10 Mistakes Women Make in the Gym
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Great article. Thanks for posting it. I must admit when I walk into the weight room at the gym I feel completely lost. I pretty much just stick to the weight machines because the free weights and weight bars/benches kind of intimidate me. Especially because that's what all the "big dudes" use and I'm not really sure what to do with them. I have no goals for the weight room and I'm not even sure what would be reasonable goals for me to set in there. I've been using the weight machines on and off for years and never really feel like they're doing much of anything for me and I just recently found out that I have in fact lost some muscle. When I worked with a trainer in the past he had me doing the weight machines as well and when he did have me doing dumbbells they were always the lighter ones. He always told me lighter weights and more reps. I need to find a trainer who will work with me on the "big boy" stuff and will actually challenge me and push me and teach me so then I can learn to do it on my own.0
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Thank you for sharing!!0
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Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.0
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Bump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.
I liked the article but though I don't have an issue with the term 'skinny fat' since someone at a normal body weight can have an obese BMI (what I would consider skinny fat), I wasn't fond of the description of endurance athletes bodies as unattractive.
"I've got a question for you: Have you ever see a marathoner or even an accomplished jogger with a really good body? Probably not. They're either slightly emaciated, have a body with very few curves, or are plagued with the skinny-fat condition I talked about in the intro. They also have really ugly feet."
The writer is making the mistake of making his personal body preference a panacea for every other person's aesthetic preferences. But I'm able to dismiss a person's opinion that I don't agree with from the useful information presented in the rest of the article.0 -
Great article! Thanks for posting.
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Love this article! :flowerforyou:
But wouldn't your midsection muscles get larger due to a calorie surplus? I feel they should have mentioned that in the article. Or am i wrong?0 -
I thought #10 was kind of interesting...10. Juicing
No, not juicing as in steroids. I'm talking about the plastic cups of pulverized, Osterized, barely palatable concoctions of kale, seaweed, wheat grass, and whatever other obscure vegetables or fruits the juicer is able to buy at a discount that so many women have permanently affixed to their hands when they walk into the gym.
I know it seems contrary, even heretical, to suggest you stop or limit your consumption of these drinks, but hear me out. Vegetables and fruits contain simple sugars and more complex, harder-to-digest carbs. No problem there. However, when you blend up fruits and vegetables, you're breaking down all those normally hard-to-digest carbs into infinitesimally small pieces. Drink that stuff down and you're virtually bypassing much of the digestive process. All those sugars are presented to your bloodstream like flowers to your momma on Mother's Day. They get absorbed super quick, and your pancreas releases a surge of insulin to counteract all that sugar. It's virtually the same effect you'd get from shot-gunning a 24-ounce 7-11 Slurpie.
Insulin shuttles off some of the sugar to muscle cells and the rest are stored (in the liver or as body fat), but then insulin levels dip below baseline and you get hungry again pretty fast. If you give in to that hunger, you're ingesting more calories than you might normally have and extra, unnecessary calories get stored as fat. What's more, if you do the juice thing often enough, you may actually develop some insulin resistance, which is the first step down the path to Type II diabetes.
There's one more thing to consider, too. You probably wouldn't be able to eat all the fruits and vegetables that are in a typical fruit or vegetable smoothie if they were sitting there on a plate. They'd take up too much room in your stomach and even all that Spandex in your Lululemon pants wouldn't be able to flatten out your belly. However, pulverize all those fruits and vegetables down into primordial ooze and they, and all the calories they contain, fit in your stomach just fine. Juicing allows you to eat more than you normally could, which is never really good if you're trying to keep tabs on your body fat levels.
I'm not suggesting that you give up all juices. Drink them in moderation, eat them in their un-pulverized, natural state, or simply employ one simple trick: just have the juice junction, jamboree, or whatever add a scoop of protein (whey or casein) to your drink. The protein will ameliorate the big insulin surge, not to mention giving your muscles some extra building blocks.
