fitness in the media, there have popped up many tumblr and other websites with inspirational pictures. The term “Fitspirational” has been coined to cover these.
But I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. While the wording may be promoting fitness, the pictures often times are not. It’s an insidious cross message that is harmful to young women and propagating the existing stereotypes of women in the media.
Here are a few examples:
While the sentiment is implying that you should workout hard, look at the girl in the picture. She is skinny and has no muscle definition. If she was really working that hard to be fit, she would build some muscle tone.
Here is another that caught my eye:
This one is especially egregious. This is just a skinny girl with some boxing gloves and fake sweat. Her legs are tiny with no muscle and so are her arms. Again, thin is being portrayed as fit. The part “This is not what fashion models look like” almost made me laugh. This is exactly what fashion models look like if you throw some water on them to look like sweat.
By using models such as these, the idea that girls must be uber thin and have no actual muscle mass is being shown as the ideal. That is what we as fitness lovers want to get away from. I don’t want my daughter to think that just being skinny is healthy. I want her to understand that it is OK to have some muscle. That she should be proud of the hard work she is doing and it is alright to have visible signs of it.
There are real fitness models out there. Think Jamie Eason or Dana Linn Bailey or Annie Thorisdottir.These women have real figures from years of hard work. (Yes, I know Jamie had a boob job, but give her a break she had breast cancer first). These are the images we should be promoting to girls. Notice Jamie has definition in her arms and back. You can't really see her legs well but her quads are awesome.
Too many are indoctrinated to the ones above and are “grossed out” by actual fit women. They have been told that being strong is manly or unattractive. It’s time to stop that ridiculous line of thought. Stop promoting unhealthy body images to our daughters.
That doesn’t even cover the fact that our sons are bombarded by the images as well and brainwashed into thinking that women should be weak, thin, and inactive.
So if you see these “Fitspirational” photos, pay attention to what they are really saying and not just the words. We need to become critics of advertising to put an end to the insanity of crazy beauty ideals.
A
New Year has started and the gyms are packed with people hoping to
quickly lose weight and change their lives. I admit I’m guilty of being
irritated by the lack of parking and equipment at this time of year.
Sadly, the influx of new people will only last a few weeks. Then, they
will get discouraged by the lack of progress and turn back to their old
habits. I recently read two great articles on why people don’t see
progress. I will briefly sum them up and also provide links to the
original articles. Hopefully, someone will find something they can use.Group Fitness Classes Don't Work1How
many people do you know that faithfully show up for Zumba or Jazzercise
week after week and never see progress. They are putting in the effort,
not seeing results, but keep thinking just a few more classes will get
them that six pack they want. These classes are missing two of the main
principles needed to see progress. Overload-
Basically, you have to give the muscles in your body a reason to
change. In weight lifting you can do this by increasing the weight or
tempo. But in these classes, people tend to use the same weights week
after week. The instructor tends to do the same reps or moves at the
same tempo and may not encourage the students to progress. Progression-
How many of these classes are trying to progress the participants from
week to week? It’s difficult to make the class progressively more
challenging if new people are constantly showing up. So, they end up
changing the sound track but not the moves.What
they don’t tell the participants is the truths of fitness: (1)
Sometimes reaching goals is not going to be fun, (2) Following the crowd
won’t always get you where you want to be, (3) Don’t waste your most
precious resource, time. Lastly,
this is not to say that group classes never work. If you go from doing
nothing to taking classes, there will be some improvement but you
probably won’t reach your final goal. Running and Women2Women
tend to use running as a means to lose weight. This is for many
reasons. Women are often highly recruited for fund raisers that involve
running. These seem fun and easy to participate in. Not to mention make
one feel good about supporting a cause. Many coaches recommend huge
amounts of cardio to lose weight. However, steady-state cardio can
devastate a woman's metabolism. It can do it to men as well, but not as
often. The last trap is that we so often hear that to lose weight we
just need to do more cardio. But this only seems to work if you have no
base cardio rate.T3
is a hormone produced by the thyroid. I,t along with the T4 hormone, are
responsible for regulation of the metabolism. It is very important for
weight management that this remain stable.
It
has been shown, that in women, T3 rates can soar due to cardio
overwork, causing fat gain just when the people are trying do the
opposite. It can also start to burn muscle and cause excessive bone
loss. Things that no one wants.
Conclusion
- Both articles go much more into depth and I hope you will read them.
