CategoriesFemale Training

How I Respond When Female Clients Use the I Don’t Want to Get Bulky From Lifting Weights Cliche

I received a question recently via my Instagram DM’s and figured it prudent to take some time to write a more thorough response I could share with the masses here.

1. I hope it helps and makes sense.

2. Um, why aren’t you following me on IG?[footnote]Pffft, whatever. It’s not like I care. Nope, not me. I could care less. It’s not like I’m the most important person in the world or anything. Look at me. I said LOOOOOOK AT ME!!!![/footnote]

Here’s the question:

“What is your response to female clients who use the cliche of not wanting to get bulky when training? Any practical scientific routes that you speak about to dispel this myth?”

Copyright: milkos

My Response 👇👇

I gotta be honest and forthright out of the gate…

…I really do feel this sentiment and way of thinking is shrinking and becoming less of a “thing” in 2022. Granted this is just my N=1 experience, but since this is my blog, pretty much anything I say here should be taken as fact.

Like:

  •  Hacks is the funniest show on television right now.
  • Baseball players can (and should) perform overhead pressing.
  • I think my cat wants to kill me.
  • No, really, I’m not kidding.
  • Why are you looking at me like that, Dagny?
  • No, wait, stop. STOP.
  • Ahhhhhhhh.

I joined my first commercial gym in 1996. I came home for the summer after my freshman year in college and was elated to find out my hometown had suddenly gotten a bit more badass and opened up a gym.

(it sure beat having another pizza shop open up)

It was stellar and it served as my “home-base” until I left for New England in the fall of 2005. In those nine years it was very rare to see a woman in the free-weight area lifting weights. I felt it was fantastic anytime I saw it happen, but it was a rare event.

Akin to me wearing shorts in public.

Anyway, once I moved to New England (and subsequently Boston) I ended up living in a proverbial strength & conditioning bubble where people of all shapes and sizes (as well as non-Y chromosome havers) performed full-rom pull-ups, were more inclined to squat on Monday than bench press, and salivated when it was deadlift day.

Young woman power lifting training indoor gym alone

And that’s where I lived until this past Fall when I joined my first commercial gym since 2005. I’ve been training there for the past several months and it’s night and day in terms of the general vibe.

Everyday I see various women squatting, deadlifting, thrusting, and lifting appreciable weight. It’s awesome and I love that the mentality and attitude toward strength training has shifted to reflect a stark contrast compared to a generation prior.

That said, it’s not lost on me that the stigma of “lifting weights will make me bulky” still stings in today’s society and that it festers in the psyche of some women still.

The best way I can answer this question is in two parts:

1. What to NOT say and do.

2. The opposite of that.

What to NOT Say and Do

The question sent to me asked if I have a “practical scientific route” I take when this issue comes up. I do (or I should say did), but it rarely (if ever) works.

If I’m honest, early in my career I took this approach and it makes me cringe to think about it. If a new female client brought up her concerns about putting on too much muscle it took a lot of will power on my end to not have my eyes roll out of their sockets.

And then I’d get all “mansplainy” and wax poetic about hormone profiles and how women have waaay less testosterone than men and that it’s really hard to put on muscle.

I’d say something snide like:

“It’s hard to put on muscle. 100% of guys wish they could add muscle as fast as many women “think” is possible.”

Then, to top it off, like an a-hole I’d continue…

“You won’t turn into He-Man in a week. Or a month, or a year for that matter.”

Like I said, I cringe when I think about how I used to handle this sort of conversation. I’m willing to bet I lost more potential (female) clients then gained taking this approach.

Here’s What I Now Do Instead

At this point in my career I tend to get a lot of self-selected clientele. Meaning, by the time someone walks through the front door the day of their initial assessment or session, they’re already perfectly aware of what they’re getting themselves into.

They’ve either read a lot of what I have written and know my general approach to training or they look up at the sign above the door and read my tagline…

Surprise!

Nevertheless, while I still like to endorse some level of education on the topic of women and strength training, I’ve since rescinded my global approach to a large degree.

I still play devil’s advocate at times and will say something like “saying you’re going to get big & bulky from strength training is like me saying I’m going to win a gold medal in the Olympics because I went out and did some sprints yesterday.”

(and then I keep my fingers crossed that there’s nothing but crickets chirping afterward).

Instead of going on and on about women’s limited testosterone levels, how toning isn’t a real term (one of my biggest pet peeves fitness professional do), or how they’ll never attain the results of elite female bodybuilders, yada yada yada…I dig deeper, and ask more questions:

  • “Why do you feel strength training will make you big and bulky?”
  • What does bulky mean to you? What does it look like?
  • “Is this something that happened in the past?
  • “What exercise(s) in particular do you feel cause this?”

Maybe their perspective projects that of a trainer they worked with previously. Maybe they never took the time to learn nor where they shown proper technique. Or, I don’t know, maybe they have a hard time letting go of certain myths and think the Abominable Snowman exists.

Either way…

Sometimes it’s more helpful to take some time to peel back the onion and to ascertain someone’s root cause for thinking they way they do, rather than chastise them out of the gate for the sole purpose of proving them wrong.

I have found that this approach has been a far more efficacious way of handling things and has helped me build far more powerful and lasting relationships with my female clients.

And not for nothing: After a few weeks of consistency I find the switch flips anyway. Once the foreignness and stigma of the barbell is no longer a part of the story – and we begin to build & increase autonomy and competency – I find most of my female clients begin to strive to be more (adding muscle is cool!) rather than wanting to be less.

Categoriescoaching Program Design

The Lost Art of Simple

I’m on vacation this week, and as a result I told myself I wasn’t going to do much of anything other than take many naps and eat a metric boat load (which is a shade more than a metic fuck ton) of honey wheat pretzels.

(Mission accomplished on both fronts).

I didn’t want to leave my readers hanging for a whole week, though, so I took it upon myself to schedule a few posts of repurposed content this week.

If you’re new to the site, it’ll be a new article.

If you’re a veteran of the site (and you missed it the first time around)…IT’S LIKE YOU DON’T EVEN PAY ATTENTION TO ME ANYMORE! WE USED TO BE ABLE TO FINISH EACH OTHER’S SENTENCES. NOW WE DON’T SAY MORE THAN THREE WORDS TO ONE ANOTHER. I HATE YOU. YOU’RE RUINING MY LIFE![footnote]Who am I kidding? I can’t quit you.[/footnote]

What’s our obsession with making things hard or complex?

Copyright: alphaspirit / 123RF Stock Photo

The Lost Art of Simple

I remember when I was a kid all I needed to entertain myself was my bike. I’d ride around pretending I was Knight Rider talking to my bike as if it were KITT.[footnote]Funnily enough, I say “when I was a kid,” but I did this last week.[/footnote]

“Turbo boost KITT.”

And then I’d pedal faster.

“Oh snap, we’re under heavy fire and need to perform counter measures.”

And then I’d swerve back and forth between trees avoiding every heat seeking missile sent in my direction.

“KITT, eject, eject.”

This is when I’d point my bike in the direction of some sweet jump I’d have constructed, and, well, this would happen:

 

Nowadays you ask a kid to go outside and play and they’re looking at you as if you have three heads and wondering how that’s even possible without an iPhone in hand. It’s almost as if there has to be some form of technology or gadgetry involved.

A frisbee? No way.

A wiffle ball and bat? Pfffft, whatever.

A tree? Hahahahahaha.

The simple days of simple games are long gone. I mean, I know they exist, and I know there are kids out there still playing hide-n-seek, kickball, and pick-up basketball.

But it’s few and far between. Pokemon Go, seemingly, has replaced the playground.

I can’t help but notice the same parallel in the fitness industry. People (on both sides of the fence: fitness pros and non-fitness pros alike) seem to be under the impression that fancy or complex is somehow better than simple. And maybe even more tragic: many believe that better results are always a result of adopting complex methodologies over the simple ones.

Sometimes this is true. Oftentimes it’s BS.

Since I’ve opened CORE I’ve had several coaches come in to shadow and observe for a few hours at a time.

core

It’s always an honor and I am more than willing to accommodate. Sure they could spend their time reading Mike Boyle or watching Kelly Starrett videos, but no, some choose to come in on a Saturday to watch people deadlift and listen to Annie Mac on BPM radio.

What’s cooler than that?[footnote]Well, for starters, eating a steak would be pretty cool. Or, I don’t know, watching a Lord of the Rings marathon? Taking a shower?[/footnote]

One theme I am becoming more cognizant of is how surprised some coaches are about how “simple” my programming is.

