You’ve gotta believe
The acquisition of anything first begins in the mind. When you’re hungry, you think of food and then you go get it. When you’re cold, you think of warmth and seek it out. Why should it be any different when it comes to your body? You are woman, strong and capable of more than you could ever possibly imagine. No one has ever achieved anything great by “kinda sorta” thinking they could do it – they knew that they could, and the only variable in achieving it was time. As Henry Ford once said, “If you think you can do it, or you think you can’t do it, you are right.”
Want to be strong and feminine? Meet Krista Schaus, a woman whose best lifts include a 330lb squat, 198lb bench press and a 330lb deadlift, all at a bodyweight of 148.8lbs and 8% bodyfat! It doesn’t hurt that she is a total hottie to boot.
Want move evidence that it can be done? Meet Gayle, a 65 year old woman who only started lifting in 2003 but is already deadlifting and squatting 200+ lbs.
Or look at Erin Weiss-Trainor. Or Jen Heath. Or Cassandra Forsythe. Or Amanda Graydon. Or Laila Ali. You get the picture.
Anything you want to accomplish has been done already at some point in human history, and if it hasn’t even better – you’ll be the first.
Imagine the type of body, job and life that you want, and then go out there and get it!
Silence the naysayers
There will always be people in your life that try to convince you that you can’t achieve your goals simply because they haven’t been able to achieve theirs, and it is your job as a human being to promptly drop kick them out of your life – seriously. If after letting them know that you don’t appreciate them bringing you down they continue to do so, then its time to show them the door. That kind of behavior not only robs you of your potential, but it robs the world of the awesome person that you would become in the process of achieving your goals.
If you don’t do it for yourself, at least do it for us!
Pay it forward
In your journey you will undoubtedly encounter people who, without their support and guidance, you would be left spinning your wheels. Thank them by helping others who are in the same shoes that you once were in. Not only will you feel good, but you’ll be playing an active role in someone else’s personal development.
Great post Roger.
Women have so much potential, but they’re held back by so many norms and myths that’s it just awful.
So so true man, it really is a shame. I was lucky enough to intern at a facility where they make no difference between how they train the men and the women, and they were strong as hell and very feminine to boot. I don’t know where all these myths regarding women and training came from, but I hope there is a change of the guard soon.
Agreed 100%, the environment really enforces upon people certain ideals. I really think that it’s fine for some women not to pursue strength goals, but I really think that for the sake of people’s health (say posture, joint health, etc), people really need to get out of the stigma of lifting big weights.
Just my 2 cents.
Testify!
You are right in there being so many more benefits to resistance training aside from that whole looking better thing. Like you said, posture and joint health are just some of them, not to mention the dividends that additional lean mass pays as we get into our later years, or the beneficial role that weight training has on preventing osteoporosis.
Thanks for stopping by!