Fitness Facts for Females

All too often when women approach exercise with simply losing weight or getting to a smaller size. Outside of highly competitive female athletes women have a tendency to misunderstand or under appreciate how the female body is capable of performing. More importantly, women typically get stuck in a rut with an approach to exercise and fitness, and miss out on opportunities for improved health and fitness. Women tend to make a few mistakes in fitness training and I have covered those here. The upside to all of this is that, more so than men, women are willing to be open-minded, learn and apply.I have also talked about the specifics on my ideas about women and strength training so this will not dive too deeply into that topic.  So here are few things about the female body and exercise that women should consider in regards to exercise.

Based upon recent research[i] women tend to have more durable nervous systems than men. This study published in August of 2015 tested both women and men after completing a 110 kilometer ultra-trail running race. After completing the race men and women were tested to see who retained the most efficient control of muscular strength and efficiency in movement. Women came out on top in both categories. What does this mean for a woman who exercises? The first take away is this: if a woman and a man perform the same workout; the longer that workout lasts, the less the woman will be affected by fatigue. The woman, not the man will retain better quality of movement and well as faster recovery during breaks. A woman needs shorter rest periods and displays better control of movements the longer the training lasts. Better efficiency and faster recovery would indicate that a woman has the ability to train longer and harder than a man doing the same workout.

Closely tied to this is another study that came out in March of 2015[ii]. This study found that over the course of a marathon women were less likely to slow running pace more so than men. In other words, it would seem that women have better endurance than men. This does not mean that a woman would run a marathon faster than a man but it does mean that fatigue is less likely to force her to slow down; this conclusion drawn after analyzing race results from 14 marathons with 91,929 athletes competing. Women, it would seem, have to the potential to be more durable than men.

Switching gears to a more medical outlook on the effects of exercise on a woman’s body, gestational diabetes, one of the key health concerns for pregnant women, is avoidable or the effects can be reduced if a woman regularly stayed active during the pregnancy.[iii]  Avoiding Gestational Diabetes goes a long way to improving both the health of the mother and the baby during the pregnancy and after birth. Stay active and both baby and mother will be better for it.

Creatine is a supplement that has made a lot noise in the last fifteen years as being a safe, nonsteriod strength enhancing supplement. Most women shy away from it out of fear that it will make them “bulky like a man.” However, there is new research suggesting that postmenopausal women should pay attention to. A recent study found that postmenopausal women that supplemented with creatine for 12 months while strength training three days per week had dense bones than women who followed the same training program without creatine supplementation.[iv] Osteoporosis is one of the major health concerns for a postmenopausal woman and this study would suggest that creatine may have the potential to prevent or possibly aid in the treatment of Osteoporosis. That is just my two cents on creatine’s potential; more study is needed to verify this.

The final point is something that would seem to make sense without research but validation through research is always reassuring. One Hundred and Forty middle-aged women were divided into three groups: non-exercising, aerobic exercising, and strength-training.[v] This study wanted to determine whether strength-training or aerobic based exercise led to a higher metabolic rate. The women in all three groups were all placed on the same restricted diet, eliminating nutrition as a component in the weight loss. Unsurprisingly, the two groups of women that exercised lost more weight than those who did not. The big finding in this study was the women who strength-trained had a faster metabolic rate, after weight loss, than the women who used cardio as the form of training. A faster metabolic rate makes it harder to regain lost body fat; more muscle equals faster metabolism. Want to permanently lose weight? Get stronger.

It is important to note, that these advantages that women may have when it comes to health and fitness, are completing dependent on regularly engaging in exercise. No advantage exists for those who do not. Great health and high levels of fitness come to those women willing to work the hardest.

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[i] Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Are Females More Resistant to Extreme Neuromuscular Fatigue. 47 (8) August 2015 pages 1372-1382.

[ii] Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Men are more likely than Women to Slow in the Marathon. 47 (3) March 2015 pages 607-616.

[iii] Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Exercise is Associated with a Reduction in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. 47 (8) August 2015 pages 1698-1704.

[iv] Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Effects of Creatine and Resistance Training on Bone Health in Postmenopausal Women. 47 (8) August 2015 pages 1587-1595.

