In October, I went to Cressey Sports Performance for their 2018 Fall Strength Seminar. There were 100+ people there, all of whom are coaches, professional or strength athletes, or even physical therapists. Being in this room along with my peers was a very powerful experience.

After multiple CSP coaches presented, it became abundantly clear the skill in the room. I had an “aha” moment, so to speak. This is what I learned:

1. Actively seek out company that’s smarter than you

“Show me your friends and I’ll show you who you are” is a strong proverb regarding who we choose to be around. If we spend time with those who are keeping us down, or holding us back, or not pushing us to strive—why are we staying around? What does it say about us?

I’m fortunate that the people I hold closest are all striving—they’re all seeking opportunities. 

2. Always find a way to learn in every room

We held a seminar at Freedom Fit back in July. Vinnie, our other coach (and who I’ve trained) presented on EPOC (post-exercise oxygen consumption) and why agility work is beneficial for all populations. He gave us great information and a lot for me to chew on.

In other places, I may go to a room of professionals outside of my field and find something that sticks with me; why lining the underside of your house prevents mold; the budget on a 10,000 sq/ft warehouse; insurance considerations for different business types. I may not be the home inspector, or contractor, or loan officer, or insurance salesman—but I am a person who may use the information I’ve learned in the future. Who knows when?

Everyone can offer us something of value if we listen.

3. Only be the “big” one in a room if you’re in the front of the class

Despite multiple coaches speaking, each one sat and listened to the other when it was their turn. They all work together, and still found ways to open their books up and write notes. It’s a reminder that you can spend every day with someone and if you try, can glean wisdom from them at all times. It’s only up to you to try.

Every day I learn from others. My clients often give me plenty of wisdom to stew on—how to be a better dad, a better husband, or coach. They may not even realize they’re doing it; they’re simply existing, and offer so much to my life. We should all keep our ears open and try to sift through what we hear for what we need—because we always need something. And at the very least, it’s to be better.

Today a client mentioned their podiatrist wanted their foot positions during load bearing to maintain a more neutral, forward position. This way, their arch wouldn’t collapse.

During this squat she had significant knee pain. Outside of pre-existing aliments we’re navigating, I had to consider what may be a simple way to alleviate discomfort while still accomplishing the goal of the day. Perhaps we could try some soft-tissue work, perhaps some more stretching, perhaps more mobility work. But, what if the solution were less intensive and more immediate-- staring us in the face?

The more she tried to squat, the more it became evident her knee would sink in. I would ask her to push it out (external rotation of the femur, abduction) while squatting, and not only did it continue to collapse, but she experienced even more pain. We theorized it was her hip replacement/femur rod that didn’t allow adequate external rotation or abduction from the hip itself.

Her foot remained neutral the entire time. Now, this is not a bad posture or foot placement (anatomically neutral), but what if this small thing was a domino effect of “collapse” in her movement?

So we tried an asymmetrical squatting stance. Her right foot (the “problem” foot) we shifted out, and let the other foot remain where it was. Now to squat, she wouldn’t need as much abduction or external rotation to accomplish a hinge and sit. Life was good and we avoided knee pain.

THE TAKEAWAY:

1. Continuing to move through pain can lead to degeneration of boney anatomy or connective tissue. We should avoid this.
 
2. If we figure out what our “need” is, we can take action to improve upon it.

3. If we lose our attachment to “anatomically neutral” positioning, we can take an objective look at our movement. If we cannot physically accomplish it, anatomically neutral can be more dangerous than an asymmetry. Eventually, we can work towards better positioning, either through stretching or mobility improvement. We should accept that we’re imperfect creatures and that seeking constant symmetry can do more harm than good. AKA: our bones don’t change shape!

4. Realize that pain doesn’t necessarily come from the place we feel it. There can be many causes of pain, and the more options we have at our disposal, the better we can make decisions.

5. Lastly, sometimes little shifts and fixes can make a world of difference. If we overcomplicate things, we’ll avoid making any forward progress and maintain stalling. This can lead to boredom, frustration, and quitting. The last thing we need to do in a lot of cases is “stop, rest, try again” if we don’t change what was bothering us in the first place.

What is “fitness culture”? Is it really as stereotypical as it’s made out to be? Do young, Greek god-like men and women walk around peacocking and passing judgement on others? Going further, do the noises and lack of clothing in gym-settings sometimes leave us wondering if this is a gym, or an adult-film set? Perhaps we can explore what’s going on in the industry, from what the media tells us we should be doing, how this affects our view of our bodies’ capabilities, and how these implications damage our psychology (if we’re women).

1. Visual media makes men large, and women small; men limitless, women limited

If you Google search “Men’s Health” magazine covers, a couple trends you’ll notice are that men are wide. Men are broad and you meet them square; in other words, power positions. If these men are not square to you, they’re angled in such a way that they can’t even stand sideways without taking a hands-on-hips stance; an image so large the magazine’s ads sometimes can’t get out of the way. 

If you Google search “Shape” magazine covers, you’ll notice these trends: if our model stands square to us, she tilts to get smaller; perhaps a hip that’s “too wide” is covered by an exposing opened blouse, or a white long-sleeved shirt is juxtaposed to black swimsuits to make waists look smaller and complexion “perfect.” If our model is in a sideways power pose, it’s done to cover the waist, or with upturned bent wrist (as opposed to a flat, strong, overturned wrist like our male counterparts). Maybe her back is to us to accentuate her butt, looking longingly over her shoulder, mouth agape, as if she has a secret only she knows (and we want to find out).

