Category Archives: Man Bicep Mom
Happy Mother’s Day To The Mom That Taught Me Self-Acceptance
I am very fortunate to have been raised by one of the strongest women on this planet.
She taught me that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. To believe in myself even when I falter or fall down. To always get up and fight another day.
She taught me to be resilient. To have courage and determination. To be strong.
She taught me to always be comfortable being myself – to never compromise who I am just to make someone else happy.
And my mom has always practiced what she’s preached.
She has always uncompromisingly been herself. She didn’t need to fit a mold. She was comfortable being who and what she was.
For instance, she’s an athlete and has always had no qualms about showing it. She is competitive and fit.
If you challenged her, she was going to try to beat you.
Probably one of my favorite stories about my mom being comfortable with being herself (the competitive athlete) is one of her stories about dating.
She went out to play tennis with a guy she was dating and as they walked out onto the court an older woman, who knew the guy, asked her if she was going to beat him. (The woman was basically hinting that my mom shouldn’t want to beat him.)
My mom told her, “It all depends on how good he is.”
She then did, in fact, beat him.
Her comment to me about the story was, “Why would I try to be something I’m not? Sooner or later, if we continued dating, he would find out that I’m better than him!”
“Why try to be something I’m not?”
That message stuck with me.
It may be a funny story, but it is a meaningful one. She wasn’t going to pretend to be something she wasn’t just to be “liked” by a guy.
She embraced her competitiveness and her physical abilities at a time when many women downplayed those things to be seen as more feminine. (My mom even has a story about a woman she knew acting like she didn’t know how to play tennis on a date when she was actually a competitive tournament player.)
My mother is unapologetically herself and taught me to be as well.
She has taught me to accept myself, “flaws” and all.
And that is probably the most valuable lesson you could ever learn yet one that, all too often, mothers don’t pass down to their daughters.
All too often I feel like we, adults, teach children to fit into society’s molds so that they don’t get hurt instead of teaching them to embrace who they are.
We teach them to want to always “fix” their “flaws” instead of accepting them.
And while we should always want to better ourselves, we should also be able to accept those things about ourselves that aren’t so perfect.
So thank you Man Bicep Mom for making me happy to be me. I love you with all my heart!
And Happy Mother’s Day to all you other amazing mothers out there!
Mommy and Me Workout
Happy Friday!
Yesterday, one of my beautiful soon to be sister in laws, Jamie, and her baby, my nephew Cooper, came in to workout.
Cooper seriously loves the gym.
He sees it as one big playroom. He is obsessed with balls and we have balls in every shape, size and color all around the gym.
The last time Jamie brought him in when she worked out, I carried him around as I coached so that she could workout undistracted. (Actually I grabbed him up and ran off with him before Jamie even had a chance to put him down….)
Today though she joined me during my workout with a group so I didn’t really have the chance to watch him.
And, of course, she couldn’t just put him down and allow him to crawl around because then he wouldn’t literally get into everything. And trust me…he is one fast bear crawler!
So because babies get into everything and Mommies need a chance to workout, here are some great Mommy and Me exercises demonstrated by the beautiful Jamie and Cooper! (I think Cooper had even more fun than Jamie did!)
Mommy and Me Workout:
Make sure to first roll out any tight areas and stretch and warm up. Then get ready to have some fun!
Strength:
3-5 Rounds:
10 reps each side Baby-weight Step Ups
30 seconds Baby-weight Overhead Carry
Walk and hold overhead
15 reps Baby Front Squats
15 reps Baby-weight Lying Chest Press
10 reps Baby-weight Squat to Press
10 reps each side Baby Russian Twists
Conditioning:
3-5 Rounds:
20 seconds Bear Crawl Race
10 seconds rest
20 second Baby-weight KB Swings
10 seconds rest
A seriously fun workout. And probably the best part of all was that Cooper just learned how to clap so he kept cheering Jamie on!
Everyday Super Heroes
So over the past few weeks, I’ve been searching for super hero t-shirts.
I wanted to get ones for Jodie and I to wear during her first 10k race. A Wonder Woman shirt just felt appropriate because Jodie IS a wonder woman!
But honestly, it was near impossible to find super hero t-shirts for women, let alone t-shirts with female super heroes on them!
The only few I could really find that weren’t impossible to get were just a tad bit too ridiculous for me.
