CategoriesFemale Training

What’s Wrong With Female Fitness?

I love fitness and I love the fitness industry. Fitness has always been a part of my life.

Photo Credit: Bobby Gallant

Ever since my parents (er, I mean, Santa…wink, wink) got me my first weight training set when I was 13 – you know, one of those benches with the leg extension/leg curl attachment that came with a few bars and about 150 lbs worth of plastic covered cement circles, along with the complimentary black & white poster of some ripped dude performing all the various exercises which served as the “program” to follow.

Remember that? 

Yeah, that one  – I was hooked.

It only made sense that, once I was finished with my baseball career, that I’d gravitate towards a career in fitness. I majored in Health Education and after “surviving” my student teaching experience – it really wasn’t all that bad – I decided that spending my days teaching prepubescent students the food pyramid and the difference between boy-down-there-parts and girl-down-there-parts wasn’t my gig.

That and I didn’t want to have to wear a tie everyday.

So once I was done with my internship at a corporate gym (as part of my concentration in Health/Wellness Promotion) I decided that helping people get more fit, healthier, and stronger was more my bag and I became a personal trainer and strength & conditioning coach.

That was twelve years ago.

In the years since I’ve grown as a coach and as a person. I’ve seen how the fitness industry has changed, evolved, and rolled with the ebbs and flow of coming and going fads.

Ahem, Thigh Masters and Shake Weights anyone?

All in all, however, I recognize that as a whole the fitness industry is saturated with well intentioned people wanting to help people in any way they can to lead healthier and more meaningful lives.  I’m proud to be a part of that.

As with any industry, though, there’s always the outliers that bring the “douchey” to the douchiest power.

Much like how the judiciary system is rife with shady lawyers who give all other lawyers a bad reputation by hanging out in emergency rooms passing out business cards (and bad advice), the fitness industry is equally as much of a culprit.

One of the biggest problems I’ve noticed (and have tried my best to curtail) has been growing bigger and bigger for some time.  And now, it’s gotten so big a lot of people aren’t sure we can actually fix it.

And that problem is pretty obvious: the way women are portrayed, packaged, and marketed when it comes to fitness. And there are finally some people who are ready to push back.

Lemme explain…

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve definitely seen what I’m talking about. If you open any magazine, whether it’s fashion or fitness or anything else, you see women in hyper-sexualized ad campaigns who are photoshopped beyond all recognition. (<— Exhibit A).

And not just “regular” women. I’m talking about women who are models or professional athletes, beautiful women who are being subconsciously told they aren’t good enough as they are, so they need to be digitally enhanced.

 

As if the false imagery weren’t bad enough, the subliminal (and I’d argue they’re not so subliminal) messages that much (not all) of the mainstream media regurgitates towards women is borderline tragic.

Key words such as “toned” and “sexy” and any other equally as nefarious adjectives used to sell people an often unattainable look are used ad nauseam by the fitness industry.

Worse still is that you have women becoming fitness celebrities because they have a bubblicious derriere (or what I like to call a metric shit-ton of anterior pelvic tilt) and are able to market themselves and build a cult following on Instagram.  And even worse still, they’re seen as health and fitness authorities.

It’s unfortunate, and it sucks.

And it needs to stop.

Many of you may recall this past weekend I shared a “special edition” guest post by my friend, Neghar Fonooni, titled A Woman’s Journey of Strength: How Lifting Changed My Life Forever. It was amazing and received a ton of love on social media.

Neghar is someone who “gets it.”

By that I mean that she isn’t just helping women get into amazing shape; she’s helping them realize that they’re beautiful before they step into the gym, and that while losing weight is great if that’s what you want, it’s not the key to happiness.

This is a really, really important point. Neghar is not one of those “anti-fitness” or “anti-weight loss” fitness professionals who thinks that anyone who wants to change their body is making a mistake.

Instead, she thinks that anyone who wants to change their body should do it the right way, and for the right reasons: because YOU want to, not because you’re trying to conform to some societal standard, or because you think it will make you happy.

Which is why I’m more than happy to introduce everyone to her Lean & Lovely program.

Whether you’re a woman who trains or someone who trains women, this is a fantastic 12-week fat-loss program comprising of three phases lasting four weeks each, with each phase having a slightly different focus in terms of training, nutrition, and mindset.

The overarching concept is based on kettlebell training (which is Neghar’s wheelhouse), but everything from bodyweight exercises to barbell training is included.

The long and short of it is that it’s an amazing program that will help women get fit and gain confidence all while loving their bodies and not hating them!

Unlike a lot of program out there this one does NOT sell sex or use target terms to make a woman feel she’s not sexy enough or has to look a certain way to feel sexier.

Rather, the message of Lean & Lovely is for women to meet their body where it’s at, and to be more mindful of the transformation – both physically and mentally.

Every part of this program is incredible, and every part will help you in some way. Here’s just a few pieces…

  • Firstly, as mentioned before, there are 12 full weeks of amazing, fat burning workouts
  • Then there’s the comprehensive Nutrition Handbook, which will teach you how to lose fat without dieting
  • There are over two dozen bonus “sweat session” workouts to do whenever you like, with minimum time and equipment
  • Instructional videos to teach you how to do every exercise in the program.
  • A series of MINDSET exercises and strategies to help you be happier, more positive, more productive, and make the program more effective

The L&L program is on sale THIS week only for 50% off, which is a STEAL given the numerous other things offered in the program.

And there’s much, much more.

Also, to sweeten the pot I’m going to offer everyone who purchases the L&L program through this site my 75 minute webinar Training Jane from Joe: Do Women Need to Train Differently Than Men?

I’m actually releasing this as a stand alone product in a few weeks, but am going to hand it to you – FOR FREE – by sending me your L&L receipt.

Just send me an email (make sure to include the receipt!) with the title “L&L Giveaway” to: [email protected]. Okay, that’s it. Click below to see for yourself what I’m talking about.

—-> Lean & Lovely <—-

CategoriesMiscellaneous Miscellany Uncategorized

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Catching Up

I haven’t done one of these in forever, and boy oh boy do we have a lot of catching up to do!

1.  First and foremost, as I’m tapping away on my keyboard this very moment there’s only 507 days, 17 hours, and 18 minutes until the premiere of Star Wars Episode VII.

If you want to keep track for yourself you can go HERE.

Don’t worry about it. Embrace you’re inner nerd.

2.  I can’t believe that we’re only a few days from hitting the dog days of summer! Speaking from a personal standpoint August is going to be the quiet before the storm. I have a very busy fall schedule on the horizon.

Excellent High Five Workshop Reminders – London and DC (<– Important!)

Dean Somerset and I are going to be in London the weekend of September 13th and 14th at The Third Space Soho to kick off our little “tour.”

This will be my first trip to London (or Europe, for that matter) and Dean’s 212th visit (give or take).

We’re both really excited to be bringing our workshop overseas and anxious to share our information with other trainers, coaches, and fitness enthusiasts eager to learn.

We’ve capped the number of attendees due to space restrictions and we’re thiiiiiiis close to hitting that number, so if you were planning on waiting till the last minute to register I wouldn’t wait much longer.  Seriously, go HERE.

In addition to London, we’ll also be in Washington, DC the weekend of October 18th and 19th at Underground Athlete in Sterling, VA.

We have an early-bird special running until August 15th, and after that date the price increases $100.  That’s like dinner for two at a nice restaurant, or 14 at Olive Garden.

Either way, saving yourself a hundred big ones never sucks.  For more information and to register go HERE.

3.  I’ve made several cameo appearances around the interwebz as of late and wanted to share them here:

– What do you get when you clump together six trainers/coaches and ask them what their favorite exercises are to strengthen and firm the abs?

