Skinny Fat

Love this article From Cody at Crossfit SouthBay.

It's something I have tried over and over again, with modest success, to express to my female clients who won't lift.

I feel the same way he does.  "One of the most difficult things to fight as a coach is the thought that “Lifting weights is going to make me ‘bulk up’” from women.  My first response is to shake my head and contemplate shoving my hand in a toaster to cure the frustration… Yet, when I stop and think about it, I honestly like the way CrossFit makes my body look.  And I know there are many of us in the gym that wouldn’t be as enamored with CrossFit if we didn’t see aesthetic results in combination with fitness results, so I do think it is a valuable question that needs to be answered."

Read the Full Article Here.

Number one objection is that they don't want to get bulky.  This article is an excellent answer.

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To me it's less about looks(though the runway model ideal is not at all attractive to me) but what you can do. As Form follows Function the athletic form expresses capabilities, not just a "look".

The second objection is that they are often intimidated by the free weight room.  Now in our case the free weight room is a separate room adjoining the the cardio and machine room(mostly Cybex).

We also do have some big boys in there (the Y of Central Maryland, Towson, MD), but then as soon as I hear the comment, I take them in there and introduce them to the more experienced lifters.  I point out that it is traditional courtesy for lifter's to help spot one another, often I am able to show them doing that.  Also, it seems that the more experienced lifters are more than willing to be helpful with a technique question.  Once they know a few people, particularly the ones with good form, and know that they are regular people despite the occasional grunting or noises form exertion they really start to gain an interest.

Then we go on to talk about the occasional bang, or grunt.  It's helpful to explain that the grunt can serve a purpose when tightening the core.  We talk about the importance of the core in balancing and supporting the spine. And they start to get it.  The occasional bang that they here? (MOST of our guys and gals are not hte meathead variety).  We talk about the safety bars on the squat rack and how you use them to deload quickly in the event of a inability to come out of the squat (we don't have bumper plates at the Y [we do of course at my Box]), thus often causing the banging.  We also talk about the meatheads, banging weights for show, and how they are not the ones to emulate.  Once they know a few of the more serious guys, there is a sense of camaraderie in good form and etiquette that seems to develop that starts to draw them in to the inner circle.

And of course I teach them not to curl at the squat racks.

Any other ways to encourage Women to train with free weights?

I would love to get some comments and turn this into a discussion.