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Women in Sport
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27-04-2010 7:46am#1Since I started posting in this forum, and even moreso since I became a Mod and was in a position to abuse my powers
, I've tried to champion resistance training for women. The benefits it has are endless, the pro's are many and better than any fad diet, machine or gimmick on the market, and yet women still seem to be afraid to lift.
Just recently I was elected onto the IAWLA Committee as the New Ladies Development Officer and I'm now working with the Irish Sports Council to try and promote weightlifting for women specifically but also hopefully use this forum (and the Sports Cat in general) to try and promote sports for women.
We advertised last weekend's National Senior's Competition on the Women in Sports website and I'm hoping to write a report on women in weightlifting to submit to the site in the next week or so.
So... obviously I have no issues talking to my female co-competitors but who I'd really like to talk to is the women who weightlift - no matter how casually - for non-competitive reasons i.e. to look better, get fitter, lose weight, etc.
If there are any trainers who'd like to comment that would be fantastic too - at the end of the day what I'm really trying to do is promote weightlifting for women, and by websites like the ISC and Women in Sport one will reach a whole new target audience.
So please share your stories - when did you start weightlifting? Why did you start? What are your main aims and goals? What kind of benefits have you felt from weightlifting? And any other information you might like to pass on.
Cheers gals and guys
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I dont lift weights. I did one pt session to see what it was like, found it good but I was pretty weak. I do kettlebells and have raved about them elsewhere here, so theyre my introduction to any kind of weights. I also do bodyweight stuff, chins, pushups etc. I use kbs as crosstraining for the other stuff I do, to give me more upper body and core strength and power in the legs.
Even though my experience therefore is limited, this I now know... Nothing gives you power better than weights. Nothing changes your shape for the better, more than weights. I know when Ive not done enough, my core weakens really quickly. Women fear getting muscular. As if, you wont bulk, even if you really want to. And I really want to.
Yes, I would like to olympic lift, whatever that entails, but resources of time and money are limited, (I train so bloody much already and handout money for events and gear all the time!) and thats what stops me now.0 -
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If there were enough women interested I'd definitely be up for doing another coaching course - if any women are interested in doing an olympic lifting workshop (or even a series of coaching days) can you thank this post so that I can get an idea of whether it's viable?
anyone makes a joke about thanks whoring and there'll be bannings 0 -
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brianthebard wrote: »Yes pretty much, but in addition I think they are unsuitable to most facilities. Unless you have bumper plates and are on the ground floor its probably not a good idea to be dropping the weight on the way back. Plus unless you have the space/designated oly platform it can be a hazard to other gym users. I've seen one guy attempt power cleans in NUIG since I started here (may be more but I haven't seen them) - his form was atrocious and I would not have moved within a six foot radius of him for fear that a ****ed up jerk attempt would cause the barbell to land on top of me or someone else.
Having said all that I have been thinking lately of putting high pulls/hang cleans into my training somewhere but full on oly lifts are imo overly technical for someone to try and do without a coach to keep an eye on your form, at least in the beginning. Plus I don't think I could use enough weight for anything other than hp/hc to make them worthwhile. Just some of my muddled thoughts on the issue.
Thanks brian. Just to address some of the things you brought up - by and large when we teach oly lifting, we teach you not to drop. In fact, for the most part as a learner you aren't using any weight at all If you were to come to me and ask for help on your lifts we'd start all over againa nd correct teh mistakes that most people make when they self-teach the lifts. Oly lifting is 70% technique, 30% strength - you have to make sure the technique is right before you start adding kgs. In fact I'm going to be so bold as to say here and now that I could improve anyone's lifts without using anything more than the bar. The only equipment you need for that is... well, the bar :pac:
But you're right, having proper facilities is a concern. For the majority of people though weightlifting will be a tool, a means to and end, and not a goal in itself. Most people who oly lift will be doing it to assist other lifts, not to compete, so we can modify workouts around those limitations.