Unfortunately, not some raunchy reality tv show

Instead, you get THIS doozy on WomensHealthMag.com (additional contributions from Mike Boyle, Rachel Cosgrove, BJ Gaddour, Ashley Borden, and John Romaniello).

– The CrossFit games were this past weekend (c0ngrats to both Rich Froning and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet for making us all feel bad about ourselves) and as such there were a slew of articles all over the mainstream media which preceded them.  Some good (yay for CrossFit!), some bad (CrossFit is Satan’s spawn).

I’m not going to open up Pandora’s box on that topic, but needless to say I was happy to be a part of THIS article which was featured on the Huffington Post.  In a nutshell: moving well and taking the time or properly progress people should ALWAYS take precedence.

Yeah, that’s right….Tony Gentilcore, in the Huffington Post.  Excuse me while I go order some Grey Poupon.

On an aside, the author of that article, Sophia Herbst, took my lengthier responses to her initial questions and posted them up on her blog HERE.

– I also made a bit of a cameo in a hilarious – albeit 100% spot on – article on Buzzfeed last week titled 15 Things Girls Who Lift Are Tired of Hearing.

The author – Hannah Bass – was kind enough to link to an old blog post of mine on Tracy Anderson (see point #5 in the article).

– A few weeks ago EVOShield in conjunction with Stack Magazine came to Cressey Sports Performance to film a few videos on baseball training starring……..ME!!!!!

All of them are within the 3-6 minute range, so grab a bag of beef jerky or something and enjoy. They’re pretty much the sexiest thing on the internet.

Seriously though, I hate watching myself on video. For me it’s like listening to Freddy Kruger scratch a chalkboard, or worse, listening to a John Mayer song.

But I have to say, these all turned out great!

Safe Upper Body Exercises for Baseball Players

Essential Mobility Drills for Baseball Players

How to Keep Your Shoulders Strong and Healthy

The Best Two Lower Body Exercises for Baseball Players

The Best Plyo Exercises for Baseball Players

And that’s it for now.  Unless you want to know what I had for breakfast this morning too. In that case:

– 5 (whole) egg omelet with onion, broccoli, and cheese (seasoned with pepper, turmeric, Italian seasoning, and garlic)

– 1 cup oatmeal with scoop of protein powder and 1/2 cup blueberries.

– 6 Flame Out capsules

– 20 ounces of water with a scoop of Athletic Greens.

– And, boom goes the dynamite.

CategoriesFemale Training Motivational

A Woman’s Journey of Strength: How Lifting Changed My Life Forever

Note from TG: Today I have a special weekend edition post from fitness & lifestyle coach, and writer, Neghar Fonooni.  Neghar was someone I featured on my “go to” female resources last week and she’s also the wife of my good friend, John Romaniello, which basically makes them the fitness equivalent of Beyonce and Jay-Z.

I don’t typically post on the weekend, but I felt this article deserved some special attention. It’s flippin fantastic!

I’ve been lifting weights, seriously and consistently, for eight years. That’s eight years of deadlifting, squatting, pressing, swinging, and even pull-ups. It’s been an incredible journey, but it actually started with a great deal of frustration.

Let’s go back to 2006. I had just given birth to my son, Isaac, and after gaining 50 pounds during my pregnancy, I was feeling pretty out of shape. I’ve always been active, playing sports since I was a kid, and having (and using!) a gym membership since senior year of high school. In fact, I exercised throughout my entire pregnancy, running 3 miles a day until I was 7 months pregnant and switched to walking for comfort purposes.

But until those first few months post-partum, exercising for me had always consisted of running, yoga, and machines.

Don’t get me wrong, running and cardio have their place in a well-balanced fitness regimen—especially if you participate in endurance sports. Plus, well-programmed cardio has a lot of benefits, including mental and emotional health. And, as an avid yogi, I have developed a very advanced practice over the last 14 years, and am no stranger to how challenging bodyweight workouts can be. I’m not ripping on yoga and cardio here, as I utilize both regularly and I think, with the appropriate application, they are invaluable tools.

What I am saying is that all I was doing was running and yoga—to no avail.

I didn’t feel as though I was in control of my body, and I felt weak and defeated. Add to that the inevitable stress of raising a beautiful infant, and I was just fed up. 

Discouraged with my body and my lack of progress, I knew that if I continued exercising the way I had that nothing would change. But, like many who have never embarked on a journey of strength, I lacked guidance and education, and was lost in the endless sea of exercise information. I’m embarrassed to say that even as a certified personal trainer, I would often pull workouts out of women’s fitness magazines and rarely followed an intelligently designed program.

So, out of sheer frustration, I began to delve deeper into the world of strength training, reading every book I could get my hands on, and learning from great coaches like Mark Verstegen, Mike Boyle, and Gray Cook.

I started by following their programs, and eventually learned to write effective and efficient programs, no longer looking to Shape or Self for quick fix workouts. I learned how to properly squat and deadlift, was introduced to Olympic Lifts, started sprinting instead of taking long runs or spending 60 minutes on the elliptical, and my yoga practice even benefited from my jaunts in the weight room.

I lifted weights initially with the intention of losing fat and transforming my body, but eventually shifted towards lifting because it was good for my soul. I was empowered, and felt truly capable of anything, for the first time in my life.

Six months post-partum I’d lost all the baby weight, but perhaps more relevant is how different my body looked and felt than it did pre-pregnancy. I was more muscular, athletic, lean, and strong, even though I weighed the same as I did before the baby. My body and mind had completely transformed, all through lifting weights.

Today, while I practice yoga regularly, take leisure walks on the beach, stand up paddle board a few times a week, and do fun things like trampoline jumping and salsa dancing, the heart of my exercise regimen is still (and always will be) smashing weights. It’s the firmest foundation of any fat loss program, and its benefits are vast and undeniable. While an exercise program can be comprised of a myriad of activities, lifting weights is at the top of the fat loss and fitness hierarchy.

Muscles and Metabolism

Lifting weights regularly promotes the growth of lean mass, which is an integral part of any fat loss journey. Put simply, muscle helps cultivate a healthier metabolism because the more muscle your body has, the more calories it will burn at rest. In addition to increasing metabolism, lifting weights promotes natural growth hormone production, which in turn helps reduce insulin sensitivity.

In my time as a coach, I often hear ladies afraid that lifting weights will make them “bulk up.” They can sometimes be deterred from lifting weights for fear of being “manly” or “too muscular” so let me go ahead and allay your fears: lifting weights won’t turn you into She-Hulk overnight (although I would argue that She-Hulk is pretty much the best Super Heroine ever, as she promotes body acceptance and self-love).

You’ll build muscle through strength training, of course, but you won’t pack it on in absurd amounts and it won’t happen instantly.

Simply put, women do not have the testosterone necessary to support that kind of muscle growth. If gaining muscle were so easy, body builders wouldn’t spend hours in the gym for years on end in an effort to bulk up.

Genetics, nutrition, and training methodology all play a part in how your body will transform, but if you train to be strong, and eat to support that, you’ll end up with an athletic, feminine physique.

Not to mention, that although you can certainly lose fat and gain strength doing a number of things, only lifting will allow you the most bang for your buck. As a busy mom and entrepreneur, I understand deeply how precious time is. It’s our only non-renewable resource, and we must use it wisely, especially when we’ve got multiple commitments and obligations.

I don’t always have a lot of time to devote to exercise, but if time is limited, I always prioritize lifting.

You can easily make use of 20, 15, 0r even 10 minutes of weight training to maximize your time, by speeding up the rate at which you lift or ramping up the intensity. Utilizing training methods such as Metabolic Resistance Training, Complexes, Density Training, and what my good friend Jen Sinkler calls “Lifting Weights Faster” you can burn fat and build strength even when time is of the essence.

