5 Myths About Men and Women

I can't exactly tell about how men behave regarding other men, but on the woman side of things... #1 and #3: Doh! With some people, it's like things never change. (Anyone remember the 'nice' high school advice about 'never sweat, else you'll also never get a boyfriend'? Yeah, well, sometimes it lasts throughout adult age.)

I'm currently going to weight-lifting classes at the campus gym (I have to find another gym for the summer, bleh), and sometimes it's annoying. People are generally nice there--it's just that I don't feel especially thrilled at the idea of bench-pressing 10 miserable little lbs. I know, it's a women-only class, and the instructor tells us to do 25-30 reps series with a lower load, and while it was nice to get back into the swing of things at first, now it's just getting plainly boring. (I swear, next year, I go with the guys. Most of the time, they actually are very nice and have at least some kind of respect for a woman who lifts and isn't afraid of breaking a sweat by doing so.)

I, for one, DON"T bench press. I prefer to do several variations of push ups.

Good post.

Brian

It’s a shame these myths persist because – once we got them out of the way - the women at my gym have been very receptive to the idea of resistance training. Most of them have achieved their goal of weight loss using weights and dietary adjustments and are very happy with their results. I usually recommend chins, dips, deadlifts, and squats as the core of their routines. It’s a far cry from the tiny pink, neoprene dumbbells they have been encouraged to use by most “experts”!

Most women do not have the ego problem that men have. Guys are in a rush to lift (what they believe are) heavy weights to feed their ego and try to impress other gym users. Sadly, they usually don’t reach their goal because of injuries and they often become fixated on bench presses and bicep curls to the exclusion of other, more productive, exercises.

I don’t buy into the “functional exercise” trend that is doing the rounds. I’ve seen some very dangerous practices in the name of functional exercise: mostly involving balls and free weights. There’s nothing “natural” about sitting on a ball or balancing with one foot on Bosu - or whatever it’s called – while doing curls or presses. It's dangerous.

The bench press as a useful exercise if performed properly in the context of a good overall resistance workout.

I love that my wife has started going to the gym and jogging with me! I have no problem with her including resistance training in her exercise routine. It's a good workout - good for the heart, good for the body. What's not to love?

Being a lazy person who doesn't much like strength training but makes herself do it anyway, I like to make is short and sweet. I pick a dozen or so basic exercises, lift as much as I can handle for 8-12 reps, (just one set), whine a little, and I'm done.

So I'm always bewildered seeing the sort of strength training most women seem to prefer: teeny tiny weights lifted over and over and over for an eternity. Just seems way more uncomfortable for way longer, and they don't seem to build up even enough muscle to be visible, let alone help their metablolism.

(On the other hand, women don't do that annoying slamming of big weights down with a huge clank, just to show off. But otherwise, I've noticed men seem to be more sensible than many of us women about how they strength train).

Crabby McSlacker said:
On the other hand, women don't do that annoying slamming of big weights down with a huge clank, just to show off.

Sometimes I (and others) have to drop the weights. For example, dumbbell bench presses or dumbbell military presses. If you try to lower the dumbbells with too much control, a serious shoulder injury could result.

That said, some people don't even try to control the descent. I lower the dumbbells down to where it is not yet harmful to my shoulders, and then drop them, with a smaller clamor.

I disagree with that bit in #2 about the functionality of bench presses. Some horizontal pressing movement is essential. It can be push-ups or maybe even dips, rather than bench press, but you have to do something in that plane of movement.

I've never bought into the sweating thing. By the time I'm done w/ my cardio and stregnth training, I generally smell like a horse and really -need- that shower. If I didn't, I'd wonder what I was doing wrong. :)

I do wonder about my stregnth training regimen sometimes -- I lift as much as I can for 4 sets of 18 reps (on the advice of my trainer) and have increased my weight recently (usually around 40# for most upper-body exercises, except for the shoulder dip and lateral pulldown, which are 120# and about 90# respectively). I don't know whether it would be better to increase the weight slightly and do fewer reps or just stay where I am. I also don't know whether I should be doing upper and lower body together, or keep doing what I'm doing now -- switching off and doing a third day where I do both.

Kailash,
Sorry, I didn't mean the small-clamor guys. I meant the guys who seem to try to make as huge a clatter as possible just to let everyone knows how manly they are. A gym isn't a library--some grunting and thunking is totally necessary and even adds to the ambiance. Makes me feel like I'm working out harder just to hear it.

Dancinghawk said:
I don't know whether it would be better to increase the weight slightly and do fewer reps or just stay where I am.

It's actually best to vary your set/rep scheme from workout to workout. 2 x 12, 3 x 8, 4 x 5, 5 x 3 are all good. You will of course use a heavier weight for a 3 rep set than you would for a 12 rep set. This variation will train your muscles for a variety of work, thus increasing both strength and endurance.

It sounds like your workout schedule is something like Monday - Upper body, Wednesday - Lower body, Friday - Full body. That would be a good plan.

So it looks like you're doing the right thing, but should definitely do some lower rep workouts and see your strength increase! :)

Great post.

I've been trying to convince my fiance to work out with me for a while now but she seems to believe that weight training is for men. Maybe I'll forward this her way.

LOL at Olga! ahahah

This is what happens to my wife, she sits on the bike, reads or watches TV, and after 30 minutes, she looks exactly as when she fist started, not a drop of sweat at all... :)

Oh, thank you so much for this post! I am so tired of trying to persuade friends to lift weights (prevents osteoporosis, reduces cellulite) and hearing "but I don't want to get bulky"! lol...it's not going to happen. Even men who lift don't get bulky unless they commit to a major training regimen - aka an athlete. For simple muscle tissue maintenance and a little toning, no one is going to get too bulky, but especially women (since we have less muscle tissue to begin with, it's harder for us to build). Anyway, the "bulk" comes from building muscle but not simultaneously burning fat, which is why you need both resistance and cardio. :)

I found out that although other women look at you like you are a freak, 13 and 14 year old boys look up to you and ask for advice. They are afraid of being ridiculed by the big buff guys, so they'll always come and talk to me and the other 2 women lifting, with questions that can be from asking you spot them, to where to buy a good lifting glove.

60 in 3, you need to bookmark www.stumptuous.com/iron for your fiance.

"gyms" like Curves and Planet Fitness only help to perpetuate this myth...