There’s very little glitz and glam or shiny bright objects to pivot from the fact that all I really want is for my clients/athletes to become unapologetically brilliant at the basics.

People squat, people hip hinge, and people perform these things called rows, push-ups, and Farmer carries.

You may have heard of them.

Antiques to some, I know.

Furthermore, is my assessment process.

The idea of simple starts there. Unless someone is coming in with a lengthy injury history or is training for something super specific like, say, I don’t know, the Mime Bombsniffing Olympics, what advantage is there in making the assessment more complicated than it has to be?

Taking a more global approach is a fantastic starting point for most people. There’s no need to put them under a microscope. If anything, for most people most of the time, their “assessment” is nothing more than an opportunity to weed out “red flags” by taking a quick peek at hip IR/ER, hip flexion/extension, and other things like overhead shoulder mobility.

In a sense I’m trying to see what their passive ROM is, are there any limitations, and if so, 1) does it match their active ROM and 2) are there any test/re-test strategies I can implement to see an improvement?

To a larger degree (and stealing a quote from my friend, Roland Fisher):

“Can you do the thing that you want to do? Yes. Good. No. Let’s fix that.”

Here’s the Thing: 80% of my assessments are done on the gym floor. There’s only so much poking and prodding I can do on table before A) shit starts getting weird and B) the client starts feeling like a patient.

In reality the assessment should be a watered down training session.

  • I want to see them squat.
  • I want to see them hip hinge.
  • I want to see them Dougie.

 

I can glean way more information watching people move. And too, they get a taste of what a typical training session will be like with me.

It’s a very simple procedure that, when some coaches observe, comes across as super-duper minimal, and it throws them off, as if to say, “Really? That’s it?”

Yep, that’s it.

People want to train.

They could give two flying shits about their big toe dorsiflexion. Trust me.

Funny Side Story: I was once given a “bad” review at a conference I spoke at because in my topic, “Shoulder Assessment,” I didn’t demonstrate anything “new and innovative.” To which I was like, “Well, since when does shoulder assessment need to be new and innovative?” Why not take the mindset of doing the “boring” screens well?

Note to Self: Bring a flame thrower to next speaking engagement. That will add some innovation.

Going Back to Programming.

This is another component where I feel simplicity has its benefits.

The never-ending game of  oneupmanship on social media many fitness pros play is exhausting. This is a conversation for another day, but the LOOK-AT-ME, performative vibe many take is absurd. I watch some of the videos people put up and all I want to do is say “Riiiiiigggghhhhttt.”

I also want to throw an ax into my face, but that’s besides the point.

Comparatively speaking my Instagram feed is probably batshit boring to some people.

I can hear the cacophony of “BFD” comments now. “Wow, cool Tony. You have your clients squat. What’s next: A set of chin-ups?

No, wait, Pallof Presses!?!?!”

Actually, yeah. Probably.

Call me crazy, but I’d rather educate and provide a rationale for putting up certain videos/pictures (cute cat pictures aside) than worry about whether or not I’m earning some fleeting social media credibility.

What’s more, you wanna talk about boring and vanilla? Grab two back-to-back programs of any client of mine and it’s a safe bet you’ll see more of a linear periodization approach, which is about as vanilla as things gets. Take my client Sara for example (the woman in the video above).

On the days she trains with me at CORE we tend to focus more on the coaching-intensive exercises like squats and deadlifts. We’ll first hit one of the two hard (generally, lower reps/mid to higher intensity loads) and follow suit with “everything else.”

Here’s how we approached her squats and deadlifts the past two months.

October

Sumo Deadlift (Weeks 1,3), Back Squat (Weeks 2,4)
Week Sets Reps Load
1 5 2 85%
2 Hit 135×1 then 3×5 115 lbs
3 3×1 @90% then 3×5  75%
4 Hit 140×1 then 3×5 120 lbs

November

Sumo Deadlift (Weeks 1,3), Back Squat (Weeks 2,4)
Week Sets Reps Load
1 4 5 75%
2 135 x (2×1) then 3×3 @ 125 lbs
3 5 5 75%
4 145×1 then 3×2 @ 130 lbs

If you pay particular attention to her squat progression, it’s more or less me ensuring she was doing more work each week.

Nothing magical or advanced at all.

And it worked.

She smoked a PR of 145 lbs this past Monday. While listening to Lil Kim. Because that’s how we roll.

Program design doesn’t have to be complex.

All it really comes down to is ensuring you’re coaching your clients well (<– a lost art in of itself) utilizing stances and grips and bar placements that suit their goals and anatomy…

…and that they’re placing a premium on doing more work over the course of several weeks/months.

Simple and Boring. It Works

I’m willing to bet your clients will prefer a simpler approach (if not thrive on it) once you give it a fair shot.

  • People tend to not need as much novelty as they think. Muscle confusion is a stupid concept. People need consistency in order to master movement.
  • You don’t always need to increase load. People need to earn the right to increase weight on the bar. Staying within a certain range for several weeks and accumulating volume is often a undervalued way to progress.
  • Try not to make assessment to much of a thing. Granted, if someone has a lengthly injury history you may need to go down some sort of rabbit hole to figure out what exacerbates their symptoms. And then attempt to address it. But more often than not people will appreciate you not putting them under a microscope. If you treat the assessment as more of a training session and not some sick game to point out every miniscule dysfunction and how much of a walking fail someone is, they’ll be less likely to think you’re a douche.
Categoriescoaching Female Training Motivational

Showcasing Strong

What is strong?

That’s a good question, and one I feel I don’t have a concise way of answering.

I mean, some questions are a cinch to answer:

Q: What would be your weapon of choice during the zombie apocalypse?
A: Easy. Samurai sword.

Q: If you could pick one career to have what would it be?
A: Professional Jason Bourne. Boom.[footnote]Honorable Mention: Person who cures male pattern baldness.[/footnote]

Q: Who’s the best Care Bear?
A: Birthday Bear. Come on.

But to definitively answer the question…”what is strong?”

Well, that’s a bit more abstract.

For some, strong is looking a certain way, and for others it’s about how much weight you can lift on a certain exercise.  And maybe, to some faction out there, strong is about how many tacos you can eat in one sitting.

While I certainly have my biased take given I’m a strength & conditioning coach, I think in the grand scope of it all…

…strong is a sentiment.

Copyright: alicephoto / 123RF Stock Photo

Showcasing Strong

Recently, actress Rosamund Pike (of Gone Girl fame) shared a video on her Instagram feed from when she and I worked together while she was in Boston – in the before times – filming her latest movie.

The video shows her hitting a personal best 100 lb. deadlift for multiple reps (and making it look easy).

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rosamund Pike (@mspike)

For starters, I guess this is as appropriate a time as any to lean into it and announce the obvious:

I am now officially a celebrity trainer.

KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!!!!!!!

via GIPHY

Kidding!

(But seriously, kneel).

Secondly, I can’t take full credit for Rosamund’s technique and overall badassery in the video above.

She had plenty of experience beforehand working with other trainers, and to her credit was no rookie in the weight room.[footnote]Okay, maybe I’ll take 12% credit.[/footnote]

Nevertheless, I was elated that she took it upon herself to share that video with her fans and followers if for no other reason that it showcases to women that they CAN lift appreciable weight and that they won’t turn into Conan the Barbarian after one set.

I have long been a champion of encouraging women to strength train and to help them recognize the myriad of benefits it can provide:

  • Improved strength – obviously – and to be better prepared for life’s curve balls.
  • Improved performance.
  • Improved body composition.
  • Improved bone density.
  • Improved confidence and body image.
  • Improved mental health & stress relief
  • Telling societal norms to f**k off.

Unfortunately, much of the mainstream media muddies this message.

Instead we’re inundated with images of women lifting dainty weights.

Take for example this image, which, I kid you not, was one of the top suggestions while doing a search for “strong” within the stock photo service I subscribe to:

Copyright: treewat0071 / 123RF Stock Photo

Many women (not all of course) are programmed, if not indoctrinated, into thinking that that is strength training and that anything involving a barbell (or a modicum of effort) is, well, let’s be honest…

…for men.

And it’s bullshit.

Granted, at the end of the day whether or not an individual does this exercise or that, and more to the point: if they’re performing it with appreciable weight, depends on their injury history, ability level, and more importantly, their goals(s)

However, speaking for myself, the last thing directing my thought process or programming is whether or not someone has Y chromosome.