Meaning that you don’t have to spend an hour doing cardio, and another 30 minutes on the machines, followed by 30 minutes of stretching. You can save time and attack your fitness goals, all by choosing to prioritize weights. “I don’t have time to exercise” can be a statement you never utter again. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of setting a timer for how much time you do have, and then doing as much as possible in that time frame.

If you utilize the right training programs, you’ll build a strong, athletic, lean physique—provided that your nutrition is on par with your fitness intentions.

You’ll want a good mix of strength training and metabolic resistance, paired with a nourishing diet packed with protein, fresh produce, and healthy fats. If done correctly, lifting weights will help turn your body into a fat loss machine—making the weight room one of the most important stops on your fitness journey.

The Power of the PR

I remember the first time I performed an unassisted pull-up.

It was early 2008, and I was (unfortunately) awaiting knee surgery for an old sports injury. The extend of my infirmary kept me from doing any lower body training, which although it was frustrating, encouraged me to focus more on strengthening my upper body.

So, strengthen my upper body I did, paying special attention to things like pull-ups, pushups, and overhead pressing.

One day I had an “I wonder if I can do that moment,” deciding to forgo the band, and try my hand (or my lats) at an unassisted neutral grip pull-up. Astonished at my body’s ability to get my chin over the bar, I hopped down and looked around the crowded gym; “did anyone see that?!” I wondered. To this day, it remains one of my proudest moments.

Note from TG:  Oops, obviously the video I posted right before that last paragraph doesn’t jive. You get the idea folks.  Carry on.

Every single time I workout, I get better. I lift heavier, or faster, or even more efficiently. I might be able to stick a handstand more easily, manage a heavier squat, or do one extra pull-up.

Sometimes it’s not a matter of more, but simply better.

Other times, my progress is more intrinsic, lying in my ability to give my body a break when it needs one. Regardless of the exactitudes, I find myself consistently improving in some way, shape or form. This is what my friends at The Movement Minneapolis have termed “PR every day.”

Breaking records, or setting PRs, is incredibly mentally rewarding. It keeps you coming back for more, and creates a sense of purpose in the weight room. While aesthetic goals, such as losing a few inches on your waist, are certainly worth pursuing, performance goals are notably more sustainable.

It really wasn’t until I shifted my intentions towards performance, and away from aesthetics, that I was actually able to significantly change my physique.

What I didn’t realize completely the moment I performed my first pull-up, was how much that simply act would profoundly affect the rest of my life.

That pull-up, as benign as it seems, sparked a greatest sense of self worth, an escape from feeling defined by what my body looked like, and instead taking pride in what it could do.

If I can pull myself up over a bar, without any assistance, what else can I do? Feats of strength in the gym began to translate to strength outside of the gym—the intrinsic strength needed to thrive and excel. When I crushed it at the gym, I felt more capable of crushing it at life. And without stressing out over my weight or my body composition, my body changed as a result.

Lifting weights helps boost confidence like nothing else I have ever seen. I’ve helped timid, overweight, stay-at-home moms go on to crush feats of strength and then start their own personal training businesses. I’ve seen beginners afraid of lifting a kettlebell move on to chasing a double bodyweight deadlift while breaking out of their comfort zones.

Physical strength contributes to strength of character, which in turn boosts confidence—and there’s just no downside to that.

Being strong makes everything else easier

Moving furniture? Carrying multiple bags of groceries? Hoisting a heavy carry-on into an overhead compartment? Keeping up with your kids? All of these things are not a problem when you’ve got strength on your side.

When my son was in kindergarten, I visited his class to speak about the importance of exercise and proper nutrition. I’ll never forget an adorable little kindergartener named Lizzie, with her long locks and her matter of fact demeanor. I asked the class why they thought exercise and strength were important, and Lizzie said, “because it makes everything easier.”

Lizzie was one smart little 6-year-old. Exercising to be strong, mobile, and fast makes every day tasks less cumbersome.

I spent many years as a single mom, unable to rely on another adult in the house to accomplish household tasks. It’s because of the strength I’ve gained from lifting that I was able to carry a sleeping child from the car with minimal effort, and move a twin sized bed into the apartment with no help whatsoever.

Bottom line: Strength reigns supreme.

From fat loss to empowerment, there isn’t a downside to lifting weights. All you need is a willingness to learn and listen to your body, and a program that will support your intentions.

Note from TG: Neghar’s Lean & Lovely program is something I can’t recommend enough to any woman looking to improve her health and fitness in a way that DOES NOT fall into the “I’m not sexy enough” trap that the mainstream media often conveys.

It’s not about being “sexy” anything.  It’s about making the best version of YOU possible.

The long and short of it is that it’s an amazing program that will help women get fit and gain confidence all while loving their bodies and not hating them!

Unlike a lot of program out there this one does NOT sell sex or use target terms to make a woman feel she’s not sexy enough or has to look a certain way to feel sexier.

Rather, the message of Lean & Lovely is for women to meet their body where it’s at, and to be more mindful of the transformation – both physically and mentally.

Every part of this program is incredible, and every part will help you in some way. Here’s just a few pieces…

  • Firstly, as mentioned before, there are 12 full weeks of amazing, fat burning workouts
  • Then there’s the comprehensive Nutrition Handbook, which will teach you how to lose fat without dieting
  • There are over two dozen bonus “sweat session” workouts to do whenever you like, with minimum time and equipment
  • Instructional videos to teach you how to do every exercise in the program.
  • A series of MINDSET exercises and strategies to help you be happier, more positive, more productive, and make the program more effective

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. For more info click HERE.

About the Author

Fitness & lifestyle coach, writer, veteran and mom, Neghar Fonooni is passionate about empowering women through strength.

A Los Angeles native with 14 years experience in the fitness industry, Neghar believes that a positive mindset is the most important aspect of a fit lifestyle. Through her blog, Eat, Lift & be Happy, she teaches women how to embrace their bodies and enrich their lives with food and exercise.

Neghar is a contributing blogger to several sites, including My Fitness Pal and Schwarzanegger.com, and is the author of the 12-week total transformation system, Lean & Lovely.

An unabashed sci-fi and fantasy nerd, Neghar snorts when she laughs and loves lifting weights, yoga, red wine, dark chocolate, travel, fashion, and reading and collecting books. She resides in Santa Monica, California with her husband, son, and two silly bulldogs.

 

CategoriesStrength Training

Girl Power: My “Go To” Sources for Female Training

Today I wanted to highlight some of the women in the fitness industry who I feel are the movers and shakers, and those I feel set a great example for other women to follow.  The one’s who “get it,” and don’t pander to the mainstream media.

And, speaking truthfully, the ones who place a premium on strength and could probably kick all our butts….;o)

Admittedly, all of the women listed are ones I know either personally or have interacted with over the years…..so if you want to call me biased, then so be it.

It’s by no means an exhaustive list and I could have easily added more – Sirena Bernal, Joy Victoria, Jen Comas Keck, Lauren Perreault, Christa Vancini Doran, Alli McKee, She-Ra, Xena Warrior Princess – but I wanted to keep this list as succinct as possible and give people (namely, other women) some resources other than Tracy Anderson and some lame Instagram account of a chick showing off her badonkadonk.

NOTE: If you click on each person’s name, you’ll be taken to their respective website.

NOTE II: If you happen to have your own suggestions, PLEASE share them in the comments section below.

NOTE III: I like turtles.

Lets go!

Nia Shanks

Nia and I go way back, and I’ve often referred to her as the ambassador of women’s fitness. It’s hard to argue that point given all she’s done for the industry in helping to empower women and encourage them to strength train.

On top of running her own successful blog/business (link above), producing high-quality products like The Lift Like a Girl Guide, and deadlifitng over 2.5x her own bodyweight, she’s easily one of the most down-to-Earth people I know and someone I have a ton of respect for.

