Subject: #BeXena

The other night I received an email with the subject line “#BeXena”.

The email was from a woman who reads my blog and follows me on Facebook and Instagram. She has also started to become a personal friend, as she is the girlfriend of one of my close colleagues.

I recently mentioned her in a few of my blog posts and this was her response (although no response was necessary ) in this email:

“I am very proud to serve as an example that working hard and lifting heavy weights will NOT make you look like a man, but most of all I feel honored and humbled that a woman that inspires and serves as a role model not only for me, but for all women, would give me the recognition and credit for it. 

Your articles, videos and blogs have inspired me to set the bar high, embrace the road to getting stronger (with all the failures and successes that go along with it), and find pride in being strong, showing some muscle-and still feel and look like a woman.”

I was so happy to read her words and even overwhelmed. It is my hope that I inspire and continue to inspire women to “set the bar high, embrace the road to getting stronger (with all the failures and successes that go along with it), and find pride in being strong, showing some muscle-and still feel and look like a woman.”

If you are seeking inspiration in your training and want to find your inner Xena OR if you are a man working towards a specific strength goal but don’t know how to get there OR if you are a personal trainer and want to learn how to encourage your female clients to lift heavy weights and work towards a significant strength goal then I hope that you will join me for my workshop “I Am Not Afraid To Lift” on September 6, 2014 at Drive495 in New York City.

At this workshop I will talk about how the “unsexy” training methods of lifting heavy weights and eating real, healthy, food is what actually gives you the body you want (read more in my post “Unsexy Training Methods Produce Sexy Results”). I will also talk about how women should not be afraid to lift weights (read more in my post “I Am Not Afraid to Lift Weights”).

This workshop is appropriate for women who lift of all levels, from women who have never lifted weights before, to beginners to advanced lifters.  Even though this workshop is geared towards women it is NOT JUST for women. Men may also attend and I am sure that men will also learn from the lifts and programming that I teach. Are you a man working towards a goal of a weighted pull-up or a max bodyweight press but don’t know how to get there? I can help you to learn programming into order to reach your goal. Are you a personal trainer and want to learn how to encourage your female clients to lift heavy weights and work towards a significant strength goal? This workshop will help you learn to do that.

At this workshop I will teach movements specific to both kettlebell training and bodyweight training.  The kettlebell training movements will include both grinds (strength movements) and ballistics (explosive movements that translate to cardiovascular conditioning like the kettlebell swing). I will also teach how the kettlebell and your body can be the ONLY tools you need to be strong and fit. I will tailor the practical portion so that lifters of all levels will benefit and learn movements that are appropriate for their level.

For each fundamental movement pattern taught (e.g. push, pull, hinge, squat) I will teach a specific movement for that movement pattern and then teach how to program this movement so that you can achieve your strength goal.

For example, I plan to go into depth about training pull-ups, both bodyweight and weighted, and how to work towards your first pull-up for beginners and how to start programming weighted pull-ups for those more advanced lifters who are already training bodyweight pull-ups. For the upper body press I will teach both the kettlebell military press and push ups from two arm (for beginners) to the one-arm push-up (for advanced) and how to work towards your first push up if you are not there yet.

These are just a few examples.

As for ballistics and the conditioning portion, I will teach non-traditional cardiovascular conditioning like the kettlebell swing. I will teach specific programming that I use and how to incorporate it into your training program for minimal effort and time and MAXIMAL results.

For core, I will teach you how to train your abdominals WITHOUT doing crunches with some movements that you may have never thought involved your abs!

For the “plus-one” movement, I will explain what that means and why you would train a “plus-one” movement and how the Turkish Get-up can be the secret to Superhuman Strength.

After registering for the workshop, I will send each registrant a questionnaire in order to gauge what level they are at e.g. beginner lifter vs. advanced lifter. I will also send each registrant a detailed agenda.

Contact me at artemis@ironbodystudios.com if you have questions or need more detailed information and I look forward to seeing you in September!!

~Artemis

Read a summary Agenda and register HERE.