Women Weightlifters, the (evil) Scale, and Why You Should Stop Running Part 1

If you have kept up with ‘Fitness’, you have seen, heard of, or experienced some interesting things such as: Weight Watchers, the cabbage soup diet, the Beyonce diet involving maple syrup, the Shake Weight, and the list goes on, and on, and on. Of course, a demotivational poster kinda sums them up, all too well. 

"You're making me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry"

The current one that seems to be going strong is that if a girl picks up a weight a few times, she will be featured in a True Life episode with female bodybuilders.

Don’t flatter yourself. You are not structured, nor do you have the biological resources to create a physique like the Hulk. Unless you are a genetic anomaly, and have a condition such as XXY or similar true genetic issues it’s physically impossible for you to get SWOLE. (Hint, these ladies are using steroids)

With that said, all women should be weightlifting, in some way or another. All while you cease and desist this running/jogging/elliptical non-sense. 

Here’s a few reasons why you should go pick up something heavy and why you can't actually gain muscle easily. 

440lb deadlift, she only weighs 125lbs. 

Anatomy of deadlifting...

Violetta Varga, she lifts weights. Probably more than you do, fellas. 

Biology. Women have 1/30^th the level of testosterone as men. This is a big deal regarding weight training and muscle growth potential. Not only will you not gain [muscle] as fast as a guy, you will also recover slower from a metabolic and cellular level, which means you cannot train optimally with the same frequency as a guy. 

Now, there are some things that you can focus on in your training that will make it seem like you are getting big (even though you are only gaining a small amount of muscle). The first part is the pump, blood flow that is temporarily trapped in the muscle tissue. This can be measured up to 48 hours, but there is a noticeable and temporary difference during and right after training. 

The second problem is programming. If you want to work on the hour glass figure, I would suggest toning down the shoulder, bicep and oblique workouts like so many girls do. This is based on personal observation as well as what I've seen the “pros” recommend on popular sites. Tons of girls come into the gym and do shoulder raises, bicep curls and Russian twists, for tons of volume. Volume equals growth, meaning wider abs, bigger arms and broader shoulders. Keep reading and I'll give you something more well rounded, in a good way. 

Here’s a fun fact for girls, especially those that perform anterior chain exercise a lot, like running, cycling, elliptical parties and improper squatting. You are 18 times more likely to tear your ACL than men. That’s a huge number, and these are just the figures that are reported, not to mention the partial tears that happen. Without going into an anatomy lesson, your hips are throwing you under the bus, sorry ladies. Wide hips=high potential for knee problems. The WORST thing you can do for your knees is go for an hour run. And I'm sorry, you may be working hard, but unless you are a professional level runner, cyclist or triathlete, you should not have any joint pain at all. Now, if you have a well rounded weight training program you can do anything else you like, without pain, for all those people who actually like to run. Here's someone in the trenches that agrees:

Now, I think I've delved into enough of the cons of current trends, time to tell you what I think you should do, and why. 

• You should be going to the gym and lifting up something heavy, with good form. (will explain what heavy means later)
• You can do lots of quad (front of thigh) work if you want that look, but make sure you do twice as much hamstring work. Hamstrings stabilize the knee like the ACL, and will take the load that the ACL normally would.
• Work your ass, a lot. Work that butt hard and heavy. You should be squatting, deadlifting (refer to previous image for an example), weighted hip thrusts, Glute-Ham Raises, pull-throughs, dumbbell or kettlebell swings and back extensions. The glutes protect the back, knees and ankles. Plus, it looks nice. It's a win-win.
• Work your inner thighs a good amount. Look into doing some sumo squats and sumo deadlifts, step-ups on different size boxes, lunges and other unilateral work. 

These basics will help to stabilize the knee joint properly. BUT if you already have some knee pain I would highly suggest you stop all quad exercises like lunges, and anything that hurts. Just focus on hamstrings, inner thighs and any glute exercises I mentioned that don't hurt you. While you're at it, check out these stretches, they are brutal, but incredibly effective. This goes for people who don't have any pain, and guys as well. 

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...

Part 2 and 3 will be coming soon. I will include some how-to videos that I approve of regarding form from real professionals in the business for the exercises listed above. Also, why traditional steady state cardio sucks and what to do instead to lose weight, and why you should throw away your scale. These will be directed at the guys, as well.