Molly Galbraith

Molly is one of the co-founders of Girls Gone Strong, and not for nothing she’s probably stronger than you.  And by “you” I mean many of the guys reading.

She’s written several guest post here on this site, and most recently released one of THE best resources for women, The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training.

Yes, she’s beautiful and has that Southern charm…..but don’t for one second think she’d back down from a squat-off or an arm wrestling match.

Cassandra Forsythe

Out of everyone on this list, I’ve known “Cass” the longest. We first met back in 2004 when a group of random strangers from around North America who were members of a now long defunct fitness website – RuggedMag.com – decided to meet up in NYC for a weekend of protein shakes, fitness gossip, debauchery, and tickle fights.

Kidding on the tickle fights….;o)

As a quick aside, it was that very weekend that Eric Cressey and I met for the first time.  So, yes, as weird as it sounds, Eric and I met on the internet.

Anyways, Cass is one of the smartest and hardest working people I know. She runs her own gym, as authored numerous books – The New Rules of Lifting for Women and The Perfect Body Diet – and is also a renowned international speaker.

And, she has the mouth of sailor….;o) But only when talking face-t0-face.

Artemis Scantalides

All I have to say about Artemis is that my girlfriend, Lisa, loooooooooooooves her.  Actually, I have a lot more to say.

Artemis can kick your ass.  Fact.

Not only does she have a black belt in Kung-freakin-Fu, is both an RKC and Strong First instructor, but she can perform a Turkish get-up with the 28 kg (~62 lbs) kettlebell, which is half her bodyweight.  And she makes it look easy.

She’s also the co-owner, along with her SO (sorry fellas), Eric Gahan, of Iron Body Studios located just outside of Boston.  Lisa and I took several classes there this past winter and loved every second of it (you can read about it HERE), and plan on heading back in the near future.

Artemis isn’t a household name (yet), but she’s going to be.  I LOVE what she has to say concerning women and strength training.  Her recent post, Shoulders Are the New Cleavage – Revisited, is EXACTLY what more women need to hear.

Jen Sinkler

Who doesn’t love Jen Sinkler? She’s probably the happiest person in the history of ever.

A former member of the USA Women’s National Rugby team and fitness editor of Experience Life Magazine, Jen has quickly climbed the ranks as one of the “go to” sources for women’s fitness.

As much as she’s a fitness nerd, what I appreciate most about Jen is that she’s a LIFE nerd.

Name it, and she’s probably tried it. Elite athlete?  Check. CrossFit? Check. Olympic lifting? Check.  Kettlebells? Check. BOSU ball squats?  Lets not get carried away.

Nevertheless, her product, Lift Weights Faster, is an appropriate moniker for her lifestyle, and something I highly recommend checking out.

Kellie Davis

Kellie has a similar background to Jen (Sinkler) in that she too has an extensive history as a fitness writer/editor.  I LOVE her writing, because I feel it speaks to so many people on so many levels.

And, not for nothing, her book, Strong Curves, which she co-wrote with my buddy Bret Contreras, is one of the best mainstream female-specific training manuals written in the past five years.

Neghar Fonooni

What I respect about Neghar – other than her impeccable taste in men (she’s married to John Romaniello) – is that she takes a more holistic approach to health and fitness.  Yes, she advocates women to get strong, and yes, she hates Paleo Nazis like the next person, but she also speaks a lot about life, body image, and acceptance.  It’s a balance of everything that makes someone truly happy, and I dig that.

Julia Ladewski

Strength coach, competitive powerlifter, mom, and most recently, competitive figure competitor, Julia is jack of all trades.

Not only can she talk shop with regards to cleaning up and improving one’s squat technique, but she can also hit a killer lat spread.

Emily Giza Socolinksy

Many who are long-time readers of this blog will be very familiar with Emily because I’ve linked to several of her articles and she’s also written a few for the site.

She’s a former Barre instructor who turned to the dark side and ended up opening her own every successful gym in the Baltimore area (click her name above).

Emily just “gets it,” and she’s a no BS’er if there ever was one.

And there you have it, my list of “go to” female training sources.  Like I mentioned above, this isn’t an exhaustive list – so hopefully I didn’t offend anyone by omitting them – but if you have your own suggestions I’d love to hear them!

Leave them below in the comments section.

CategoriesFemale Training

Some Thoughts On Training Women (Post # I Don’t Know, I Lost Count)

“Can we please just shut-up about Tracy Anderson!?!”

Those were some powerful words uttered by David Dellanave of Movement Minneapolis last weekend during the Expert Panel at The Fitness Summit.

Up until that point a fair amount of Tracy Anderson bashing had accumulated, partly in jest (as the brunt of some jokes), but too, partly because her name came up in several presentations (mine included) as a talking point about the the state of the industry, and I think Dave just kinda got sick of it.

The tipping point, I believe, was when powerlifter, T-Nation writer, and overall nice guy, Greg Nuckols, asked the panel a simple, albeit powerful question: “How do we promote good training information without turning people off from training?”

On an aside, I watched Greg PAUSE squat – ass-to-grass no less – 585 lbs for an easy, clean single last weekend.  I secretly hate him….;o)

As my friend, Harold Gibbons, noted in his summation of the entire event, “This question was posed in contrast to a conversation at the time that discussed how we as an industry can do battle with some of the horrible training suggestions out there.  I say “battle” and “horrible” because we can all be vocal about the disregard for science and safety from certain training methodologies.  While I don’t agree with some of them, I don’t know if these people deserve to be cast as pariahs, as much as we can accept them as well intentioned and flawed with opportunity for growth.”

I’ll be the first to call myself out here.  I’ve done my fair share of championing the charge against the likes of Tracy Anderson, Jillian Michaels, or any other example you can come up with.

On one hand it seems a bit misguided or hypocritical (and I’ve even been called jealous) given the thousands of testimonials they have from women all over the world who have followed their advice with great success and lost “x” amount of weight performing their programs.

That should be commended.  Kind of.

You see, extenuating circumstances aside (medical issues), it isn’t hard to get people to lose weight. Take them from doing nothing to doing something, and “stuff” will happen. How’s that for science!?!

What I hate, what really ruffles my feathers, gets my goat, and makes me go bat-shit crazy….is the incessant fear mongering that the likes of Tracy Anderson gravitates towards and advocates.

Here’s a sampling of some of her better known gems:

“No woman should ever lift a weight above 3 lbs.”

“While running, strength training, and cycling may burn calories, they do not design feminine muscle or get rid of an imbalance that may masquerade as a “problem area.”

“I would never recommend (kettlebells) to women, even women who are fans of bulkier muscle lines.  While bulkier muscles looks OK on women in the 20s and 30s, it doesn’t age well.”

And while I don’t like to use ad hominem attacks as part of an argument, I do find it somewhat “odd” that for as much as Ms. Anderson is an advocate of her own method (as she should be), and for as much as she advocates for a certain look and bastardizes strength training for women…..she’s had fair amount of plastic surgery done.

Doesn’t THAT seem a bit hypocritical?  In an offhanded way, we could make the argument that not even Tracy Anderson got to look like Tracy Anderson by doing the Tracy Anderson Method. #Wordplay

But anyways, getting back on track, she’s a master at toying with women’s emotions and irrational fears towards lifting weights.

Does her method get results?  I guess.  I mean, I can Google “Tracy Anderson before and after pictures” and get a few hundred pages of evidence.  And that should be commended.  To a point.

Stealing some commentary from “Brent” who left this comment on an old(er) blog post the other day:

Any dipshit can teach to the test, or run a client into the ground, get them to lose x amount of pounds and show off their ‘success’ (usually its even easier in the fitness industry because clients come to you, usually somewhat motivated and willing to do what the ‘expert’ tells them to).

