I am lucky enough to have a girl who loves to go to the gym and understands the value of nutrition to boot. My ex-wife hated the gym, hated me going to the gym, and thought that Grow was a big waste of money. Women who love the gym are few and far between and for those ladies who post on this board or who are just lurkers, you are a rare breed and most of us wish there were more women in the world like you.
[quote]“I need to find a lady who is active in this game. It would help out SOOOOOO much in my life. Its hard to do this when most of the people around you dont understand why. If you have to ask, then you wouldnt understand. Thats the way i feel.”[/quote]
You and me both, brother.
Hhhmmm, thought Goldberg had a lil’ hottie…
Sometimes, fellas, it’s nice to date a girl that’s so uninterested in fitness that she’ll remind you to shut the fuck up about a sub-par workout and start banging the hell out of her. An obsessed chick would skip the sex in favor of some cottage cheese. Food for thought.
I’m another one of those lurking ladies around here. Even though I train hard and lift heavy, I have much more to learn than I do to contribute, so it’s easier to read alot and post a little. Besides, anonymity behind the keyboard or not, I’m still just an introverted geek!!
On the topic of attitudes towards training, I’ve found that, except for a very few, most men are happy to see a woman training intensely and are very supportive. When my husband’s shiftwork forces me to go to the gym solo, there’s always someone to help me out, whether I need a spot or just a cheerleader. And I’m still FAR from “Wonderbutt” territory, so that’s not why the guys will help. But that’s not the best part of guys and their attitude towards women who lift. Many of the kids from my school’s sports teams train at my gym and this has been awesome - cocky young jocks with little respect for ANY authority telling other kids stuff like, “Yo. You better respect Mrs. C. She can bench as much as so-and-so!”
As much as we like to maintain an image of women’s solidarity, of a cooperative sisterhood, I’ve experienced far more negativity from women than men. The majority of stupid comments about what I should or shouldn’t do in a gym have unfortunately been from women, whether it’s coworkers, family, or girls at the gym. I don’t know whether it’s brainwashing by popular media, disgust that I’m willing to let attractive men see me sweaty and gross or what, but most women at my gym treat me like a weirdo.
You know, somewhere in the middle of this babbling I lost my train of thought. I think I’ll just say “Thank God for T-mag and the intelligent lifters who love it” and then I’ll shut up.
And - CMC - to an obsessed person the cottage cheese is a pick-me-up after sex - not instead of it.
CGB & Tony G – blush Thank you. I’m still a grasshopper…a total newbie. So I defer any and every credit to the veterans of the forum who took me under their wings and taught me so much. bow
Elveneyes - you rock, girl. Wish I could train with you one day. It should be fun.
Rebecca - I’ve never been flamed on the board for posting anything. But then I haven’t said “I want to TONE and don’t want to lift cuz I’m afraid of looking like a she-man”. 
CMC – Who says skip sex for cottage cheese? Think outside of box. Combine both.
Hey Rebecca! :0)
Nice to E-meet you welcome!
I look forward to your posts.
CMC-Now, as far as the cottage cheese goes is it in the form of the T-mag “cheese cake” mix cuse thats a tuff one…
I have been know to use the stuff for special breakfast in bed,
of corse followed with dessert ;0)
Hello All,
I am also a female lurker on these forums. This is my first post and this topic is one of the few that I feel describes my objectives in the weight room as well. As a woman who weight trains heavy, I used to state that ALL women should train like men, but after thinking about the comment that this may be an insult, I agree that the statement should be revised to say that ALL women should weight train with determination, drive and purpose. Most women who want to put on muscle mass do need to train harder than most guys do. So, for me, I tend to train with serious guys, which pushes me to lift harder and train more intensly (and also pushes them to work harder as they dont ever want to be outdone by a “girl”). I love the feeling of utter euphoria that I get when have a great weight workout- the pump in my muscles which makes me feel hard all over, and the vascualrity in my shoulders and abs is amazing. Muscle is sexy, flab is not. I try to help eveyone that I work out with achieve this feeling with proper training as it becomes an addiction (very similar to great sex!!). I would much rather spend my evenings in the gym making my body harder and stronger than boozing it up in a bar. Women can look and feel so much better when they committ their gym time seriously to weights than shitty cardio and silly apex machines. I am glad that there are the women on this forum that have this same view, and I hope that this group will Grow to show our support for the sport we love.
An obsessed chick would skip the sex in favor of some cottage cheese.
I really resent that comment 
I think it should re-read: “An obsessed chick would work you over twice…first in the gym, then in bed”.
You better prove you got some endurance with the weights first in my mind impish grin
And honestly? I’ve had trouble finding a guy who works out!! Most of the guys I’ve met I get the “eww don’t get too muscular” or “god your legs are bigger than mine” line from hehe.
Go figure.
another “lurker” here. I agree with Polar Princess about getting comments from women with regards to weights. Even my friends are telling me not to get “too muscular”. Jeez, I don’t tell them that their skinny “straight from the wrist to the shoulder” like arms look terrible to me. But then again because they wear a size 2 or 4 they seem to always get the guys. “sigh” what’s a girl to do? No crying in my protein!! Must lift more weight, a little more sweat, god I love the look of muscle!
