Calloused hands and scraped shins
It doesn’t matter if you’re a Crossfitter or an Olympic weightlifter, women who throw weight around will have calloused hands. It may not be “feminine” according to non-weight lifting folk, but who cares! It beats gripping a barbell with soft hands. Remember those days? You actually want callouses for grip and comfort. Scraped shins are another trademark of lifting weights. The barbell just loves eating your shin skin. Thus the invention of high socks: they look cool and help keep your shins safe. If you’re worried that lifting weights will make you “unattractive” because of these two attributes, here’s the thing: if you’re picking up heavy things enough, the results will show and those small details will be the last thing looked at.
Back muscles for days
One of the first things I noticed when I began Olympic weightlifting was the speedy development of my back muscles. My traps got bigger, along with my lats and rhomboids. Although this may be another thing that the “regular” female may deem masculine, I happen to love it. Having a strong back is key in weightlifting; I need those muscles to be strong to keep my positions when pulling heavy weights. Crossfit females are famous for walking around with strong, defined backs. And trust me, it may be a little more difficult to find shirts that fit, but when you find one it will look damn good. Backless dresses also look awesome! Show those muscles off!
Pants…
Thank God they’re finally coming out with jeans that fit athletic bodies. If not, I’m sure we all would have to be wearing leggings and tights until the end of time. Remember, squatting and deadlifting are definitely your friend. They’re so great that you just want to show off those great glutes in a pair of jeans. Alas, jeans are a tough find. They are either too tight on your thighs, almost suffocating on your butt, or the waist is just way too big. Most girls, like myself, will find that they have a fun little combination of all of those factors. But, there is sanctuary in stretchy jeans. Find a good pair of these and they will accentuate everything you’ve worked so hard on.
Heart and determination
It doesn’t matter how much weight you can lift. What does matter is that it took heart and determination for you to get to where you are today. Women who lift weights will always want to get better. Getting better means more weight can be lifted. More weight being lifted means you will experience more gains. When you look in the mirror and see those results, you know it was a product of your own hard work. When you finally set that PR that you’ve been chasing for months, it’s all about determination. I have yet to meet a girl who lifts weights and wants to plateau the rest of her life. I’m sure they’re out there, but I haven’t met one yet (probably because I ignore such behavior).
Love
You are utterly in love with lifting weights. This is beyond the physical results. Those are great and all, but you love lifting weights because of how it makes you feel. It’s an emotional release, an escape; a passion for most women. I know a lot of girls that will run to the weights if they are having a bad day, and come out feeling relaxed. The bar gives you a strong sense of empowerment; a sense of self. It challenges you, and will teach you many life lessons along the way. Lifting weights has certainly changed many women’s lives. Every female weight lifter has a story beyond the barbell. So, what’s your story?
In other news…
I had a stroke of irony last Friday. If you remember, my Thursday blog post was about not giving up. Interestingly enough, I had one of those training days on Friday that made me want to freak out and kick the bar across the room. It started out fine, until the inconsistency in my snatches starting driving me bananas. I wanted to quit so bad. I even sat down to take my lifting shoes off instead of doing my clean and jerks. As I sit there staring into space, I heard my coach say, “You’re not doing clean and jerks?” I also had a member of the gym, who I don’t know, come up to me and ask why I was mad at myself. He gave me a fist pound before walking away. All I could think about was how I wrote that damn blog and now this was happening. But that was another reason why I had to push through the rest of the workout.
Thank God I have a great coach. He knows exactly how to talk to me when I’m in a mood or having a bad lifting session. He showed me a video of one of my snatches, and suggested that I have my shoulders over the bar a little more before I begin my dynamic start. I took that to mind, and began my clean and jerks. I had no misses, and tied my PR with 91 kilos again. This time, it felt a lot easier. I wanted to drill the start in the Snatch also, so I threw on 25k just to reinforce the position. After drilling it in with 35, 45, and 55, I decided to then start building back up to max. I had 2 planned rest days following this session, so I knew the extra volume would be ok, and I wanted to make sure that start position was locked in. What a difference the change made! I had NO misses until 75kg. I’ve never even attempted 75kg before. I’ve been having trouble hitting my old PR of 70kg for the longest time. I ended up hitting that without a problem and attempting something I’ve never even tried. My terrible training session took a 180 and ended up being great. I missed 75, but not by much. I now know that I will be hitting that lift soon, and even bigger ones before Nationals. Thanks coach, for believing in me and talking me down from the ledge. Hopefully I’ll have some new PR’s to share with you guys after this coming weekend.
Stay calm and lift heavy weights.
-Rhi Reynolds