Setting up someone for long term success isn’t immediately quantifiable and is quite a bit harder. Kinda requires skill. It’s why any trainer can have a buttload of ‘success’ stories. The goal though is empowerment (at least in my mind) and setting one up for long-term success. This is more difficult to market though and frankly not as sexy.

Anytime I critique a trainer and someone says ‘yeah but they get good results..”) I just tell them Jillian Michaels and Tracy Anderson have thousands of positive testimonials, weight loss success stories, tweeter followers etc. Smart peeps in the fitness industry bash them though because they do nothing to empower their clients and set them up for long term success. I wonder how many of their clients or Biggest Loser winners come back years later and are like ‘wow, you really changed my life! 

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

In a roundabout way, this goes back to my presentation last weekend where I talked about some of my strategies when it comes to training women.

I brought up Tracy Anderson to showcase a point:  that fear mongering, feeding into, and placating into the irrational fears of (some) women is not doing anyone any favors.

At Cressey Performance we don’t feel women need to train any differently than men. 90% of what we do is the same across the board whether you have a the Y chromosome or not.

I was going to toss in a Sex and the City joke here, and showcase women’s unparalleled infatuation with it, but then I realized I’ve actually watched every episode.  And [cue high-pitched voice here] looooooooooooved it.

Our gals are deadlifting, squatting, bench pressing, performing chin-ups and push-ups, and otherwise TRAINING like the guys.

What stands out, oftentimes, is the psychology that comes with training women.

Men tend to be more Temporal Comparative, where they compete or compare against themselves.

What did I deadlift last week?

What did I squat last week?

How much do I weigh now compared to last month?

Guys tend be more interested in what they, themselves, are doing.

Conversely, women tend to be more Societal Comparative, and compare themselves to other women.

She’s doing “x” amount of weight on the bench press, how come I’m not doing that much?

She has an amazing back.  Why doesn’t mine look that way?

I can’t believe she’s wearing that to the gym. What a ho!

I once had a 50+ year old female client who would beat herself up and downgrade HER results, because she didn’t look like the 22 year-old former Division I female athlete who trained at the the same time as her.

Part of my job as their coach is to help them turn off the negative and unrealistic messages they’re inundated with as they watch television or walk through the magazine aisle, and teach them to compete against themselves.

While it may take some women longer than others to buy into, one of the best things I can do is to get them to focus more on performance based goals rather than less quantifiable goals such as scale weight.

Of course, some women may need to lose some weight….and that’s fine.  But the sooner I get them to focus more on performance based goals like working towards performing a strict push-up on the ground or squatting their bodyweight for reps – the less they are s slave to the scale.  And that’s HUGE!!!

Scale weight doesn’t tell you anything!

The work and effort it will take to eventually be able to do a push-up from the ground, or squat one’s bodyweight for reps, or to be able to perform a strict body-weight chin-up trumps ANYTHING you can do with a pink dumbbell or an elliptical machine or a Tracy Anderson DVD.

Sorry if that rubs some people the wrong way…..but that’s just the way things are.

Of course, if strength training isn’t your bag, and you prefer to use pink dumbbells, perform yoga, and run a treadmill, go for it!!!  As noted earlier: anything is better than nothing. If you like the way you feel doing those things, and your proud of your body….awesome.  You get a gold star.

But please don’t be the person who, despite going to the gym 5x per week, bitches and whines that you never seem to get the results you’re after – or if you do, that they never stick for longer than a few weeks or months – and then continue to repeat the same process over and over and over again.

What was it Einstein said about insanity again?  If you continue doing the same thing(s) expecting a different result…….

Likewise, if you’re a fitness professional reading this post, I implore and encourage you to learn to EMPOWER your clients (both female and male).  Teach them the skills they’ll need to make LONG-TERM progress, be their coach! COACH THEM!!!!!  

So while I understand I set myself up for snarky comments by starting a post off with “can we please just shut up about Tracy Anderson,” and then proceeded to write another blog post on Tracy Anderson…….I hope people can appreciate the overall message/tone.

Which, in a roundabout way can be summarized like this:

One of the best compliments you can receive from a client is when they no longer need your services.

When they finally reach their goal(s), are able to make them stick, and can then look you pointblank in the eyes and say “I got this,” your job is done.

There’s no need to exploit people and cater to their fears.

CategoriesFemale Training Program Design Strength Training

3 Reasons Your Female Clients Aren’t Seeing Results

Note from TG:  Today’s post comes courtesy of Molly Galbraith. She and the rest of the Girls Gone Strong pack released their new resource, The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training, today.

Molly was kind enough to write a little sumthin, sumthin to serve as an adjunct to its release.

Enjoy – it’s a doozy!

If you read Tony’s site much (which obviously you do because you’re reading this) you know that he’s a man that’s passionate about a few things:

  1. Deadlifting
  2. Eating dead animal flesh
  3. Anything that has to do with un-doing the “work” of Tracy Anderson

So obviously, I’m going to talk about all 3 of these things today because Tony promised that if I did, he’d film a video of himself doing an Irish jig while wearing a kilt, fanny pack, fairy wings, and the clogs that he hasn’t got much use out of lately (he’s been busy).

So yes, I’ll be covering these topics today, namely #3.

Today I’ll be telling you the 3 reasons why your female clients aren’t getting the results they’re looking for… (Assuming that those results are that they want to look and feel amazing and strong).

Let’s get started!

1. Your Programming is Poor or Incomplete.

I know what you’re thinking:

“My programming’s awesome!  My female clients squat and deadlift and do push-ups and all kinds of awesome stuff.”

That’s great.  I’m super excited that your clients do those movements.  That’s a great starting point, but there are a few things to ask yourself:

–        Do you asses all of your clients as soon as they come in the door?  Do you observe their posture, their body awareness, and their capability to perform basic movement patterns?

–        Do you start your clients off with the basics of each of those movement?  Do they perform squats and hinge movements with just their body weight at first?  Do they start with incline push-ups so they could really master the movement pattern?  Do you set them up for success at the beginning by building an awesome foundation?  Or did you have them doing Barbell Back Squats on their first day?

–        Is their programming tailored specifically towards what you found in their assessment?  For example, if a female client has an exaggerated anterior pelvic tilt are you including more hip, hamstring, and glute dominant exercises that quad/knee dominant exercises?  Are you doing a lot of anterior core stability and strength work with them?

Hopefully the answer to all of these question is yes.  If it is, you’re *thisclose* to being a Rock Star.  But I have a few more for you.

–        Have you ever talked with your clients about the importance of breathing?  Are there any breathing drills in their workout, even just to cool down at the end?

–        Does your client Foam Roll or do other soft tissue work for at least a couple of minutes before their training session?

–        Does your client perform a solid Dynamic Warm-up before every workout?

–        Does your client do intelligent Energy Systems Training (i.e. cardio)?  Also known as “not dumb shit?”  This is generally a mix of short High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) sessions and Moderate Intensity Cardio (MIC) with their heart rate in the 120-150 beats per minute range 1-2x each throughout the week.

All of these things should be included in your female client’s training programs in order to get them the best results with the least amount of time and effort.  If not, you’re leaving something on the table.

2. You’re pushing your clients in the wrong ways.

Let me start by saying that I have zero problems with training hard and pushing my clients hard.  But it’s important that your client is properly prepared to be pushed, and there are ways to do it, and ways that just don’t make any sense.

Some examples:

A female you’ve been training for a year who has awesome deadlift form and you want to see what she can deadlift for a heavy triple?  Awesome.

Seeing how many Burpees your client can do before they puke, pee, cry, or fire you?  Not awesome.

