By Corey McMickle

In my mind, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the apotheosis of an aesthetically sound person. Not now of course, but earlier in his “I’ll be back!” and Mr. Olympia days. But that’s my opinion. Appearing healthy, or fit, or potentially attractive is “all in the eye of the beholder,” as they say. You may think Brad Pitt in the movie “The Fight Club” is what you want to strive to mimic in the mirror. Each one of us perceives these subjective categories on one another, as well as on ourselves, and that is why (I believe) a lot of us have these social displacements we struggle with.

In honor of Mother’s Day this week, this one is for the ladies. So I want to address what I’ve found to be a certain displacement you guys tend put on yourselves when entertaining the idea of a more active lifestyle.

I can only imagine how many women actually read my articles and are still waiting for a piece dedicated to them. So far I’ve managed to ramble on about nothing but how proper form is so important or how machines are just as useful as free weights and how lifting heavier weights for shorter intervals leads to higher calorie intake. You gals have figures to maintain and can’t be fooling with any heavy weights; they’ll make you “bulky!”

Now like I mentioned earlier, the term bulky means something completely different to each of us. What I consider a bulky person may look like a pipsqueak to someone else. The majority of ladies; however, coincide heavy weights with monsters muscles, and that is a complete misconception. Look at any profession woman athlete; are you going to continue to think Ronda Rousey or Serena Williams got those curvy figures just by going to spin class once or twice a week? Negative.

The monstrous women you see in bodybuilding magazines are the images that plague today’s female audience soon as they step foot inside a squat rack. Those certain ladies are a gifted few of us humans who can achieve such a figure, pharmaceutically and aesthetically. However, let’s say you’re just as gifted and determined as those same ladies who you fear you’ll turn into the moment you touch any heavy weight, they’ll be the first to tell you results don’t just happen overnight. So if you start wearing your clothes a little more differently than you like, guess what? You can change your routine!

Another safety net is the simple fact that women are totally different hormonally than men. Most men are susceptible to hypertrophy (muscle growth) more than most women. Might sounds like a challenge of some sorts, but it’s just facts. Much like men can’t have children, this is all just facts. Hope none of this is late breaking news for anyone…

Rather than me go into more boring detail on that lets hit another gender specific fact, osteoporosis. Surprisingly, this isn’t as gender specific as it was once thought; however, it is still drastically more common for women than men. Traits of women who have found the many joys of lifting heavy and frequently consist of a rather lethal figure, a major confidence boost, and way better Dexa scan results. “Say what!?” Actually, some ladies have reported up to two, even three times the standard bone density after falling in love with heavy weights.

All along I was speaking to you ladies. Every word to this point has been for any stray eye willing to give it a glance. I hope I’ve at least taken you out of the horror that is you magically gaining twenty pounds of lean muscle after one intense workout session. So swap your treadmill for a barbell, ditch the pool and get sweaty with some impressive weight on a leg press.

Not every time of course, but at least give it a whirl.

Happy Mother’s Day, Port City.