So in the end I settled on a couple of men’s t-shirts with The Flash logo on them (which I did feel was appropriate for our race!).
But I was still surprised and disappointed that there wasn’t more female super hero apparel easily available for women (let alone more female super heroes show by mainstream media!). There were Barbie t-shirts and “Girl Power” t-shirts…but no SUPER HEROES.
I know this is a random thing to complain about, but it really bothered me.
Why aren’t our girls encouraged to be super strong. Super Fast. Super POWERFUL!?!
And then I realized WHY I had become obsessed with finding a super hero shirt for Jodie…
Because I wanted to express to her that I thought that all of her hard work, strength and determination made her a “SUPER HERO!”
Super Hero Mom Jodie!
For the last month, if even that long, we’d been training for a 10k race.
Before this past month, we hadn’t really done any running. Lots of weight training…a few sprints, but no real running of any length.
She was nervous to commit to a 10k knowing that we had only a few weeks to train. The last time she’d run that far, she’d spent months working up to it and training hard. And here I was telling her that she was going to go from never really running to running 6.2 miles straight.
I told her that she would be fine, but, while she trusted me, there was definitely doubt in her eyes.
But despite her doubt, she threw herself whole-heartedly into the training.
She focused on eating clean and sticking to her eating program even during stressful days. She stepped up her weekly workouts and pushed herself harder and further than she had before.
She made time for a healthy lifestyle even when there wasn’t time to spare between work and taking care of her beautiful two-year-old daughter.
Jodie committed to the 10k and didn’t let anything deter her from success.
And today all of her hard work paid off.
While there were no big awards…No huge paychecks….No huge public praise…Jodie did run her first official 10k race with a personal best average mile time.
But what is more important than the fact that she ran a fast mile time is what she proved to herself.
I think that during all of the training, Jodie began to believe more and more in herself. Her confidence climbed.
And today…she just gained concrete proof of how incredibly strong she truly is.
Today Jodie proved something to herself. Today Jodie became her daughter’s personal super hero (whether or not Jodie or her daughter know it).
While Jodie’s daughter won’t remember this race, she will witness other of her mother’s super hero feats. She will witness her mother’s strength, determination and perseverance throughout her life as she grows up.
And these feats of strength that she’ll witness, will lead her to become a super hero herself.
There may not be many female super heroes out there in the mainstream media or on girls’ and women’s t-shirts, but there are plenty of female super heroes that live among us every day…
They are fighting every day to become stronger, healthier, and more confident individuals. They are pushing themselves to accomplish things that they didn’t previous believe possible.
They face fears and risk disappointment and failure…
These everyday super heroes don’t have any super powers and most don’t even have a super hero suit (unless their friend does happen to buy them a The Flash t-shirt….)
And, unfortunately, everyday super heroes don’t always get “the bad guy.”
But the crazy part is…despite all the risks, fears and failures…despite all the setbacks and disappointments, these everyday super heroes never give up!
And honestly, the fact that these female super heroes accomplish such great feats without any super powers makes them even more awesome!
Jodie…You are an amazing and strong woman! You are an inspiration to all of us and more importantly, you are an inspiration to a future generation of women!
I am my mother’s daughter
So the other night while cleaning and doing some work, I had Spanglish on in the background.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, I won’t ruin the movie, but one of the last lines in the movie struck a note and got me to thinking…
“I am my mother’s daughter…”
My mom made sure I was a strong young woman who would stick up for myself and never let anything in life beat me down.
She encouraged my spunk and tenacity.
She encouraged me to be competitive and achieve.
But she also taught me that being successful doesn’t have to mean that you put others down to get ahead. Part of true success is making others even better and stronger than yourself!
It’s funny but this one little random memory really inspired me so much:
My mom and I were out on the tennis court and were going to play a set. It was probably the first time I was going to play a competitive game against my mom since I was actually potentially able to beat her.
Before we began she said to me, “If you beat me, you are walking home.” She had a huge grin on her face.
And I laughed.
And then….
I lost.
Should I have lost?
Probably not.
We always joke that she just managed to get inside my head. I sometimes think it was nerves from the idea that I could possibly beat my mom…Someone who had always beaten me!
And after that match, I don’t think I ever really did lose again. (Sorry Mom!)
