Women and Bodybuilding.

The heading could've read: Women and weight training or resistance training, but bodybuilding delivers the message better I thought. It's a real shame I find, that women in general still shy away from weights, fearing they might get too big and manly like. While it is true, that some of our women friends in the bodybuilding world have gone too far with the musculature aspect due to their abuse of some male hormone taking, the general female weight trainer looks nothing short of phenomenally sexy and appealing. To make matters even worse, the women who need weights the most, have opted for the king of muscle wasting exercises; aerobics. It’s about time these women took their foggy glasses off, wiped all that aerobic brain washing dirt off them, stopped cheating themselves, and looked at their female colleagues who are super firm and shapely because of their weightlifting. So it's high time we all done something about getting our sisters back where they really belong; in the gym!

I have only emphasised the physical aspect of the sport here whilst leaving the numerous health benefits a woman can attain by resorting to weight training.

Please note: It's imperative that you make a distinction between a steroid taking athlete and a natural one. The only thing these two athletes have in common is the name of their chosen sport. Period!


Fadi.

I agree 100%. The sooner women get off the aerobic bandwagon andstart hitting the weights, the better.

That's what I am talking about!

I am a 'natural' woman that lifts weights & have done so for a bit over 3 years. Many women think that chunkier looking chicks are not feminine & aim to look more like the glossy magazine girls.

It's more difficult for us to grow muscle than it is for men (so I was told, although beginning to doubt since being here) & I think a lot of women get frustrated cos the results are slow to come. Also, other females are less than complimentary in general, whether you are at the gym or just in public. I have been told to my face by women & several times, it's "ugly" - mind you this has mostly been by fat or non-active people. However, the guys seem to love muscles & are not shy in saying so - to each other & to the women.

Fadi is onto something here!

Chussen said:

Many women think that chunkier looking chicks are not feminine & aim to look more like the glossy magazine girls.

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The thing is that "chunky" or "bulky" is a term the women apply rather selectively. Consider for example this woman, she lost fat and gained muscle, and the water pushed out of the bath by her body when she jumps in will be smaller. But some women would say she's "bulky" now. Or consider this woman whose weight barely changed, but appearance changed greatly - again, losing fat and gaining muscle.

Chussen said:

It's more difficult for us to grow muscle than it is for men (so I was told, although beginning to doubt since being here)

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It is more difficult for women, just as it is for men over 35. However, that just means you need more patience. A 17 year old man might need 6 months of weight training to gain 10kg of muscle, a 40 year old woman might need 2 years. But if - as is typical - the 17 year old man trains for 6 months then stops, then 2 years from now he'll only have 5kg muscle more than he started, while the 40 year old woman who kept at it will be 10kg up still.

That's the most important thing, just to keep at it. The ones who gain muscle easily are actually at a disadvantage here. They're like the smart kids in school who don't have to study, but who get to uni and still don't study so they drop out. If you're talented you may take your talent for granted.

So in this respect women have an advantage over men in weight training, in that they don't take anything for granted. If they take it up, they expect it to be hard work, and don't feel too bad if they have to start with low weights.

So I think that while women are less likely to take up weight training, once they do they're more likely to stick with it.

Chussen said:

Also, other females are less than complimentary in general, whether you are at the gym or just in public. I have been told to my face by women & several times, it's "ugly" - mind you this has mostly been by fat or non-active people. However, the guys seem to love muscles & are not shy in saying so - to each other & to the women.

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This is a problem women have, they don't support each-other in their efforts.

And both men and women have the problem that what their own gender says is sexy is not what the other gender thinks is sexy. Women want to be smaller than men like, and men want to be bigger than women like.

Kyle Aaron said:

This is a problem women have, they don't support each-other in their efforts.

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yes - this sums up my predicament exactly!!

I have not a single real life friend (mostly female friends) that I have shared my achievements with. None of my female friends know that I ran the C2S or that I like to lift heavy weights. None of them know that my goal is to lift even heavier ones!

(whereas if there's anything fitness related I want to share, the first people I tell are my husband and ausbb... sad hey?)