I wonder how accurate this is... it sounds accurate, and totally worth further investigation.
oh... and... seeing as I apparently lives in the Slurpee capital of the universe... it's spelled SLURPEE :laugh:
I wondered the same thing about #10. I would have to do more research before accepting it at face value. I liked the rest of it.
I'm wondering the same. This isn't the first time I've come across it; I remember reading a few write ups post-Steve Jobs' death about the concept.0 -
bump0
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I just saw this last night at my gym. This girl working out with 1-pound weights.
What a delicate flower you are, honey.0 -
im not a huge fan of the term either considering is a pretty big oxymoron, but it really is the best way to describe someone who has alot of fat and little muscleBump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.0 -
3. Absession
dumbbell
Absession is not a new scent from Calvin Klein. Rather, it's being obsessed with working the abs or the waistline in general. Here's a shocker: everyone has a six-pack; you just have to whittle away enough fat so that it shows. Granted, you may want to build the abdominals so they're more pronounced, but stop thinking that you need to dedicate half your workout or more to working abs. Three or four hard sets of 15 to 20 – using resistance or using more challenging angles as necessary – a few times a week is all you need. Spend the rest of the time building overall muscle and doing activities that burn fat in general.
4. Working the Abs Like a Powerlifter
I know mistake #1 said to use heavier weights, but ab work is the one exception. For some reason, a lot of women already use heavy weights when working the midsection. Oddly, they think that working the waist with heavy weights is somehow going to make it smaller. Maybe... if we all lived in the Bizarro world. The waist is comprised of muscles and muscles respond to heavy weights by getting bigger. If you want a waist that's as broad as a tree stump, then have at it. If, however, you want the mythical wasp waist, stop working your abs with heavy weights. As mentioned in the previous tip, stick with weight or resistance that allows you to do roughly 15 to 20 reps. Most importantly, don't use weights while working your "side muscles," otherwise known as the obliques. The surest way to build a blocky waist is to do side bends while hanging onto dumbbells. Instead, work your obliques by doing a few sets of side planks a couple of times a week.
Anyone care to elaborate on this? The only other place I can recall ever reading the "DON'T DO HEAVY WITH YOUR WAIST, LADIES" was another T-Nation article.
I'm aware of abs being slightly different in that they can be worked multiple times due to quick recovery, etc. etc., but I'm wondering exactly how abs magically get bigger at a deficit, for example, or get bigger in general based on their other argument.The one exception to working with heavy weights is the waist. The waist is comprised of muscles and muscles respond to heavy weights by getting bigger.
(I ask because I assume doing body weight exercises and deadlifts is working my abs with "heavy weights," yet my waist has only gotten smaller and my hourglass shape has, if anything, gotten more dramatic).0 -
Thank God there's finally somebody out there telling Women how they are doing things wrong.
Also, I can't think of an article that doesn't benefit from inclusion of women-shaming language like "slut".0 -
I mean... the main points of the article make sense in terms of things woman are afraid of in the gym. But all in all, the article is poorly written and the person who wrote it sound extremely closed minded and relies mainly on stereotypes of men ("men are driven by ego, not logic in the gym") and woman, as well... the article is overall extremely insulting and almost shaming to both sexes.0
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just reading that one section someone posted (article is blocked)
god- that's kind of condescending.
And yeah- people are guilty- but there are plenty of men guilty of gym crimes too.
That being said- i flat out laughed- and I felt bad for doing so- a women brought a pair of 5 pound rubber coated DB's into the free weight section (that as regular 5 pound DB's) and did curls and some sort of tricep kick back... and I guess the only free bench was on the "heavy" end of the weight rack because there she was- pumping out curls and kick backs with guys that were holding nothing lower than 50-70 pounds.
It was like.. one of these things doesn't look like the other!!!!0 -
I thought #10 was kind of interesting...10. Juicing
I know it seems contrary, even heretical, to suggest you stop or limit your consumption of these drinks, but hear me out. Vegetables and fruits contain simple sugars and more complex, harder-to-digest carbs. No problem there. However, when you blend up fruits and vegetables, you're breaking down all those normally hard-to-digest carbs into infinitesimally small pieces. Drink that stuff down and you're virtually bypassing much of the digestive process. All those sugars are presented to your bloodstream like flowers to your momma on Mother's Day. They get absorbed super quick, and your pancreas releases a surge of insulin to counteract all that sugar. It's virtually the same effect you'd get from shot-gunning a 24-ounce 7-11 Slurpie.