Anyway, the point of this silly memory is actually that I think my mom, while competitive with no desire to lose, was PROUD of the fact that I may just finally be better than her.
She wanted me to succeed. She wanted me to live up to my full potential even if that meant I surpassed her.
She put her own ego aside and took PRIDE in my achievements.
She taught me what it meant to be a leader and a teacher.
So why am I telling you all of this?
Because I am proud to be my mother’s daughter.
I am strong and competitive and driven to achieve. But above all that, I want to encourage success in all those around me.
I’ve been told I’m a “pusher.”
I push others into doing things they’ve only talked about doing. I push others to work hard. I push others to grow and achieve WHAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF even if they end up leaving me behind in their newfound success.
I push my clients every day to work harder, become better. I push them because they CAN do it. They are the reason for their success…I just help them see that THEY CAN DO IT!
So I want to encourage all of you women out there to be proud of your strength. To grow yourself and encourage others to do the same. Being strong ourselves isn’t enough.
Helping others grow stronger is what really matters.
I am my mother’s daughter.
Are you?
Surrendering to Aging
I’ve heard “older” women say, “My body just can’t look like that or do that any more. I’m just past the point of being able to have the body I want.”
That is completely and utterly bogus.
Why just surrender to the aging process? Why not work against it?
I mean people buy all those stupid face creams and get plastic surgery so why would they workout hard to help keep their body young and supple?
Yea, it’s hard.
BUT IT ACTUALLY WORKS!
You can have the body you want at any age. Getting older doesn’t mean you can’t have toned defined arms. Getting older doesn’t have to mean that you can’t do all the activities you love and enjoy!
The Man Bicep Mom is a great example of this. She lifts weights and does plyometrics. She goes on long hikes. She even sprints after her dog if necessary and goes stand up paddling. She has no problem taking on any new challenges! (Even if I ask her to do pull ups!)
She also looks great! She looks young, lean and toned.
The Man Bicep Mom is the exact reason that you can’t just surrender to aging, people!
You can also look great and be physically fit at any age!
Actually this post was encouraged by a recent story the Man Bicep Mom told me.
The Man Bicep Mom was standing in her driveway with one of her friends when Charlie, her dog, ran off. The Man Bicep Mom went sprinting after him and grabbed him and picked him up.
When she was walking back, her friend says, “Oh my gosh, Jamie! Your arms look amazing!”
The Man Bicep Mom then told her friend about all the weights she does.
Her friend says, “Well I used to have muscle, but since having my last child, I just have lost all tone. I just figured I would have to accept it since I was getting older. But I used to have tone like that!”
Of course what the Man Bicep Mom’s friend also didn’t realize is that the Man Bicep Mom is older than her.
Her friend was actually shocked and couldn’t believe that the Man Bicep Mom was 62. She even said she didn’t think that there was any way you could look that good at 62.
BUT YOU CAN!
If you commit to a healthy diet and workout routine, you can have the body you want at any age!
Age is just a number! You don’t just have to ACCEPT physical decline!!!
Don’t just surrender! Fight back! Lift and be active! Enjoy life!
Man Bicep Mom – Teaching our children good eating habits
Cori seems to think that I can shed some light on how to teach your kids good eating habits.
I’m laughing because all I can remember are all the “bad” things I did.
I let them get snacks from the vending machine at the tennis club. I swore I would never do that. When they were preschoolers I would put them in the nursery at the tennis club while I played. It was there that they discovered the vending machine. They were not to be denied. They were fascinated with picking their snack, putting in the money, punching in the numbers or letters (make sure you make use of a little teaching time here) and watching their snack drop down. I tried to control the damage by steering them to the “healthier” snacks. They usually had animal cookies or some kind of cracker. Drew was tough – she loved potato chips – but we didn’t make a regular habit of them.
For their birthdays we would each have an ice cream sandwich for breakfast. The birthday girl’s ice cream was replete with candle and song. By the way, that didn’t replace the birthday cake at dinner. More candles and more singing.
During the summer we would occasionally forgo lunch and hit a famous St. Louis ice cream stand. Our huge ice cream concoction would be our lunch.
I remember a period where we had popcorn and soda every Friday after school while we watched a certain TV show.
And then we had dessert every night at dinner. Bad for you dessert – cookies, cakes, brownies, ice cream.