Recently a male friend came over and saw my barbell setup lying around. He asked me to demonstrate some of the exercises that I do with it but I bailed - it just didn't seem like a girl thing to do, so I chickened out on telling him all about my new found passion. I kicked myself for that a few days afterwards. Why am I so shy to tell my real life friends about what I love?

This topic is still fresh in my head because I have been discussing it with a counsellor this morning.
(for those of you who don't know, I talk to a psych once a week to deal with anxiety.... I am a real stresshead and prone to taking on too much and then burning out!! Nothing clinically wrong with me, thank goodness, but some anxious tendencies)
He could see my eyes light up every time I talked about fitness and suggested that I look into doing a Cert III at Tafe given my passion for it. Re: the friends issue, he encouraged me to open up to them, so that they could see what made me tick, or think about finding other friends who shared my interests (well I guess I have ausbb for that)!!

It is certainly worth studying something you have a passion for. Just remember to do those other studies you have first, or else give them up, you can't do ten things at once, Keen Katie

You should not be shy to tell your friends about your interests and hobbies. Friends may not share all your interests, but they should at least know them.

He asked me to demonstrate some of the exercises that I do with it but I bailed - it just didn't seem like a girl thing to do

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You're right, lifting heavy is not what a girl does. It's what a woman does. Don't be afraid to show people you're a woman, not a girl.

I like to show of my muscles. I am proud of my strength and will find an excuse to flex or lift something heavy anytime!

One day women will get that the only way to lose those chicken wings is to work those arms with weights. I do a Spin class once a week and it is filled with skinny girls who weigh a lot less than I do, but wobble a lot more!

breebreerocks said:

I like to show of my muscles. I am proud of my strength and will find an excuse to flex or lift something heavy anytime!

One day women will get that the only way to lose those chicken wings is to work those arms with weights. I do a Spin class once a week and it is filled with skinny girls who weigh a lot less than I do, but wobble a lot more!

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lol people look at me odd when i say someone is a fat, skinny person!

Nothing and I mean nothing enhances a woman's bone density by driving calcium through it like a weight bearing exercise. So for any woman who laughs at my sisters here who enjoy training with weights; I say the laugh is on you darling.

Unfortunately the western woman has been brain washed to the hilt by the super giant dairy cooperation and its bought “professionals”: nutritionist, dieticians, scientist, and doctors who are not happy unless our women drown themselves in that "white magic" and all products derived from it.

Since it's illegal to sell raw milk to the public, the best milk you can buy these days is the unhomogenised and organic milk. Yes it's more expensive than the "normal" stuff, but what price is health?

Ladies, stay away from low or no fat dairy anything if you value your health. Do NOT be fooled by the "low fat/no fat" is better for your heart nonsense. Every single food you place in your mouth contributes to the overall balance of your food plan. I don't like the word DIET. It conjures up a picture of DEPRIVATION. And I don't believe in food deprivation, unless you're a sadist and enjoy making someone's life miserable. I'll leave it at that for the moment otherwise this will turn into an assay.

I'll be putting up few different and balanced food plans in the Nutrition and Diet section on the weekend, so please do take a look and give me your feedback. The key word here is BALANCED. By the way, I include dark chocolate in that "diet" of mine. Sorry if you don't like chocolate. Actually no, make that I feel sorry for you if you don’t like chocolate.

PS: Katie, thank you for your advice on where I should post my YOUR FIRST THOUGHT article. I think you can really use it to work on your anxiety. I mean that.

http://ausbb.com/general-topic/8984-your-first-thought.html#post63961http://ausbb.com/general-topic/8984-your-first-thought.html#post63961http://ausbb.com/general-topic/8984-your-first-thought.html#post63961


Fadi.

Ahhhh how I miss milk. Lactose intolerance sucks. Will be reminded of it all next week while traveling regional NSW, eating cold soup out of a can and a 1/4 BBQ chook because the crappy hotel has no microwave and everything on the menu for room service contains dairy. Covering something in cream and cheese must be a cheap easy way of creating taste.

Seriously though Fadi- what are your thoughts on soy?

I'd be interested to hear more about Fadi's thoughts on soy, considering it's a staple part of the Asian diet!

