Goosey
.
What do you ladies think?
*
There seems to be an alarming problem on the horizon: women and their perception of body size. The more I work with women and assist them with their lifting issues the more I recognize the need for my gender to understand how we have evolved into a society with a growing confusion regarding size, strength, and weight.
Women today want to be small.
Not short mind you, but smaller in total body mass.
They want concave bellies, long, lithe legs, slender hips and stick-like arms. Pick up any woman’s magazine or clothing catalogue marketed today and you will see advertising at it’s manipulative best.
If you don’t possess the perfect body to fit the clothes, the clothing itself will conform your figure to fit them by means of pads, under wires, Lycra, inflatable air bladders and elastic panels.
A seemingly simple trip the local mall bombards most women with a variety of clothing that varies in size from store to store and even rack to rack within a given store! Imagine then, the confusion for those women who once sought security and comfort by wearing a specific size? Women may as well throw their physical dimensions out the window.
What one clothing manufacturer construes as size 2 another might categorize as size 6.
Rarely is there mention of true measurements nor are there reliable standards for sizing women’s clothing.
Jeans, for instance are frequently classified by “cut” and/or size! We are left guessing to whether we are “classic,” “relaxed,” “baggy,” misses, petite, or woman’s size! It’s enough to drive a sane woman to the brink of despair!
In contrast, when men buy clothing they seldom deviate from pants, shirts and suits and their clothing is often sized according to true measurement.
A 32-inch waist, a 17-inch neck, a 34-inch inseam, and a 42-inch chest are all precise guidelines not vague guesses.
Men know what size they are and they expect the clothing they select to correspond with their current, accurate measurements.
Alas, it seems the simplicity of this concept escapes woman’s designers!
Today’s fashion with the highest visibility and marketing priorities are often the most trendy and physically challenging for women to wear.
Revealingly tight Lycra tops, mini skirts, cropped and cut out shirts and dresses, and skin tight jeans all call for the owners of such fashions to have the utmost perfect body with which to display the clothing at it’s intended best.
In response, women in quest of cutting edge fashion have justifiably become increasingly over attentive to body size and weight related issues.
So how does this affect the average female weight lifter? Women often arrive at the decision to train under the guise that it will bring about positive changes to their body despite years of neglect. They appear at the gym eager to convert themselves into a 5’10″, 110-pound model of perfection.
This goal rarely has much to do with reality or truthful expectations, yet women continue to operate under the conviction that they can increase the mass (and therefore, visibility) of their muscles without changing their size or shape.
Seldom do women consider the most basic facts surrounding lifting, rather they persist in the belief that weight training will be a means to an end: to transform them into someone smaller! However, progressive weight training (if applied as intended) will do nothing of the sort!
Realistically speaking, weightlifting typically delivers results at the opposite end of the spectrum. If women wish to diffuse the training myths that continue to delude them they must re-examine and acknowledge the fundamental facts regarding the end results of weight training:
1.) Muscles are an outcome of progressive weight lifting.
2.) Muscles weigh more than fat and therefore, should eventually make your overall bodyweight somewhat higher than it was prior to weight training.
3.) Muscles will ultimately increase your body mass. This means you will most likely become larger and your muscles will take up more space in clothing as your physical girth changes in response to weight training.
What does this all mean for women who want to strength train to any degree of success? In order for women to persevere in lifting they must learn to focus less on body size changes and more on strength progress.
Women must be willing to concede that progressive, goal-oriented weight lifting will almost certainly generate a physical response or alteration of their shape, some of which may not initially seem welcome.
At onset, these changes can be easily confused with a body fat increase given this is the type of weight gains most women have generally experienced up to this point and are familiar with.
I enthusiastically urge all women who are sincere in their desire to make permanent, positive, physical changes in their body to forge ahead, despite this initial trepidation. Body composition is a far better method of gauging overall physical health than body weight.
Learn to measure your lean body mass and educate yourself so you fully comprehend the implication of the results. By all means, weigh yourself, but use the bathroom scale judiciously and bear in mind muscle weighs more than fat! Be prepared to replace certain articles of clothing as your dimensions change and be encouraged (rather than despair) that this indicates you’re making upward progress in the gym! Refrain from comparing your body with that of women who don’t engage in the sort of physical pursuit you have chosen. Realize you are in control of your mass gains and have confidence in your ability to manipulate your size by small degrees when necessary.
Women generally find weight gain contradictory and against their nature to embrace.
As a rule, women have been taught from a very young age to be at war with their bodies and to treat anything that constitutes an increase in dimension as just cause for alarm. As our bodies change in response to lifting it can become most difficult for some to resist the urge to curtail any activity or practice that encourages an increase in appearance.
Some women retaliate by decreasing their caloric intake while increasing their cardio training in hopes to eliminate or control their weight fluctuations. This is contradictory to the most basic principles of weight lifting!
Women must be prepared to confront their skepticism when their weight rises in response to weight training. Instead, expect this increase as a by-product of lifting and resist the instinct to oppose your body thereby limiting your progress. Concentrate on directing your focus toward strength related lifting goals while shifting the significance of bodyweight to the back burner.
Keep the emphasis of your training on health and progression and remember: your motivation for weight training should not be aimed exclusively at achieving visual perfection.
At some point, women who weight lift for reasons beyond simple light exercise must make a choice: they can spend the rest of their lives chasing ambiguous standards set by those who stand to profit from their observance or they can learn to place trust in their power to create their own physical destiny.
