- 40 — Sunday, June 14, 1998 — North Share News

Pumping iron turns girls

IF you believed in my
grandfather’s opinion
concerning the sexes,
horses sweat — men
perspire — and women
glow.

He also felt that females
should be kept pregnant,
live in or arounc the kitchen
and that only men, real men
mind you, were capable of
any sort of serious physical
activity.

Now my grandad was in
fact a kind old codger and
only repeated what was very
much the opinion of his day.

Thankfully, times have
changed and, in theory at
least, both boys. girls,
women and men should all
feel comfortable challenging
~ themselves in any athletic

"pursuit they are drawn to

~ take part in.

However, the fact is
many individuals still feel

“men and women should |

~strain differently.:

°~ “Traditional gender roles

‘y:and differences in, ,power ©
shave resulted in miscon-. -

ceived approaches to many
sporting pursuits including
that of strength training.

The point is that male
physiology, more than hor-
mones, expiains men’s
greater absolute strength.

When other methods of
comparison are used, such as
strength relative to cross
sectional areas of muscle
(kind of like comparing
apples with apples instead of
apples with cranges} the
strength of men and women
is almost identical:

Historically, weight train-
ing for the fairer sex was not
considered feminine, and a
lack of research and infor-
mation regarding the effects
of such activity led to it

“being a predominantly male

activity.

Bur, even though there is
still a lot of catching up to
do vis-a-vis historical
research data and cqual
athletic opportunities at
the school level, female ath-
icties are proving that physi-
cal excellence through
strength training is not,
never was, and definitely
never will be again, gender
specific.

There are some extremely

“Men and women
can train with ...
the same concepts
and use the same
equipment whilst
performing similar
exercise routines.”

demanding sports (i.e. long
distance swimming and
marathon mountain trail
running) where women are

not only equal but have
proven time and time again
in the athletic arena that
they can, and do, outper-
form their fellow male com-
petitors.

Unforturately there are
still many women who don’t
feel comfortable working
our with weights in a gym-
style setting because they
have been given a lot of
misinformation concerning
their limitations and poten-
ual.

Let's explode a couple of
those false concepts right
now.

Myth: Strength training
causes women to become
larger and heavier.

Fact: Weight training
helps reduce body far and
increase lean weight.

Muscle weighs more than
fat so it is possible to put on
a few pounds when training
but it also usually results in
a trimmer girth, whick
means an overall slimmer
and healthier appearance.

Myth: Women should
use different:training meth-
ods than men.

into women

Fact: Bottom line —
rubbish! Men and women
can train with essentially the
same concepts and use the
same equipment whilst per-
forming similar exercise rou-
tines.

Myth: Women should
avoid high intensity or high
load training.

Fact: Women in fact
should train at intensities ar
least high enough to cause
adaptation to boric, muscle
and connective tissues.

The only thing they
should avoid is a physical
trainer or coach that tells
them thar it’s not appropri-
ate.

Strength training for
women is a terrific way to
get and stay healthy. Some
of the benefits include
increased bone density
(which helps reduce the risk-
of osteoporosis) and the
development of stronger
tendons, ligaments and car-
tilage w! hich offers improved
joint stability.

You will also raise your
metabolic rare, the result of
which allows you to stay”

leaner more easily.

And if all this isn’t
enough it will almost cer-
tainly improve your self-
esteem, confidence and
sense of your own being,
both physiologically and
emotionally.

So, let’s get out there
ladies and pump some seri-
ous iron.

Just make sure you get
checked out medically
before starting out to ensure
there are no contraindica-
tions. ;

And most importantly,
get some qualified profes-
sional advice ro set you up
with a safe, challenging and
enjoyable program. .

A closing thoughr: “A
ship in a harbor is safe..
but that’s not the. reason:
ships were built! !

Move over Arnold.

— Shane Collins is a ‘phys-_:
ical trainer and athletic::-
coach as well as an accom-
plished ulira endurance r run--
ner and marathon swimmer.
He can be reached at: ( 604)
921-0726. :

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