Which is why I dig (profusely) the message Rosamund conveyed in her video above:

“Marla Grayson (NOTE: that’s the character she plays in her upcoming movie) is a lioness. And lionesses need to be strong. Tony celebrates the strength of everyone he trains, and pushed me to find more than I knew I had. Thanks Tony.”

Again, strong is a sentiment with many iterations and roots of inspiration.

It’s not necessarily about a number.

But it certainly doesn’t hurt…;o)

Categoriescoaching Female Training

My Wish For Female Fitness: Less Talk About Less

NOTE: This is a blog I originally wrote back in 2017, but I’m repurposing it today because:

  1. It’s really fucking good.

AND

      2. It matches well with the release of Psych Skills for Fitness Pros, my wife’s (Dr. Lisa Lewis), latest resource for personal trainers, strength & nutrition coaches, and physical therapists designed to improve their communication and motivational skills.

It too is really fucking good…;o)

This is the last week you’ll be able to purchase it at $100 off the regular price.

My Wish for Female Fitness: Less Talk About Less

“Why should I be fit?”

Ask a male that question and you’ll hear a bevy of terms and phrases ranging from “to get swole and jacked” to “to get swole and ripped.”[footnote]Or any number of iterations that include the word swole. Swole and sassy?[/footnote]

Ask a female that question? Well, the bulk of them will have an entirely different orientation or framing of answers.

Copyright: dolgachov / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Most of the time we’ll see an avalanche of words like:

  • Lean
  • Slim
  • Toned
  • Thin

In other words: For many women the idea of being fit revolves around being LESS. Rather than embracing and accepting their body as something unique and worthy of its own admiration (regardless of size), many women are fixated on the notion that less is sexier.

Healthier.

Better.

This is in stark contrast to the psyche of their male counterparts. Peruse any magazine rack and you’ll immediately notice a different tone:

  • Big
  • Strong
  • Mass
  • Gain

Here, the goal is MORE.

My wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, who speaks on this topic and phenomenon frequently, refers to this as a Growth Orientation.

Woman are (generally) programmed to strive for less. By contrast, men are (generally) programmed to strive for more.[footnote]And to always laugh at fart jokes. It’s in or DNA.[/footnote]

“Striving to Be More, Instead of Wanting to Be Less”

Rather than being seduced into the rabbit hole of incessant “weight loss,” which, lets be honest, is the quicksand of the industry – slowly swallowing any semblance of enjoyment and fun out of fitness – I’d like to see more women gravitate towards something I refer to as 3×52.

Instead of a goal of weight loss and steady diet of disappointing results (and Paleo recipes that taste like old lady fart sprinkled with sawdust), the ultimate goal, as far as my own female clients, is to get them in the gym 3 days a week, 52 weeks a year…aiming for CONSISTENCY and  PERFORMANCE.

 

I find if I can get them “married” (for lack of a better term) to finally conquering a chin-up, or deadlifting their bodyweight for reps, or, I don’t know, beating Xena Warrior Princess in a street fight, the aesthetic goals they’re chasing (often saturated with a tone of weight loss) just kinda-sorta…happen.

Better yet…they forget about them altogether, and just want to crush weights.

It’s All About Motivation

This is where my wife Lisa would chime in with her expertise, but I’m going to take as stab at it.

In the seminal book, “Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Exercise and Sport,” a light read (said no one, ever), motivation is described as:

“….[is] an internal state that energizes and drives action and behavior and determines its direction and persistence.”

The fitness industry, as it relates to women (exponentially so), is very much fixated on extrinsic factors: external appearance, sex appeal, being less.

This isn’t entirely wrong or altogether a bad thing. I understand that for many women looking at magazine covers like the one above, or perusing any number of Instagram accounts of fitness celebrities can be motivating.

However, it’s also very superficial.

Happiness, it would seem, is tethered to one’s waistline or ability to look a certain way society (or magazine editors) deems attractive.

This is not healthy.

And, funnily enough: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard stories and have seen personally people (both men and women) who have sacrificed a lot to look a certain way.

They give up social events and carbs (CARBS!) in pursuit of six-pack abs or tank-top triceps, only to attain the goal and be like, “huh, that’s it? Well, that’s a bunch of bullshit.”

The moral of the story, however, is to help your clients find and recognize INTRINSIC factors that will fuel their motivation to get fit and healthy.  And do so long-term.

The difference and power of intrinsic factors is that they have less to do with external appearance and sex appeal and more to do with finding value in other ways, like:

  • How exercising makes someone feel.
  • Exercise matches their values and beliefs.
  • Someone feels exercise is an important part of their personality, and makes them the best version of themselves possible.

You do that – help someone seek intrinsic motivation – and Tracy Anderson will have less of an influence.

Yay.

via GIPHY

So, Uh, Tony, How Do We Enhance Motivation?

Good question.

1. Facilitate Intrinsic Motivation

This is where being a good, intuitive coach brings value. I’m a strength guy and love the barbell lifts, so it stands to reason I have a little bias towards them.

While I’m at a stage in my career where the majority of women who reach out to me know what they’re getting themselves into – a healthy dose of deadlifts and Tiesto – I also recognize that for some, I can’t force feed anything.

If someone would rather jump into a live volcano than perform a back squat…what good is it to force them to do back squats. That’s a sure-fire way to crush motivation.

It’s my job, then, to do the best I can to match their goals with shit they’ll actually want to do. Maybe instead of back squats we perform Goblet squats, or a crap-ton of sled work?

More to the point, if I can identify their strengths and talents – and utilize things that make them feel like a rock star – we’re in a good place.

This is what happens when @alexandraleigh22 crushes her deadlifts. We pay homage to Kid-n-Play.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

2. Highlight Ways to Grow

Building autonomy should always be the goal with any client. You should want them to eventually leave.

Listen to a client’s goals and ALWAYS create plans based on those goals…..always. Allow room for goals to change, be modified, or even abandoned. Everything is negotiable.

A large reason why so many people fail to get results – even when working with a trainer – is that the trainer sucks balls. He or she never takes the initiative to provide education and feedback to increase competency in their clients.

I don’t feel there is nefarious intent or that such a thing is done purposely much of the time, but it does speak to the pure laziness of some trainers and coaches.

I know when I start to work with a new client (female or otherwise) I go out of my way to explain everything, why we’re doing a certain exercise, it’s benefits, and why it will help get them closer to their goals.

Moreover, I make sure to meet her where she’s at.

This kinda mirrors what I said above – I.e., not force feeding YOUR preferences onto your clients – but a crucial component of sustained motivation is competency. This is why I rarely have someone – male or female – straight-bar deadlift on Day #1.

Clients want to feel as if they know what the hell they’re doing, that they can do “stuff,” and that they don’t look foolish.

Foolish

 

Less Foolish

 

Look, a Demon Kitten (Which Has Nothing to do With Anything)

3. Build Relatedness

Your relationship & rapport with clients is an essential element of success. Be mindful of your clients’ social needs in regard to their fitness.

For example, if you partake in semi-private training as I do, and you’ve just started with a new female client and you know she’s a bit timid and self-conscious…it’s probably not a bright idea to pair her alongside your male client training for his next powerlifting meet.

Another example, especially when training female clients, Beyonce Radio on Pandora is like female relatedness catnip. It never fails.

Never.

 

Less Talk About Less

Taking all of the above in consideration will, I feel, help with all the “less” talk that permeates female fitness.

No! We want more.

More confidence, more autonomy, more competence, more muscle (because, why not?), more cowbell, more Beyonce.

Psych Skills for Fitness Pros

What burns us out as coaches isn’t sets/reps, breaking down deadlift technique, or writing a metric-shit ton of training programs (although that last one can be debated).  No, what grinds our gears are our…

…clients!

They can be inconsistent, unmotivated, drop off the face of the Earth only to show up three weeks later wondering why they’re not getting results, have poor boundaries, smell really bad, any number of things.

All of which require communication skills to deal with.

Creating a long-lasting career in fitness, one that rewards you with loyal clients who stick around, isn’t about how much you lift, how great your butt looks on Instagram, or how much you spend on Facebook for advertising.

It’s about creating a CONNECTION with your clients.

Psych Skills for Fitness Pros will help you accomplish that.

