love weightlifting

As a young woman I fell into the misconceptions of weightlifting. I thought I was going to turn into a bulky hulk of a manbeastwoman and that it was going to stunt my growth. Obviously that was not my goal. When I first started weightlifting it was because I wanted to play volleyball in College. Therefore, I reluctantly signed up for weightlifting when I was a Junior in high school. (do we see a reoccurring theme here? me doubting, dragging my feet, and then finally seeing the light...saying, "siiiiiiiighhhhh, FINE, YOU WIN")

There were 3 girls in the class, THREE, I was one of them. There were 17 boys. Thankfully us girls stuck together, supported each other, pushed each other, and cheered each other on. We had LOTS of FUN learning and weightlifting. I discovered that I actually enjoyed being strong and challenging myself to pick up heavier and heavier weights. I discovered that I did NOT turn into a manbeastwoman, but in fact I had curves where I wanted curves and my clothes fit better. I also became giddy with excitement when I discovered that I could actually lift MORE than some of the boys in class! (boo-yah!) My self confidence grew and I wasn't afraid to tackle difficult problems, especially outside of the weightlifting room that had nothing to do with weightlifting at all!

Crystal Mcrenyolds from CrossFit Central
Top 10 finisher at the 2009 CrossFit Games

I went to college, played volleyball, my weightlifting went down a bit, studying and playing volleyball went up. I graduated, found a job, sat at a desk and forgot about weightlifting. I didn't have a lifting partner to go with me. I fell out of the routine. I even forgot how much I enjoyed it. I became a treadmill, elliptical, aerobics class kind of girl. Sometimes I was the "lets pick up the 5lbs and curl it a few times and put it down" kind of girl, sometimes I would pick up 8lbs or (gasp!) 10lbs if I was "pushing" myself that day (what the heck happened to me?!?). I played volleyball in adult leagues. I got bored with the gym. I stopped going. I kept playing volleyball, injury after injury, after injury until finally it hurt too much to play. I was sitting on the couch every night, eating takeout, watching TV, doing NOTHING active. boorrrriiinnnggg.

Homer Simpson from "The Simpsons" television show by Matt Groening
and if you don't know that...uhhh, you probably won't get my sense of humor and have been living under a rock...

When my husband and I went to CrossFit and I saw the barbells and bumper plates...I was inspired. I remembered the old me. I wanted to see what I could do, what I could become once again.

I couldn't run very well at all! Sucking wind, gasping for air, red faced, belly and blubber bouncing every which way (yuck) and slow very very very slow. I couldn't do a pull-up without excessive help. A situp was difficult. Heck, when we started CrossFit tying my shoe was difficult! Seriously, my belly would prevent me from getting my foot close enough to my hands! I had to do this odd foot up on a coffee table/chair push knee out to side and attack the shoe movement. But I could liftweights. I could pick up heavy things and put them down. It was such an exhilarating feeling to deadlift and to be able to do it well and have people say "You're so strong!" It made me feel beautiful again.

I saw the weights and I knew that was the place I needed to be. Education built-in, A regimen was built-in, lifting partners were built-in (and not all of them boys! yay!), and community support built-in.

Which brings me to these to articles that I think everyone should read. One is about letting go of your misconceptions when it comes to lifting weights. The second one is about childhood obesity and weightlifting. Which applies to not only children, but teenagers, and adults as well. If you're overweight or obese the last thing you want to do is hop on a treadmill and run for 30 minutes (well unless your brain is wired differently than mine is...go for it). 

Anyhow, my point is  no matter what YOUR GOAL is - to burn calories or improve your heart health, or fit into your skinny jeans - a great way to get there is get into weightlifting.

12 reasons why women (and men) should lift weights

Weightlifting can be helpful for obese kids

Give weightlifting a chance. Let go of your misconceptions. If you don't know how to lift weights properly, find someone who does and can teach you.