Sep 10
3
Don’t Train Like a Guy
I’ll never forget it. Back before I’d heard of CrossFit or Kettlebells – before MOST ANYONE had heard of them – I worked out in a “Globo Gym.” I know, we all did. Some of us even liked it at one time or another. This gym was special though – because the girl I was dating at the time worked out there. AND her friend worked at the gym as a “trainer.” (You’re not sure where I’m going with this yet, but you know it won’t be good, right?)
Anyway, girlfriend wants to “get into better shape” and asks me to write her out a workout. Like a good boyfriend I do. She then takes the workout and shows it to her trainer friend and trainer-girl says: “OH NO! He has you working out like a guy! Don’t do squats, they’ll make your butt big!” Impassioned arguments ensue… Not pretty…
It’s funny now but it wasn’t then. Fast forward a bunch of years and I’ve spent a lot of time training women “like a guy.” In fact, there are very few things more gratifying to me than to teach a woman how to do the big power movements and to not be afraid of heavy weights. I trained my good friend Hope for quite a while and here’s what she said when I asked her:
“I like that, at the beginning, I never thought I would be able to do any of it – but I was. And you were always there cheering me on. Now, every time I finish a workout, I feel stronger, tougher and most importantly BETTER than the day before. You’ve really helped me stay focused and keep up a workout routine that I never thought I could!”
THAT’S what I’m talking about! And her butt didn’t even get big from all the squats 
When women “train like a guy” they get into AWESOME shape, feel great AND look great!
I don’t even like the “train like a guy” thing. How about just TRAIN. Or TRAIN HARD? Even better: TRAIN RIGHT!
I just went through iPhoto and found EXACTLY what I was looking for! Now, remember kiddies, this was after a good bit of time working technique and refining form…
Here’s Hope working her form and getting warmed up:
Hope has a great rack 
NOW, HERE’S HOPE AS I TELL HER SHE’S GOING TO POWER CLEAN AND PRESS THAT WEIGHT 30 TIMES (Also known as Grace…)
And, here she is DOING IT!
And there it was. We argued for a while like we did before every workout (Hope used to call it negotiating) and then SHE KILLED IT! She didn’t think she could but she DID.
So, what’s the point?
A lot of women are now sold on training hard and training heavy. Training right. It’s not even an argument anyone needs to make anymore and that’s a GREAT thing. That wasn’t always the case. (I wonder if my ex ever saw the light. Probably not…) Other than telling a cool story, I thought it was worth saying that EVERYONE should take a good hard look at their limits – the ones they THINK they have – and challenge them.
Wherever you are in your training, take a look at the limits you think you have and then go after them. And with that, I’m going to go look at my own limits right now… (Wow, I can even inspire MYSELF. Go figure…)
And, let’s KILL the term “train like a guy” OK?
BTW, Hope makes AWESOME cakes. If you’re near CT and need the coolest cake in the world for an event, check her out! A Little Imagination Cakes
ttys
Adam
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