The idea behind them can benefit not just women but anyone trying to
meet a fitness goal. Good luck to anyone with a fitness goal in the New
Year! Here are links to both articles.
1.Group Fitness
2.Women Running Into Trouble
I am finally getting to start back working out and a month off means I’ve lost a lot of strength. For me, that is a motivator. Ask anyone that knows me well and they will tell you I’m overly competitive. I like to work out like I have a chance at some imaginary sports career. Yes, I understand I’m 45 and have no hope of being an athlete. But, I’m a Type-A personality, so goals and being #1 are a huge motivator for me.
It’s probably a good thing neither of my children got into sports in any serious way. I would have pushed way too hard for them to be the best. Not the best look for a parent. This personality disorder has meant I also have a hard time understanding why others don’t want to be as serious as I do about whatever sport I’m into.
When I started playing golf, I played every weekend. I walked the course because pro’s did. I played when it was 100 degrees out. I admit, I hate cold weather so I did stop during the winter. It was fun but frustrating to me. Not because of the game itself, but because I could not improve. I could hit a ball straight as an arrow, but not very far. I could putt fairly well, but not chip. Golf is not a sport you can improve at without lessons and it was just too expensive. So, golf went by the wayside after a few years.
Weight lifting is a sport you can get further on by researching things yourself. I’ve enjoyed trying new programs and learning the technical aspects of lifts. But the commercial gym I was at frustrated me. Not because they were not nice, but because the other people were not serious. No one was pushing themselves or thought I should. Why even show up if you just want to walk around and talk/flirt between doing a few lame exercises. What is the point of being on the treadmill just walk at a snails pace because you are talking on the phone and don’t want to be out of breath. Not to mention the people that came just to tan and took up limited parking spaces.
After finding a gym where people workout to the point of puking and think that is great, I am in my element. I want someone to call me a sissy for not pushing the prowler with more weight. They mean well and want to help me work harder. They appreciate my hard work and want me to do the same. No excuses and No slacking off. Just hard work and fun.
However, I am also learning that environment is not for everyone. The commercial gym can provide a service just a valuable. For many, there is a transition period between sitting on the couch and going all out. There needs to be a transition place. Maybe that person on the treadmill, talking on the phone, will progress to walking faster and finally running. With encouragement, people can move forward.
So there is room for everyone and not all people are competitive and driven by competition. I read a great article by someone else that learned this in his personnel training career. You can find it HERE. Even if you are not Type-A like me, it’s a good look at how trainers think and what you can find out there. Give it a read.
OK, I've been MIA for a bit but I have good reasons. It's been a rough couple of weeks. My father passed away just before Thanksgiving and while going to the gym to relieve some stress I dropped a 45lb plate on my foot and totally destroyed my Big toe.(I did finish the workout before going to the emergency room) I had no idea that a Big toe was so important but breaking it in 4 places get you a lovely non-walking cast, crutches, and a lot of trouble. Three weeks in, I am finally in a walking boot that I can't take off even to sleep but believe me that is a huge improvement.
So the point of this post is not to get a bunch of sympathy, although it is welcome, but to examine how I feel sitting on the sidelines. Two years ago when I started exercising on a regular basis and lifting weights, I did it to try and look better and get healthy. It was not something I enjoyed all that much. I made myself go because getting close to 45 and being a wreck was not an option. Each workout was just that, work.
What I have found out now, is all that changed somewhere along the way. Somehow working-out became one of the most fun things I do. My friends at the gym are a support system and my husband/workout partner, a great asset. Just thinking about how much time I was going to lose for being careless made me angry and I wanted to cry. Losing even a little of my hard won progress was not acceptable. At some point, exercise changed from work to fun. Don't ask me when it happened, because I can't pinpoint the time. But it did happen. Something that was a chore has turned into an activity I enjoy and that makes me feel accomplished. Believe me when I say I never thought that would happen. I was never an athlete when younger.
Even hurt and unable to walk, I went to the gym and watched my husband. I did as much upper-body work as I could and my non-injured leg is probably much stronger now. Who knew it was so much harder to bench press without your legs! Watching my husband hit a 15lb PR on Squat at 325 was bitter sweet. I'm so proud of him, but I wanted to be there with him hitting my own PR. The rush from bettering your last lift is addictive and I'm in withdrawal. I never thought this would happen!
I want to thank all the people at NBS Fitness that have been so supportive and not laughed while I hobbled around doing what I can. Everyone has cheered me on, asked how I was doing, and managed to not trip over my crutches.