I wonder how accurate this is... it sounds accurate, and totally worth further investigation.
oh... and... seeing as I apparently lives in the Slurpee capital of the universe... it's spelled SLURPEE :laugh:
I wondered the same thing about #10. I would have to do more research before accepting it at face value. I liked the rest of it.
So... here's the thing. The article used the words "blend up" when referring to juicing.... Juicing and blending are two different things. Juicing means extracting the juice from the item and leaving out things like the skin, pulp, etc... that contain fiber. Which means you are drinking a simple carb (fructose) without the complex carb (fiber). BLENDING is putting something in a blender, skin and all and grinding it up... that includes both the simple and complex carbs. The writer needs to get his words right or he's going to confuse people.0 -
I thought #10 was kind of interesting...10. Juicing
No, not juicing as in steroids. I'm talking about the plastic cups of pulverized, Osterized, barely palatable concoctions of kale, seaweed, wheat grass, and whatever other obscure vegetables or fruits the juicer is able to buy at a discount that so many women have permanently affixed to their hands when they walk into the gym.
I know it seems contrary, even heretical, to suggest you stop or limit your consumption of these drinks, but hear me out. Vegetables and fruits contain simple sugars and more complex, harder-to-digest carbs. No problem there. However, when you blend up fruits and vegetables, you're breaking down all those normally hard-to-digest carbs into infinitesimally small pieces. Drink that stuff down and you're virtually bypassing much of the digestive process. All those sugars are presented to your bloodstream like flowers to your momma on Mother's Day. They get absorbed super quick, and your pancreas releases a surge of insulin to counteract all that sugar. It's virtually the same effect you'd get from shot-gunning a 24-ounce 7-11 Slurpie.
Insulin shuttles off some of the sugar to muscle cells and the rest are stored (in the liver or as body fat), but then insulin levels dip below baseline and you get hungry again pretty fast. If you give in to that hunger, you're ingesting more calories than you might normally have and extra, unnecessary calories get stored as fat. What's more, if you do the juice thing often enough, you may actually develop some insulin resistance, which is the first step down the path to Type II diabetes.
There's one more thing to consider, too. You probably wouldn't be able to eat all the fruits and vegetables that are in a typical fruit or vegetable smoothie if they were sitting there on a plate. They'd take up too much room in your stomach and even all that Spandex in your Lululemon pants wouldn't be able to flatten out your belly. However, pulverize all those fruits and vegetables down into primordial ooze and they, and all the calories they contain, fit in your stomach just fine. Juicing allows you to eat more than you normally could, which is never really good if you're trying to keep tabs on your body fat levels.
I'm not suggesting that you give up all juices. Drink them in moderation, eat them in their un-pulverized, natural state, or simply employ one simple trick: just have the juice junction, jamboree, or whatever add a scoop of protein (whey or casein) to your drink. The protein will ameliorate the big insulin surge, not to mention giving your muscles some extra building blocks.
I wonder how accurate this is... it sounds accurate, and totally worth further investigation.
oh... and... seeing as I apparently lives in the Slurpee capital of the universe... it's spelled SLURPEE :laugh:
I wondered the same thing about #10. I would have to do more research before accepting it at face value. I liked the rest of it.
I'm wondering the same. This isn't the first time I've come across it; I remember reading a few write ups post-Steve Jobs' death about the concept.
Curious also.
I know eating vegetables is best. But, sometimes (maybe once a week or less) I get a vegetable juice while I am on break at dance practice. I guess maybe I could eat a sandwich or a protein bar with it (if I want, usually I just want the juice because I'm thirsty).0 -
Thank God there's finally somebody out there telling Women how they are doing things wrong.
Also, I can't think of an article that doesn't benefit from inclusion of women-shaming language like "slut".