  • 12+ hours of content – webinars, quizzes, interviews – you complete at home at your own pace.
  • Earn CEUs via NSCA and NASM.
  • Gluten free.

Remember: This is the last week to purchase it on SALE, so act now while you can.

CategoriesFemale Training muscle growth

Women and Hypertrophy: Why Should Jill Get Jacked?

I train a lot of women.

In fact, if I broke down my client roster I’d say it’s about a 50/49/1% split (women/men/Centaur[footnote]It’s name is Alex.[/footnote]). I live in a little strength & conditioning bubble where the bulk of women I work with don’t blink an eye at the idea of adding muscle to their frame.

In fact, most want that to happen.

Today’s guest post by my boy, Dean Somerset, explains why most women can (and should) want the same thing.

NOTE: Dean and Dr. Mike Israetel released an amazing resource this week, The L2 Fitness Summit Vol 1, which delves deep into assessment and how to get your clients results (specifically, how to get them diesel).

It’s really, really good (and it’s on sale for this week only)

Copyright: annotee / 123RF Stock Photo

Women and Hypertrophy: Why Should Jill Get Jacked?

The vast majority of my clients are female, somewhere around 70% at any given time. The reason these women are training with me varies a lot, either they’re working against some medical disorder, an injury, or other significant problem, or they’re training for some performance goal like running a faster marathon or deadlifting twice their bodyweight.

In most of their goals, the thought of getting bigger muscles often ranks somewhere between stubbing their toe and waxing their eye lashes off.

In some instances it’s a pragmatic element.

If a client has invested a significant amount of money into their wardrobe and suddenly their lats are just too gunny, they’re going to have to spend a lot of money on alterations or worse, go shopping for new clothes.

 

It might come down to spousal support too.

It’s all too common for a female client to say their husband told them they don’t want them to turn into a man, a statement so ridiculous to hear that it’s hard to bite my tongue.

Guys, 3 lbs of muscle on a female will not make them manlier than you. Maybe you should put on a couple pounds of muscle and not worry so much about your girlfriend or wife out lifting you.

In any case, training to gain some muscle (read, some. It’s very hard for anyone to gain a lot, male or female) is very much a good thing for most if not all goals you could have in the gym.

  • Muscle looks better at almost any body fat percentage than not having it.
  • Muscle helps performance goals, like doing a chin up or deadlifting a dump truck
  • Muscle improves cardio performance, making you a faster runner, cyclist, or whatever the rage is these days
  • Muscle demands calories, which means you can justify eating a little more without affecting your body composition
  • Muscle can improve bone density, hormonal function, and sleep quality.
  • Muscle helps yoga pants or your favorite pair of “butt jeans” fit better.
  • Science.

Now, will training for hypertrophy make you bulkier?

Possibly, but there’s a lot of factors that have to go into that.

First, it’s a long process to see notable increases in muscle, and for the purpose of this article we’ll assume a 5% increase in body mass as notable.

So for someone who weighs around 130 lbs, a 5% increase would be around 6.5 lbs.

Male or female, an individual would look notably different with an extra 6.5 lbs of muscle on their build.

If you talk to most competitive physique or figure competitors, a 6.5 lbs gain of muscle can take a very long time of very dedicated workouts, nutrition, and frequency. What would be reasonable would be to see about 3 lbs a year of actual muscle gain in a caloric surplus, so if you’re looking to gain, you’ll likely be dedicated to 4-6 hypertrophy-focused workouts a week for a full 12 month phase while eating enough to support that development.

This isn’t to say it’s impossible to gain more than this in shorter time frames, but just what seems reasonable for a lot of female lifters.

Here’s an example of this process in action with a friend of mine, Kait Cavers. She looks to compete in figure competitions and dedicates a large portion of her training calendar to gaining muscle.

She recently posted a before and after pic of her at the same weight, and you should see how awesome a comparison it is:

To be clear, as she stated in her post, it’s not about one being better than another, or which one would be preferred, but just showing that you can look vastly different at the same body weight with differences in muscle and body fat.

She’s considerably more muscular in the right pic, but her waist and hips are miniscule compared to the left.

Now if you didn’t want to dedicate to this kind of work load, the gains of muscle will be much less, and if you wanted to phase in hypertrophy training for a few months out of the year versus make it your whole focus all the time, you could do different things without worry about packing on some lat muscle or thicker delts.

That’s the great thing about training: you don’t have to do the same thing all the time and can cycle your training calendar throughout the year to focus on different stuff as you see fit. Hypertrophy can fit into the flow, be the entire goal, or just have a sprinkling for flavor on other stuff as you go.

This is a concept used by another friend, Ben Bruno, when he trains a lot of Victoria Secret supermodels. None of them would be judged to be too bulky, but most of their training uses heavier resistance training, hypertrophy protocols, and intense conditioning elements.

Example #1

Big congrats to @barbarafialho1 for crushing it at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Hard work pays off! A lot of women who want to have a body like Barbara steer clear of weights out of fear of bulking up, but I want you to know that 70% of Barbara’s routine is comprised on heavy strength-based circuits consisting of deadlift variations, hip thrusts, sleds, chin-up variations, and core work. The other 30% is a mix of high-intensity interval cardio on the ski erg, endless rope, and Airdyne bike mixed in with some lower-intensity cardio in the form of hiking outside in the sunshine. The analogy I like to use is to think of strength training as the entree and cardio as the side dish. If you’re a woman who is hesitant to strength train, or if you’re a trainer who works with women, I hope Barbara can serve as inspiration to get out there and get STRONG!

A post shared by Ben Bruno (@benbrunotraining) on

Example #2

Example #3

Example #4

Facebook reminded me that it’s been five years since my friend and former client @megangrahamfitness earned third place in the Miss Bikini Universe contest. This was so exciting. We trained very hard for 12 weeks with a program centered around getting STRONG on RDLs, hip thrusts, reverse lunges, inverted rows, sleds, etc. She was also very disciplined with her eating (but didn’t starve herself) and cut way back on drinking alcohol. She completely transformed her body, yet we never once stepped on the scale for the whole 12 weeks, and interestingly, she didn’t lose any weight (may have even gained a few pounds, actually) even though she looked MUCH more slim and toned. And as you can see, she clearly didn’t “bulk up”. After the contest, I wrote a blog post titled “Look Like Barbie, Lift Like Ken” where we showed videos of her crushing 225×10 on hip thrusts, 12 feet elevated inverted rows, and several other impressive feats of strength, and the blog ended up going viral because tons of women shared it amongst themselves, which I think is so cool because it’s such a great message.

A post shared by Ben Bruno (@benbrunotraining) on

Aside from gaining muscle, what other good could training for hypertrophy offer?

If you’re training for a specific goal, such as powerlifting, running, or even weight loss, shifting gears for a phase or two can offer a type of cross training that can help refresh your mind about training, and give your body a break from the stuff you were doing consistently.

An example of this is my own wife. 10 months of the year she puts in a lot of miles on her bike as a competitive road and track cyclist. During the bulk of her in-season, she’s on the bike upwards of 15-20 hours a week with a mix of long duration low intensity rides and max effort sprints.

During the offseason, she wants to jump into some heavier weights, which definitely have their place in her program, but going straight from cycling and minimal weight training into maximal resistance training isn’t that great of an idea, so we involve a phase of 6-8 weeks of hypertrophy training due to the lower relative loads, and easier recovery compared to max lifting.

This helps to prepare her for the heavier stuff, give her body a break from the bike, and still look to gain a small amount of muscle after a hard in-season, which will help her performance on the bike next year, but also prepare her for the heavier weights of the off season.

Another example was a recreational skier who tore her ACL and needed surgery to fix the injury. During the pre-op phase, we involved work to keep some muscle mass through the quad with lighter loading and moderate volume, and following the surgery her workouts progressed from next to no loading, through to loading to technique failure, and then on to muscular failure through drop sets or extended set options.

A major goal of ACL rehab is to regain quad volume, so we went after it, using the progressive range of motion her knee was re-establishing, and as her strength development allowed.

She’s back on the ski hill now and having a great time 6 months after her surgery.

Gaining muscle can be a very challenging goal, especially if someone is already somewhat well established in their training and have been at it for a while. Because of the requirements to see notable increases in muscle, women shouldn’t fear training for hypertrophy, but should involve it in their programming on a regular or even occasional basis to help augment their goals, what ever those may be.

Having some extra muscle is often a major benefit under any goal set, including fetching water from up the hill.