But we rarely overindulged. We would eat our piece of cake, our 2-3 cookies, our 2 brownies or our bowl of ice cream and we would be finished. We wouldn’t binge on our dessert and keep eating until it was all gone. We would have a little each night. We were in control of our eating.
And maybe this was the most important lesson I gave my kids to help develop good eating habits. The ability to control themselves; to control what and how much they ate.
I think young children do this naturally. Most of them do not overeat.
One day we were at a play group where the host mother set out a full package of cookies for the kids. The children were allowed to help themselves. All of the children, except for one, ate two maybe three cookies at the most. Only one little girl kept eating…and eating. Her mother needed to control her portions.
When Cori and Drew were young, I read an article that advised parents to give their children dessert simultaneously with the rest of their meal. The expert claimed that the kids would not eat the dessert exclusively ignoring the rest of their food.
I tried it and it was true. Cori and Drew were as interested in the rest of their meal as their dessert. In fact, sometimes when I would ask them what they wanted for dessert, they would choose crackers over something sweet.
So if children naturally do not overindulge or seem to be overly interested in sweets, I ask, where do we, as parents, go wrong in teaching good eating habits?
Could it be that by denying sweets or other bad foods, we are creating an uncontrollable desire for them? They become that forbidden fruit?
When the kids were preschoolers, we would go to a lunch bunch. We would rush from my tennis to this group and, I confess, that when I was lazy I would get us McDonald’s for lunch. One little boy in the group was not allowed to eat fast food. His parents forbid it because it was not healthy. This child would, quite literally, attack my girls, grabbing their McDonald’s and gobbling down the fries. He was ravenous for that forbidden fruit.
In college I found that my friends who never ate dessert growing up ate more dessert than those of us who had regularly indulged.
I contend that you can teach your children good eating habits by teaching them control and moderation. To me, obesity is the biggest health issue. If you can teach your children to control their binges and cravings and to eat in moderation, then you are teaching them good eating habits. They learn to control what they eat and can choose to eat “healthy” most of the time.
By the way, I did do some “good” things.
Cori and Drew would often help me grocery shop. We would pick out fruits and vegetables and read labels together.
They would help me cook (and, yes, bake – but they learned control – we didn’t eat all the raw dough and not make any cookies!)
When they were young, we had planned snacks. The kitchen wasn’t a revolving door.
We regularly had family meals together. We usually ate breakfast and dinner together and enjoyed hearing stories about each other’s day.
We regularly ate healthy meals. Fruits and vegetables were always served along with our protein. I didn’t force them to eat something they didn’t like, but we had an agreement that they would at least taste everything that was being served.
So, was I successful in teaching my daughters good eating habits? Cori seems to think so. I can tell you this, both Cori and Drew seem to have a very healthy attitude toward food.
So, good luck and bon appétit!
(I do think the Man Bicep Mom did a great job teaching my sister and I to eat healthily. I credit her with my interest in nutrition (even if it has led me to follow a diet very different from the Man Bicep Mom’s). AND although I do now in fact now binge, I eat clean at minimum 80% of the time! So teach your kids that there is a reason to eat well, but at the same time don’t deny them the experience of eating those disgustingly delicious bad for you foods our society provides! Remember…instilling good eating habits is key because you won’t always be there to control what they stuff in their mouths!)
Man Bicep Mom – Are we forcing our children to compete?
Showing off the man bicep!
At the beginning of each speed skating season, my dad would ask me if I was sure I wanted to skate. “Are you sure you like it? Are you sure you want to compete?”
My answer was always yes, but I’m sure that if I had said no, my father would have let me quit. And my father was very involved in the sport. He eventually became the head coach of my speed skating club.
I speed skated because I wanted to, because I loved it, not to please my father.
Now, you know, I’m a big advocate of competitive sports for kids, but sometimes I wonder how many of our kids are doing their sport
because they want to and love it. Or are they just doing it because we want them to and it looks good on their college application?
In one of Cori’s high school classes, they did a little survey asking them if they liked their extracurricular sports activity. Cori was the only one in her class who liked her sports activity. We were both amazed.
Now, I suppose, there is nothing harmful about strongly encouraging your child to participate in a high school team sport…lots of character building benefits and it does look good on the college application and the exercise is really good for them…unless they hate it.