To be fair, the 'slut' term was used to describe both men and women. It also wasn't used in a sexual sense but in describing someone that overdoes something. I'm not into shaming sexual preferences either but in this case, it was just a metaphor.0 -
Bump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.
^^^^ Agreed!!0 -
lol at the part about Crossfit. This is a great article. I will now stop using 100 pounds on the ab crunch and oblique machines. Yikes! Thank goodness I only do them once per week. I have no doubt that someone will come in here and present a nonsensical counterargument against the juicing section.0
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bump! I like this.0
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I know what you're saying Brower, but "slut" is a term aimed at women and it is intended to shame. What is the equivalent term for a man with multiple sexual partners, perceived or actual? "Stud" for one.
There is absolutely no reason why words like this should be tolerated.0 -
Yes, TRX...sorry I couldn't remember the name. It was over in the 'womens weight section' so I never saw any of the guys on it. I certainly wasn't paying the guy - it was part of the gym membership that they give you a health assessment & write you a program.
Previous to that I was doing resistance & free weights - increasing the weights as I gained strength. I generally found the simple exercises were most effective (squats, lunges, planks etc) - I really enjoyed it & kept pushing myself. It just felt like at this new gym, he was trying to use every piece of equipment he could think of. I am willing to give most things a try, but I just didn't feel any extra benefit from some of the combos he had me doing. I felt I was focusing so much on balance and less on the actual exercise.
Maybe I was doing it wrong. He wanted me to do press ups with my legs on a swiss ball - I couldn't even balance let alone do a single press up - its was comical. Also dumbbell flyes on a swiss ball - rather than a flat bench - I managed that ok, but not sure i gained anything with the modified version. Do you think these exercises should have done more for me?
izokay.
TRX is a great tool. lots of really hard core people use them- they aren't a joke- I'm considering purchasing gymnastic rings to use as a TRX substitute. and it makes me cranky when they put *kitten* in a women's only section- there is nothing about any piece of equipment or exercise that requires a penis. or a vagina.
There is no such thing as women's workouts
Or men's workouts- so there for the equipment in the training area's should be the same.
And doing anything on the stability ball will challenge your core more- I do all sorts of push ups on there- it's a great core activator- if you can't hold a plank on the ball- then maybe you should practice. It's a great way to up the plank from the ground.
Any time you pull your feet up for push ups/planks or anything like that- you add to the difficulty and increase the challenge.
Elevate AND make it unstable- it's great for using stabilizer muscles and engaging the trunk.
And ultimately if you were doing your free session- half the point of that is to show that the trainer is can give you effective workouts and half of it is to say - hey maybe you need some help with this.. part of it's marketing- not denying that.
But just because you didn't like it and couldn't do it doesn't mean it is a bad exercise. Besides- balance is a skill- you don't practice it-you lose it- you do practice it- and you can get better. (and that's why 80 year old people fall a lot and break things and why it's good to keep training it)
http://www.amazon.com/WOSS-3000-Equalizer-Trainer-Black/dp/B005CV8LBW/0 -
im not a huge fan of the term either considering is a pretty big oxymoron, but it really is the best way to describe someone who has alot of fat and little muscleBump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.
"Skinny Fat" suggests that someone who chooses to focus on Cardio, which is ok btw, is somehow less than acceptable than those who choose to lift.
Different people have different plans--whatever works for them, but they don't needed to be labeled. No one calls lifters "buff-fat" if they have some extra weight on them.0 -
Interesting.0
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I know what you're saying Brower, but "slut" is a term aimed at women and it is intended to shame. What is the equivalent term for a man with multiple sexual partners, perceived or actual? "Stud" for one.
There is absolutely no reason why words like this should be tolerated.
I used to call my brother a man slut, as a joke because he enjoyed the ladies. I've been called a slut for the same reason. I was also called a slut once for wearing a two piece bathing suit by a complete stranger, another woman. It didn't bother me. Words only have power if you give them power.
But back to the article, I care even less about metaphorical uses of words even if they are usually seen as degrading/offensive.