Maybe if Jill lifted a bit more, she wouldn’t have come tumbling down after Jack, but would have farmer carried that shit all the way back home with Jack on her shoulders, straight up Medal of Honour style, so he could get some medical attention to fix that broken crown.

She could use that water to make some tea to sip while thinking if only Jack had trained he wouldn’t have fallen from such a simple task, but that’s none of Jill’s business.

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CategoriesFemale Training

Fitness During Pregnancy: What’s a Girl To Do?

It’s not lost on me I have a Y chromosome and that discussing pregnancy and how to train during and after it can be a bit, well, peculiar. I mean, it’s something my body will never experience, so how can I discuss the topic without coming across as some mansplaining a-hole?

Simple.

50% of the human population is female. Surprise!, roughly 50% of my clientele are female. And, as it happens, I have worked with several women through their pregnancies (and after) and have always felt it important to understand and respect the nuances that manifest during this delicate time in a woman’s life – both pre and postpartum. 

While I very much operate under the umbrella that every pregnancy is different regardless of one’s previous fitness level and experience and that how someone feels during any exercise or workout should dictate the path taken – progressions, regressions, loading, volume, etc – I also feel there’s a strong stigma that women shouldn’t train during and after pregnancy. 

Come on. 

The body is preparing for something a helluva lot more traumatizing than a set of squats or deadlifts. It’ll be okay.

What’s more, as my colleague and women’s health expert, Dr. Sarah Duvall, often says with regards to postpartum considerations: “women need to lift shit to fix shit.”

And it’s on that note I’m gonna take my little Y chromosome and STFU. I’m elated to introduce to you another woman whom I feel is generating a ton of useful information on the topic of training during and post pregnancy: Terrell Baldock.

She wrote today’s guest post and it’s awesome.

Enjoy.

Copyright: wavebreakmediamicro / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Fitness During Pregnancy: What’s a Girl To Do?

With all the random misinformation out there it’s tough to know how you should workout – or heck, whether you should even workout at all – during and after pregnancy.

Here’s the good news:  The short answer is yes.

You should continue to exercise during and after pregnancy.

You can keep being the best version of yourself. And isn’t that what it’s all about?

But exercise during and after pregnancy needs to be done the right way.

Lindsey’s Story

My client Lindsey was a competitive volleyball player who wanted to get right back into hard training and competition after her daughter was born.

Then, reality set in.

Lindsey noticed when she was working at a high level of intensity, she’d pee a little.

Still, she pushed through.

That continued until she became pregnant with her second baby.

When she went through the same experience, Lindsey knew she needed to see her doctor.

Bad News: She had a grade-two bladder prolapse. She was told: “Lindsey, you can’t play volleyball anymore.”

Lindsey was crushed.

This is when Lindsey and I started working together. My role as a coach is to show women like Lindsey exactly how her prenatal fitness and postnatal fitness programming could affect her body both during and after pregnancy.

Unfortunately, women are cleared for exercise at the six-week checkup with little to no information regarding rehab, their core, or pelvic floor.

As you can imagine, women like Lindsey feel betrayed by their body. It’s as if they have an entirely new body to “figure out” as they begin their new lives as mothers.

I want to help you avoid common problems such as pelvic organ prolapse, incontinence, and even other issues such as diastasis recti that haven’t healed postpartum.

Training Before Pregnancy

With up to 50% of the female population experiencing pelvic floor dysfunctions like incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, the combination of pregnancy and childbirth along with high level exercise are leaving women vulnerable.

Even more shocking?

Most women who train hard during pregnancy never have symptoms until they’ve had their baby.

Training During Pregnancy

Generally speaking, you can continue to train the way you did before you were pregnant in your first trimester.

But adaptations need to be made in the second and third.

A common misconception that you’ve probably heard is that you can continue to do what you’ve always done during your pregnancy because your body is well conditioned.

Big mistake.

First trimester

Pregnancy brings on structural change that impacts your fitness performance and how you move naturally, which begins in the second trimester.

In the first trimester, the core and pelvic floor isn’t a big concern but this is a time where rapid change is happening physiologically. Energy is low and nausea may be a factor.

Women also tend to experience breast tenderness which may make exercise feel impossible.

If the symptoms are intense, exercise may be sporadic at best.

Second Trimester

In the second trimester, symptoms usually subside or disappear completely, and because of this, women are ready to return to their regular program. This is also where the body starts to visibly change and the Transverses Abdominis becomes inhibited (Hodges et al 2003).

Alignment changes begin to put more pressure on the core on pelvic floor. This is generally when the pelvis anteriorly tilts, the ribs shift and move behind the pelvis.

If this isn’t taken care of and training is continued, the glutes become inactive and the low back, adductors, abductors, and hip flexors take over.

Many women will begin to experience pelvic discomfort and/or pain like pelvic girdle pain, SI pain, and lower back pain which occurs in 45% of pregnant women and 25% of postpartum women (Wu et al 2004).

Third Trimester

In the third trimester, 100% of pregnant women will experience diastasis recti which is classified as the “unnatural separation of the abdominal wall” (Mota et al 2014).

DR is a completely natural part of the pregnancy process, but it can be exacerbated by the nature of the training as well as alignment in addition to the growing baby.

The pelvic floor is vulnerable, especially in the third trimester because of the physical and physiological changes. The pelvic floor isn’t designed to carry the load of a 200 pound back squat and meet the demands of pregnancy. This is where women experience issues postpartum.

Combine that with stretched and a weakened core and the impact of vaginal delivery (Sleep et al 1984), this can lead to pelvic floor complications like incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse if a woman returns to her fitness program before taking the steps to recover, rehab, and recondition first.

Training Post Pregnancy

The body doesn’t completely heal in six weeks postpartum.

It has taken nine months to adapt to the changes that occur during pregnancy. It takes at least that much time for the body to completely heal.

And that’s with rehab.

In fact, if Diastasis Recti hasn’t completely healed within the first 8-weeks postpartum, research shows that it won’t heal on itss own (Coldron et al 2008).

Whether you’re a lifter, runner, or enjoy taking classes at your local gym, you can still partake in your favourite activity. But you will need to cut back during your pregnancy.

Retraining following birth to optimize your performance long term.

New moms are often eager to return to high impact fitness, boot camps, or athletics before their bodies are ready.

Most skip the rehab and retraining process.

This leaves some of these women with less than desirable results like peeing their pants, pelvic organ prolapse (where the pelvic organs descend through the vagina), back/hip discomforts or pain, and lagging performance when working at a high intensity.

As your pregnancy progresses, you’ll find that you’ll need to make modifications to your lifts. In this video, I will show you how to modify your deadlifts using a barbell and kettlebells.

 

And there’s a lot more information in my Barbell Training For Pregnancy: Your 3 Step Guide For Maximizing Performance During and After Pregnancy.

It features simple and actionable steps to maximize your core and pelvic floor function, improve performance, and most importantly, avoid the complications that can arise from postnatal exercising.

Click HERE to access your free guide today.

About the Author

Terrell Baldock is a Prenatal and Postnatal Exercise Specialist in London, Ontario, Canada. She specializes in working with women with core and pelvic floor dysfunctions, and prepares them for the demands of pregnancy, birth and postpartum recovery. Check out her award-winning website Mom’s Fitness Boutique.

CategoriesStrength Training

4 Mistakes Women Make When Deadlifting

When friend and fellow Boston-based coach, Lana Sova, pitched an article shedding light on some common mistakes she see’s other women make with regards to deadlifting, it goes without saying she had me at deadlift.

Lana’s a great coach and strong herself, boosting a 300+ lb deadlift. She knows a thing or two when it comes to picking things up and putting them down.

Lets get to it.

Copyright: ammentorp / 123RF Stock Photo

 

4 Mistakes Women Make When Deadlifting

Four years ago, I could spot one or two women in the strength area of my gym doing deadlifts, and one of them was a trainer. Now, the love for deadlifts has increased among women.

As a powerlifter and a coach, I love to see the change 99% of the time, but there is still that one percent that makes me want to throw myself into the wall every time I see someone deadlifting.

These days, it seems like deadlift technique is being preached from every corner of social media. And if you are not a fitness professional, you have no idea whether it’s good or bad advice.

Therefore, in true Wonder Woman fashion, I’m attempting to save the world, or at the very least to save you from getting injured while deadlifting, and potentially help you put 20 to 30 pounds — even 50 —on your deadlift instantly.