Male-centric magazines publish ab exercises and strength exercises; exercises we should all do as challengingly as we’d like. Male movements use dumbbells 30+ pounds (the big dumbbells), or show barbell movements with no less than 135 pounds (the big plates). These exercises are squats and deadlifts; bench-presses and curls; weighted dips and weighted ab work. These images condition men to believe they should be lifting more, even if they’re not ready for it.

Women’s magazines use smaller weight plates, smaller dumbbells, and are more calisthenics (bodyweight) centric. We get conditioned that women should be lifting less. 

Workout programs written in these magazines frequently give men the leeway to exercise in the 3-8 repetition range (the “strength” range), while keeping women in the 8+ repetition range (the “toning” range), as anything less than a “lighter” weight will result in “bulky” muscle. This gives women the impression that there are exercises and challenges they should avoid, because of a body image they’re conditioned to not want. And with language like this, of course we’re being conditioned.

2. Media verbiage defines us

Men can be ripped, shredded, chiseled, peeled, rock-hard, massive beasts. They can be powerful. They can work hard. They can sacrifice. They can go to battle. They can wage war. They can unleash on the weights, drink protein shakes, and scarf down sweet potatoes.

Women can trim, tone, accentuate, and slim their waistlines. They can have defined shoulders. They can look good in dresses and bikinis; they can always drop a pants size. Women can drink smoothies, antioxidant shakes, green teas, fat-burning elixirs. Their butts need work, their cellulite needs to disappear, their double-chins need erasing.

I’ve never been exposed to language that made me feel I was never good enough.

3. Visual media; the old and new, male and female body (and sexualized female exercise)

American men used to be slim, clean shaven, and smoked cigarettes. Then, men stayed thin, grew a moustache, and smoked cigarettes. Eventually, men started getting bigger, with varying degrees of facial hair, and dropped the cigarette. 

Male exercise is dominant; we throw things, smash things, lift things. We don’t do exercises that are provocative. We become utilitarian, like our forefathers; with arms that can strangle pythons and wrestle bears.

Women used to have a normal body composition; then their breasts grew; then their legs thinned; then their waists disappeared; they moved from the home, to the office, to almost any job anywhere. But somewhere along the line, their clothes were lost somewhere.

In fitness, women seem to always need to squat; women always need to lunge; they always need to work their hip abductors and adductors; they also must work these muscles in ways that arch their backs, or puts them on the floor with their legs open.

Given the conditions above, it’s no wonder women feel uncomfortable working out in public.

4. Effective exercise apparel leaves little to the imagination; and only women can wear them

Skin-tight pants and form-fitting shirts are very fitness-friendly clothes; every Olympic athlete wears spandex-like, temperature regulating clothes, so why not us?

Men are conditioned that these clothes are female-centric, and should be avoided. If any of you have seen my Instagram, it’s not uncommon to catch me squatting in just compression shorts; I hate shorts, I hate shorts, I hate shorts, but of course, you’ll never see me working out in my underwear in a big box gym.

Women, on the other hand, are lucky enough to be in the socially-acceptable department of wearing form-fitting (or very little) clothing. But of course, we have to ruin that by designing clothing that just barely cover the socially unacceptable parts.

Conclusion ? It’s amazing we even have women in fitness.

As a man, I get a lot of positive reinforcement every day. I’ve been told I can get fit because I want to; I can get bigger because I can; I can wear clothes because they’re stylish, and not because it’s making my chest look bigger or my waist look smaller. The ads I see are of other men working with their hands, of beautiful women throwing themselves at me longingly, or that I can be a literal superhero.

If I were a woman being bombarded with mixed requirements of my gender, I’d be too frozen to accomplish anything. If I were shown every day that I should be smaller, thinner, or be told that parts of me should disappear, I wouldn’t want to get out of bed. If I were told that I can in fact work on these things, but then given limitations on the options necessary, I’d avoid trying. If I were told that the acceptable exercises I’d do in these few parameters also sexualized my body for all to see, you’d never catch me signing up for a gym.

Luckily, a magazine like “Muscle and Fitness Hers” is stepping up to the plate and giving women powerful imagery; Instagram accounts like GirlsWhoPowerlift show that women can both be strong, noticed, and not sexualized.
 
At the end of the day, we’re exposed to things that give us expectations that aren’t exactly reality. Airbrushed abs and Photoshopped figures are standard and may never go away—it’s my job as a fitness professional to build a culture that doesn’t perpetuate this. But how?

First, exercise is an outlet and there are no “male” or “female” exercises. All of my clients do the same exercises unless otherwise specified for their unique wants or needs.

Second, my verbiage is the same across the board. I’ll probably slip-up and cuss in front of you (sorry, Mom) and refuse to use the word “toning.”

Third, exercises are not provocative unless someone gives them that connotation. A banded bridge, or a barbell hip-thrust, or rope pull-throughs are done by Olympians, professional athletes, and both Berta and Jim Bob.

Finally, I got rid of mirrors. It’s my job to create a welcoming environment, and it’s one reason Freedom Fit Gym is a space people feel comfortable in (without the horse-and-pony show).

What can you do to help steer fitness in the right direction?