If your child really doesn’t like their competitive sport or any sport, please, don’t force them to compete. The detrimental effects far outweigh any
benefits.
As the parent of a junior tennis player, I had plenty of opportunity to witness children being forced to play by their parents. Hey, if you’re good and make it to the pros, there’s lots of fame and fortune. That makes for lots of pushy parents.
At least the kid is the one who wants the fame and fortune I guess...
So here is a sad story about parents forcing their child to play a competitive sport. This family really wanted their children to succeed at tennis. Before they pulled their children out of all clinics and hired a coach to teach them exclusively, I taught the youngest
daughter in a clinic. She was six or seven years old. She definitely had talent, great hand eye coordination. She was a sweet kid and I enjoyed teaching her.
One day, I found her doing handsprings, round-offs and cartwheels on the tennis court. I told her that I was impressed; she was really good. She said, “I really love gymnastics. That’s what I want to do, but my parents won’t let me. I don’t want to play tennis. I don’t like it.”
I told her to tell her parents that she didn’t want to play. She said that she had, but they said they didn’t care and that she was going to play tennis.
Well, this sweet, talented little girl is now seventeen or eighteen, a senior in high school and still playing tennis. But she hates it and it’s obvious. She cheats, has tantrums on the court and curses at her opponents and coaches. Her behavior is unbelievably rude and outrageous. She makes her coaches miserable and at every event they are deluged with complaints about her.
I contend that this girl is miserable. She hates tennis and doesn’t want to play. She acts out on the court, venting all her rage and frustration. I think she wants someone to yank her off the court. I think she’s hoping her coaches will bench her or her parents will make her stop because of
her bad behavior.
So why do her parents continue to force her to play? Rumor has it that she plays so that she can get into an Ivy League college. But this
one may backfire on the parents. College tennis coaches have been known to pass on discipline problems. They don’t want to commit to a four-year headache.
And I ask you – is that Ivy League college really so important that you would want to make your child miserable competing in a sport they didn’t like?
And so I repeat – if your child really doesn’t like their competitive sport or any sport, please, don’t force them to compete. The detrimental effects far outweigh any benefits.
P.S. I know one family where the child didn’t like their sport and the parents let them quit. The kid tried some other sports and activities and then, a couple of years later, decided to go back to the original sport. This time the child loved the sport and excelled at it. Everyone was happy!
(P.P.S. The Man Bicep Mom is so right on! In our family, Drew played tennis but didn’t really enjoy it. My mom kept telling her to stop playing if she didn’t like it. When Drew finally decided to quit, she was super happy with her decision and found other hobbies that she loved like music. She stayed active though and came with me to lift weights each summer that I was home during college. Drew did start playing tennis again during high school and found that this time she really enjoyed it (and kicked some major butt while doing it!). PLUS during all that time she wasn’t wasting doing something she didn’t like, Drew fell in love with music and found out that she is an AMAZING saxophone player! She is now a Music Education major at Indiana University (who still remains very active!). So not forcing Drew to play tennis seemed to have turned out pretty darn well…)
Man Bicep Mom – March to the Beat of Your Own Drum
I’m a big believer in competitive sports for kids. Competing in a sport is a wonderful, character building experience.
Thinking back on my own experiences in ice skating and tennis, I marvel at all the things I learned from competing in a sport.
First off, I had to learn to organize my time. If I wanted to get all my homework done and get good grades, I had to learn to prioritize and use my time efficiently. Since I had a smaller window for doing my homework each evening, I learned to apply myself when I sat down to study. The endless evening of studying (or avoiding it) was not an option.
I had to learn to plan ahead for those weekends when I was out-of-town at skating meets. You didn’t study at a skating meet. I think the need to organize and plan ahead gave me a feeling of control and accomplishment.
And then, of course, there were those days when you just didn’t want to skate or workout or play tennis. I remember doing rain dances, pleading with the skies to open up so I didn’t have to go to a skating workout. But most of the time the workouts happened and I went and practiced hard.
I learned how to push myself. I learned how to push myself in a workout even though I was tired. I learned how to push past the pain in a race to cross the finish line. I learned how to push past the nerves in a tennis match and continue to go for my shots.
Once again I had a feeling of control and accomplishment.