*
*
There seems to be an alarming problem on the horizon: women and their perception of body size. The more I work with women and assist them with their lifting issues the more I recognize the need for my gender to understand how we have evolved into a society with a growing confusion regarding size, strength, and weight.
Women today want to be small.
Not short mind you, but smaller in total body mass.
They want concave bellies, long, lithe legs, slender hips and stick-like arms. Pick up any woman’s magazine or clothing catalogue marketed today and you will see advertising at it’s manipulative best.
If you don’t possess the perfect body to fit the clothes, the clothing itself will conform your figure to fit them by means of pads, under wires, Lycra, inflatable air bladders and elastic panels.
A seemingly simple trip the local mall bombards most women with a variety of clothing that varies in size from store to store and even rack to rack within a given store! Imagine then, the confusion for those women who once sought security and comfort by wearing a specific size? Women may as well throw their physical dimensions out the window.
What one clothing manufacturer construes as size 2 another might categorize as size 6.
Rarely is there mention of true measurements nor are there reliable standards for sizing women’s clothing.
Jeans, for instance are frequently classified by “cut” and/or size! We are left guessing to whether we are “classic,” “relaxed,” “baggy,” misses, petite, or woman’s size! It’s enough to drive a sane woman to the brink of despair!
In contrast, when men buy clothing they seldom deviate from pants, shirts and suits and their clothing is often sized according to true measurement.
A 32-inch waist, a 17-inch neck, a 34-inch inseam, and a 42-inch chest are all precise guidelines not vague guesses.
Men know what size they are and they expect the clothing they select to correspond with their current, accurate measurements.
Alas, it seems the simplicity of this concept escapes woman’s designers!
Today’s fashion with the highest visibility and marketing priorities are often the most trendy and physically challenging for women to wear.
Revealingly tight Lycra tops, mini skirts, cropped and cut out shirts and dresses, and skin tight jeans all call for the owners of such fashions to have the utmost perfect body with which to display the clothing at it’s intended best.
In response, women in quest of cutting edge fashion have justifiably become increasingly over attentive to body size and weight related issues.
So how does this affect the average female weight lifter? Women often arrive at the decision to train under the guise that it will bring about positive changes to their body despite years of neglect. They appear at the gym eager to convert themselves into a 5’10″, 110-pound model of perfection.
This goal rarely has much to do with reality or truthful expectations, yet women continue to operate under the conviction that they can increase the mass (and therefore, visibility) of their muscles without changing their size or shape.
Seldom do women consider the most basic facts surrounding lifting, rather they persist in the belief that weight training will be a means to an end: to transform them into someone smaller! However, progressive weight training (if applied as intended) will do nothing of the sort!
Realistically speaking, weightlifting typically delivers results at the opposite end of the spectrum. If women wish to diffuse the training myths that continue to delude them they must re-examine and acknowledge the fundamental facts regarding the end results of weight training:
1.) Muscles are an outcome of progressive weight lifting.
2.) Muscles weigh more than fat and therefore, should eventually make your overall bodyweight somewhat higher than it was prior to weight training.
3.) Muscles will ultimately increase your body mass. This means you will most likely become larger and your muscles will take up more space in clothing as your physical girth changes in response to weight training.
What does this all mean for women who want to strength train to any degree of success? In order for women to persevere in lifting they must learn to focus less on body size changes and more on strength progress.
Women must be willing to concede that progressive, goal-oriented weight lifting will almost certainly generate a physical response or alteration of their shape, some of which may not initially seem welcome.
At onset, these changes can be easily confused with a body fat increase given this is the type of weight gains most women have generally experienced up to this point and are familiar with.
I enthusiastically urge all women who are sincere in their desire to make permanent, positive, physical changes in their body to forge ahead, despite this initial trepidation. Body composition is a far better method of gauging overall physical health than body weight.
Learn to measure your lean body mass and educate yourself so you fully comprehend the implication of the results. By all means, weigh yourself, but use the bathroom scale judiciously and bear in mind muscle weighs more than fat! Be prepared to replace certain articles of clothing as your dimensions change and be encouraged (rather than despair) that this indicates you’re making upward progress in the gym! Refrain from comparing your body with that of women who don’t engage in the sort of physical pursuit you have chosen. Realize you are in control of your mass gains and have confidence in your ability to manipulate your size by small degrees when necessary.
Women generally find weight gain contradictory and against their nature to embrace.
As a rule, women have been taught from a very young age to be at war with their bodies and to treat anything that constitutes an increase in dimension as just cause for alarm. As our bodies change in response to lifting it can become most difficult for some to resist the urge to curtail any activity or practice that encourages an increase in appearance.
Some women retaliate by decreasing their caloric intake while increasing their cardio training in hopes to eliminate or control their weight fluctuations. This is contradictory to the most basic principles of weight lifting!
Women must be prepared to confront their skepticism when their weight rises in response to weight training. Instead, expect this increase as a by-product of lifting and resist the instinct to oppose your body thereby limiting your progress. Concentrate on directing your focus toward strength related lifting goals while shifting the significance of bodyweight to the back burner.
Keep the emphasis of your training on health and progression and remember: your motivation for weight training should not be aimed exclusively at achieving visual perfection.
At some point, women who weight lift for reasons beyond simple light exercise must make a choice: they can spend the rest of their lives chasing ambiguous standards set by those who stand to profit from their observance or they can learn to place trust in their power to create their own physical destiny.
*
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