CategoriesFemale Training

Fitness Marketing to Females: Don’t Be a Victim!

Note from TG: Today’s guest post comes courtesy of friend and strength coach Kelsey Reed. I’ve known Kelsey (and her husband Steve) for a few years now (they actually got engaged on my blog and came to Cressey Sports Performance for their honeymoon!)

You can check out those shenanigans HERE (<– the actual sneaky engagement post) and HERE (<– my follow-up post). 

I have a ton of respect for Kelsey not only as a fantastic strength coach, but as someone I feel is a true “champion” for fostering the sentiment that women aren’t these delicate flowers who should appease themselves to the regurgitated BS that the mainstream media tosses their way.

Here she dives into fitness marketing towards women and some of the shadiness that goes down. Enjoy!

Before I dive into the meat and potatoes of the post, I want to thank Tony for allowing me to write a post for the blog (I might have done a happy dance when I began this post).

Today I will focus on the devious, misleading, and body-centric phrases that magazines, fitness products, and various other media outlets use to lure women into reading or purchasing their products. These schemes are birthed out of the intent to deliver what every woman wants: the perfect body, as dictated by their marketing.

Don’t check out yet, fellas!

I assume, since you read this blog, that you are either a fitness professional, an individual of higher enlightenment than the rest of America, or both. And we need you to help rebuke these, I think, demeaning claims and spread the good news of iron. Claims and “promises” such as:

“Lose a dress size in a week!”

“Torch those calories!”

“Flatten your belly!”

“Lengthening muscles and tone that tush!”

“Get rid of that jiggle!”

* and other such claims that are so asinine they make my cats take out their rage upon us poor humans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka0vPcMVAl8&index=5

Ladies and gents, we are barraged with headlines and marketing techniques designed to a) make a woman feel inadequate about her current body shape and b) continue to ingrain in her that her worth is based on her looks.

Not only do they fail to encourage, but they even discourage, the pursuit of process-oriented goals. Both a) and b) lead to repeated cycles of short bursts of motivation and hard work, followed by despair at her failures (typically because the claims above set her up for nothing but failure), and ending in a return back to her starting point.

Do this for me, Google image “women dumbbell exercises.” 99% of the images are with 5 lbs or less (and for some reason are performing bicep curls. I thought that was a guy thing?). These portrayals are ubiquitous in women’s magazines and, subliminally, tell women they can’t, or worse shouldn’t, lift heavy things.

This is what our friends, coworkers, and clients see on a daily basis.

Now, there has been a movement, “Strong is the new skinny,” which, I’ll admit, is definitely a step up.

In word, at least, it encourages women to try heavier weights and strive for strength. However, have you Googled that phrase? Do so, I’ll be right here when you get back.

What did you see?

Images of muscular (more so than usual) women who are still lean (thin) and long-legged and busty. Not that I think those attributes are wrong to possess, those models can’t help their genetic lot, and power to the women who can rock it, but those are the traits that seem to be highlighted almost exclusively.

I don’t think it’s ignoble to strive for the body of a Greek goddess, especially for women who compete in physique sports; I used to be one!

Despite the words of the message, there is still the expectation that women should look like Wonder Woman or any of the other female superheroes from old DC comics, and that simply is not a realistic goal for most women.

(I’m rather short, un-curvy, un-busty, and will never be any of those things.)

Photo Credit: Jeff Chapman

PLEASE NOTE: this is NOT me disagreeing with this new mentality that is permeating the fitness world. I DO believe that being strong is better than being skinny. After my battle with anorexia, I know better than most how damaging focusing on body image can be and whole-heartedly agree with the shift in thinking away from looks and towards performance.

The focus of our message should be to the non-physique competitors, the women who want to be strong and healthy but are still inundated with the images of busty, tiny-waisted women with a visible 6-pack.

And even though these women are more muscular than the general model to grace the cover of women magazines, there’s still the subliminal expectation that to be “healthy” or “strong” a woman’s physique must contain less than 12% body fat.

We must remind our friends, family, and clients that lifting weights alone will NOT MAKE SOMEONE LOOK LIKE THAT.  More importantly: To not let the fact that they don’t discourage them or frustrate them. 

We must communicate that diet and genetics play a large role in how these idealized women look; if you’re 5’1” and have the curves of a pre-pubescent boy (like me)…striving to meet these ideals will only cause frustration and disappointment.

We must live in our realities; not in the fantastical world of internet models and Photoshop.