I learned about cheating and confronted the kind of person I wanted to be. In tennis it’s very easy to cheat. Unless you’re a pro you call your own lines and your own score. It’s very easy to call that in ball out when you want it to be out so badly. It’s a big decision to decide that you want to win fairly. It’s a decision that can affect your whole life. Too bad more parents and coaches aren’t helping their young athletes make the right choice. Boy, do I have stories about that…
So I learned how to organize my time and plan ahead and push myself beyond what I thought I could do. I began to define myself as a person and find my moral center. I felt pretty good about myself – mature, accomplished and self-confident. I was busy doing something that I loved.
In talking to friends years later, I realized that I had missed a lot of the sturm und drang of high school. All the social one-upmanship and petty gossip went right past me. I was just too busy to pay any attention and, maybe, had enough confidence in myself to ignore it.
I also had enough confidence to march to my own drummer. I loved my sports, but they often conflicted with parties, social events and dates. I chose the sports – skating meets and tennis tournaments – and have never regretted it. So did Cori. She chose tennis over parties.
I remember having to fill out a questionnaire for Cori’s guidance counsel to help her with her letter of recommendation for Cori for college. I remembering putting down that Cori marched to her own drummer. I watched Cori ignore the mean, popular girls and side-step the drinking and drugs. She played her tennis and got good grades. She stayed focused and determined.
Of course, you can learn a lot of these lessons doing other activities. But mix these lessons with endorphins and a possible lifestyle choice and you have a winning combination.
Man Bicep Mom – Bonding
Here is another post by the Man Bicep Mom!
I was a lucky kid. My dad loved doing things with my sister and me. We washed cars, raked leaves and exercised.
I loved it! What could be better – exercise and being with my dad!
My father got us involved in competitive sports while I was in elementary school. I was a speed skater (ice skater) during the winter and a tennis player during the summer.
Competing in sports outside of school was pretty unusual for girls of my generation. But I loved it! It made me feel so good. I immediately felt those endorphins at work.
My dad designed training workouts for us. Now remember, these were the days before the computer and all the study into exercise physiology. My dad was very innovative and actually quite progressive. He had us pushing furniture, which he had put on wood runners, around the basement. As we pushed, we yelled, “Push-em-magonga.”
We had so much fun! I have such fond memories. Thanks Dad!
At some point, while I trained and competed and laughed with my dad, I decided that I wanted to do the same thing with my kids when I had them. I knew that my father and I had done more than just train and compete in a sport. We had done some big time bonding. I could talk to my dad about anything, and I did. This relationship has continued throughout my adult life. My dad and I are best friends.
So did I follow through on my resolve? I did. I took my daughters, Cori and Drew, out to the tennis court when they were only 3 years old. We would hit tennis balls for 15 minutes and then go play on the playground. The joke was that I preferred to play tennis over Barbie dolls.
We played tennis, swam, rode bikes, hiked, raked leaves and washed cars. And we talked – a lot. We talked about everything. Conversation was easy and natural. We did some big time bonding.
And the outcome? Well, Cori went on to play Division I tennis in college and is now your Man Bicep guru. Drew decided she preferred music to tennis and switched to dance for her exercise. But in high school she decided to join the tennis team and greatly enjoyed the experience. Even though she is a musician, Drew continues to exercise.
When we all get together we play tennis, go for long walks and do a lot of talking. We are all best friends.
So, my message here is – be active with your kids. You don’t have to be involved in competitive sports. Just get your kids exercising. Go for walks. Take them to the gym with you. It’s great bonding time! And maybe, just maybe, you’ll turn them on to exercise as a way of life.
Man Bicep Mom
My mom is the ultimate testament as to why women should lift weights. I’ll let her prove it to you…with a few of my comments under some of the photos!
Below is the first post by the Man Bicep Mom!
My hot mama! Using my bowflex dumbbells haha
I read recently that fashion experts recommended that older women select fashions that show off their best feature.
I do that. I show off my arms and shoulders.
Showing off the man bicep!
During the summer I take great delight in wearing sleeveless outfits so that I can showcase my sculpted shoulders and arms. And I get compliments, too!
I’m 61 years old and people admire my arms and shoulders! I’m Cori’s mom and I’ve been lifting weights for over 20 years.
I have never bulked up or been accused of looking manly. I’m thin, very stylish and very feminine looking. In fact, I probably have weights to thank for that. I look good in clothes because I still have a firm, sculpted middle and a tight butt.
