Monthly Archives: January 2012

Some More Thoughts on Women and Strength Training

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A little over a week ago I posted a blog titled, “What’s On My Mind – New Year’s Edition,” where I briefly discussed how I feel about women and strength training. I received some good feedback on this post and I wanted to take this chance to share a few more thoughts on the subject.

The main point I wanted to make, and that I hope came across, is that solely lifting weights will not make you “big and bulky.” By lifting appreciable weight and using the principles of progressive overload, you are promoting gains in lean muscle tissue, which is the key to the physique goals of many women and an often neglected part of their training program. I think all women have different definitions of what a “fit” or “healthy” body looks like and how exactly they would like their body to look. But be aware: many of the models you ladies see in magazines do not have a fit or healthy physique; they are emaciated, frail, and weak, which is no way to go through life (to steal part of a quote from Animal House). Strength training is essential to attaining that fit, healthy, smokin-hot bod you’re after, whatever your precise definition of “smokin-hot bod” may be (within reason, of course; throw away that Glamour magazine, okay?).

This is not healthy or attractive

Some of the women that I talked to told me that the notion of getting “too big” is essentially always in the back of their minds when they are strength training. This was interesting because these are women who consistently lift weights and truly know that this alone will not cause them to get bigger. I think this goes to show how popular the belief is in women that strength training causes bulkiness and just how tough a mental hurdle it is to overcome.

For some women, the getting big and bulky thing is mental and just in their heads, but for other women, it actually does happen when they lift weights. If that’s the case, it makes sense to take a look at your diet and what you’re eating. It is important that your diet and nutrition are consistent with your goals. If you want to look a certain way, you need to eat in a way that will support that goal. It’s like the saying goes, “You can’t out-train a bad diet.” Do me a solid and do not blame the weights or stop strength training! It’s likely that your problem is elsewhere and something else needs to be tweaked.

Shortly after my initial post on this subject, I received a wonderful message from Cory, a friend of mine from high school. Here’s what she had to say:

I just wanted to tell you that I totally agree with your rant about women being afraid to lift weights. I used to be afraid to lift more than like 5 or 10 pounds of anything for fear of becoming bulky, and my workout used to be very cardio-focused. I dropped that mentality a few months ago and starting lifting weights at a level that was challenging to me, and I have never gotten more compliments from friends and family saying that I look like I’ve lost weight. I really haven’t lost much weight at all, but I think that adding some serious weight lifting to my workouts has really made a difference in my body shape. I also liked your mention of finding women who lift weights totally sexy and picking up your girlfriend when you saw her doing squats – I’ve been hit on at the gym multiple times, and it’s always when I’m doing push ups or deadlifts or some sort of “manly” exercise. So basically, WORD BRO!

I love it! Cory hit the nail on the head here, so basically, WORD CORY!

And for those of you keeping score, that’s Lifting Heavy Shit: 1, Pink Dumbbells: 0.

Master the Fundamentals

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A couple months ago, I happened to drop-in on a local college basketball game. I wasn’t planning on going, and I didn’t even know about the game, but I’ve always missed my days of playing competitive basketball so I decided to stop and watch. It turned out that I was about 30 minutes early and neither team had taken the court to go through their pregame warm-up routine. However, as I was arriving, the home team was running out onto the court to shoot around and get some shots up. Since the away team was still in the locker room, the players on the home team made use of all four hoops that were available (the two main hoops and two side hoops). As I watched this, I noticed something very interesting. Only ONE player of at least ten that I saw on the court went over to a hoop and took shots inside of the foul line.

Huh?!

Almost every player ran out and began shooting three-pointers with maybe a few players taking shots a few steps inside of the three-point line. This was surprising to me not only because these were college-level players, but because this was such a blatant disregard for the fundamentals.

Back in high school, I became extremely committed to the game of basketball. I had always played many sports growing up, but during my freshman year, I decided that I wanted to focus all of my efforts on basketball. I loved the game and I wanted to play in college, so I became obsessive with my workouts. For most of high school, I wouldn’t feel right if I wasn’t working on my game every single day. In the off-season, I went through meticulous individual workouts to improve my skills. During the season, I would put myself through abbreviated versions of these workouts before or after practice, before games, or on off-days. I really enjoyed all the work that went into improving my game and I took a lot of pride in doing it. I like to joke that I almost preferred the off-season to the actual season because of this fact. The thing about my individual workouts, though, was that they were rooted in the fundamentals.