Unfortunately, the women who most need to hear this message are not regularly exposed to resources, such as blogs like Tony’s, which encourage women to step away from the grocery store magazines. Therefore, as fitness professionals (females and males) and enlightened individuals we must do 3 things:

  1. Reset our expectations for ourselves (ladies) and set goals that are both attainable and realistic. We’re not immune from this either and we cannot hope to inspire change in others if we have not first done so ourselves. I also challenge the guys to examine how you personally view the women you either work with or who are in your life, and see if these arbitrary standards have crept into your subconscious.
  2. Encourage other women – be it friends or clients – to set and strive for goals that aren’t based upon an idolized “ideal” woman. Note that you can accomplish this not only through words, but also through your actions; it’s often the latter that is more effective.
  3. Educate and continually remind those women that their goals will be accomplished through consistent hard work, patience, and embracing a process-oriented approach. The world will continually try to sell them short cuts and inflame their impatience for results. We must be the voice of unvarnished reason amidst the din.

 “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” – my dad

I’m personally encouraged that there is an increasing number of women ditching the magazines in favor of a more reasonable and healthy training approach. Our job is to foster and encourage this trend.

We’re not going to change the world overnight, but we can change it one woman at a time.

Note from TG: for more on this topic you can check out my Training Jane from Joe webinar on Mike Reinold’s Rehab Webinar’s website (you get access to my webinar and HUNDREDS of others).

In addition, for more female-specific fitness resources I stand behind check out Neghar Fonooni’s Lean & Lovely, Nia Shanks’ Lift Like a Girl Guide, and Molly Galbraith’s Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training.

Author’s Bio

Kelsey Reed is head strength coach at SAPT Strength & Performance located in Fairfax, VA. Bitten by the iron bug at 16, Kelsey has been lifting ever since. Her love for picking up heavy things spurred her to pursue a degree in the Science of Exercise and Nutrition at Virginia Tech.

Now she spends her days teaching and coaching others in the iron game. In her down time, she lives life on the wild side by not following recipes when she cooks, fighting battles through characters fantasy fiction novels, and attempting to make her cats love her.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 11/7/14

Soooo, who’s as excited as me to go see Interstellar this weekend? I bought two tickets for Lisa and I to go see it this Sunday afternoon in IMAX.

Admittedly, I’m a little biased. I’ll go see anything Christopher Nolan makes. The man can do no wrong. He could write and direct a movie about Tracy Anderson saying the alphabet backwards while curling 3 lb pink dumbbells and fighting Batman…..in space, and I’d be like “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!!”

Quick Movie Fact: did you know writer/director, ChrisNo1, filmed an entire hour of this film with IMAX cameras???

As a quick reference, remember the opening sequence of The Dark Knight, when the camera panned down from the sky towards the top of the building where the bank robbers zip-lined into the next building, which was a bank, and then chaos ensued where they started shooting one another, the Joker appeared (he was one of the robbers!!!!), a bus came out of no where and plowed through the bank walls and he escaped?

That scene was filmed with IMAX cameras.2

Needless to say I’m super excited, and I may write up a quick review at some point this weekend like I did HERE. It all depends on whether or not I faint from excitement when the movie starts.

Think Critically and Don’t Believe Everything You Hear. Example: “Forks Over Knives” – Kelsey Reed

I like to eat meat, and I don’t really care for any program (or person) who tries to convince me that eating meat is the equivalent of shaking hands with Hitler.

I “get” the message that documentaries like Forks Over Knives – and more recently, Fed Up – are trying to convey. The Western Diet is crap and it’s killing people. 100% agree!

But to use the approach that eating meat is the main culprit – without taking into context all the other variables in people’s diets (loads and load of processed foods, sugar, lack of fruits, vegetables, and fiber, as well as lack of exercise), not to mention the conversation that TOTAL (excess) calories matter – is shameful at best, sensationalistic BS at worst.

I felt this short rant and take on the movie by Kelsey was fantastic and brought up many valid points. Don’t believe everything you hear!!!

The 5 Jackasses of Fitness – Dan John

Per usual, Dan writes yet another fantastic article.

22 Habits of Unhappy People – InfoBarrel

Nailed it!

For Your Additional Reading Pleasure

Here’s a recent article I wrote for Men’s Health titled What to Do Instead of Kipping Pull-Ups.

Here’s an article I appeared in on The Daily Burn titled 5 Major Benefits of Total Body Workouts.

Also, as a reminder Examine.com’s Research Digest is on sale for 20% off through this weekend (ends on Nov. 9th). I feel it’s a fantastic resource for professional development, and even if you’re not a fitness professional is worth a look if you’re interested in staying on top of relevant nutritional topics.