“I need to find a lady who is active in this game. It would help out SOOOOOO much in my life. Its hard to do this when most of the people around you dont understand why. If you have to ask, then you wouldnt understand. Thats the way i feel.”
Both you, Ike, and me.
Hey, everyone. I’m Beka, and… I’m a lurker. (Group: “Hi, Beka…”)
I would love to see more women lift with intensity and drive! Women should be strong! By that, I primarily mean that women should have strong character, and not be doormats. BUT, chicks should lift, too. Getting stronger physically gives people confidence, and ends up strengthening character. Plus, carrying heavy stuff around is really cool.
Speaking of which, we’re working on getting strongwoman going in the D.C., VA, and MD area. A bunch of guys started a club at the University of Maryland, and now we’ve got 3 women who train with the guys. The three of us decided we wanna compete, so we got the MD NASS chairman on board. He’s holding a novice women’s contest in July, and he’s having women’s training days every couple of weeks until then.
The women’s training is an hour or so away from the university, and the three of us girls train events weekly already, but we all got together for the first time today. I took pictures, and actually, here they are: http://www.public.fotki.com/radairruse2/ (The first “album” on that page.)
We’re really not much, (for most of these girls today was their first experience with event training). But, it is my sincere hope that other women will see us, and think, “Dude, I could beat all those women up! I am no longer afraid of the sport of strongwoman, and in fact will enter the July 19th competition!” See how that works? Hehe.
Anyway, I’ve now written a book, and gone all off-topic. It’s great to see that there are other T-Vixens on the boards, even if we never post! If any of you are in the area, come train with us!
Beka
Chicken Makes You STRONG!
A question to the girls (may sound stupid but I’ll chance it)
We’ve heard the guys hoping for a fitness girl as a date, how about you? if he is supportive for you and healthy himself would it be ok for him to do his kickbacks? what I mean is that the time is coming when a man would look for that “protected” feeling when walking with his woman and not the other way around…
is it ok to be stronger then your man?
I don’t think I’d mind being practically stronger…like say I could squat more than my man…provided he was trying. F’instance, I could pick up my last boyfriend and carry him around easy; and I was taller when wearing heels; but it didn’t bother me because I knew he worked out and was good at it and was stronger in other areas.
I don’t think I could go out with somebody who does absolutely nothing strength and endurance wise though.
Yo Beka: I’ve seen you over on The Anvil. Nice to see you here, too!
Actually, my husband of 25+ years does not work out with weights. He enjoys endurance activities.
It doesn’t bother me in the least to be stronger than my spouse…it’s kind of a family joke. My training is what I do for fun, stress relief, confidence, fitness…(100’s of reasons); done totally for me. It doesn’t depend on what those around me choose for themselves. I am lucky that my 17 year old son and 20 year old daughter both weight train (we have something to talk about at dinner), but with different focus than I have. My son trains, but isn’t really consistent, my daughter is a dancer, so she trains for strength, but not mass.
I like looking at fit bodies, and tend, to mentially judge “parts”, but I certainly wouldn’t pick the person I was interested in based on how well built they appeared. I’m more interested in other strengths: Strength of character, strength of will, honesty, fairness and humor (to name a few).
That said, I usually have a strong compulsion to want to preach to my friends who carry unhealthy weight.I know how much better they would feel, as well as look.
Another question to the girls.
My girl is training for strength for 3-4 months.
assisted pull ups, squats, deads, and push-ups, with volume and intensity variations.
her strength is stalling though in the last weeks.
do you think prescribed routines and rut-busters for her should be the same as for men? I can deffinetly coach a guy out of a rut but I don’t know how to approach that
thanks
BTW elveneyes is a beutiful nickname.
S-man
Hey Glute-Spanker,
My wife and I train at home. One thing I have applied in the past with her, and after the past 2 months she’d like to get back to, is something that Charle Staley mentioned but did not go overly indepth on. Cycle her training around her monthly cycle. I don’t know if it applies to all women the same but research has shown that a womens strength varies with menstruation. This would sort of go with how Poliquin says the Chinese vary their volume(1/2 volume every 3 weeks). I think the article is at Staleys’ site, and I can’t recall if it is the 2 weeks before mensing(?) women tend to be weaker/ not able to recover as well, so if she normally trains 4 days/wk intensely, do 2 intense with two at much lower intensity. We only did this for 2 months then she got pregnant, and only started her period again about 3 months ago.
But if your Lady has been lifting with very high intensities on those lifts, without a week off then maybe that’s all she needs, just like a man would. I don’t know if you’re using Christian’s article (with Patricia) or not but it looks great too.
Peace,
T-Ren
Glute-Spanker,
My strength will very somewhat with my cycle, but I have not altered my workout to compensate for it. Just know that it can happen and don’t let an occasional sub-par workout get you down.
The first thing I’d suggest you do is examine her diet. Women notoriously tend to under eat. If her strength has been coming up, she may need more calories. You can’t grow muscle without enough quality calories!
For the most part though, the same ways you mix up a guy’s workout will work for her too.
This is based solely on personal experience, but if I’m stalling in my strength, I can usually look first to my sleep, or lack thereof (this affects my strength tremendously), and then nutrition (she may need to adjust how she eats; i.e. higher carbs early in the day for me when I’m lifting heavy).
Has she been training for only a few months total, or has she just switched focus to strength training over the last months?