When I walked out onto the court with my basketball, I would always begin my workouts with form shooting. I’d start no more than one step out from the basket and shoot with only one hand, concentrating intently on proper mechanics. I would gradually work my way out farther from the basket, but I’d have to make AT LEAST twenty-five shots within the paint (inside of the foul-line) before I moved on in my workout. Sometimes I would force myself to make fifty shots and sometimes even more if I was struggling with my shot.

JJ Redick was my idol

After that, I would go through a rigorous routine of dexterity and ball-handling drills. During the first part of these drills, the ball wouldn’t even hit the floor, as there was no dribbling involved. Then I would progress to dribbling with one ball and then with two balls. As you can see, all of these drills would always progress from simple and relatively easy to difficult and more complex.

The same thing goes when it comes to strength training. You should ALWAYS begin your workout by performing an adequate number of warm-up sets of the first exercise, or main lift, in your training session for that particular day. The purpose of this is to “groove” proper technique and to prepare your body for the heavier weights that it will be lifting so that the risk of injury is decreased. It is important, however, to choose the appropriate number of sets, reps, and weight for your warm-up sets, as they are not intended to tire you out before you begin your actual working sets. It is good to come into your workout having an idea of roughly what weight you’ll be using for the first working set of your first exercise. This not only allows you to select your warm-up weights accordingly, but also gives you the opportunity to use these warm-up weights as indicators of how you’re feeling that given day. If the iron is flying up or if gravity seems to hate you that day, you can adjust the weight for your working sets accordingly.

Typically, a strength training workout will begin with a big, compound movement like the squat, deadlift, or bench press. Let’s say you’re squatting today and you plan on starting your working sets at 225 lbs. When it comes to the squat and the bench press, I always begin with AT LEAST two sets with just the bar. Obviously, this can’t be done with the deadlift, because the height of the bar would be way off. I know for a fact that some people, like strength coach Mark Rippetoe, begin their squat workouts with four sets with the empty bar. So, with your first working set planned at 225 lbs., your warm-up sets might look something like this:

Bar x 5

Bar x 5

95 x 5

135 x 5

185 x 3

205 x 1

I don’t like to go above five reps with my warm-up sets because I feel that this number really allows me to hone-in on my technique while keeping it tight. Furthermore, it keeps fatigue to a minimum, as I don’t want my muscles to get too tired before my working sets.

This better not be your first ”warm-up” set

Practicing and mastering the fundamentals is what allowed me to play college basketball in arguably the best Division 2 basketball conference in the country. I wasn’t the most gifted or most athletic player around, but I never lost sight of the fundamentals and they were always a part of my workouts. I took a great deal of pride in being more fundamentally sound than any other player I knew, and while I was playing, I would’ve put my fundamental skills up against any other college player in the country, regardless of level. The bottom line is that the fundamentals will get you places. If you’re not fundamentally sound in what you do, it’s only a matter of time before it catches up with you. To get stronger in the gym, the fundamentals are a must; you need to practice and perfect your technique through a proper warm-up. Not performing warm-up sets in the weight room is like running out on the court and shooting three’s: you’re doing yourself more harm than good. Constantly practice and strive to master the requisite fundamentals of what you’re doing, whether it’s playing basketball, lifting weights, or accounting (yuck), and you will almost certainly find success.

What’s On My Mind – New Year’s Edition

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Happy New Year everybody! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays. To start off 2012, here are some things that are currently on my mind:

1. Ok, I need to get something off my chest and I might as well get it over with first. Recently, I’ve heard a few women say some things about strength training that absolutely make me cringe. A couple of women have told me that when they lift weights, they put on muscle “very easily.” As a result of this, I’ve seen them either a) shy away from training with weights, or b) continue to work with light weights and refrain from going any heavier. Along those same lines, another woman felt like she was “putting on too much muscle” while strength training. Give me a minute while I go outside and give out a Phil Anselmo-like scream…

Alright, I’m back. I know that I’ll always be fighting the battle to convince women that strength training won’t make them “big and bulky” and that it’s ok to use something heavier than 5 lb. dumbbells. Even so, it doesn’t make it any less frustrating when I hear something as woefully inaccurate as the statements I mentioned above. I’ve thought about this a lot and I feel that something similar to the placebo effect is going on here. You see, women are unfairly bombarded by the media, magazines, popular culture, etc. with this misguided notion that if they so much as touch a weight, they are immediately going to bulk up. Since this idea is planted in their heads, when they actually do touch a weight, they automatically think that they’re getting huge. Like I said, I don’t know what exactly to call this, but it seems similar to the placebo effect: women have a preconceived belief in their mind, which they assume to be factual, that they are sure will cause a certain effect. Maybe it is the placebo effect. I don’t know, but it sucks and is unfortunate. I don’t want to go on an all-out rant about this, but before I move on, consider these points:

  • First of all, I think women have a messed up view of what a truly healthy physique really looks like. I recently heard that in a poll, the majority of women thought that Jessica Biel was either “too bulky” or “too muscular.”