tbh, hang cleans, power cleans, hang snatches and power snatches are the lifts that will have most transference of strength to other lifts becuase those are the lifts that can most easily utilise and develop the second pull, the explosive part of the lift. You only need to develop the lifts to the full versions if you want to compete. So if those are teh only options available, no biggie, you just need to figure out how to use them to maximise output in the rest of your program
But I completely agree about the coaching comments. We are working on coaching development in Ireland and it's something that we're very much focusing on at the moment. We've begun to develop a network of coaches in all four provinces and fingers crossed within a few months we'll have a full list of coaches/ gyms available for olympic weightlifting training. I'll have loooads more news on that very soon, I'm just not allowed to say anything yet A full list of Weightlifting Clubs is available on the IAWLA website and we'll be adding to that constantly. 0 -
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That's all grand but if you're not competing what's the point in having that technique? That's why I mentioned that I wouldn't be able to use enough weight to make them worthwhile.Thanks brian. Just to address some of the things you brought up - by and large when we teach oly lifting, we teach you not to drop. In fact, for the most part as a learner you aren't using any weight at all If you were to come to me and ask for help on your lifts we'd start all over againa nd correct teh mistakes that most people make when they self-teach the lifts. Oly lifting is 70% technique, 30% strength - you have to make sure the technique is right before you start adding kgs. In fact I'm going to be so bold as to say here and now that I could improve anyone's lifts without using anything more than the bar. The only equipment you need for that is... well, the bar :pac:
Do you not think that makes the full oly lifts somewhat redundant to the average trainee, or do you see it as an adaptation? If the latter, do you think a certain amount of 'rebranding' will be required when trying to popularise them with women, assuming this is the reason you're asking these questions?But you're right, having proper facilities is a concern. For the majority of people though weightlifting will be a tool, a means to and end, and not a goal in itself. Most people who oly lift will be doing it to assist other lifts, not to compete, so we can modify workouts around those limitations.
tbh, hang cleans, power cleans, hang snatches and power snatches are the lifts that will have most transference of strength to other lifts becuase those are the lifts that can most easily utilise and develop the second pull, the explosive part of the lift. You only need to develop the lifts to the full versions if you want to compete. So if those are teh only options available, no biggie, you just need to figure out how to use them to maximise output in the rest of your programAh here, you can always make do, especially with power cleans. I've snatched in a college gym at peak times without bumpers. You just have to wait until there's a bit of a lull in the people walkin around, and if someone else is oly lifting, make sure to keep your distance and have your eyes open (should be mandatory in a gym anyway). It's not ideal and can be a pain in the tits, but it's definitely not impossible.
Never said it was impossible, only that in most cases they are unsuitable. Its comparable imo to trying to do back squats without any rack to put the bar on. There are ways you can still do back squats, but are they really the way to go?0 -
Because as I said the technique develops your explosive power and strength, that's why most people learn those lifts. It has cross-over to other lifts. So what if you can only do hang power versions, they'll still help your squat and dead lift. By technique I mean technique in all versions of the oly lifts.brianthebard wrote: »That's all grand but if you're not competing what's the point in having that technique? That's why I mentioned that I wouldn't be able to use enough weight to make them worthwhile.
Absolutely not redundant at all. Think of any sport and I can give you a specific variation of an oly lift that can be used as part of an S&C program for that sport. Hockey players can use hangs from above the knee, sprinters and anyone playing tackling sports can use high/ 2nd pulls - the olympic lifts can be adapted to virtually any sport.Do you not think that makes the full oly lifts somewhat redundant to the average trainee, or do you see it as an adaptation? If the latter, do you think a certain amount of 'rebranding' will be required when trying to popularise them with women, assuming this is the reason you're asking these questions?
For the average Joe Soap who just wants to lift and look good the oly lifts will do that too - they're compound full body movements that give you huge amounts of bang for your buck. They'll build strength and increase energy expenditure, hugely valuable for fat loss.
I don't think Olympic lifting needs to be re-branded, because I don't think it has a brand at all. A lot of the people who frequent this forum will already be aware of what weightlifting is becuase of people like myself and Hanley and wasabi and Colm O'Reilly et al. in Crossfit, even 12 months ago virutally no-one here did it, and most didn't know what it was all about.
Credit where credit is due, the Crossfit Empire has gone a long way towards normalising the olympic lifts for the average Joe. I don't entirely agree with the way they're taught according to Crossfit (:pac:) but at least they're getting the airtime they deserve now.
