(Rio during the Tire Pull/Carry competition in Dahlonega)
In my profession, I get the opportunity to work with a number of people from all walks of life. From men to women, Pro’s to Joe’s, teens to seniors, all have graced the doorway of World Camp CrossFit. Out of all types, women are the ones that fascinate me the most.
Women, for the most part, are very aesthetically driven, meaning they are concerned more with looks and beauty than performance, and there is definitely nothing wrong with that. The desire to look good and feel beautiful is a natural emotion inside us all that we cannot fight off, no matter how much we don’t care about what others think. With performance being the main measuring stick in my book, the women that I train realize and find comfort in knowing that with better performance comes fat loss and muscle tone. However, there is a vicious rumor out there that I plan to expose in this column and I hope this clears up any grey areas that you women may have on the topic of strength training.
When sitting down with a female client for the first time, the one question that is sure to pop up will be, “Will lifting weights make me look like a man?” Well, out of the respect for the new client and whoever planted that seed in her head, I reassure her
that there was no possible way for this to happen.
Strength training for women is a great way to lose weight, tone up and get fit. Many women are hesitant to start a training program in fear that they may end up looking
like a male bodybuilder with huge muscles and oversized shoulders and legs. The truth is, a female does not have the chemical make-up or the ability to produce the large amounts of testosterone needed to build those large muscles. This could only happen if the woman in question chooses to use an illegal substance such as steroids. On the other hand, a woman who is an avid trainer and on a healthy diet plan will simply develop a well sculpted body that looks and feels great!
With about 65% of my clientele being women, I have come to the realization they truly are from Venus and I am a few thousand light years away trying to imagine life in those
“to die for” jeans that they are just shy of getting into. Being married for only 5 years, I still have a lot to learn. Jerry Seinfeld once said, “Women are the only people who can pour boiling hot wax on their upper thigh, rip the hair out from the root and still be afraid of a spider”. I have however, come to appreciate these angelic creatures that tend to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. Women not only have to deal with the stresses of day to day life and motherhood, they are expected to hold to the pre-conceived image of what a woman is supposed to look like. This is really unfair seeing how every woman is different just as every woman’s body is different.
Increased metabolic rate and bone density, a decreased risk of Coronary Disease and injury prevention are just a few of the benefits seen in women on a vigorous training program. Aside from all the physical benefits, strength training can make a woman more confident, feel better about herself and look great in the process! Strength training has been proven in every study to burn more body fat than just cardio alone. With this being said, your daily walk/ run around the neighborhood is not going to get you the results that you long for.
I hope this has laid to rest any questions or concerns you ladies may have had on the subject of strength training.