TLDR:
Sexual preference shaming = bad
Creative use of the English language =/= bad
IMHO of course.0 -
NO, it is someone who appears thin but has a high level of bodyfat. And "bulky' and "fatceps" are used to describe lifters with extra pudge.
im not a huge fan of the term either considering is a pretty big oxymoron, but it really is the best way to describe someone who has alot of fat and little muscleBump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.
"Skinny Fat" suggests that someone who chooses to focus on Cardio, which is ok btw, is somehow less than acceptable than those who choose to lift.
Different people have different plans--whatever works for them, but they don't needed to be labeled. No one calls lifters "buff-fat" if they have some extra weight on them.0 -
NO, it is someone who appears thin but has a high level of bodyfat. And "bulky' and "fatceps" are used to describe lifters with extra pudge.
im not a huge fan of the term either considering is a pretty big oxymoron, but it really is the best way to describe someone who has alot of fat and little muscleBump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.
"Skinny Fat" suggests that someone who chooses to focus on Cardio, which is ok btw, is somehow less than acceptable than those who choose to lift.
Different people have different plans--whatever works for them, but they don't needed to be labeled. No one calls lifters "buff-fat" if they have some extra weight on them.
Sometimes people can be indeed skinny fat. When they are slim and low weight, but look heavier and have extra fat or they have wasted away muscles.
But, I do agree the term often gets overused and misused and misunderstood by people that use it. And most of the time it seems really silly to be calling them fat.0 -
Bump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.
I liked the article but though I don't have an issue with the term 'skinny fat' since someone at a normal body weight can have an obese BMI (what I would consider skinny fat), I wasn't fond of the description of endurance athletes bodies as unattractive.
"I've got a question for you: Have you ever see a marathoner or even an accomplished jogger with a really good body? Probably not. They're either slightly emaciated, have a body with very few curves, or are plagued with the skinny-fat condition I talked about in the intro. They also have really ugly feet."
The writer is making the mistake of making his personal body preference a panacea for every other person's aesthetic preferences. But I'm able to dismiss a person's opinion that I don't agree with from the useful information presented in the rest of the article.
LOL. Yes, elite runners have a specific body type. That's part of what makes them elite.
Have you ever gone to a half-marathon? The people in the Cross-fit shirts look really good, at the very least. And there are some pretty overweight people who come in with pretty good times.
I actually have quite a few problems with the article -
Eating at too high of a deficit makes you skinny-fat, because your body feeds on your muscle. So you end up thin, but with no definition. Exactly how can any sort of exercise, no matter how ill-thought-out achieve that result?
I'm not exactly sure how blending breaks down carbs either. Juicing removes the fiber...but all blending does is cut the food into tiny pieces. Cooking can caramelize the sugar and break down soluble fiber - but blending doesn't.0 -
NO, it is someone who appears thin but has a high level of bodyfat. And "bulky' and "fatceps" are used to describe lifters with extra pudge.
im not a huge fan of the term either considering is a pretty big oxymoron, but it really is the best way to describe someone who has alot of fat and little muscleBump to come back later when I have more time to comment. But I will say that I almost shut down completely as soon as the article referenced "Skinny Fat". This idiotic phrase is one of my pet peeves! And I find it very difficult to take anyone seriously who uses it.
"Skinny Fat" suggests that someone who chooses to focus on Cardio, which is ok btw, is somehow less than acceptable than those who choose to lift.
Different people have different plans--whatever works for them, but they don't needed to be labeled. No one calls lifters "buff-fat" if they have some extra weight on them.
This. I've never heard of anyone refer to a marathon runner (or any endurance athlete) as skinny fat. It makes no sense since they have low body fat. But someone who does a crash diet, or suffered from an ED like anorexia and loses a disproportionate amount of muscle due to poor dieting choices but still reached 'normal' weight, would be skinny fat. They are thin but their ratio of fat to muscle is very skewed.0 -
I can proudly say I do none of those things Perhaps its more common in America?
Anyway, I'll take it as advice and keep my eyes open so I don't start doing any of them.0
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