Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS WRITER.
Whatever I write around this subject, I need to remind myself that I am not killing anyone.
How do I know?
Because Catherine Deveny told me so.
So, I lay a challenge down to the Fitness Industry to examine the messages that are universally accepted about training and exercise and how they apply to women.
But first lets take a moment to clarify this furry word (for some) “feminism.”
I got told recently by a woman, (not in 1985 recent, but in 2015 recent) that she could not relate to feminism because she liked the door being opened for her.
WTF?
Does feminism mean the death of manners? I don’t think so.
Lets be clear. Reading my work, will not mean you participate in a fun run without your bra. And cyclists can still shave their legs (or not).
Put simply, feminism means equality.
{And if Tony Abbott can call himself a feminist, then you know what? It is now officially available for everyone}.
So why feminism and fitness?
There is a fundamental question that should linger over every training technique / philosophy / fitness programme that every Fitness Professional should ask and every client should ask of their Fitness Professional.
Has this information been derived by men, on men, and for men?
And if it has (which is the vast majority of the training techniques / philosophies / fitness programmes) then it may not be suitable to women. There are certainly times when women’s bodies enjoy and respond positively the same as men’s, to particular training stimulus.
But here’s the kicker:
Women have different hormonal changes to men. Not only during the month, but reflected greater in the cycles of their lives. How a young woman trains is different to how she should train when she is pregnant, to when she is postnatal and again the needs change as menopause hits and beyond.
Muscle response to hormonal change in a woman’s monthly cycle cannot be ignored. Pre-menstrual means increased relaxin, in short, more risk of injury as muscles will react differently to stimuli. Often it co-incides nicely with women commenting, “I’m not feeling up to it, I’m premenstrual”. This is not a time to engage in the Go Hard or Go Home mentality. If you are a woman, do you listen to your own bodily cues? Does your trainer ask you where you are in your cycle and prescribe exercise accordingly?
Now lets challenge the female cycles of life.
When a pregnant belly is protruding it is obvious her exercise needs have changed and she has more at risk areas. Her training needs to keep her fit and strong in preparation for labour (they don’t call it labour because it is a picnic!) and for beyond. Not to mention all the research that backs up how keeping active helps with positive body image whilst she changes shape.
But once the baby is born, she is no longer pregnant! So surely she can go back to the programme she had before she was pregnant? Right?
Wrong.
Any birth, including C section should be considered a contact sport. We don’t allow our footballers, who incur soft tissue injuries to get back on the field without any rehabilitation!
We certainly don’t tell them, they have to go hard to get their bodies back.
Many women experience tears or cuts at birth, which may or may not include stitches. This is so common, that it is mistaken for normal, and accepted by midwifery, medical and mother as part of the process. Again, this practice would simply not be accepted in the athletic community.
The reality is that women who have had children are now in another cycle of their life. Many think that the term postnatal woman refers only to the 6 weeks post birth. This term applies to all women until they reach the third major cycle in their lives, menopause.
Postnatal hormones have changed again and so too have training needs. This is the window of opportunity to amass their bone density before menopause sets in. It is also the high-risk time of becoming one of the 50% of women who experience prolapse* and join the one third of women who experience incontinence. If they are the 1 in 5 woman who have a hypertonic pelvic floor (when it is over tight and may also result in wetting themselves), doing more pelvic floor muscle training (kegels) will not only be ineffective, it will most probably make matters worse.
However, we do not want our postnatal women to sit on the couch either.
Remaining active has been proven to be the best remedy to PND.** One of the biggest influencer of prolapse is obesity or BMI (which incidentally again, should never be used in reference to women as it to was devised on men, by men, for men). Postnatal women need strength training, but it has to be done in a way that keeps their insides.
No point being Las Vegas on the outside if Minnesota is happening on the inside.
The next hormonal upheaval for women is in the delicate time tottering between a fertile woman and not. Part of the menopausal process is the lack of estrogen that is essential for the elasticity in our muscles. Simply put, our pelvic floor muscles, which are solely responsible for stopping our knickers catching our insides, are compromised.
And perhaps you are thinking… you know what? I’ll just go and have my bits refurbished along with a tummy tuck! Remember, that pelvic floor surgery may still be trying to attach muscle to bone – tricky on any place in the body. And if surgery does work for you – it is just like a knee or hip replacement… it does not last for life – 8 to 12 years only. And every time you mess with these delicate parts that are full of nerve endings and responsible for you having toe curling orgasms (at any stage of your life), they will be compromised.
The advice given to many women post pelvic floor reconstruction is “take it easy for 6 weeks and then go back to what you were doing”. If inappropriate exercise got you on the surgeon’s table in the first place, not only is this foolish advice, but again, does not reflect the common sense that would prevail on an AFL team.
Did you know that one of the biggest factors that elderly are put into aged care facility is incontinence?
Surprise! Surprise… this affects around 90% of women in their post-menopausal years.
There is no dignity in diapers.
Feminism and Fitness.
Imagine if we appreciated the risk factors of hormonal shifts and gave options, education and information (health literacy and health promotion) to our female clients?
Imagine before every training session, a check was made on where women are in their cycle of the month and cycle of life and exercises and exercise intensity was prescribed accordingly?
Imagine if women exercised to enjoy positive body image, yet managed to keep wee-free and prolapse free?
Imagine if women could age with dignity and remain active?
What is good for men simply may not be appropriate for women. Women’s needs change with different cycles of life.
Women are not a special population.
It is just about equality.
*Statistics from Continence Foundation of Australia
** Emily Norman of the University of Melbourne in 2010 study concluded that the number of women identified as ‘at risk’ for postnatal depression pre-intervention was reduced by 50% when receiving specialist exercises as well as parenting education.
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