Strong Is Sexy

This is what every gym should look like (other than the lack of men in this instance)

These women are training “the right way”.  I’ve posted on this topic before but I’m not afraid to write more because I feel that strongly about it.  My mission is to teach and coach and a lot of people, certainly the female population, need help in determining the right path to their goals.  I had already planned to write on this topic when I came across another post, also linked below, that really hit home.  I was recently thinking of the women that I know that are able to do at least one quality chin up.  Just about all of them I would consider to be fit.  They might tell you that they haven’t reached their ideal body composition but just thinking quickly, most women who can perform one chin up or more are likely going to be lean and definitely strong.  As I considered this I remembered coach Dan John saying, “women who meet their body composition goals are strong.”  He went on state that most would be able to perform 3 chin ups and deadlift or squat 135 lbs for 5 reps.  I won’t lie and tell you that I know a lot of women outside of the gym but I will tell you that if you step outside and take a look around almost all of the women you see will be unable to hit those numbers.  Does that mean they are too difficult?  I don’t think so, especially based on the fact that at least the same number of women would tell you that there is something they would like to change about their body.  So in other words, get to work!

That is a 36 kg kettlebell.  That is 79.2 lbs.!  Enough said.

Here is a fantastic blog post I came across written by Emily Socolinsky entitled “How the Fitness Industry Talks to Women”.  You really have to see this.  With the women’s fitness fads Emily is writing about the emphasis seems to be on sexy, but ask yourself, should the training be sexy, or just the result?  I would argue that people are looking for results, so let’s train with that in mind.  Hard work is rarely sexy.  When Peyton Manning operates a length of the field drive while dissecting the defense each time he approaches the line and making changes on the move, one could argue that is “sexy”.  Not so much the hours upon hours he spends studying and watching film to get that result.  When the new iPhone 4S came out it was a new sexier product.  Do you think all of the work that went into the design and launch of this magnificent product was sexy?  I doubt it.  Many, many long tedious hours of work came first.  Great work by Emily Socolinsky.

One last important point:  Don’t get me wrong, if you don’t like something, don’t do it.  If you enjoy dancing, being sexy and things of that nature then by all means, go for it.  However, if body composition changes, real applicable strength, bone density, a better overall movement quality and fitness are what you seek, “real” strength training is the way to go.  It might be hard sometimes and it is rarely sexy, but when done correctly it will produce the results you seek.

– Mike Baltren