Here are four deadlift set-up mistakes I see women make.

Mistake #1. Bar and Shin Distance

There are two ways I see women approach the barbell. They either stand too far away from the bar, like it’s gonna bite them, or they step so close it tickles.

The thing is, in both cases, you end up pulling the bar with your lower back. Why? Because the bar is either set up too far forward or ends up being shifted there.

Feet too close.

Lets see what it looks like in action:

 

As you can see from the video above the initial set-up is awkward – namely, not allowing for any forward translation of the tibia – which then pushes the bar away, which then makes the DL more “squatty” and pushing the axis of rotation (hips) further away, which then places much more stress on the lower back.

Not cool.

Conversely, here’s what it looks like when the feet are set up too far away.

Feet too far (away)

And here’s what that looks like in action:

 

Again, not an optimal set-up. And a lower back that will end up pissed off.

So we gotta find the middle ground.

To avoid pulling the barbell with your back, set up so that your middle foot is right underneath the barbell.

Feet juuuuuuust right.

The end result is something that looks like this:

Mistake #2. Slacking to Pull the Slack

Did you know there are such things as Meggings? I might be late to the party, but damn those things are tight.

When you deadlift, you want your whole body to almost explode from the tension you created in your set-up.

Pulling the slack out of the bar means exactly that. Make that shit tight. Just like the meggings.

You want to create tension in your hamstrings, gluteus muscles, and lats.

Here’s how I like to teach my clients to pull the slack out:

  • We first make sure their heels are screwed into the floor – check.
  • Gluteus muscles engaged — check.
  • Then we squeeze the purses in their pits. Lats are tight — check.
  • And lastly, as they reach the bar, they “bend” it and shift their weight onto their heels. Bend the bar — check.
  • Impromptu dance-parry prior to set is optional – check.

 

Mistake #3. Head Position

Your body is like a chain that consists of segments. Your head is the last piece of this chain. If your head is tilted, turned, extended, or, I don’t know, rotated 180 degrees, it will change the position of the next piece of the chain — your upper back.

An excessively rounded upper back is a big no-no when deadlifting. If you’re one of the people who always has to watch herself in the mirror while deadlifting, you might want to stop.

I get you want to make sure your form is right, but you’re making it even worse.

Instead of looking in the mirror, look at the bottom of the mirror. This will help you to put your head in a position that doesn’t force your upper back into flexion, or excessive rounding.

Mistake #4. Mindset

For some reason, when it comes to deadlifting, every client turns on her lady-like operations, and treats the barbell like it’s a kitten.

But if your goal is to deadlift  your significant other’s weight (or triple that), you might want to be a little more aggressive.

You want to attack the bar.

So leave all your love for kittens behind the gym doors, and rip that shit off the floor, like you’re family’s life depends on it.

About the Author

Lana Sova is a coach at Shameless Strength Academy and a personal trainer at Healthworks Fitness Center in Brookline, MA. She empowers women to build and own their strength via powerlifting and strength training.
CategoriesFemale Training

Strength Training, Pregnancy, and Motherhood

My wife gave birth to our son, Julian, seven months ago. She continued to strength train during her pregnancy and has continued to do so since.

During that time she, along with every other woman who has gone through the joyous albeit intricate and painstakingly “what the **** did we do?” reality check that is having a baby, had to sort out her own unique levels of anxiety, trepidation, and circumstances when it came to exercise.

Below she discusses her experience and sheds light on some common themes many women juggle with and are curious about during their pregnancies.

[ALSO: Lisa is one of 16 contributors to the Pre-and Postnatal Coaching Certification…the new certification course offered by Girls Gone Strong. Today, and for a limited time only, you can register to join the PRE-SALE list and save $200 once it becomes available. It’s really, really good.

It’s not lost on my I’m a little biased, but if you’re a fitness professional and you work with women – which is all of you – then I’d highly recommend giving this a look.]

Copyright: wavebreakmediamicro / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Strength Training, Pregnancy, and Motherhood

As a lifelong athlete and strength training enthusiast, I looked forward to the changes and challenges that training throughout pregnancy would present. I had not heard or read about what training was like for other pregnant women, so I was not sure what to expect from myself.

Fortunately, I have been strength training in one way or another since high school, and working with a world-renowned strength coach for the last eight years – so I felt confident about taking good care of my body and modifying strength training as needed.

(Disclaimer: for those readers who may not know, my strength coach is also my husband, and my husband also happens to be the person who’s site you’re reading right now…Tony Gentilcore).

I am happy to report that, overall, pregnancy agreed with me.

I was able to continue my habit of strength training four days a week at 5:30am, and teaching indoor cycling classes on weekends.

In hindsight, the most important factor that contributed to my strength training throughout pregnancy was having a supportive, flexible, competent strength coach. Although at times I could logically understand the importance of listening to my body when it needed a rest, and staying in bed instead of training when I felt exhausted, sometimes that didn’t feel like the right thing, in the moment.

First Trimester

I needed to dial back training the most during the first trimester, due to feeling exhausted and nauseous.

Note From TG: Here’s a video of Lisa during her 1st trimester performing an “easy” movement day at BU which consisted of some change of direction work and “tempo” (70% effort) sprints.

As I write this, it sounds perfectly reasonable! But at the time I wondered if I was being lazy, thinking to myself, “I’m not even that pregnant yet!”

Being able to communicate with my trainer about how I was feeling helped me to take days off when I really did need it. And that helped me to keep going. I never injured myself, I always felt that my training was supporting my body and my pregnancy, and I consistently felt enthusiastic about training, because I wasn’t dragging myself there when I felt wiped out or sick.

Second Trimester

When I “made it” to the second trimester, I felt significantly better – the sickness went away as well as the fatigue.

Although I thought I could continue to train just as I had before I was pregnant, it felt much different at the gym. I could still exert myself to the same intensity, but I needed modifications on exercises that required lying prone, or on my back.

In addition, my balance was a little off, and I was more clumsy than usual. My trainer was always right on top of this. Thanks to us working closely together, I stayed consistent with training, strong at the gym, and safe with modifications to my favorite lifts and exercises.

NOTE: To coincide with the release of The Pre-and Postnatal Coaching Certification, Girls Gone Strong has also released a few FREE reports. One of which delves into body confidence and the bevy of changes, emotions, and anxiety women often must cope with pre and post pregnancy.

The Get Your Body Confidence Blueprint can be downloaded by going HERE.

Band Assisted Chin-Up (w/ Natural Progressive Overload)

Preggo Friendly Hip Thrusts

Preggo-Friendly hip thrusts!! Feels awesome after a day of sitting.

A post shared by Lisa Lewis (@lilew13) on

Third Trimester

I continued feeling pretty fabulous throughout the third trimester, and trained all the way to the day I went into labor. I was a little more tired and slow-moving, but it felt great to strength train. My trainer and I spoke about how I felt and how work outs were going on an almost daily basis, and it was reassuring to know that I would go into labor about as fit as I could possibly be!

Lisa will be 35 weeks pregnant tomorrow. Forget the idea that we’re quickly approaching the “shit is now getting real” window and that I’m equal parts excited and trying not to destroy the back of pants. How cool is it that Lisa’s still getting after it in the gym? Strength training through pregnancy can be a tricky thing and I always default to how the woman feels and whether or not anything makes her feel weird. Prior experience plays a key role here. In Lisa’s case: 20+ years of strength training prior (and the load used in this video – 155 lbs – is no where near her 1RM). All that said I do find there’s still a lot of stigma with training through pregnancy and unfortunately many women are told to stop lifting weights. Of course no pregnancy is the same, but assuming one is healthy and has experience there’s no reason not to keep up with it. Modifications need to be addressed as a woman progresses (in the case of the video above we elevated the trap bar, even with high handle setting, to accommodate for her belly), but we need to do a better job at relaying the message that pregnancy is NOT a disease and doesn’t mean you have to be relegated to the elliptical and pink dumbbells.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

Note From TG: During her entire pregnancy Lisa was also performing a litany of positional breathing (diaphragm) drills, core stability drills (birddogs, deadbugs), as well as single-leg work and pelvic stability drills (clam shells, etc).

It’s just, you know, those aren’t nearly as exciting to post on social media as deadlifts…;o)

HOWEVER, I’d argue these drills were more important and integral to her recovery (and ability to bounce back postpartum) than the more traditional strength & conditioning exercises.