No muffin tops for me; no baby bump tummy; no sagging butt; and definitely no jiggly arms!
You’re probably thinking I’m deluded and very full of myself. She has muscles and she still looks good in her clothes, right!
Here are my stories.
I was trying on a linen suit at Talbots. The suit was unstructured but cinched in at the waist with a tie belt. I stepped out of the dressing room to look at myself in the three-way mirror. Another customer looked at me and said, “That suit looks wonderful on you! You have to buy it!” When I was paying for the suit, the saleswoman thanked me and said, ” I think you sold another one of these for us. The woman who admired you is trying it on right now.” See, muscles and all I look good in clothes.
I have another story.
I was at Anthropologie trying on a slinky, sleeveless dress with horizontal stripes. Again I came out to look at myself in the three-way mirror and another customer complimented the way I looked in the dress. She turned to the saleswoman and asked if she could find the dress for her. This woman was thin with a nice figure, but she didn’t have my muscle definition. She tried the dress on and said, “It looks good on me but looks better on you.”
The other woman was right...she looks damn fine in the dress!
Now the reason I tell you this is that, either because of my muscles, or maybe in spite of my muscles, I look good in my clothes. At the very least, my sculpted muscles have not detracted from the way I look in my clothes. I would venture to say that because of my muscles I look good in my clothes.
And isn’t that what we all want?
I am also going to suggest that I think women like the way muscles look on other women. Here are my stories.
A long time ago, probably a year or so into my weight workout regimen, I was at a dinner auction for my children’s school. I was wearing a long dress with thin, little shoulder straps. After dinner one of the teachers came up to me and said that she had been sitting at a table of teachers and that they had decided that I had the best dress. “We also love your shoulders. Do you work out?”
Just last week, I was meeting this woman for the first time. I was wearing a sleeveless dress. We were introduced and then she immediately reached out and touched my arms saying, “I love your arms. They are so sculpted.”
One more story. I was looking at pictures of female runners with a group of women. Except for me, none of the women lifted weights. A couple of the women ran. I can tell you that the women ooohed and ahhhhed over the pictures of women with defined muscles. They loved the women with shredded arms and shoulders, abs and legs. They commented on how beautiful they looked.
And so now I ask the million dollar question – why do women refuse to add weights to their workouts?
The only con I have ever heard is that they are afraid they will bulk up and that just won’t happen. You have to have testosterone to bulk up. I have girlfriends who workout and are in great cardiovascular shape. They know I use weights and love my muscle definition, but still they don’t add weights to their workout.
Why ladies, why?
It is a proven medical fact that weight training helps prevent osteoporosis and osteopenia. It is also a proven fact that it helps prevent sarcopenia, the age-related decline in muscle mass and function. We start losing muscle in our 40s and continue losing at a more rapid rate in our 50s. Losing muscle mass causes us to become weak and frail, less stable and surefooted. Losing muscle mass also causes us to gain weight in our 40s and 50s. Muscles are active tissue that burn more calories than fat. So it follows that as you lose muscle, you burn fewer calories and, unless you drastically change your eating habits, begin to gain weight.
So ladies, add weights to your workouts.
There is no downside to lifting weights. You will help prevent osteoporosis and sarcopenia and will feel strong and active and look beautiful.
Weights will also make your workouts more interesting, adding variety to the same old cardiovascular activities. I look forward to my weight workout days.
By the way, weight workouts come in a lot of “varieties and sizes”.
Cori enjoys power lifting twice a week mixed with circuit training on the other days while I have spent the last 20 years doing circuit training workouts from The Firm in the comfort of my home. I have a collection of 3, 5, 8 and 10 pound weights, and I do weight workouts three to four times a week. I love them!
I will take this opportunity to give kudos to The Firm. Throughout the years they have kept their workouts interesting and have always kept up with the latest advances in exercise physiology. I have The Firm to thank for the muscles and body that I have today.
But the real reason that I mention The Firm is to show that there are lots of different kinds of weight workouts. Experiment and find what you enjoy. Weight workouts are fun!
So, ladies of all ages, I implore you, lift weights! Stay healthy! Stay strong! Stay young! LOOK BEAUTIFUL!
Just do it! 😉
No grimace even though I made her hold the push up for awhile while I found a good angle!
Man Bicep 