Why women should be working out like warriors
An unspoken gender divide still seems to dissect the vast majority of gyms.
Skip the legs, bums and tums class and wander past the treadmills into the weights area, and you’re likely to be confronted by a major male majority.
Sure, there are exceptions, as more and more women realise the benefits of strength training.
But an invisible, testosterone-fuelled barrier is still blocking a lot of ladies from joining this particular club.
So what is it that’s still putting women off?
Tim Walker, founder and head trainer at London’s Evolve Fitness, says that misconceptions about bulking up are still standing in the way – but this is starting to change.
‘Women worrying about “getting too big” has always been a bit of an issue, though that myth is definitely starting to die out,’ he told Yahoo Style UK.
‘I think the public are slightly better informed now and women are far more open to strength training than before.
‘They’re beginning to realise that women just don’t have the hormonal make up to get big and bulky like guys do.’
At Evolve there are no boy workouts and girl workouts.
There are sledgehammers to slam, sandbags to chuck, sleds to drag, chains to lift and ropes to climb.
There are expert trainers who push their clients to their sweaty, grunting limits – whatever their gender.
During an hour-long session, you’ll lift weights you thought you couldn’t, work muscles you didn’t know you have, and try a workout that you might have thought was just for the boy’s club.
Explaining his approach, Tim says: ‘There is no other form of exercise that gives you the kind of wide ranging benefits that strength training will, so if you’re limited for time, that’s where you should focus your efforts.
‘Running will give you a cardio workout and burn a few calories, yoga will make you supple, but strength training will do all of those things at once.
‘Strength training will set your body up to be a fat burning machine. It will create a hormonal environment that’s favourable to fat loss, improve your sleep, reduce stress and massively offset the risk of diseases, osteoporosis in particular.
‘If you only have 2-3 hours per week then your workouts should revolve around strength training.’
If you really are serious about transforming your fitness, Evolve’s 12-week Warrior Workout promises to do just that.
It’s not for the faint hearted – there are up to four hardcore workouts each week, plus a strict nutritional plan.
Tim says: ‘My team and I train successful women – who have got out of shape due to their concentration on working hard and, or playing hard – to get an amazing body in only 12 weeks.
‘And more importantly, we give them the knowledge and support network to make sure they stay in shape for years to come.’
If that sounds a bit too scary, Tim still encourages all women to ditch the step machine and focus their sights on strength.
He says: ‘Don’t hop from program to program. Do the basics well. Push yourself to improve just a little each week – an extra rep, a little more weight, one more set.
‘This approach cannot fail, it’s physiology.’
A four-week starter pack including 2 1-2-1 training sessions per week for 4 weeks and regular body composition and fitness assessments costs £625.
A complete transformation, consisting of 4 1-2-1 training sessions a week for 12 weeks, body composition testing, extra exercises and program to do in your own time, nutritional advice, ongoing support and mentoring from our team of trainers both inside and outside the studio and bi-weekly photos to see the changes to your body and keep you motivated costs £4,000.
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