Personally I think weightlifting is so different, so unique, but so completely applicable to both everyday life and specific sports that it needs to seen as an entity all by itself. Weightlifting, proper Olympic style weightlifting, is still a virtual unknown, and it has more application to women than powerlifting or bodybuilding, again both for everyday life and in sport - quite simply more women of all ages, of all shapes, of all backgrounds should be using it in their Fitness programs and that's something I'd like to try and change. Even just a teeny tiny bit
With the Olympic Lifts, yes. There's always room for technique improvement in the Olympic lifts. The only time when having a weight restriction is important is if you're a competitive lifter.brianthebard wrote:Never said it was impossible, only that in most cases they are unsuitable. Its comparable imo to trying to do back squats without any rack to put the bar on. There are ways you can still do back squats, but are they really the way to go?0 -
Absolutely not redundant at all. Think of any sport and I can give you a specific variation of an oly lift that can be used as part of an S&C program for that sport. Hockey players can use hangs from above the knee, sprinters and anyone playing tackling sports can use high/ 2nd pulls - the olympic lifts can be adapted to virtually any sport.
For the average Joe Soap who just wants to lift and look good the oly lifts will do that too - they're compound full body movements that give you huge amounts of bang for your buck. They'll build strength and increase energy expenditure, hugely valuable for fat loss.
I don't think Olympic lifting needs to be re-branded, because I don't think it has a brand at all. A lot of the people who frequent this forum will already be aware of what weightlifting is becuase of people like myself and Hanley and wasabi and Colm O'Reilly et al. in Crossfit, even 12 months ago virutally no-one here did it, and most didn't know what it was all about.
Credit where credit is due, the Crossfit Empire has gone a long way towards normalising the olympic lifts for the average Joe. I don't entirely agree with the way they're taught according to Crossfit (:pac:) but at least they're getting the airtime they deserve now.
Personally I think weightlifting is so different, so unique, but so completely applicable to both everyday life and specific sports that it needs to seen as an entity all by itself. Weightlifting, proper Olympic style weightlifting, is still a virtual unknown, and it has more application to women than powerlifting or bodybuilding, again both for everyday life and in sport - quite simply more women of all ages, of all shapes, of all backgrounds should be using it in their Fitness programs and that's something I'd like to try and change. Even just a teeny tiny bit
I think we're crossing wires here, when I said full oly lifts I meant exactly that, the clean and jerk and the snatch, not variants. I absolutely can see that the variants have a role in sports training, however they are (imo and from the way they are referred to by both yourself and others, and done compared to competitive oly lifting) different lifts. This is what I was referring to as needing rebranding, most people will know what the oly lifts are, but not the variants which are the ones you're suggesting are more applicable to the general trainee.0 -
I first started weight training because cardio just wasn't working, and I wasn't happy with my shape. I started training with Transform 3 years ago, but I've definitely become far more into it in the past year, I love hitting new PR's the the deadlift is my baby:cool:. My normal training would consist of strength days and metcon days which include Squats, Deadlifts, Push Press, Bench Press and then the likes of one arm rows, lat raises, inverted rows, bicep curls, KB swings, push ups, tri dips and ab work. I love doing crossfit WOD's and they're a huge part of my training now and a major motivational factor in getting my ass to the gym.
At the moment I'm trying to focus on getting the weight up on my lifts and also to learn a bit more about my training in the process, so I've started the Stronglifts 5x5 Program which I'm doing along with metcon days also. My weakness is that if I can't do something it demotivates me, a recent example would be OH Squats and Powercleans! I really am the kind of person that needs someone to stick with me for an hour with the one lift and just go over it again and again til I'm confident that I'm doing it right. Once I have that confidence in it then I'm flying!! I've left these to the side now with Stronglifts but I'm well aware that there are alot of lifts I need to work on still. Transform is well used to me at this stage, our conversations normally go along these lines: 'I can't do it', 'G just do it', 'I can't do it!', 'Just fecking do it!' - til I eventually realise I CAN do it and then decide it's my favourite lift :rolleyes:haha!
My goals have changed alot since I first started; at the start I just wanted to lose weight, I didn't care how and I had no interest in why I was doing certain exercises as long as they got me to that end goal. But now my goals have completely changed, I really get excited about my workouts, I WANT the weight to go up and if it doesn't it pisses me off! I started off at 23% bodyfat and would have been happy to get it down to 20%, now I'm only happy if it's under 15% and I hope to god I never see 20% again! I'm so much more confident now than I was 3 years ago, sure my stomach might still have a bit of a wobble, but I dammit I can deadlift 100kg and run 10k - so I think I'm doing pretty good (we'll not reference my OH Squats here:o)
My goals at the moment are:- Learn more about the lifts I do and work with Transform to have more input in developing my programming. Basically just to broaden my own knowledge as I've got to the point now where it really interests me.