CategoriesNutrition Product Review

Tuning Out the Noise When It Comes to Research

Note from TG:  I know some people are put off when they read something only to get to the end and find out they’re being “sold” something. I just wanted to be straight forward from the get go that what follows is an endorsement for Examine.com’s Research Digest.

I love what they do and what they stand for, and feel this is something that will help a lot of people tune out the noise and chaos propagated by the mainstream media. 

I hate reading research. There I said it.

I know it seems sacrilegious for someone who makes a living doing fitness writing to say that, but it’s true. I hate it.

If I had to choose between sitting down to read an entire research study or swallowing live bees I’d seriously contemplate the latter.

This isn’t to say I don’t feel research isn’t important or that I never do it. Before people start grabbing their pitchforks and storm the castle, to be clear: I do feel it’s very important and I do read it.

Sometimes.

Photo Credit: Astronomy Blog

It’s just that whenever I attempt to read a research study I get through two paragraphs before I start falling asleep. And if by some miracle I do make it through to the end, I rarely ever remember anything because I either 1) blacked out or 2) started making paper airplanes out of the study itself.

When I do read research, however, particularly research reviews, I always appreciate when it comes from sources that I recognize and trust.

Shit gets convoluted real quick once the mainstream media gets their dirty paws on a study. Anything that they can sensationalize and distort in order to separate themselves from the masses and to garner viewership is all they’re after.

Remember the whole egg yolk consumption is worse than cigarettes debacle?

Anyways, as much as I disdain reading research I do like to stay a head of the curve. And to that end, any chance I have to allow someone else do the “dissecting of research” for me, the better.

Introducing Examine.com’s Research Digest

It’s no secret I’m a big fan of the guys (and girls) over at Examine.com. They’re my GO TO source for unbiased information on supplementation. I can’t begin to tell you how many athletes and clients I’ve referred to them.

They single-handedly solved that niche.

Now they’re goal is to make research more accessible.

And it isn’t just ONE person doing the grunt work.

Here’s what separates ERD from everyone else:

– They have a panel of nerds researchers doing researchy things.

– Before anything is put to print, all their references and claims are double-checked by a group of editors hand picked for their experience and expertise in their respective fields.

– THEN there’s another round of edits and “checks and balances” done by outside industry and academic leaders to ensure a more fair and balanced representation of the information.

In addition:

1. It’s written in laymen’s terms and in a way which won’t require a Klingon-English translation.

2. It provides unparalleled professional development on a monthly basis.

3. If you don’t have the time to read ERD, you can listen to it instead. It’s also available in MP3 format.

4. And, it’s stunning to look at. The production value is top-notch. I.e., there’s pictures!!!

I was lucky enough to land an advance copy of Issue #1, and it’s sooooooo good I can’t even stand it. Here’s the table of contents.

Of Note: one of my favs, obesity doctor, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, wrote this month’s editorial The Shady Underbelly of Evidence Based Medicine. And each subsequent issue will highlight other industry big wigs moving forward.

All in all it’s an excellent way to stay on top of the research, stay up-to-date with the research, and not feel intimidated by the research. All for about a $1 per day. It’s a monthly subscription.

HOWEVER, you can save 20% off the monthly price starting TODAY (Nov. 6th) through the rest of the week by going HERE.

Check it out. Doooooooo it.

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Split Stance 3D Hamstring Mobilization w/ Reach

Once a week I head over to Boston University to fiddle around in the strength and conditioning center. I’ve been going there for well over two years now, and as much as I love training in a state-of-the-art facility – if for nothing else for a little change of scenery – I think the greater benefit is the opportunity it allows for me to hobnob with some other really smart, forward thinking coaches.

Yesterday was a classic example.

I had just finished my bench workout (I know! Benching on a Tuesday! Blasphemy!) when coach Jill Zeller asked if I’d take a few moments to look at her hip. Her left side had been bothering her as of late, and she was curious to get another set of eyes to take a peek and to see if I picked up on something she hadn’t.

In the process fellow BU coach, Will Turner, joined the festivities and before you could say Minas Tirith three times really fast, the three of us were geeking it up talking about acetabulum anatomy, Left Anterior-Interior Chain (<– Postural Restoration Institute shenanigans), and pelvic alignment.

Oh my god, get this….at one point Jill was like, “dude, if it’s a Left AIC, why would my left hip hurt?” And Will was like, “anterior humeral glide syndrome?” And I was like, “and that’s why the honey badger can’t have gluten!!!”

It was hilarious.

Whatever. You had to be there.

Anyways, it was a good brain dump and after the fact Jill and Will started chatting about some new fancy schmancy warm-up drill Jill had picked up the previous weekend while out in Denver working with University of Denver strength coach, Matt Shaw.

