Oh, I've been learning so much! One of the big differences in organized exercise particularly is that, psychologically, there are tendencies that differ between how men and women get the most out of a work out. (These are only tendencies -- there's certainly a spectrum!) Men tend to be driven by competition, even if it's only topping their own scores -- they're motivated by what I'd call leveling up, to use gamer terms. Some women certainly are similarly motivated, but women also tend to be motivated by the social aspects of exercising -- which probably contributes to the success of places like Curves. When designing an exercise program for women, making it a comfortable place to socialize -- or to create a sense of community -- gives a greater chance of success.
A lot of the motivating factors that tie in directly with the body have to do more with new moms. For example, doing push ups from the toes -- women's bodies aren't actually well designed for that, because of how we widen at the hips. The balance for men doing push ups vs. women doing push ups is actually really different. But there are lots of ways to build up those same arm muscles (and later, as the core gets stronger after recovering from labor, the core as well). We do baby push ups for the new moms: put the baby on a blanket just under your chest, and keep the butt in the air while getting a full range of motion with the arms as you lower your face to kiss your baby. You can convince new moms to do a *ton* of baby push ups -- because it's all about mom and baby time and togetherness, and it's actually a safer way to rebuild those muscles.
Some of this stuff I learned just as an exercise student, but I've picked up more as I've taken the teacher training -- and I'm sure that once I'm watching my students, I'll learn even more!
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-05-10 01:37 am (UTC)A lot of the motivating factors that tie in directly with the body have to do more with new moms. For example, doing push ups from the toes -- women's bodies aren't actually well designed for that, because of how we widen at the hips. The balance for men doing push ups vs. women doing push ups is actually really different. But there are lots of ways to build up those same arm muscles (and later, as the core gets stronger after recovering from labor, the core as well). We do baby push ups for the new moms: put the baby on a blanket just under your chest, and keep the butt in the air while getting a full range of motion with the arms as you lower your face to kiss your baby. You can convince new moms to do a *ton* of baby push ups -- because it's all about mom and baby time and togetherness, and it's actually a safer way to rebuild those muscles.
Some of this stuff I learned just as an exercise student, but I've picked up more as I've taken the teacher training -- and I'm sure that once I'm watching my students, I'll learn even more!