Rx Girls Miami – 05.21.10

Hello lovely blog readers! If you are in the Miami area and want to come by tonight, we will be doing a girls group photo that I am sending to the CrossFit Journal. I want to include all of my readers in the shot, so come by and you can even stay for a free yoga class at 8PM! The photo will be done around 7:30…

Strong Women are Healthy!

I was talking to a young girl this week that came to our gym on a fieldtrip. The conversation I had with her made me really sad, because this girl was clearly unhappy with her body and was getting negative messages from her family about what “pretty” was. While I was talking to her, another young girl sat down next to us and started to talk about how she never ate. She said it was because she didn’t feel hungry, but I suspected other reasons. I talked with the both of them for a bit about body image, self-esteem, and how the right nutrition can help them feel good and be more active. I let them know that being “skinny” isn’t what makes you pretty, and that being strong and healthy is a lot more attractive.

It’s so upsetting to me that girls this young are getting crappy messages about what they should look like. With this quest for “the perfect body”, whatever that is, young girls are developing habits that can ultimately set them up for a lifetime of disappointment, unhappiness, and major health problems. It’s our job to help young girls learn to feel good about themselves from the inside out. Getting into activities that build confidence is a great place to start…

Here’s an article I found about the misconceptions of strength training and why being strong is way better for your health than simply being “skinny”.

It never ceases to amaze me that the common belief still exists in our culture that women should not lift heavy things. For some reason men and women are treated like two totally different species when it comes to exercise.  Of course we do have our differences (anyone who’s been in a relationship will assure you of that!), but our requirements for health as a species remains one in the same.  Men and women do have different physical capacities and abilities but we are all homo sapiens with the same essential necessities.  I see magazines that tout the stick figure bodies of starving women or fitness magazines that tell you to spend hours on the treadmill with ankle weights on- but I never see anything out there that tells women that it’s HEALTHY and NORMAL to be strong.  In my opinion it’s insulting to women and just plain wrong.

Somehow the belief is that if you are a woman that includes strength training in your fitness program you will get big and bulky and start to look like a bodybuilder.  Fortunately, for all you women who lack testicles, your ability to build huge bulky muscles is very limited unless of course you are looking to abuse anabolic steroids.  Men on the other hand tend to build bigger muscles than women due to higher natural testosterone levels, but are still mostly limited in their genetic capabilities to build an oak chest like Arnold.  If the average guy has a tough time getting bulky just imagine how hard it is for a woman to get huge!

We are all designed to be healthy, successful and live happy functional long lives……as long as you give your body what it needs.   Everyone needs to lift heavy stuff every once in a while.  It helps build lean muscle, burn fat, and it will do wonders for your confidence and for your long-term health. Be smart about it, hire a trainer if you are unsure where to start, but get to it! Now go lift something heavy! - Dr. Ryan Hewitt

photo credit: Orange Coast CrossFit