Check out THIS free resource from Girls Gone Strong titled “Exercises Your Clients Should Do and Avoid During Pregnancy” for a more detailed look into the types of exercises Lisa performed.

“Go” Time & Beyond

Luckily, I had a straightforward labor and delivery, with no complications.

Although I was dying to get back to the gym and continue training as soon as possible, my body had other goals in mind!

I had mistakenly thought training through pregnancy would be the challenging part – so I was frustrated to realize that I needed much more time and patience after giving birth than I did before, with regard to my training.

Once again, I was fortunate to have a competent and compassionate strength coach, who reminded me to rest as much as possible, be patient and gentle with my body, and remember that there would be plenty of time to get after it in the gym. Even though I understood this logically, I needed the emotional support and reminders about the time it takes to recover.

First Postpartum Workout (Curls, Obviously)

Lisa’s first post-baby workout. BOOM.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

In addition, I needed to communicate clearly and regularly about how I was feeling, and how different exercises made me feel.

Oppositely, there were some movements and exercises that felt fabulous. For example, my bench press felt great, and I really enjoyed pushing myself on that exercise. The combination of being aware of my body and communicating with my trainer helped me to enjoy the lifts that felt good, avoid the exercises that I wasn’t ready for, and maximize the little bits of time I had at the gym.

Bench Press Badassery

Thanks to the ongoing support of my trainer, regular clear, honest communication about how I was feeling, and sleep training for our little one, I am happy to report that I am training regularly and feeling good.

Tired – but good.

Family selfie at the airport. Complete with baby throw up on my shoulder. Off to D.C. to visit friends.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

Instead of focusing on my body weight or “getting back” to my weight pre-pregnancy, I’ve been focusing on how I feel, mobility, stability, and strength. These foci have been much more enjoyable, and I believe have helped me to feel as healthy as I currently do!

Closing Thoughts

I realize not all women have the benefit of having a world-renowned strength coach, who also happens to be her husband.

But I do write this post to emphasize how important it was for me to work with a coach who was competent in pre and post natal training, and who understood the importance of constant communication, modification, and flexibility with my training.

I believe that the psychological and communication skills a personal trainer or strength coach has is just as important as his or her knowledge of kinesiology and exercise science. Yes, I needed to know which exercises to avoid and which ones to modify, but much more importantly, I needed someone to encourage me to listen to my body, take time to rest whenever it felt best, and most of all, to be patient.

Become a Certified Pre-and Postnatal Coach

Starting today (9/5), and only lasting for a very short while, you can sign up to be placed on the pre-sale list for the CPPC.

Click HERE to sign up!

Putting your name on the pre-sale list does not mean you are obligated to purchase the cert– but it provides the opportunity to purchase the CPPC at a $200 discount. If you’re a fitness professional who works with women – and I’m 100% certain you do – this resource will undoubtedly make you a better coach and well more prepared to deal with the unique demands and intricacies of the pre and postnatal client.

—> Who Doesn’t Want to Save $200? <—

CategoriesFemale Training

Why Women Should Embrace the Bigness

Or, to make things a bit more click baity maybe an alternative title of this post should be: “Why Women Should Train for Gainz.”

Copyright: restyler / 123RF Stock Photo

 

I mean, why do words such as “mass, size, gain, muscular, bulk, and bigness” need only apply to men?

While the tides have changed in recent years – in no small part to places like Cressey Sports Performance, MBSC, I-FAST, AMP Fitness, Tuff Girl Fitness, War Horse Barbell Club, SVPT Fitness, Mark Fisher Fitness, Legacy Strength, and Beyond Strength Performance, to name a few, not to mention the popularity of CrossFit[footnote]I also can’t deny the immense help it’s been to have coaches like Ben Bruno showcasing videos of famous female clients lifting heavy shit on his Instagram account. When I can revert to videos of Kate Upton, Chelsea Handler, and various Victoria Secret models performing deadlifts, squats, and 500+ lb sled pushes to hesitant female clients it’s priceless. Also, kudos to Bret Contreras for making the world gaga over glute training. Oh, and Girls Gone Strong for being a beacon of encouragement and empowerment for women to embrace the iron. Shit, also Artemis Scantalides for all her work; especially her I Am Not Afraid to Lift workshops (which I have attended, as a dude) Honestly, I could go on forever about a ton of people. My bad for not including everyone I know. I love you.[/footnote] – it’s still readily apparent walking past any magazine rack or watching any infomercial, the overall message directed towards women with regards to fitness is still one rife with less than stellar connotations.

“Tiny”

“Tone”

“Tight”

“Drop”

“Small”

“Smaller”

Women tend to be inundated with these sort of words all….the….time. Actually, more like punched in the mouth 24/7, seven days a week.

Being smaller, or less of what they currently are is the reverberating theme. And I don’t like it. I don’t like it one iota.

NOTE: Please don’t interpret this as me saying any one woman has to look or strive to look any one way. It’s your prerogative to look how you want to look – small, big, twight (<– said with Goldfinger’s accent from Austin Powers), rotund, I don’t care. Be you. However, I think it’s a fair assessment that the majority of the mainstream media nudges women into thinking that adding, or being more, is less than desirable.

And with that, here are some reasons why women getting their diesel on is a GOOD thing.

1. Purpose

This bodes well for anything – whether it’s to add size, lose fat, train for a competition, or squat King Kong. Having a goal in mind, any goal, gives your training a little oomph, or purpose.

It’s amazing what happens to one’s mindset and approach in heading to the gym when there’s a plan in place. Rather than haphazardly “showing up” and doing a little of this and little of that, training under the guise of adding muscle provides a kick in the pants like nothing other.

To steal some insight from Julie Read:

“You see, a hypertrophy program helps you build the size of your muscles, the cross-sectional size…the girth. I really like how Nick Tumminello puts it “unlike strength training, the goal of training for size is more physiological than it is neurological. It’s about upgrading your body’s hardware, like bones, connective tissues, and muscles. You literally build your body, forcing the tissues to develop and grow stronger.”

And, while it leaves me feeling fatigued, it does so at the muscular level versus in the Central Nervous System (CNS).”

Which is a nice segue to…

2. It’s a Nice Break

I like getting people strong. That’s what I do best. Many of the women who train with me operate underneath the same umbrella. It’s like they’re my own personal army of deadlifting fembots.

Ohhhhh, snap. Austin Powers reference #2!

I can’t deny, though, that training for strength – at least long-term – can be a bit of a drain. Both physically and mentally. Taking a bit of a break and dedicating a macrocycle (or two[footnote]Or 14[/footnote]) towards aesthetics (namely, muscle growth), and using sub-maximal weight, is a fantastic way to approach things when you’re feeling drained and need an opportunity to reenergize.

Speaking of aesthetics…

3. Aesthetics

Far be it from me to attempt to explain or pontificate on what looks good and what doesn’t. I’m not here to sway anyone’s beliefs or preferences on the topic.

That said, I’d be remiss not to mention the aesthetic benefits of adding muscle to one’s frame. Muscle is what adds shape and contour to the body. What’s more, assuming one’s diet is in check, and there’s less fat covering the muscle, the more those shapes and contours can be shown off or accentuated.

You can’t do this trudging away on the elliptical machine for hours on end and performing endless repetitions of whateverthefuck with pink dumbbells.

Copyright: ammentorp / 123RF Stock Photo

There’s a saying out there a lot of misinformed people like to spout out in defiance of women strength training and training for size.

“Muscle weighs more than fat.”

This is often used as a scare-tactic – mostly by people trying to sell their shady products – to deter women from lifting (appreciable) weights.

Um, no. 1 lb of muscle is the same as 1 lb of fat. A pound is a pound.

You see, muscle actually takes up less space than fat. Which is why, often, when many women begin to lift weights they may only set a net difference of a few lbs. of total bodyweight lost, however look as if they lost much more.

Obligatory “lifting weights won’t make you big-n-bulky” diatribe.

“It’s hard to put on muscle. Real effing hard. 100% of guys wish they could add muscle as fast as many women “think” is possible.”

You won’t turn into He-Man in a week. Or a month, or a year for that matter.

This is still my favorite video ever on the topic:

 

4. Confidence

I think this one is self-explanatory. I LOVE when I witness the switch flip with many of the women I train, from delicate flower to Xena beast mode deadlift warrior.

The key to programs like The Bigness Project is to always, at all times, demonstrate success. The idea should be to showcase to women that they can do stuff, and not revert to lame semantics where the message is “oh, you’re a girl, you should do this instead.”