- Improve my deadlift form on the heavier weights
- Hit a 1rm double bodyweight on my deadlift
- A bodyweight squat (73kg)
- A Chin Up (yes, even just the one would make my day!)
- Improve my WOD times
- Stop being a wuss and sort out the lifts I suck at.
- Get BF under 14%, especially my subscap - bane of my life.
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Ah, fair enough. But I don't see them that way. It's all oly lifting afaicbrianthebard wrote: »I think we're crossing wires here, when I said full oly lifts I meant exactly that, the clean and jerk and the snatch, not variants.
Not really, that's the great thing about them. All the variants are still doing the same thing - developing your posterior chain!brianthebard wrote:I absolutely can see that the variants have a role in sports training, however they are (imo and from the way they are referred to by both yourself and others, and done compared to competitive oly lifting) different lifts.
Trust me, after spending the last couple of years telling people I weightlift and getting either an "ew" or a "stf?" face, most people haven't a clue what they arebrianthebard wrote:This is what I was referring to as needing rebranding, most people will know what the oly lifts are, but not the variants which are the ones you're suggesting are more applicable to the general trainee. I don't think there's any need to go down the rebranding route right now - variations and whatnot is too complicated a concept to introduce just yet 0 -
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Hi G'em,
I started weight training consistently in about February. I had always been unhappy with my shape, it didn't matter how skinny I was, I always had saddlebags and slight love handles. Even whenI was at my smallest I still had them!
I had put on a lot of weight and to be honest was disgusted with how I looked. My boyfriend is big into weight training so he convinced me to go. I had already learnt most of the lifts from previous failed attempts to get in shape so I was able to start upping the weight quite quickly.
I am SO happy that I went! My body is getting there shape wise, the saddlebags are diminishing as we speak and I'm so much more confident in my body. I really can't recommend weight training enough.
I can understand why girls don't really go in for weight training though. Just today I was talking with a collegue about being in the gym and things and she said that I shouldn't lift too much weight, as I would end up huge and muscley. I corrected her, but I think that is the common misconception.
Even in the gym, I sometimes get such strange looks from men when they see me in the 'mens' weight area. Especially when I'm squatting more than some of them
I think if more celebrities would say that to get in the shape they are in, they train with weights it would really help. I mean, all you ever see is celebrities running and jogging, so people reading the magazines think, 'well, if I jog, I too can get a body like Jessica Alba!' The media has a big part in peoples fitness routines. Even in magazines, when there is a fitness article, it usually tells you to get on the cross trainer and do sit-ups. Hardly inspiring stuff!
But anyway! Lifting weights is easily the best decision I have made with regards to my body, I look forward to going to the gym to see if I can lift a bit more than I did the last time, or get a few more reps. It is much more inspiring than trying to run for a bit longer on a treadmill (Okay, I'm bias, I hate the treadmill with a passion, it is the instrument of the devil)
Sorry for the novel like reply!0 -
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Hi G'em,
I started weight training consistently in about February. I had always been unhappy with my shape, it didn't matter how skinny I was, I always had saddlebags and slight love handles. Even whenI was at my smallest I still had them!
I had put on a lot of weight and to be honest was disgusted with how I looked. My boyfriend is big into weight training so he convinced me to go. I had already learnt most of the lifts from previous failed attempts to get in shape so I was able to start upping the weight quite quickly.
I am SO happy that I went! My body is getting there shape wise, the saddlebags are diminishing as we speak and I'm so much more confident in my body. I really can't recommend weight training enough.
I can understand why girls don't really go in for weight training though. Just today I was talking with a collegue about being in the gym and things and she said that I shouldn't lift too much weight, as I would end up huge and muscley. I corrected her, but I think that is the common misconception.
Even in the gym, I sometimes get such strange looks from men when they see me in the 'mens' weight area. Especially when I'm squatting more than some of them
I think if more celebrities would say that to get in the shape they are in, they train with weights it would really help. I mean, all you ever see is celebrities running and jogging, so people reading the magazines think, 'well, if I jog, I too can get a body like Jessica Alba!' The media has a big part in peoples fitness routines. Even in magazines, when there is a fitness article, it usually tells you to get on the cross trainer and do sit-ups. Hardly inspiring stuff!