[v] Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Exercise Training and Energy Expenditure following Weight Loss. 47 (9) September 2015 pages 1950-1955

Five Movements to do Every Day

“We do not quit playing because we grow old. We grow old because we quit playing.”- George Bernard Shaw

To paraphrase that: we do not quit moving because we grow old. We grow because we quit moving. Movement of the human body is an essential part of life; necessary for completing everyday tasks, work, athletics, and yes, to play. Movement is so vital to life that as humans we instinctively empathize with those who have lost, through accident or disease, the ability engage in normal movement of the body. Without proper movement, much of the human experience may be missed or lost. In a society that is increasingly sedentary (lacking in bodily movement), physical immobility is perhaps the most dangerous and most avoidable away to prevent premature aging; getting old before growing old.

Growing old is what happens when a person has a birthday; getting old is what happens when the body falls apart from a lack of care and physical activity. Hear YE! Hear YE!  I will proclaim that struggling to get out of a chair in the golden years is a choice; not an unavoidable fact of old age. If lack of movement is the problem than the solution is self-evident; move more! Better yet, focus on moving in specific ways that will improve mobility and strength, even if the grave seems closer than the crib. Here are five movements that can be mastered at any age; resulting in healthier, less painful or pain-free movement and better mobility. Do this every day and no one, regardless of how many years have passed, will have to help you out of chair or hold your hand on the stairs.

1.       Hip-Hinge: have trouble bending over or a weak low back? Hip-Hinge when bending over to pick things up or to push a heavy object out of the way. Doing so places the spine in a safe position, engages the glutes (the most powerful pushing muscles in the body), and increases mobility throughout the hip muscles of the hips. Mastering this movement is essential to properly executing exercises like Kettle Bell Swings and Deadlifts. The Hip-Hinge helps to avoid the dangerous rounded upper back position that leads to many exercise related injuries.

 

The picture on the left is the correct position for the hip hinge

2.       Squat: Next to incorrectly hip-hinging, poor squatting technique leads to many exercise-related injuries. Completely losing the ability to squat contributes to all kinds of lower back and hip pain. The main culprit for losing the ability to properly squat is prolonged periods of sitting. If you want to learn how to squat with proper form click here.

3.       Shoulder Retraction: The vast majority of people have poor posture as a result of sitting too much. As a result, the muscles of the upper back often grow weak resulting in a rounded-shoulder and head excessively forward position, resulting in neck pain. Retracting the shoulders; pulling the shoulders backwards to strengthen the muscles in the upper back. In the long run this will correct poor posture and possibly alleviate some pain. The best way do this is with the band pull a part.

 Band Pull Apart

Shoulder Retraction is essentially pinching the shoulder blades together

4.       Overhead reach: Pull anything off of a high shelf recently? How about putting on a T-Shirt? If these movements seem difficult or painful there is restricted movement in the shoulder. There could be several reasons for this: poor posture, a tear in the rotator cuff muscles, or simply weakness from a lack of use. Whatever the cause, maintaining a full range of movement throughout the shoulder should be the highest priority for maintaining mobility in the upper body. The mobility and strength of the shoulder determines where the arms and hands can go to reach out and grab an object.

 

Full range of motion would allow the arms to get into the position on the left

5.       Trunk Rotation: When sitting down and needing to turn to reach an object is the entire body turned or can the feet, legs, and hips remain in place while turning the upper body in the necessary direction? If a person is unable to perform the latter, then there is a restriction in the ability to rotate the trunk. This can occur due to weakness in the abdominals, lower back, and hips. Movement may be restricted as a result of injury or lower back surgery. If no injury currently exists, the inability to properly rotate the trunk may one day result injury requiring surgery. Usually the low back is the area injured as a result of poor trunk mobility. To improve this remain seated and practice rotating the upper body only while keeping the hips, legs, and feet aligned in the opposite direction.

Baring a traumatic injury, mobility is lost due inadequate amounts of physical activity. Maintaining mobility does not require intensive training or using incredibly heavy weights. Keeping and improving mobility is a simple as simply moving more and moving in the right way. Stay mobile in these movement patterns and requiring help to get out of a chair, pick an item up off the ground, or, from overhead will be someone else’s problem, not yours.