Fadi, seeing that you are in Sydney and so are Bree + I - where do you get your rice milk/ oat milk from? I have never really seen anything like that in shops before.

katie said:

Fadi, seeing that you are in Sydney and so are Bree + I - where do you get your rice milk/ oat milk from? I have never really seen anything like that in shops before.

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Rice and oat milk can be found in most Supermarkets in the longlife milk section. I see them all the time.
BTW - I too am lactose intolerant.

As shrek have said. You can find them in Woolies Katie; the milk section. I think you can even get fresh (as opposed to long life) as well.


Fadi.

Katie and Bree,

Please check out the following which I got from the Health Activist Elaine Hollingsworth. It’s from her book: “Take Control Of Your Health”. Please note there's more negative info that is not told to the public, but I've just included what Katie has specifically asked me for. Thank you both ladies.

The Asian Myth
We’ve all read glowing press releases on soy; listened to what health professionals have told us; and surely there’s no question about the ‘fact’ that Asian women do so well on soy food and have few problems with menopause or osteoporosis.

These arguments are fallacious and so dependent on what the world’s most effective commercial publicity machine would have us believe that it’s hard to know where to begin. But here goes:

Soy does not comprise a major part of the Japanese, or any other Asian diet. And it is likely that little of the domestically produced soy is grown from the genetically modified cultivar which dominates the Western market.

Except in poverty and during times of famine, Asians consume soy in tiny amounts – 7 to 8 grams per day – and most of this has been fermented for from 3 to 5 years to remove the toxins. The fermentation process also reduces the growth depressants in all soy products, but does not remove them entirely. The Japanese eat a small amount of tofu and miso as part of mineral-rich broth, followed by meat or fish, which offsets some of the dangers.

Dr Raymond Peat and others have show that tofu (a soy derivative) consumption is associated with dementia. In a major US study, eight thousand Japanese-American men from Hawaii were assessed for mid-life tofu consumption and its relation to brain function and structural changes in later life.

Researchers performed radiologic brain neuro-imagining, extensive cognitive function studies, and post mortem follow-ups. Among the subjects of the study, an increased level of tofu consumption was found to associated with indications of brain atrophy and cognitive impairment in later life. They even found, at autopsy, swelling of the brain cavities and a decrease in bran weight among heavy tofu eaters. This study was reported in The Journal of American college of Nutrition, April 2000,

Goitrogens

Whilst on the subject of soy consumption in Asian countries, one real and bitter truth that does not appear in the producers’ handouts is that an abnormally high incidence of cretinism in parts of China where soy is widely consumed because the people are too poor to get other forms of protein, has been linked to brain damage caused by the iodine-depleting effect of soy-based goitrogens on the thyroid.

New Zealand toxicologist Dr Mike Fitzpatrick says, “An epidemiological study in China has shown that high soy intake is not protective against breast cancer. There have been several similar studies, which have refuted the theory that soy helps prevent breast cancer.”
Furthermore, Asians, unlike Westerners, do not guzzle soy protein isolate as a milk substitute. Milk is not a part of their culture.


Fadi.

O Fadi, thankyou I am suddenly feeling very pretty!

Fadi, I think you're exaggerating a bit on the Soy. It's dangerous if consumed excessively (which is something Western culture tends to do with every new thing) but in moderation, it can be beneficial to women and men even.

That is where I get confused with soy. I have been told it is evil and it is a miracle cure.

Great for the heart, some say good for hormones, others say it's bad. I have done a heap of research and I just end up more confused.

I guess I have got to the point where I feel that if I listened to every report, I'd only be able to live on purified air! They used to say broccoli caused cancer and now it's seen as a key to it's prevention.

I do limit my consumption though- normally just 1/3 to 1/2 cup a day on my breakfast oats. Prefer it to rice milk because rice milk is just sugary water and oat milk is too much for my sensitive belly, especially if I'm stressed.

Think the best answer is simply a new stomach. I have seen some lactase tablets that you can take before dairy to assist with digestion. Might have to invest...

Since everything is good for us, and everything is bad for us, the only thing to do is have a little bit of everything