Helping your client eek out a couple really tough reps on Dumbbell Bench Press and teaching her to “strain” a bit?  Awesome.

Bragging to your friends that your client could hardly walk for four days after being trained by you? Not awesome.

Having your client really push herself on her last couple of prowler trips and try to beat her previous best?  Awesome.

Making your client do 100 Box Jumps or Jump Squats because you think its “cool” to make her legs feel like jelly?  Not awesome.

Prepare your clients to be challenged appropriately, and I won’t come kick you in the shin.

Note from TG (regarding Molly’s “kick you in the shin” comment):  you DO NOT want to make Molly angry.  Trust me.  Look at her in the picture above.  That’s the face she made after being told her boyfriend adopted a kitten for her.

LOL – I’m just kidding.  Molly is a delightful human being.

But seriously, don’t piss her off.

3. Your clients are not recovering properly.

As their trainer, it’s your job to help your clients get the best results possible in the gym.

As an above-average-intelligence-trainer (I mean hey! You’re reading Tony’s blog aren’t you?) I expect you to know that your client’s success is directly correlated to how well they can recover from their overall stress load – meaning not just what they do in the gym with you, but what’s going on in their life, in general.

The more life stress they have, they less they need to be doing in the gym unless they have tons of time to sleep, eat nutrient dense food (like dead animal flesh), and recover.

If you’re not talking to your clients about recovery, you’re doing them a major disservice.  Before they start training with you, it’s important to help them understand that they get better/stronger/fitter when they recover from, and adapt to stressors, not while the stressor is being applied.

Talk with them the importance of these things:

–        Eat nutrient-dense, whole foods 80-90% of the time.

–        Manage their stress effectively.

–        Get moderate amounts of sunshine regularly.

–        Get 7-9 hours of sleep in a cold, dark room every night.

–        Use recovery modalities such as massage or other soft tissue work, Epsom salt baths, low to moderate intensity cardio, contrast showers, etc.

And your female clients will be on their way to looking and feeling better than ever.

Hi, it’s me Tony. So how’d you stack up?  Are you making these mistakes with your clients, or are you absolutely killing it?

I hope you’re killing it, of course.  But on the off chance that you might have been missing a thing or two, you should definitely check out an incredible new resource from Molly and the rest of the Girls Gone Strong crew (you know, The Women’s Fitness Authority) that discusses ALL of these issues, and then some.

The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training

I can’t tell you how excited I am to endorse this fantastic resource, as I feel it’s a product that will help a lot of women finally understand the merits of strength training and how strength is a good thing.

More importantly:  it’s a manual designed for women written by women.

I know many of you are wondering what’s included.  Here’s a brief synopsis.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Getting Started Guide – this program comes with a LOT of information, but the getting started guide will walk you through it step-by-step.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Manual – what is strength training, why is it important, a glossary of terms, and information about recovery, sleep, and stress management.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Programs – three 16 weeks training programs for beginners, intermediates, high-level intermediates (with multiple options for every single exercise in case you want to make a substitution).

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Video Library – 90 minutes of high-definition video with me coaching GGS co-founder Alli McKee through 70 exercises.  I will discuss proper – form, as well as common mistakes and how to correct them.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Exercise Glossary – a print version of the video library for quick reference if you forget how a particular exercise is performed.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Strength Training Progress Tracker – a progress tracking guide where you can track measurements, weight (if desired), mood, sleep, stress level, strength level, energy level, etc. so you can get a comprehensive picture of what’s going on with your body.

In addition, for those looking for guidance on the nutrition side of things, The Modern Woman’s Guide To Good Nutrition Package written by Dr. Cassandra Forsythe, PhD, RD, CSCS, gym owner, and co-author of The New Rules Of Lifting For Women, and The Women’s Health Perfect Body Diet will also be available.

Included in this package is:

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Good Nutrition Manual – 18 chapter manual with everything you need to know from determining calorie level and macronutrient ratio to recommended food sources and beverages, to what medications may be preventing fat loss.

–        The Modern Woman’s Guide To Good Nutrition Meal Plan – Cassandra recognizes that every woman is different and needs a different nutrition structure to be successful.   She put together done-for-you meal plans for fat loss and maintenance at multiple calorie levels, as well as a FODMAP plan for women with digestive issues, a Paleo meal plan at multiple calorie levels, and outlined multiple If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) plans for those who prefer that type of plan.

In a nutshell:  this resource is the bomb-diggidy, and covers every base imaginable.  So what are you waiting for? Click the link below to get started (you only have a few days to take advantage of the introductory offer).

—> The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training<—

 About the Author

Molly Galbraith is co-founder of Girls Gone Strong, a movement dedicated to helping women improve their physical strength, mental strength, and strength of character through strength training.

She is also co-founder J&M Strength and Conditioning, a private studio gym in Lexington, Kentucky.

Her mission is to, ”Help women discover and accept what their best body looks and feels like, with minimal time and effort, and once they discover that, help them have grace and compassion about it.”

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 4/25/14

I became the regular “Friday Bootcamp Guy” at CP a few weeks ago.  I had been filling in sporadically the past year to 1) give Greg a bit of a break from having to get up at the butt-crack of dawn and 2) for a slight change of pace on my end.

Coaching bootcamps allows me the opportunity to work with people I normally don’t have the chance to see, and well, it’s just plain fun!

Not that people who make a consistent habit of getting up at 5AM to exercise need any more motivation to do so, but this morning while each bootcamp was warming up I alternated between playing the Al Pacino “One-Inch!” speech from Any Given Sunday and the Kurt Russell “screw the Soviets” speech from the movie Miracle.

It….was…..awesome.

By the end I’m pretty sure each bootcamper wanted to either fight a polar bear or challenge one another to a cage match as a finisher.

It sure beats Prowler medleys or kettlebell swings!

Nevertheless, it’s been a long day and since I’m sitting here at the car dealership as my car gets serviced (oil change), I figured I’d toss up a few things for you guys to check out.

How to Bullet Proof Your Body – Girls Gone Strong

I shared a video with you the other day from Molly (Galbraith), which discussed some of the differences or tweaks that many women must make with their fitness training if they truly want to make progress.

In anticipation of their new manual, The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training, which is being released next week, Molly is back with another FREE video discussing how women can “bullet proof” their bodies.

In short:  less is more.

Why Haters Make It So Much Easier For You to Succeed – Jason Ferruggia

Holy f***balls this was an awesome article.

I’ll be honest:  It used to bother me whenever someone on the internet went out of their way to say hurtful or spiteful things towards me.  I wouldn’t stay at home, plop on my couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, and watch a Julia Roberts movie or anything….but I’d be lying if I said certain things didn’t affect me or make me want to react.

It wasn’t long before I learned to ignore the haters and to just chalk it up to “ it’s what people do when they have nothing else to do and they suck at life.”

Jason hits the nail on the head with this post.

Workout Nutrition: What to Eat Before, During, and After Exercise – Brian St. Pierre

Okay, I’ll admit it:  I’m a bit biased in that Brian’s a good friend and a former employee of Cressey Performance.  But man if this isn’t one of the most detailed and thorough articles I’ve read on this topic!

I’m so proud to see how much of a big deal Brian’s become in the industry and it’s so cool to see him putting out such amazing content.

CategoriesFemale Training Uncategorized

Male vs. Female (Fitness) Double Standards

I just got done watching last night’s episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the opening bit, as always, was hilarious……but there was also an important commentary on societal stereotypes concerning women in politics.

In a nutshell, Chelsea Clinton (Hillary’s daughter) let if be known to the world that she’s expecting her first child.  Congrats to Chelsea (sorry,  I voted against your Mom)! The media followed suit by asking the asinine question: “Will this news somehow affect Hillary’s decision to run for President in 2016?”