Split Stance 3D Hamstring Mobilization w/ Reach

What Does It Do: This actually hits a number of cool things:

1. The “3D” part refers to the multi-planar aspect of the mobilization. I.e., by reaching in a variety of directions (forward, left, and right) we then hit the hamstrings in all planes of motion – not just sagittal.

2. As such we also get a fantastic glute stretch/mobilization because we’re grooving a hip hinge pattern.

3. In addition, with the bent leg, there’s a significant ankle dorsiflexion component.

Key Coaching Cues: I feel this one looks fairly self-explanatory, but there are a few points to hammer home.

– It’s important to maintain a neutral spine and to try to avoid going into excessive lumber extension on these.  A lot of people are going to want to crank through their lower back on these rather than through the hips.

– Too, you need to own your rib position (something I explain in more detail HERE).

– To prevent any HYPERextension of the knee, rather than locking the knees out I’d advocate for “soft knees” instead (just short of locking out).

– Be sure to “push” your hips back while performing the reach in the opposite direction.

– Shoot for 3-5 reps per direction.

– Use these as part of an extended warm-up, or as a nice “filler” in between exercises.

CategoriesMotivational

Breaking Family (Health & Fitness) Traditions

Many times with my private clients, and even the youth athletes that I continue to guide in the weight room, the topic of nutrition will inevitably arise. I understand that with the mindset of work, it is often analogous to think of hard work, sweat, and coming into the gym day in and out to see results.

This is important, yes, but not as much “hard work” is done in the kitchen, nor is advising the emotional pathways that guide our nutritional thought process, along with the routine habits that ultimately guides what is being digested into our bodies.

Photo Credit: AB Chao

Prior to arriving at Cressey Sports Performance, I was living at home, working multiple jobs, and helping out my family when I had the opportunity. I would clean, I would cook, and I would do any errands that anyone needed to get done, other than my own responsibilities as a strength coach, personal trainer, and online writer.

Note from TG:  A man who cooks and cleans!?!?!? Miguel is single. Ladies??????

Needless to say, I was busy. However, I didn’t let this stop me from living a healthier lifestyle, along with influencing others towards a healthier lifestyle.

Essentially, I controlled what I could control.

The purpose of the following is not to discredit any number of both cultural and individual diets, or devalue the traditions of one culture versus another, but to more aptly identify what is helpful and not helpful with respects to a community of individuals, also known as a family.

With this in mind, changing habits for yourself as an individual can bring about conflict in an immediate circle of individuals. If someone within this “circle” challenges the status quo, what happens? How can you bring about change in a positive manner without negative confrontation?

Identifying Your Culture’s “Diet” By Traditional Meals

My family is Filipino, and with that comes many of the traditional meals that are associated with the culture.

The Filipino diet is largely rooted with delicacies, soups, stews, and white rice.

This sounds great at first, especially if you haven’t had this type of food before, but the meals cultivated by our culture may not be the most advisable towards a healthy and productive lifestyle. For an insider look at what my typical meal selection looked like growing up, I typically had white rice with every meal – breakfast, lunch, dinner, including snack times throughout the day – along with a variety of meats, soups, and stews.

Two-four cups of white rice, at roughly four meals a day, for approximately 13 years (when I was old enough to eat rice at a decent clip, to when I began cooking on my own) is a lot of white rice.

At a young age, I was fortunate to have the mentality to expand my horizons on food selection, along with improving a lifeskill (cooking) that would still guide me to this day.

At risk of calling my diet a “problem”, a better statement to identify with is: what can be improved upon within my own family’s Filipino diet?

Or, any diet for that matter?

With that said, here are some things that you can implement and draw upon from my own experiences with bringing about changes in a traditional family setting.

Improvement #1: Lead by Example By Cooking Recipes On Your Own.

Begin a healthy lifestyle of movement and diet change on your own, and don’t be overly confrontational about improving your loved ones’ lifestyle (unless you know they can handle it mentally).

With this in mind, learning to cook is a skill that I’ve cultivated from a young age, and it has stayed with me to this day. About once a week I cook a large amount of food, in order to save time, and to minimize the stress involved with not having any immediately consumable foods nearby (which can lead down the path of snacking and raiding fridges).

One recipe that I’ve mastered is one involving ground beef, potatoes, rice, veggies, and hardboiled eggs. This recipe is called, picadillo, and I’ve adjusted it to include grass fed ground beef mixed with beef stock, chopped up sweet potatoes, green and jalapeño peppers, white rice, eggs, and sriracha sauce, among a variety of other spices. It is delish.

