I Love A Barbell

I've fallen more and more in love with lifting over the past year, specifically, within the past 6 months. I've adjusted my training so that I'm focusing solely on strength and I love what's happening to me. I don't weigh myself, I don't count calories, I don't do cardio that lasts longer than 15 minutes and I don't do high reps with baby weights. Unfortunately, this is the message that women are told to do by fitness magazines, the average personal trainer and it's what they see other women doing in the gym.  It makes me sad to see so many women working their ass off for over an hour a day on the elliptical only to see minimal results; ladies, the elliptical is not where it's at. Allowing myself to fall in love with a barbell has given me confidence that I've never been able to tap into before. And...let's be honest, being strong and being able to lift more than a lot of men makes me feel like a bad ass. And any man that's threatened by that...well they're not worth a single second of my time.

So many women are scared of lifting weights because they're afraid of getting bulky or manly. The women I know and the women I train who workout using a heavily loaded barbell look really, really good, and there are a lot of men out there who are more than willing to confirm this. It does more then strengthen and "tone" your body. It changes your mentality. Feeling strong, being strong and embracing strong does so much for a woman's confidence; no one can deter a confident woman.

I can remember days, a few years ago, that I would step on the scale and start crying. I would stare at myself in the mirror analyzing every inch of my body. I hate that and I wanna slap the old me. There's no time for that nonsense now. Life is a gift, our bodies are made to be a highly effective machine;  there's  no reason we shouldn't embrace our physical abilities.  Beauty and strength come in all different shapes and sizes.

One of my favorite training pages is Lift Big Eat Big. They're doing a great thing for women; they empower
women to embrace strength, their bodies (in particular, a strong, big ass!!), eating well, all while gaining a ton of support by people doing similar things.

One of the posts they showed on their Facebook page was that of a model wearing a dress, and a picture of a woman who lifts heavy wearing the same dress. That post influenced me to post a picture of myself from Vegas this past weekend, compared to a model wearing the same dress. Obviously the dress fits me a little bit different than the model!

I'm in no way bashing skinny, because women and beauty are defined in so many different ways and our bodies are designed to excel at various activities. The point I'm trying to make is that women need to find a way to embrace the body they have, while finding their health and confidence along the way. For a long time I believed in my sport, then I moved on and thought I would try running and with that, I feel into and found success doing triathlons. However, my career in the wellness and strength and conditioning field, a long with my personal journey toward optimal health has made me fall in love with lifting because it speaks the truth. It can be so exhilarating to hit a lift that you couldn't budge a month before. It's humbling when a weight you've been able to lift in the past doesn't come off the ground. It is a constant reminder of how far I've come and how far I have to go. It's a battle between ME and ME; I no longer have to compare myself to others. My goals are ever changing and progress is ongoing.  My body and my mind are the healthiest they've ever been and I want to encourage all women to fall in love with lifting; see what your body is capable of doing and better yet, see what it does to your confidence and self-esteem.