Pumping Iron

I was on the web the other day and stumbled upon this photo of Marilyn Monroe doing of all things...pumping iron. I've never seen this photo before and was surprise to see a woman back-in-the-day doing this. She was ahead of her time as I'm pretty sure not too many women were doing this. I would even venture to say that up until recently (not sure exact year) many women including myself were afraid to go into the weight room with the bodybuilders to throw up some iron. Or they were afraid to lift any weights over 2 lbs for fear of getting bulky.

A few years ago I started to lift weights. I can't remember the exact reason why I started but it was a combination of wanting to strengthen my legs for running, losing some fat around my mid-section and trying to fit into a dress I had purchased for a holiday party. So armed with those reasons, I went online to read up on weight training and nutrition and a couple months and steaks later, I had a lot of muscles on my small frame. I remember I use to be so intimated by the bodybuilders. They were always grunting, sweating and looking serious...but it was not long before I was going into the weight room everyday doing the same sort of routines they were. I discovered that while it is true that women are not built to get bulky like men, I did learn that lifting heavy weights and eating too much protein or too much calories (even healthy foods) in general will cause your muscles to grow and you will look muscle-y. Because you are feeding those muscles. Nothing wrong with this, and I know some women actually want this but that was not me. After about a year of this, I decided to stop weight lifting because I was not happy with the way I looked. I noticed that I looked like the Hulk in a bridesmaid dress at my sister's wedding. Ok, maybe I exaggerated a bit but that was how I saw it. So I started experimenting with my portion size and switched to doing body weight intervals, aka cross-fit (i.e. push-ups, pull-ups, etc..) and so far I like the results better than when I was lifting heavy. I feel stronger overall. Most importantly, I think my running has improved, and I don't need to go to the gym and sweat it out with the bodybuilders, plus I can bang out 20 push-ups at the drop of a hat. In fact, I just did that in my office during a break. ^_^