Strong Women
Strong women, though no-one has been able to tell me with certainty what the true answer is to the many possibilities that fill my head and also to the doubt that it raises.
So, firstly, let me try to diminish your feeling of certainty on how strong women should be, and let me greatly increase your knowledge as to what it could be.
Secondly, let me remove for you the arrogant dogmatism shown by those in the Public Press and women body-builders who have never travelled into the region of human movement. They, the Public Press and sports models leave women confused, weak, sore and stiff. The Public Press define women’s health and fitness in a way that we never know what they are talking about, nor do we know what they are saying is actually true because of the rampant contradictions, the myths and the lies that they continually perpetuate.
We see them in their Lorna Jane outfits doing pump classes, getting into their Les Mills routine, drinking lattes on the treadmill, doing bicep curls on a swiss ball, claiming they have “legs of steel” when only holding 2k in each hand. They are conventionally admired by all, including yourself. “Wow, those girls are soooooo amazing, toned, disciplined and fit”.
Oh please, these women can not touch their toes, most have anterior tilts, squat incorrectly and can’t hold something heavier then a cheesecake. They exert the same force required to bending over and painting one’s toenails. This inadequate notion of women’s health is an outcome of today’s standards of women’s fitness, and it is doing untold damage.
Let me give you some clarity. Let me show you some familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect to keep alive your sense of wonder. The wonder of what constitutes being a strong woman.
What strength could be
You are overwhelmed of passive and submissive type images of women. Women holding 2k dumb-bells. You see images of women that depict appearance over ability. Images that keep women sore, tight, fatigued and weak. I’m asking you to find a way for yourself to see differences rather than similarities. This means seeing new ways on how to exercise through a new lens and leave those passive images of women behind.
I ask you to release your existing thoughts on how you think women should exercise.
What strength training is not and what it is
It is not muscles. Strength training should not be concerned about breaking up your body into certain sections and then exercising those on different days of the week. That is not strength training. That is body-building training. Body builders are concerned with appearance and not strength and certainly not ability. Strength training is an enabler. It enables you to function at a much more higher level of what you can currently do and manage each day. It will give you empowerment, self-assurance and confidence.
Strength training is based on movement. Simple human movement. The current of your movement must flow full and strong. Do you move like a tigress stalking its prey – sinuous, oscillatory, rhythmical and with purpose? Or do you resemble that mouse-in-a-cage type movement – disjointed, no flow, no thought to your own body.
Initially being introduced to movement and moving away from the muscle paradigm, will be vague to a degree. It certainly is an interesting way of training. But your body will soon realise it, get it, embrace it and once more will try and perfect it way before your head does. Such is the nature of this beautiful beast called movement.
Why movement and not muscle
Movement, and rightly so, reveals one’s impediments at a primitive level.
The whole point to movement is to start with something so simple, that it doesn’t seem worth doing. Then progress that movement by superimposing more complex patterns onto the pattern that you have adapted to. Finally, to conclude that movement it needs to look so impossible that no one could perform it. Take this progression as an example.
How to become strong
Strength will manifest itself from perfect structure, form and movement.
The greatest challenge to becoming strong is to firstly define your impediments and your weaknesses. That will allow you to find a solution. Look at how you move, how you stand, how you sit, how you walk, how you squat, how you hip-hinge, and how you raise your arms over-head will give you that solution. What body patterns are weak? What patterns are heeded by tightness?
To be able to exercise intelligently is by means of increasing mobility, flexibility, strength and balance in less then 3 hours a week. And at present very few people understand this.
Body-building routines, which condemn the theory of human movement, drive women to continually push the strength and power continuum in isolated fashions over and over and over again. To date, I’m still yet to meet a strong and powerful woman who has come from a gym background including women body-builders.
Movement vs muscle
Being desired vs Being egocentric
Movement is an ordinary object of desire because it is impersonal, it involves no emotion and it will not betray you. Movement will want you to fall in love with her. Where, on the flip-side if you focused on muscle, you will only ever fall in love with yourself.
And as such, with you falling in love with movement, you are therefore capable of being desired by everyone.
To put it more simply, every lady in that gym when she sees you move, will want what you’ve got. Become that object of desire, fall in love with movement, and watch the magic unfold.