What training has done for me as a woman, coach and mom (IUHSP Seminar Recap)

Saturday, January 5th, I spoke in Indianapolis at IU Health and Sports Performance about training and what it’s done for me as a mom, coach and a woman.  With 50 women (and a few men) present, the goal was to spark some motivation and shed some light on women and HEAVY strength training.

There seems to be a trend in the fitness industry to spread that same message. If I’m being honest, it’s going to take a lot of time and proper education to get all those women who are reading mainstream magazines and watching Oprah to realize that the body they want isn’t going to come from egg whites and fat free cereals. Yes, there is still the idea floating around that lifting heavy weights will get women “bulky” and huge. The media (and these “trainers-to-the-stars”) keeps telling women that high reps and low weight is the best thing a woman can do to “shape” her body.

I tend to disagree. Not because I myself am passionate about lifting heavy objects, but because every woman I’ve worked with, talked to, mentored, challenged and guided has felt no better physically and mentally than when they started training heavier. Is there a time for lighter weights? Sure. But when uneducated women see or read that, they think 3 pounds and lifting for the “burn.”

I’ve rambled… can you tell I’m a bit passionate about this subject?  The seminar was fantastic. I challenged the women (since it is the start of a new year) to write down, share with a friend or email me a NEW goal for them. NOT a weight loss goal, but an actual goal with a deadline. Now, they are held accountable to that goal and the deadline makes it even more real than if it was left open ended.

So far, I’ve gotten one message from one woman who was inspired with a new challenge for her this year.  Will anyone else come up with a goal and share it? Who knows. Sometimes, it takes something from within to make a change. I hope they all find it.

The hands-on portion was a blast. I demonstrated six main exercises (deadlifts, pull-ups, squats, push-ups, etc) and then the group was allowed to move around from station to station to try the lifts and ask questions about anything they might want to know or learn.

Have I said it was awesome?? And this was a FREE event put on by IU Health. We even had some folks travel down from Chicago, and Ohio to be a part.

My next big speaking gig is at The Big Seminar 2 at Total Performance Sports in Boston. The date is March 9 & 10. This is going to be a HUGE 2 day event with speakers and a massive hands-on workshop as well.  The line-up of speakers includes:
Matt Rhodes: in season training for college athletes

Julia Ladewski/Molly Galbraith: physiological and psychological differences between men and women in regards to strength training

Vincent Dizenzo: “The Little Things” (recovery, mental focus, conditioning and more)

Dave Kirschen: modified conjugate template for novices

C.J. Murphy: The TPS Template-how we train clients for life and what it throws at you.

I PROMISE you, even if you don’t think any of those topics are for you, THEY ARE. Every person (coach, athlete, trainer, lifter) will get something out of  this.

To read more about the seminar, go to the TPS site. To register, go right to the TPS shopping cart. The price of this massive 2 day event will go up soon!  So get the $100 off NOW before it goes up. It’s only 9 weeks away folks…. every person that goes to seminars is always hesitant because of the cost and time away, but they ALWAYS, always, always come back and say it was worth it. Come out, hang with us for the weekend, and learn a whole bunch of awesome stuff!!!

(If you are coming, drop me a line and let me know so I can look for ya!)