But anyway! Lifting weights is easily the best decision I have made with regards to my body, I look forward to going to the gym to see if I can lift a bit more than I did the last time, or get a few more reps. It is much more inspiring than trying to run for a bit longer on a treadmill (Okay, I'm bias, I hate the treadmill with a passion, it is the instrument of the devil)
Sorry for the novel like reply!
+ 1 to that, especially the misconseption that lifting weights will make you huge if you're a woman, it does'nt, just makes you nice and toned.0 -
Thanks SO much everyone for all the personal experiences and feedback, I LOVE reading about all these successes with lifting!I think if more celebrities would say that to get in the shape they are in, they train with weights it would really help. I mean, all you ever see is celebrities running and jogging, so people reading the magazines think, 'well, if I jog, I too can get a body like Jessica Alba!' The media has a big part in peoples fitness routines. Even in magazines, when there is a fitness article, it usually tells you to get on the cross trainer and do sit-ups. Hardly inspiring stuff!
The above points are exactly what I'd been thinking myself, you've both hit the nail on the head there. It's all very well for us to waffle away on an internet forum about how great weights are for girls (which we know they are) but seeing is believing, and the lack of great female sports role models is making it very hard to shift the many misconceptions about girls who lift.Barry.Oglesby wrote: »Having worked a lot with teenagers I can tell you that one of the biggest obstacles to getting young women into sports is the lack of female role models.
This is giving me great food for thought though, I really appreciate everyone taking the time to reply - there's loads here for me to work with 0 -
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Not going to fill out the survey because it's not applicable to me but I just thought I'd post this here.
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Not a fitness forum regular, but was browsing and saw this thread. Some random thoughts that sprung to mind, mainly echoing what others have said but sure i'll throw them down anyway...
- I fully agree with the lack of role-models being a stumbling block, but I think it's not just public faces, it's the lack of 'normal' women doing decent lifting in your average gym. Any girl who joins a gym and gets a program from an instructor there will probably be told to do some machines, some light dumbbells etc - if she doesn't know any better then she will just accept this. She'll then see other women in the gym doing the same, and see men using the free weights area, and this reinforces the preconception that she already had.
- So I think some of the 'blame' if that's not too harsh should be directed towards the big chain gyms and their instructors. The instructors need to do some more courses, read some literature, get onto forums like this and inform themselves that they can and should be giving women decent weights programs. Doesn't have to be olympic lifts, just less reliance on pink dumbbells. The gyms themselves could make a massive contribution simply by chnaging their marketing materials - instead of having photos of men lifitng and women doing classes, put some pictures of healthy/slim/not bulky women lifting. I realise that the priority in these gyms is never going to be olympic lifting, but given that this is where most women will start out, it's the place where preconceptions of women and weights are reinforced.
- I think alot of women see 'weightlifting' as a competitive sport only, or maybe at a stretch, something that women who play other sports do as part of their training. There is a lack of awareness of the health/general fitness/aesthetics benefits of a resistance training program.
- If (when ) I win the lotto, I will spend some of it on a "no, weightlifting will not make you masculine and horrible bulky" ad campaign. In fact, if I had a euro for everytime I explained this to people, I probably wouldn't need to win the lotto.
So please share your stories - when did you start weightlifting? Why did you start? What are your main aims and goals? What kind of benefits have you felt from weightlifting? And any other information you might like to pass on.
Cheers gals and guys
I joined a gym when I went to college and played around a bit with machine weights - never had the confidence to go to the freeweights area because of the usual story - all blokes, cramped and smelly, and most importantly, no interest from the 'instructors' in the place.
I was playing alot of football at the time and wanted to get a bit stronger for that, but mainly I just enjoyed designing different routines for myself, trying different things, experimenting with different programs - no real goals, just for fun.
Didn't do much for a while, and then starting working in a place where there was a a really, really good gym with great S&C coaches, so that reignited my interest. Again, I didn't have any particualr goals, I just learnt some new ideas and started to learn a bit about olympic lifting.
At the moment i do a fair bit of weight training for my sport (rowing), and am really enjoying it. Partly because it's helping me row better (the main aim) but i also just enjoy training - I like numbers, i like routine, and i just like feeling stronger. In the off season from rowing i'm planning to spend a bit of timer learning some olympic lifts - no reason other than fun.0 -
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