They then followed that up with: “Is it sexist to even ask that question?”

Answer: Yes. Yes, it is.

Especially when you consider 2012 Presidential runner-up, Mitt Romney, has enough grandchildren to field an entire football team, yet this was never brought up or became an “issue” during his campaign.

Expounding a bit further, Jon Stewart also took “beef” with how the media portrays female politicians in general, as these emotional, unstable, ready-to-burst-into-tears-at-any-moment-Titanic-watching-misfits.

If a female politician sheds a tear she’s weak and shouldn’t hold public office.  And clearly it’s that time of the month. If a male politician cries, he’s a “man’s man.”

If a female politician debates or fights back she’s clearly an emotional wreck.  Conversely, if a male politician does the same – ALA Chris Christie – he’s considered somewhat of a hero.

It’s a double standard, and it’s unfortunate.

Again, I HIGHLY recommend watching the opening bit HERE.

You find many of these same parallels in other aspects of society too. Hitting a bit closer to home, the fitness industry is no different.

Walk through any magazine aisle at your local CVS and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Fitness mags geared towards men tend to have some jacked dude on the cover with words like “yoked,” “get ripped,” and “how to gain 10 lbs if 10 minutes” transcribed throughout.

Fitness mags geared towards women, though, paint a different picture.  Here we’ll often (not always) see some petite, likely air-brushed iteration of a woman on the cover with key words like “drop x pounds, fast!,” “burn calories,” and “tank top arms” highlighted.

What’s more, the media doesn’t help.  Women are programmed to think that lifting weights will make them big-n-bulky or that they’ll grow an Adam’s apple if they attempt to lift anything heavier than their purse.

It’s a double standard, and it’s bullshit.

Women CAN lift (appreciable) weight and build a strong, muscular, athletic looking body (which is also lean, sexy and feminine!!). What’s more, why place such a dark tone on women building muscle?  Is that such a bad thing?

Of course there are a handful of unique considerations that differentiate how a woman should train compared to a man (women tend to be more hypermobile for example), but the mainstream media prefers to over sensationalize things and paint women as these delicate flowers who may hurt themselves if they attempt to deadlift. And if they do, they run the risk of adding gross muscle!

Which is why I’m really excited that the Girl’s Gone Strong crew are releasing their new project The Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training next week.

The ball has been slowly rolling for a while now, women are starting to gravitate towards the squat rack instead of the Zumba studio (not that there’s anything wrong with that!), and understanding that there’s a lot of false information out there.

There’s still a lot of work to be done.  Molly Galbraith and the rest of the Girls Gone Strong team have upped the ante and have produced what I feel is a stellar product that will empower and encourage many women to embrace the barbell.

Like I said, the product itself won’t be available until next week, but in anticipation they’re going to be releasing a series of FREE videos this week leading up to its release.

The first of which is titled The Role of Your Hormones in Training and can be viewed HERE.

It’s a quick video, but dives into some of the more controversial issues surrounding women and fitness – namely how and why most fitness programs geared towards women simply don’t work.

Admittedly, the video is for women-focused-on women, but even if you’re not a woman it’s still great for your girlfriend or wife to watch.

And, if that’s not enticing enough: everyone who views the video will be entered in to win some killer Girls Gone Strong swag.

—-> Free Video <—-

CategoriesFemale Training

The “X-Factor” When It Comes to Convincing Women to Lift Weights?

What an awesome weekend.

Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this post, I first wanted to offer my gratitude to Randy Martin and his staff over at POWER Fargo for not only inviting me to speak but for being amazing hosts during the 3rd Annual Sanford POWER Strength and Conditioning Clinic.

Not only was it an eventful two days filled with top notch training and nutrition information catered towards fitness professionals (there were roughly 200 attendees, mostly strength coaches, personal trainers, physical therapists, with a spattering of Bert Blyleven fans* ), but – and I know this is a random point to bring up  – the food spreads were on point!

You know you’re at a strength and conditioning event when all-you-can-eat deviled eggs and chicken/pineapple skewers are part of the experience.  It was meathead heaven!

The only thing that would have made it more meat-headed was if they included creatine as a condiment or John Cena showed up and started a pig roast.

Note to any future seminar/conference planners:  this needs to happen.

Game time for me was all-day Saturday.  I spoke a total of six times – two presentation (one on squat assessment, and the other on shoulder “stuff”) and four, 30-minute long hands on sessions, where I discussed some of the shoulder care exercises we use at Cressey Performance with the bulk of our overhead athletes.

The latter of which you can learn in more detail HERE.

And by watching this video (my apologies for the lighting, it does get better as the video progresses):

Needless to say by the end of the day Saturday my brain was mush.  Annnnd I lost my voice.

Now I’m sitting here in the lounge area at my hotel Sunday morning writing this blog before I head to POWER to get a quick lift in with a few of the coaches there, and then it’s off to the airport.

So if you’re reading this post on Monday…….I MADE IT HOME!  YAY!!!

Also, as a quick aside:  Can I just take a second to say how lovely, in general, people here in the Mid-West are???

It’s been so refreshing to make eye contact with people, have them smile, and say “good morning.”

Sometimes I feel as if you can do the same thing in Boston (say hello to someone) and you’re more apt to be challenged to a knife fight than someone reciprocating.

Thanks Mid-West, for restoring my faith in humanity!!

The “X-Factor” When It Comes to Convincing Women to Lift Weights?

It’s no secret that I’ve encouraged and longed championed that women can and should lift (appreciable) weights.  I say “appreciable weights,” because pink dumbbells don’t count.  Those are paperweights. Doorstoppers. Bookshelf holders. The things that are relegated to the Tracy Anderson’s and Gwyneth Paltrow’s of the world (when she’s not dissing working moms of course) who are ignorant, prefer to placate into women’s fears about fitness,and/or want to sell DVDs.

NOTE: For those interested, HERE’s a link to a bunch of female-specific blog posts on my website. Stuff that’s actually useful, educational, empowering, and is gluten and botox free.

There’s no shortage of reasons why women should lift weights.  For all intents and purposes they’re the very same reasons why men lift weights:  to improve performance (whether in their respective sport(s), in daily life, or in the bed room.  BOM CHICKA BOM BOM), to improve health markers (increased lean body mass, improved bone density, offset metabolic disease, to name a few). to (hopefully) prevent injury, to look and feel like a million bucks, and/or, simply, because they like it or want to.

I recall several encounters my girlfriend, Lisa, has had at the commercial gym where she trains.  She’s a pretty serious lifter. She deadlifts, squats, performs hip thrusts, push-ups, can crush strict bodyweight chin-ups for reps, and on more than one occasion she’s been approached by both men and women who ask the inevitable question:

Are you, like, training for something?

Her answer:  “Yes, life.”

It’s in that light that I wholeheartedly LOVE it when women just train to train.

The question, though, is why do so many women refrain from hitting the weights in the first place despite knowing the gulf of benefits it provides?

Some of the the battle, I believe, is just getting through the intimidation factor.  I can understand why the bulk of women are reluctant to mosey on over to the free-weight area, what with all those guys grunting and groaning (it’s 40 lbs dude, relax), not to mention the redolent, gaseous, plume of Axe Body Spray one has to contend with.

It’s nasty.  I can’t say I blame them there.

A larger portion of the battle, and something many coaches don’t recognize, is the gender differences between men and women (Quick Refresher: boys have boy down there parts. Girls have girl down there parts.) and how they use the power of comparison, for better or for worse.

This is something that Registered Dietician and strength coach, Dave Ellis, touched on over the weekend during one of his talks at the POWER Fargo Strength Clinic.

He noted that one of the marked differences between men and women is that women are more societal comparitive, and men tend to be more temporal comparitive.

