A while back, I mentioned that in reading, I'd come across theories that females are better suited to weightlifting and boxing than males. Jeff, who apparently stops by my blog (a reader! How nice!), asked me to elaborate. It's taken me a while to get around to it, but here goes.
Weightlifting
I'd read the weightlifting reference at Iron Samurai, the blog of PDX Weightlifting coach and erudite writer Nick Horton. I asked him to elaborate, and he has obliged me. Here's an excerpt. You can read the full post here.
I’ve had a theory rattling around in my head for a number of years that I think has at least some merit: I think women may be better suited to the sport of Olympic Weightlifting than men are. I’m not saying that some men won’t make fantastic weightlifters. I’m just saying that statistically, women are more likely to be good at it than men are.
A couple of things I'll add.
Females are better structured for the second pull. The second pull requires keeping the bar close to the body over the thighs and into the abdomen. Ironworks coach and legend tom Hirtz has said that a good pull should tear up your underwear and rip up your shirt. Now, I am flat-out bewildered as to how men can pull this off, because their junk is in the way (read: junk interference). I could word that more P.C., but let's be frank. There is a bump in the road! Females have a smoother plane until the chest (read: girls interference).We've all heard that females are generally built for greater lower body strength development than upper body, an inversely proportionate relationship to males. (Now I'm reporting what I believe to be scientifically accurate there, but since this has never applied to me, I can't say I buy this in my heart.) That suits the lifts.
I am interested in Nick's point that females tend to be more psychologically suited for longterm commitment to learning the minutia of proper lift execution. That's a new idea to me.
Boxing
I ran across the boxing piece in Mischa Merz's enlightening and enjoyable book The Sweetest Thing: A Boxer's Memoir
. The entire passage is on pages 11 - 12. Excerpt is coming, check back if you're interested...
2 comments:
Hey, I'm a little late but thanks for writing this! It was neat to see my request get attention on two different blogs.
Unfortunately none of these arguments helped me convince my wife, who still prefers a bodybuilding style of lifting, despite my attempts to convince her of weightlifting's benefits. :)
Hey Jeff! Well, I feel yer pain, but if you're stuck with a woman with a great-looking bod, that's something ;-)
You might let her know that weightlifting will catapult her torso gains for bodybuilding, though. There's a reason Tommy Kono alternated between weightlifting and bodybuilding and killed in both, sometimes competing in both on the same weekend! For significant mass development in the lats, traps, glutes and sometimes legs, some weightlifting would be a far more efficient road than bodybuilding. . . Just some thoughts from a female who's done both.
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