Push-ups giving women a bad rep:
"...I absolutely agree that push-ups are a symbol of everything we have done wrong in fitness, especially for women. There's been a tremendous focus on cardio exercise above all else, especially because it burns calories, even though strength training increases your resting metabolism, and therefore, yes, burns calories.
Women don't focus on strength
Many women spend hours on Stairmasters and treadmills and spin bikes and running trails, while our arms do no more work than it takes to hold the handles of a piece of gym equipment or pump at our sides during a run. Oh, and we do crunches in the quest for a flat stomach. (Those will help with the core strength necessary for push-ups, by the way.)
...Instead, we leave the push-ups and the dumbbells and the bench presses to the dudes, as though we couldn't possibly do such macho exercises.
And really, it's not just about push-ups - there's the whole barbell issue, too. Even women who weight train may not be using enough weight to get the full benefit of the workout. Too often afraid of getting rippling, bulky muscles, women tend to prefer 3- and 5-pound dumbbells and do lots of reps (we sometimes call it "body sculpting," but it might as well be called "wheel-spinning"). Using itty-bitty weights and doing tons of sets is not going to get you anywhere near the results of real strength training. And studies have shown that both men and women tended to select too-light weights to get strength gain benefits when they have received no coaching in proper load.
More of a 'man' exercise
If it were actually that easy for anyone to bulk up, we'd see many more giant ripped men walking around, but taking it a step further, the vast, vast majority of women lack the testosterone to get the muscle girth of guys. It's not going to happen unless you pop steroids with your morning smoothie.
Of course there's something more insidious going on here.
Women don't do push ups because they think of them as a man exercise. Same goes for weightlifting. We teach women to strive for thin and toned, but not strong and powerful. I mean, be athletic, but not so athletic that you can kick a guy's rear end at strength endeavors.
...We are conditioned to think we can't possibly lift like men, or crank out a set of 20 nice push-ups, and, if we do, we are too masculine. We're taught to hide our strength or minimize it or just avoid using it altogether. "Could you give me a hand carrying this box, guy-from-my-office-who-never-works-out?""
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