Put another way: women judge their current state against others (women), while men judge their current state to their own past current state.

If that still doesn’t make sense: women (not all) compare themselves to other women, while men (not all) compare themselves to themselves.

It’s uncanny how much this makes sense.

In the weight-room guys are always trying to lift more weight, competing against themselves, judging their progress by what they did in the days, weeks, months, or even years prior.

Conversely, women (again, not always) judge progress by comparing themselves to other women and it’s toxic at times.

I once had an older female client – in her 50s – who would regularly kick-ass in the gym – only to disregard her progress because she didn’t look like the 22 year-old former Division I athlete who trained at the same time as her.

And this was a woman who had a few years of good training under her belt and knew better.

What does this say for those women who have little to no training experience?

Maybe the initial intimidation factor, and what prevents some women from seeing progress, isn’t so much the dudes walking around with their tubs of protein and cut-off shirts, not to mention the learning curve and trying to figure out what the pulldown thingamajiggy does, but rather the notion that many are comparing themselves to other women; some of which are younger or just have more training experience?

It’s human nature to compare – that’s not the issue.  But when it serves as the main litmus test to gauge progress, and it’s done all….the…..time, it can become problematic.

I don’t know the exact answer to this conundrum – I’m a strength coach not a psychologist!! – but maybe if we (as fitness professionals) made a more concerted effort to tweak or “nudge” women’s mentality and to try to get them to compete against themselves, we’d see a bit more of paradigm shift?

It’s something I try to instill in my female clients from day one.  Rather than gauge progress by comparing themselves to what other women are doing or how they look, I try to get them to focus on THEMSELVES. Once they recognize, understand, and accept that any progress is progress, that’s a massive mountain that’s been conquered.

– Maybe they’re doing push-ups from the floor now, whereas four weeks ago they could barely eek out one from an elevated pin position. Win!

– Maybe they’re able to perform a clean looking squat pattern now, whereas before they could barely do it without falling over. You go girl!

– Maybe they added 20 lbs to their deadlift! Baller!

– Maybe they can fit into their favorite pair of jeans now. Holla!

– Maybe they can get through an entire training session without having to take a break, whereas before they had to stop every five minutes. Fantastic!

– Maybe they don’t call you an asshole as much during their training session.  Until you make them push the sled….;o)

All of those accomplishments should celebrated – regardless of how trivial they may seem – and should serve as a way to empower women to see that it isn’t about what other’s are doing and comparing everything to them, but how they’re making themselves better.

It’s about you.  Simple as that.

* For those who have no clue who Bert Blyleven is.  He’s only the Minnesota Twins’ all-time leader in pretty much every pitching category there is, including rocking the high stirrups.  

He was also inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Since I was speaking in Minnesota I made sure to win the graces of the crowd by giving tribute to my Twins knowledge and not make too many references to the Red Sox.  I busted out a few Kirby Puckett, Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek, and Danny Gladden references.

And Tom Brunansky

And Jack Morris

I’ll keep going dammit……………

Chuck Knoblauch, Joe Mauer, Frank Viola, what!

CategoriesMiscellaneous Miscellany Uncategorized

Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: 4/7/14

1.  I don’t know about you, but I had an awesome weekend. No, I didn’t become an inaugural member of the Masters of the Universe.  No, I didn’t win a million dollars in a cereal eating contest.  And no, I didn’t practice karate with Matt Damon in my garage.

As many of you know, I was back in my old stomping grounds – Central New York – this past weekend to take part in the SUNY Cortland Strength Symposium alongside other my esteemed colleagues John Gaglione, Dr. Mike Roussell, Lou Schuler, and Dr. Cassandra Forsythe.

It was an amazing event, I felt honored to be a part of it, and if I learned one thing over the weekend it’s that Lou Schuler knows what it takes to keep college students awake and engaged during an hour long presentation:  f-bombs!

Oh man, it was awesome to listen to him speak.  Not only because it was an interesting topic (obesity), but also because Lou has a knack for making ANYTHING entertaining.

There were roughly 70-80 people who braved the cold, windy, conditions to come listen to us speak on various topics such as business advice, why high-protein diets won’t make your kidneys explode, obesity, why the Paleo fanatics out there are just that:  fanatics!, squat assessment, and the rationale as to why women SHOULD train differently then men.

It was a diverse day for sure, but there was a TON of easily digestible and applicable information handed out.

Here’s me looking all gunny and stuff.

And of course, there was some heavy lifting to be had.

One of the things that left a profound impression on me was the culture that has “infected” (in a good way) the atmosphere there.

When I was an undergrad student at Cortland (1999-2002) it was rare to walk into Tomik Fitness Center and see a girl lifting weights.  Honestly, you were more apt to see a Smurf riding a unicorn while eating a bowl of Lucky Charms than you were seeing a girl lifting any appreciable weight.

It’s just what the culture was back then.  Girls didn’t lift.

Flash forward to this past weekend, and it’s apparently done a complete 180.

We walked into the fitness center early Saturday morning and there were quite a few girls benching, doing chin-ups, squatting AND deadlifting.  There were even some digging into their gyms bags for chalk!

Like, holy shitballs!

Even cooler was Sunday morning. A bunch of us decided to meet up early for a deadlift session  (see pic waaaaay up at the top) before everyone headed back home.  It was 8 AM and there were a group of girls – right alongside the guys – who showed up, Chuck Taylors and all, ready to get after it.

So refreshing to see.  In fact, here’s one of those girls, Nancy, getting coached up by John Gaglione performing speed pulls with 185 lbs.

That’s right…..SPEED PULLS!

So badass.  And she wasn’t the only one. There were other girls there too, bench pressing, performing kettlebell swings, and getting coached up on their technique by myself and John.

All told, I counted more girls training in the free weight area than in the cardio area. It almost brought a tear to my eye.

Slowly but surely, the paradigm is shifting. And it’s glorious.

2.  Speaking of female specific training and content, my good friend, Emily Giza Socolinsky, shared a fantastic blog post with me titled It’s Only a Number, which details her (past) battle and insight with regards to using the (weight) scale to measure success.

It’s a trap that many women fall prey to, akin to two for one shoe sales…..;o)

In all seriousness, though, I felt it was a great piece of writing with a solid message.  Check it out.

3.  Some VERY cool news.

I’m coming to London!!!!

I figured if Jack Bauer was making a cameo appearance there, why not yours truly?  Except in my case I won’t be blowing things up and stuff.

Dean Somerset and I are taking our show global and will be putting on a 2-Day workshop in London in early September at The Third Space located in Soho.

Pre-Registration is now open, and you can get more information regarding topics covered, price, location, and Dean’s all-time favorite Spice Girl HERE.

4.  One of the perks of running a fairly successful website and being “kind of a big deal,” is that people are always willing to send me free stuff to try out.

Note:  T-shirt size = large.  Shoe size = 10.5.  Sorry, Kate Beckinsale, I can’t accept women’s underwear.

Oftentimes things aren’t a good “fit,” and I graciously decline the offer, as was the case when someone reached out to send me samples of their soy protein powder line.

I LOL’ed a lot when that happened.

Clearly they didn’t read the blog much. What’s next? Tofurkey burgers?  No, wait, running shorts?

Many times, though, I’m more than happy to oblige.

Last week I was sent a sampler pack from Sweet Spreads, which is a company that sells delicious (with a capital D!) coconutters.

All the spreads are coconut based with minimal ingredients.  Ie:  you can actually comprehend what it is in fact you’re eating.  I’ve been using them on toast and putting them in my protein shakes the past few days and am loving it.

I’m not making a dime off of saying anything, so take that as you will. Regardless, if you’re looking for something to spice up your shakes or to use a spread, and would like to support a small business…….give this a try.

Sooooooo good.