Often, I ask the youth athletes I work with if they like eggs, and if they do, if they know how to cook them?

I’m surprised at the number that do not know how to cook eggs, let alone a full meal.

For what it’s worth, eggs are a staple in my diet and will continue to be a helpful ingredient towards my physical and aesthetically minded goals. Barring the personal dislike for eggs, I’m of the belief that learning to cook eggs is a great first step towards a lifeskill of cooking – if you mess up sunny side up, or over medium, you can quickly turn a “mistake” in cooking into an omelette.

Note from TG: for those reading who have to fight the daily battle of people thinking eating eggs (yolks) are the equivalent of kicking a baby seal in the mouth have them read THIS and THIS.

That said, I have sat down with these athletes, YouTubed a 1.5 minute video on “How to Cook Eggs”, and made them watch this video with me in order to impart some knowledge.

Improvement #2: Encourage Small, Healthy Changes, Instead of Large Amounts of Change In a Very Quick Timeline.

Food selection can prove to be pivotal towards a lifestyle change.

Decreasing the amount of white rice (carbs) consumed in favor of meats within the meal (protein) can prove to be a small change. Even adding one vegetable ingredient (green peppers, spinach, or even a salad as an “appetizer” to your main dish) can prove useful towards implementing a positive change towards a healthier lifestyle.

Improving health through the avenue of food is not the only way to decrease health risk factors – exercise is also a helpful beneficial activity.

Leading by example is one way to prove that “big doors swing on small hinges.”

To use a personal example, my mother was never really a “gym person”, and I never fought her on the issue of going to the gym. For a frame of reference, I started dancing and bodyweight training at the age of 14, and began strength training at the age of 21, so I also never truly began a gym associated lifestyle until a few years ago.

However, health and lifestyle issues decided to visit her instead of being proactive about it, and after many “hard talks” with her general physician, she reacted by going to group exercise classes.

After a number of Zumba classes, she kept on mentioning to me how these Zumba classes weren’t all that good – not enough dancing, not many good songs, and not enough sweating.

After hearing this for a few months, I pushed her to become a Zumba instructor – be a part of the solution instead of solely identifying a problem.

She was hesitant at first, since she wasn’t used to the idea of going to seminars and conferences, but when a conference for Zumba certification showed up in Philadelphia, I registered along with her and got certified as a Zumba instructor as well.

She loved it, and is still teaching to this day.

The point is to not identify how awesome my mom is at Zumba, but rather to exemplify that habits can be formed in multiple ways, not just through sheer willpower and grit.

Improvement #3: Don’t Shy Away From Eating Traditional Foods at Family Gatherings, Social Events, Etc.

Avoiding meals at these social gatherings can lead to high amounts of stress for both you and the social parties involved.

Note from TG: plus, you come across as an uppity a-hole. “Oh, oh, look at me everyone…I brought my own cooler of prepped food in my own Tupperware!” Douche.

Stress for you because you have this constant animal on your back telling you to eat these foods that have been a part of your lifestyle for [x] amount of years, as well as your own inner voice singing “No, no, no, no.”

This is pure willpower at work, and often times it will not pan out the way you imagined.

Stress presents itself for the other parties involved because now they have this mental stigma that their cooking is no longer acceptable, their food is not good, or some other conjecture that is not fully realized.

Using the 90% rule from Precision Nutrition indicates that if you have all relatively healthy meals during the week, you can utilize that 10% in order to eat more traditional foods at that social gathering on Saturday.

This is particularly helpful, especially if you have JUST begun a new “diet” and you are aiming to navigate the social aspects of eating with this new lifestyle choice.

With all this being said, one big question that sticks out is “What has happened now that you moved?”

I’m no longer there to help cook or help overall – correct.

However, I’m of the mindset that fostering change should also lead to fostering independence. Sure, my exact recipes aren’t being used, but the positive notion towards a healthier lifestyle remains, and you can bet your behind that my mom is still Zumba-ing her way to a healthy and physically active lifestyle, along with cooking up a storm of awesome meals.

So hopefully I have also armed you with strategies that will begin a lifestyle of change not only for you, but also your immediate circle of friends, family, and loved ones.

About the Author

Miguel Aragoncillo is the newest addition to the Cressey Sports Performance staff, with the self-acclaimed title of Office Linebacker. He enjoys breakdancing, lifting heavy things to 90s Hip Hop mixtapes, and guiding everyone towards their goals – whether it is sports performance, healthier lifestyle, or to get huge.

More of his writing can be found at www.MiguelAragoncillo.com and make sure you follow him on Twitter (@MiggsyBogues) … or else.

Contact him at [email protected] if you have any comments or questions!