This is a question as much for my male readers as my female readers: do you have a conception of how much weight women can/should be lifting? Because relatively few women lift free weights and of those who do, many are new to lifting, it is deemed appropriate to be encouraging about any lifting stats [...]

A woman’s weights: Catherine Imes’ painted kettlebells It struck me recently that whenever the topic of women and weights crops up, we feel the need to address the ‘fear of bulking up’ issue. The usual argument proferred in defense of weight training is that it doesn’t make you bulky or masculine; actually it can help [...]

Spinster, lunatic, powerlifter… 19th October 2008 Bodyweight: 61kg Squat: 80kg Deadlift: 110kg (good) Bench: 52.5kg (poor) Argh! Have stalled on my bench press again!!!! Am complete and total failure at powerlifting! Should prob back off for a week. Saw Mark Darcy in the gym again today. God, he is so irritating! He came up to [...]

I mentioned to a friend that I was training for a powerlifting competition and he said, “So you’ll be wanting to bulk up then!” I explained that you can be any weight you want since, like boxing, there are different weight classes. It is easy to forget that most people don’t know what powerlifting or [...]

The video below has been brought to my attention and I wanted to share it with you! There’s a really important message here, but it’s best if you see it for yourself… Rebuilding Aimee

This is the first article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting Out 6. Create your own programme Why lift weights? Women are often not encouraged to lift weights, or at least to lift heavy. [...]

This is the second article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting out 6. Create your own programme Most commercial gyms have a combination of free weights and resistance machines. This guide deals with free [...]

This is the third article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting out 6. Create your own programme Starting Out Most people structure their routines around some or all of the big lifts from powerlifting [...]

This is the fourth article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting out 6. Create your own programme Exercise Technique To maximise the benefits from weight training and stay injury-free, it is important to use [...]

This is the fifth article in the series Getting into weight training: a female-friendly guide. 1. Why lift weights? 4. Exercise technique 2. Types of weight training 5. Training programmes 3. Starting out 6. Create your own programme Training programmes A training programme arranges exercises into individual gym sessions or routines, so that you know [...]