Are you shitting me?!

  • Women have roughly 1/10 the amount of testosterone, the body’s primary muscle-building hormone, than men do. So, um, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not going to be putting on slabs of muscle in a matter of weeks.
  • What gives your body “curves” and that “shapely” look? Yup, muscle does.
  • Is it any wonder that most of the strongest women I’ve seen in the gym are also the leanest? I think not.
  • Women squatting and deadlifting appreciable weight is incredibly sexy.

True story: when I met my girlfriend, I knew for sure I had to ask her out when I saw her front squatting at the gym. Total turn-on!

  • Oh yeah, on a similar note, ladies: stop worrying about what the scale says! It is an A-R-B-I-T-R-A-R-Y number!

Aaaaahhhhh, I feel much better now. On with the randomness…

2. Cue the glutes! Not too long ago, Eric Cressey was taking me through a new variation of forearm wall slides. While coaching me, he told me to activate my glutes. This was an excellent reminder to not only cue the glutes in exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges, and hip thrusts, but also in standing, half-kneeling, tall-kneeling, etc. exercises where you might not think to activate them. The glutes tend to remain dormant in many people and I feel that they help to promote a more neutral pelvic alignment when activated, so it’s important to get those babies firing!

3. Belly breathing. Within the past several months, I’ve learned more about the importance of breathing patterns. Physical therapist Phil Plisky gave an excellent lecture on this when I attended the 2011 Midwest Performance Enhancement Seminar last summer and it’s something that the Postural Restoration Institute has also been stressing as important. Dr. Plisky defined normal breathing as the “outward movement of the abdomen combined with an elevation of the thorax during inspiration and reverse during expiration.” The diaphragm needs to be used properly in breathing; this is done by “breathing through the belly.” Rib cage breathing, on the other hand, indicates a faulty breathing pattern and that the diaphragm is not being used properly. I’m certainly going to be more cognizant of breathing patterns in my programming.

4. Speaking of programming, I just began my first program from Tony Gentilcore. Let’s just say it’s really difficult to get on and off the toilet seat right now. I wonder…could it be the deadlifts vs. chains? Giant Cambered Bar Squats? Single-leg hip thrusts vs. chains? Glute-ham raises? Yeah, all of the above. I’m going to be really getting after it and doing a lot more volume than I’ve been used to lately for the next 2-3 months. The goal is to get stronger and add some more muscle before I start to dial things in for my next powerlifting meet, which is the first weekend in June. I’ll keep you updated on my progress!

5. Stop stretching the lumbar spine. This promotes lumbar mobility and an increased range of motion, which is the exact opposite of what is needed. The lumbar spine requires stability, not mobility, which leads to instability. If you suffer from low back pain, do not resort to stretching the lumbar spine, even if it temporarily makes the pain go away. Instead, focus on other areas up or down the kinetic chain where you may in fact lack mobility, like the hips and thoracic spine, and your condition may improve. So from now on, I’m going to lay The People’s Elbow on anybody I see performing the stretch below.

Put a shirt on, bro.

6. Biotest Superfood. I’m a minimalist when it comes to supplements, but I’ve been thinking lately of adding a greens supplement to my repertoire. I’ve made a concerted effort to include more fruits and vegetables in my diet, but I just want to make sure I cover my bases. I’m a big fan of the Biotest line, so I decided to give Superfood a try. I’ve put it in my protein shake the last two mornings and it wasn’t too bad. It made my shake a little more bland, so it’s going to take a little getting used to, but I’m thinking it’ll become a mainstay in my supplement regimen.

7. Staying on the topic of food, I’ve mentioned before that I love Trader Joe’s. They have a lot of very nutritious selections that many larger grocery store chains don’t carry, but they also have a lot of sweets that are insanely good. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t fall victim to them every so often. Lately, they started selling this stuff I’d never heard of called Cookie Butter.

Man, you could put this stuff on a dog turd and I’d eat it…well, not really, but you get what I’m saying…it’s freaking awesome! They sell it with these little caramel-filled wafers from Holland. Dip the wafer in the cookie butter, put it in your mouth, and thank me later.

8. The New Balance Minimus MX20 is the best training shoe I’ve ever worn. Ever.

9. I hate Bosu Balls.

10. Click HERE and read Chris Martin’s latest post. Very well said.

Thanks for reading all of my randomness and best wishes for an AWESOME 2012!