Venting - strength issues

[Irulan]

Most women have much less upper body strength as a general rule. And then, there's rangy/stringy strength vs bulky big strength. Keep at it, keep pushing your weights and sets to failure, and you'll get there. I think the biggest mistake women make is not pushing it for upper body. "oh my arms will get too big" or whatever. Ignore them. Go for the 12# dumbell instead of the #10.

[Catrin]

Most women have much less upper body strength as a general rule. And then, there's rangy/stringy strength vs bulky big strength. Keep at it, keep pushing your weights and sets to failure, and you'll get there. I think the biggest mistake women make is not pushing it for upper body. "oh my arms will get too big" or whatever. Ignore them. Go for the 12# dumbell instead of the #10.

Thanks Irulan - I know I don't have to worry about "bulking up". Indeed I really want tighter/more defined upper arms - as much work as they have received over the past 3 years they don't LOOK much different, though they are stronger than they used to be.

[OakLeaf]

Lots of good feedback here, but I'd also wonder whether your history of neck injuries is contributing.

Check out the American women's Olympic lifter. She can lift a whopping amount of weight, but there's no way she is fit, though I do admire her strength.

I don't know whether you mean Sarah Robles or Holley Mangold. And I'm assuming that you're making that sizeist judgment because of the weight class they lift in.

I'm assuming you mean one of them because this year the USA didn't send a woman lifter in a lighter weight class. As one of the articles about Mangold pointed out, weightlifting in the USA in general is the red-headed stepchild of sports. But would you conclude that Canadian lifter Marilou Dozois-Prévost is "unfit" because her chosen sport doesn't require a lot of cardio training? Or would you conclude that she's fit because she lifts in the 48kg or 53kg weight class?

I surely can't think of any other reason than size, that you would conclude that an Olympic-caliber athlete, one of the top ten athletes in her sport in the entire world, is not "fit."

[Catrin]

Lots of good feedback here, but I'd also wonder whether your history of neck injuries is contributing.

This is certainly possible - and I am vigilant for any signs of stress/pain in my neck - both during/afterwards/next day. The known issues with my neck didn't arise until last October, though there was likely some underlying problems with it prior to that point.

This is one reason I am not doing weighted back squats - the squat machine seems to actually stretch my neck and it feels better afterwards than before. All in all my cervical spine seems to feel better than it did before I started with the new group trainer almost a month ago and he is aware of my neck issues. I have't needed to use heat on my neck since we started - and prior to that I was using it several times a week.

[Catrin]

I surely can't think of any other reason than size, that you would conclude that an Olympic-caliber athlete, one of the top ten athletes in her sport in the entire world, is not "fit."

I saw an interview with her trainer the other day who said that she is the most fit in her in life, he almost sounded in awe of her. I also didn't know that she played linebacker in her high school football team. I've read a lot of comments about her that would never have been said if she were male. They should have been ashamed of themselves.

[Crankin]

Went back to bootcamp for the first time after my vacation. Of course, the evil instructor is still teaching, as the regular one went to see the Olympics! Thankfully, it was a bit rainy and she didn't take us outside. I always use slightly smaller weights with this instructor, because she makes us do all of the exercises for an amount of time that is unbelievable. Today, I used the 2 lb. weights instead of 3 lb. for my smallest weights. They really were too easy, but I was able to do everything without too much annoyance. With the other one, I use the 10 lb. and 5 lb. and 3 lb. if she says to use "baby weights." Today I used 5 lbs. and 2 lbs. Of course, the cardio part is a "break" for me, which is funny, because that is where a lot of the other people die out (except for the marathoners and tri-athletes). There is one woman, who I expect is close to my age, although probably younger. She only comes sporadically to these classes, although I think she may attend at night. She spends most of each class taking a break, coughing, and not being able to do anything. I'd like to show her some modifications that would keep her moving, because no one else does. I feel badly for her.

[Catrin]

...There is one woman, who I expect is close to my age, although probably younger. She only comes sporadically to these classes, although I think she may attend at night. She spends most of each class taking a break, coughing, and not being able to do anything. I'd like to show her some modifications that would keep her moving, because no one else does. I feel badly for her.

The instructor isn't helping her with modifications? She is indeed evil - that is part of her job... I don't know how our own boot camp compares with yours - I've noticed they do a lot more running in our boot camp classes than I am comfortable with so I've never checked it out.

I generally start with the 8-10 pound weights and go up from there - though the next time he tells us we are going to add 5 pounds at each set I will start with the 5 pounds. In Bosu class I typically grab the 4 or 6 pound body bar for when we do standing or kneeling flys. Doing this on the Bosu ball adds a whole different level of complexity.

He does watch out for us though - he always partners us up with whoever is closest to our strength level/size and last week when my arms started fatiguing my partner spotted me to help get the 15 and 20 lb weights up until I reached true failure - so I got the benefit of increased weight but not so much that I hurt myself. There are usually only 4-6 of us so it works out well and there is a woman who is very close to my level in upper body strength so we make good partners - we suffer together

The group trainer pushes us pretty hard - but he is very focused on safety. He is a firecracker for sure, as intense as his group sessions are, I can't imagine what it would be like to work 1-1 with him! I really like the team approach, much to my surprise!