The message of this story is that even if you don't like exercising now, you can grow to enjoy it. Sometimes things that start out as work become fun. I try and remember my favorite quote from Coach Bear Bryant (my hero), “There’s a lot of blood, sweat, and guts between dreams and success.”
Two
weeks ago I did a killer Deadlift workout and got really sore. The DOMS
(Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) were really bad and inhibited me all
week. That weekend, I tried foam rolling my back to loosen things up, as
I had to go out of town on business the next day. Well, wouldn’t you
know, I become one of the only people to make things worse by trying to
make them better. After rolling out my back for bit I decided to roll
onto my side and hit my lats. What followed was excruciating pain and
one really bad business trip. I
popped some cartilage between my ribs. This left me unable to walk at
all Sunday night and making my way through the airport like a 90 year
old on Monday. I could not take a deep breath or twist my torso. You can
imagine the fun of flying and renting a car. But I made it and got back
to see the doctor. The solution......Time and rest.Waiting
out an injury is one of the hardest things an active person can do. I
so wanted to just pick back up with my routine. I missed working out
with my husband and all my gym friends. I could feel my entire body
turning back into the soft goo it used to be before I started lifting. I
practically had a panic attack just thinking about losing my progress. I
really missed just being able to get up off the couch without pain.
But, sometimes there is no magic cure or pill you can take to get
better. I
went to the gym and just did little things. If there was any pain, I
stopped. I trained around the worst of my injury. The main thing was to
keep moving. Our bodies are not made to just be still. You can actually
heal better if you are not immobile. This is a great article by Eric
Cressey, who is one of the best trainers around, on why you should keep
moving. When Did Just Rest Become a Viable Recommendation?
The money line is this: “When a healthcare practitioner says it [it meaning complete rest],
it's because he/she either a) doesn't have the time, intelligence, or
network to be able to set you up for a situation where you can benefit
from exercise or b) doesn't think you have enough self control to
approach exercise in a fashion that doesn't make it more harm than good.”
So
don’t let an injury keep you on the couch or use it as an excuse to
just sit around. There is always a way to work around the injury. Blood
flow to the injury can actually help it heal. So do the best you can and
keep moving! You will be glad you did.
One of the main things I struggle with while trying to get healthy and strong is the obsession in this country with the number on the scale. Everyone asks what you weigh, not how much you can Deadlift. We are taught from childhood, as women, to watch that number and place all our self worth in that number. Never is it valued how far you can run or how high you can jump. In fact, unlike men, those things are seen as a detriment to us.
Everyday I would get on the scale in fear of what that number would be. If it was a bit lower, I was on cloud nine. If it was a bit higher, I was upset and depressed the rest of the day. That scale controlled my outlook every single day! How sad is that; and how many others are the same way?
Then I started training with heavy weights and reading about weight training. You hear all the time how muscle weighs more than fat. It’s not really true. One pound is one pound. But what is true that 1lb of muscle takes up less space than 1lb of fat. This picture saved my sanity. Look at it closely.
Yes, it is a bit gross but this means you can weigh the same thing and be significantly smaller in size. So, the number on the scale may not tell you the truth. There are several really good blogs with articles on the scale obsession. A few are Rachel Cosgrove HERE and and Nia Shanks wrote this one HERE. Both are great reads on the subject. Even famous trainers struggle with this issue. We have all been brainwashed.
Basically, I learned that as I build muscle over time my weight may go up. BUT, that does not mean I have gotten bigger. To keep track of it, I now measure myself in inches. instead of getting on the scale. If my belly has not gotten bigger, I know I’m doing OK. And if it gets a bit smaller I’m doing great. I write it down so I can remember what it was and track changes over time. There is also a device called the Zero Scale that just tells you plus or minus and how many pounds from your starting point. You never see the actual number. Personally, I would just worry over the plus or minus like I did the numbers, but someone might like it.
Another option is to get a good Body Fat test done. The scale ones are not very accurate but they may be able to tell you changes over time. The gold standard is a DEXA scan or the Bod Pod. Both are worth in if you can find one in your area.
You have to be realistic as well. You are not going to build muscle in a week or two. It takes a few months to grow muscle. But, as it does, you will get more compact and firm. Isn’t that what we want?
In closing, don’t let a number control your life. Start to judge yourself on fitness goals you reach and how your clothes fit. It’s not easy because we have been conditioned to the number but it will make you much happier in the long run.
