Strong women strength train

I continuously hear how women wont lift at the gym because of the overbearing amount of testosterone coming from that area. Keeping the ladies from feeling comfortable in the place that is so vital to their success, health, and well being. What's the result? The majority of girls churning away on faulty training tools like ellipticals and treadmills, and joining spinning and aerobics classes right and left. Is it really that fun to step on a box and turn around repeatedly, I really doubt it. And I know people say they love to spin, but really? Really? You're not going anywhere. I guess I just don't get it.

I feel bad though. Terrible in fact, that women don't feel as though they should be lifting beside a bunch of men. Women need strength training just as much as men. This comes from a health and physique standpoint as well. This is a message to all women out there, I'm just gonna come out and say it. Strong girls are incredibly attractive and so is lean mass. Ask any guy you know, and I bet each one of them would jump at a chance to take a fitness competitor out on a date. and fitness competitors lift, and lift hard.

I guarantee you Jennifer Stano lifts weights, and good luck finding a guy that doesn't find her attractive.

I hear excuses like, "I don't want to bulk up so I stick with the elliptical." Yeah......Because gaining muscle is so easy (especially for women). Even for most men gaining muscle is difficult, and men's bodies are set up completely different and much more suitable for gaining lean mass. Most women are literally unable to gain large amounts of "bulk", but they do have an incredible ability to build a very nice foundation of strong, attractive, calorie burning lean mass.

In fact most women would benefit from this exponentially. Not only would they be that much more empowered and confident with the strength they've gained but in the long term their bodies will be much healthier. Increasing bone density and metabolism. Along with slowing down the aging process, including decreased skin wrinkles and more balance and strength retained over time. Nice! but I tend to find that most of the time people are more concerned with the here and now, and the here and now is what you see in the mirror and are capable of doing. So, do you look great in a backless dress and can you climb a rock wall or do squats with your best guy friend on your back? Good questions I think, and I know some women that it's true for cause they put in the work.

Here's a video of Donna performing a variation of a farmers walk working on core stability through the hips, trunk and abdomen. The walk creates and instability affect up the chain, the bells offset and pull the body in differing directions forcing the core musculature to contract in a way that will support itself and stay rigid, while also maintaining the change in breathing pattern that will occur.

Don't they look great?

In the background you can also see Janet performing swings, a more dynamic exercise working the core in a different fashion. During the swing the glutes (butt) and hamstrings need to kick on more to produce the force in order to create movement but she's performing them with one arm so the trunk muscles are having to work extra hard on stabilizing at the same time. It's also an extremely heart pumping exercises.

Here's another example of a great exercise being performed by two very in shape women, that have been taking my class 3 days/week for some time now. They really get after it and it shows.

This is a great exercise for the core. Holding the bell on one side forces the trunk to stay rigid and the elevation of the box allows you to lower the hips more than a conventional reverse lunge and use the glutes more. Great for athletes and anyone else that's trying to get their bodies into better shape.

Someday, I'm gonna walk in the gym and see a bunch of ladies doing deadlifts, squats, pushups, pullups and other functional strength training lifts and I'm going to ask one of them out on a date. Just kidding, but that is going to be a great day.

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Office Fitness Presentation

Dusty and I just finished our presentation on fitness with a sedentary job. I need no reminder of how wacked up people's bodies are but I'm still in awe of how interested people are in helping themselves. I suppose my realization today is that I'm glad that I can be one of those informers that can make the difference in helping someone out of their current situation. Makes me feel all warm and gushy inside. 

We received very good feedback and I feel really good about things when the audience asks a lot of good questions, which occurred. Chalk one more up for us and to them for coming up with the questions.  

But I really feel good about the information we laid out. We started with the affects of a sedentary job. For instance sitting, looking into a computer, and typing for long durations and how they lead to issues like: 

Structural Posture problems

Lordosis

Kyphosis

Anterior Head posture

Pelvic tilt

This part may have gotten a lil heavy for the audience we were speaking to.  We could go on for days about any one of those issues, so it was a little difficult to scale back. But in the end I think they were able to take in and make much of what we explained to be very useful. Which is our goal.

Second we explained how the body should work synergistically from the core outward to the extremities. I think we really tripped some minds during this part.

Last thing we did was actually take people through some mobility drills they could do on their own in their office that would help them dramatically. I don't think they realized how much each of those could help them but Dusty and I do, and because of that we're gonna keep hammering into your brains.

Overall I felt very good about it. I was glad to help and am excited for the next time we get called upon.  

Su Madre es su madre

My training is no panzy pilates, yoga or some dumpy aerobics class. It's difficult, you sweat, you get sore, your heart will feel like it's beating through your chest. Some may even call it Brutal. Most people couldn't handle this, same reason they're stuck looking and feeling as terrible as they always have. Gimicks are gimicks, this is old fashion grip it and rip it grunt work (with proper technique of course). 

This type of training gives tremendous health and corrective benefits but it also gives that leaned out, strong and very natural look to the trainees. Not the poor posture, no shoulders and no butt workout 'fanatics' that you regularly see at your training facility, whom have no idea what they are doing except to just keep going. (I really wish they'd take half that effort and put it towards studying from some actually good resources.) It's pretty simple really, our trainees look like true athletes. 

It's mother's day so here you go, a couple mom's that get after it in the best of ways. 

Taken after a grueling workout worth a memory solidified in digital imagery. From left to right your's truely, Julia, Janet, Heather, Donna. 

From left to right: Julia, Janet, Donna, Heather. By the way that's my mom holding the very respectable 24kg, of which she uses regularly. Pretty good for +50. 

Happy Mother's Day