The easiest examples would be the idea behind “girl push-ups” and/or the idea that women can’t perform pull-ups/chin-ups.

 

Good programs, programs that work, are ones that build people up and help to make their participants autonomous.

And they also, not coincidentally enough, make people work.

Both hard and intelligently. And that begets confidence. And that’s priceless.

5. Because, Why the Heck Not?

*Also, because my wife is obsessed with Jen Sinkler.[footnote]In a good way. Not in some creepy, internet stalker way.[/footnote]

In my wife’s eyes Jen can do no wrong. Everything from her funny daily anecdotes to her choice of eye liner, my wife is on board with. And when Jen made her big reveal the other week after completing The Bigness Project….

…….all I heard over my shoulder was “daaaaaaaaaaaaayum.”

I think she was referring to both the biceps and leg warmers.

Suffice it to say, Lisa was impressed and is already chomping at the bit to give this program a go once she has the “all clear” from her doctor. She’s 40 weeks pregnant (our little guy is due any minute now), and she’s amped to get started. How cool is that?

I mean, it’s no secret many women struggle with feeling “too big” during and post-pregnancy. The fact my wife is salivating over a program squarely focused on “Bigness” is very cool and a radical notion.

The Bigness Project

Is on sale NOW. However TODAY will be your last chance to get in on the action before it’s taken away.

That’s right, if someone wants to get a copy of The Bigness Project they’ll need to do it between now and end of day today (1/27), or wait until the project is offered again at a future date to get in. If you’re interested, even remotely, THIS is your last chance to get in.

Do it. DO IT.

CategoriesFemale Training mindset muscle growth Program Design Strength Training

Maybe Less Isn’t More

Peruse pretty much any fitness magazine targeted to women and you’ll inevitably see words like, “lose, fat-loss, tight, drop a size, tiny, hot, and lean” plastered all over its pages. This is unfortunate.

Women are programmed, often at an early age, to be less, that in order to be attractive and have self-worth, the smaller you are the better.

I say: Bull to the shit.

It’s no secret I’m a firm advocate for women to strength train. Time and time and time again I witness women transform their bodies (and mindsets) when they choose to nix the endless elliptical sessions in lieu of picking up some barbells.[footnote]This isn’t to say I feel the elliptical machines, or treadmills, or yoga, or group exercise classes should be avoided. Far be it from me to tell someone to not do something she enjoys. They all have their time and place. However, almost always, the key to most women’s target body-type is PURPOSEFUL strength training. Strength training is the appetizer, 1st & 2nd course, and dessert. That’s what should be prioritized. The rest of the stuff is the mint you snake from the host’s podium on your way out the door to your car.[/footnote]

There is nothing wrong with choosing to be more.

I am pumped to help promote The Bigness Project from Kourtney Thomas and Jen Sinkler. It’s everything I’m a fan of when it comes to directing women to the right kind of information.

Please enjoy the guest post Kourtney was kind enough to write below.

Maybe Less Isn’t More

I used to be one of those women who made a point to talk about how little space I took up. I’d brag about taking the first middle seat I came to on a Southwest flight because, “I’m just a little girl!” On top of that, I made a point of keeping everything about my already small body as tiny as possible. Because, after all, being less is more when it comes to women’s bodies, right?

More like “Yeah right!”

Over the years, I eventually began to see that there was another way to go. And while, yes, I do walk around in a petite frame, I’ve come to see that what I do with it and how I carry myself can convey a whole different message.

When I first got into fitness, though, it was pretty much cardio only for me. I loved group cycling and endurance running. I enjoyed sweating all over the floor teaching a high-energy cycling class, and I loved running out to the middle of nowhere and melting into nature and myself.

At the time, I didn’t yet grasp that my participation in each of these sports tended to reinforce that same, constant message for me: that less is more. Endurance runners have to be rail-thin so they can be fast. Group cycling classes will claim to burn a gazillion or so calories. The rest, if not explicitly stated, is often implied in skewed marketing messages: stay little.

In time, I experimented and found my way to some weight training. But I started with methods I thought wouldn’t make me too big or bulky. And obviously, to burn more calories, because I still believed that less was more. Along the way, I began to see glimpses of a different way though. Who is this Jen Sinkler person, and what is this Lift Weights Faster stuff I see? Oh my goodness, Girls Gone Strong?

Strong? What a novel concept!

And women were using…what was that called again? A barbell? I was clueless and petrified to touch the thing for the first time, but I eventually gave myself a dose of my own tough love, sucked it up, and walked into the weight room one day. As it turned out, it wasn’t so bad, and I felt capable of being there! (I also realized not everyone knew what they were doing in there.)

And, so, I started with strong, and I believe in that wholeheartedly. I completely agree with Tony when he says that training for performance in lifting is a great place to start. I not only saw my strength come up substantially, but as Tony has also mentioned many times before, I began to see significant physical changes in my body shape and composition.

I was getting bigger. Bigger! Everywhere. And I liked it.

I liked it so much, in fact, that it became my primary goal. I’ll never forget writing my initial email to my first coach and my No. 1 goal as “Gain some size. As much hypertrophy as possible.” Oh, how different that was from the last 30 or so years of my life — that a woman should actively say to herself, I don’t want to shrink. I want to grow! I don’t want to lose weight. I want to gain! And then deliberately work toward getting bigger?

It took a little time to get behind fully, I’ll admit. Just like so many other women, I’ve been conditioned by the mainstream messaging to know nothing other than slender, slim, and thin-is-in. Not to mention, quiet, polite, and ladylike. Flipping the script on all of that doesn’t happen overnight. But changing my training focus to hypertrophy not only helped me to discover the most fun kind of training ever (seriously!), but it helped me to embrace my own body, more than I ever thought possible.

I used to hate my “linebacker shoulders” and big arms. Now? Are you kidding me? Let’s beef ’em up so I can bust out of my sleeves! I used to cringe at my outer thighs and cover them up with my hands so they’d look like the ones I saw in the magazines. Now? I cannot stop leg pressing because I want to see my muscles through my pants.

Letting go of less is more was freeing. It was empowering. It was a gift, an open door to start exploring what other mainstream misconceptions might be out there. I’ve always been one to go a bit against the grain and question the norm, and while it took me a little while longer to do it when it came to what I wanted for my body, when I got there? Everything changed.

Loving my big arms (and doing 10,000 biceps curls) enriched my life exponentially and boosted my confidence about everything through the stratosphere. Who would have thought that working deliberately to bulk up would have that effect? Oh, and it also happened to have the effect of creating a physique that I, personally, consider totally rockin’.

More muscles has meant more everything for me. More quality relationships, more fun, more business, more love. All of it — seriously — because I made a choice to defy that less is more rhetoric and train specifically to be bigger.

Because, sometimes? More is more.

Are You Ready for the Bigtime?

The Bigness Project is a brand-new hypertrophy-training program built to get you built. Written by Kourtney Thomas, a strength and conditioning coach who has spent the last few years focused on the small details that will get you big, this program—or “brogram,” as she refers to it in the most gender-neutral of ways—delivers on the promise of bigger arms and a bigger life.

Consisting of tried-and-true muscle-building techniques, The Bigness Project will guide you through 14 weeks of training that will support your overall strength, develop a stronger mind-muscle connection, and give you a look that leaves no doubt that you lift weights.

Designed for lifters of any experience level, The Bigness Project includes:

  •       A comprehensive User Manual that explains the philosophy behind the program and walks you step-by-step through every aspect of Bigness training and lifestyle.
  •       14-week hypertrophy training program.
  •       A complete exercise glossary including 95 written and photo demonstrations of every movement in the program.
  •       A video library containing 20 in-depth explanations of the most detailed movements and components of the program.

Now available—all aboard the gainz train! To celebrate the kickoff of the Bigness Project, the program is on sale now. Get your copy HERE and join us in the gym this week!

About Kourtney Thomas

Kourtney Thomas is a personal trainer and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with a passion for empowerment and hypertrophy training for women, which she coaches virtually with Kourtney Thomas Fitness. When she’s not at the gym doing some variation of biceps curls, Kourtney loves to ride her Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe anytime the weather is above 50 degrees, travel to national parks, stay up too late reading copious amounts of science fiction and fantasy, and bake elaborate cakes and cookies—because something has to fuel those gains. Drawing on the above, her personal motto is “Big Arms, Big Life,” and she lives by that daily.