How Lifting Weights Saved Me From Myself [and a product plug!]

Sometimes I wonder where I would be right now if it weren't for weightlifting. While I will never know for sure, I imagine that that I would be much less content, more self conscious, and less confident. I've said it before but it bears repeating: physical strength begets mental fortitude. Lifting weights made my body strong, but it's done more for my mind than hours of therapy! It's kind of embarrassing to admit that even with the sheer amount of privilege my life circumstances afforded me, I was an unhappy person whose focus on what she lacked prevented her from enjoying the blessings of what she had. I can truly say that all this changed when I discovered the bar and all the other implements of strength that set me off on this remarkable journey of self discovery.

You gotta get your mind right first. 

One thing that's particularly powerful about the iron is that it's working on you when you least expect it. Gaining physical strength made me question some of my most fundamental beliefs about the world and my place in it. It fulfilled my deep desire to feel worthy of every dream and hope that I had. More specifically, it made me believe that the achievement of my goals was not only possible by inevitable. It made me a better friend, daughter, sister, lover and citizen of the world because it revealed me to myself. It helped me to realize that authenticity is the key to true happiness and fulfillment.

Before I started weight training, exercise was a necessary evil. I loathed it because it felt like a punishment. Oh, you ate that pizza? One hour of cardio, then! I hated exercise but I hated myself more. This led to being eating and then more anxiety and guilt which was the only emotion that got in the gym. The vicious cycle led me to the emergency room and a diagnosis of hypertension. I was in my early twenties and I had the blood pressure of an elderly, overweight woman. It was so shameful. But the shame did nothing. You can't shame yourself into weightless of living healthily. What I didn't know then was that lifting weights would ultimately rescue me from this binge--guilt--self-flagellation cycle of despair.

I wish I'd embraced this sooner, but better late than never!

I can't overestimate how weight lifting saved me, nor can I express adequately here how much better a place I believe that world would be if more women embraced the iron. Of course, I think everyone should lift, but women stand to gain so much more from it, like self confidence, self worth, strength, independence, and passion are just a few of the positive side effects.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of deep-seated dogma out there that discourages women from getting and being strong. Many traditional values regarding where and how women should exercise persist. Many gyms are designed in such a way as to separate the sexes into their "expected" roles, with men crowding the weight rooms and women relegated to the cardio equipment and group exercise classes. This is a particularly sad fact as it perpetuates the belief many women hold onto that cardio exercise is effective for fat loss and lifting heavy weights will only make them "bulk up." I would never blame any woman who believes this propaganda because I used to believe it, too. I never could have imagined that I would do a complete 180 and actually seek out the weight room, let alone seek out the heaviest dumbbells I can safely manage! If you'd told me that I would high off an upper arm or glute pump, I would have laughed!

Typical dudes, bangin' weights

Seriously, what are they even doing?!

It takes effort to bulk up! If you start lifting, you'll look more like this
sooner than you would ever look like a bodybuilder!!!

Why did we stop listening to our
elders?! This lady knows what's up!

And yet, here I am: stronger, leaner, fitter and happier than ever before in my life. I can't say that I owe it all to the iron, but I certainly give credit where credit is due! What's most surprising to me from this transformation is that despite not doing much of any traditional cardio for the last two years, I have better stamina, endurance, and lung capacity than when I was training for distance races and racking up the elliptical and treadmill miles. I recover so much faster between sets and after my workouts, and I don't even experience that gnawing hunger that inevitably set in an hour or two after a long run.

Why and how is this possible???!! It's possible because I discovered the most effective way to burn fat and build strength simultaneously using a method best summed up as Lifting Weights Faster. One of my fitness idols, Jen Sinkler, who I've mentioned numerous times before on this blog, coined the phrase when a reporter asked her during an interview, "But, what do you do for cardio?" Jen, in her signature style, answered honestly, "I lift weights faster!" And the rest is history. Since then, Jen has shared tons of free workouts, exercise demos, and pointers through her website and social media in an effort to spread the message about the effectiveness of this training method. Whether you call it circuit training, metabolic resistance training or lifting weights faster, the premise is to move weight as quickly as possible in the safest way possible. That weight can be anything from your own bodyweight to barbells and kettlebells: whatever you have at your disposal. What I truly love about it is that it truly democratizes exercise; anyone, anywhere, can get an effective, total body workout that builds muscle and burns fat.

Best collection of conditioning workouts that you'll find anywhere!

Last year, Jen launched Lift Weights Faster, a conditioning workout library complete with 180 workouts, an exercise glossary, and demo videos. Last week, Lift Weights Faster 2 dropped, and it lives up to a predecessor! If you're looking for something to add variety to your conditioning workouts, or you just want to get stronger, faster and leaner in much less time than you probably currently spend in the gym, I can't recommend LWF or LWF2 more! Click here to buy and join me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to check in about the awesome workouts you're doing!

Talk soon!

P.S. I'm not being compensated or anything for the opinions in this post. As always, all opinions are my own. I just think this product is too good to keep to myself!!!