Why Women Need a Different Kind of Support

When it comes to training bodies, I think it’s imperative that women get specialized support—but not for the reasons you might expect.

When I first started diving into movement and function, I was coming from the perspective that women’s bodies just need a different kind of support.  However, from a purely biological standpoint, men’s and women’s bodies aren’t that different. 

You don't have to change your body to embrace it

We all have the same muscle groups, we all need stability and mobility.  We all live somewhere on a wide spectrum of how human bodies function and perform. The more I study human anatomy, the more I see that individual variation matters more than any sex-based differences.

So why am I saying women need something different?

Because of how we experience our bodies.

The Invisible Weight Women Carry

As women, our bodies are constantly shifting. Hormonal cycles, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and perimenopause are constantly changing the landscape. And with each change, we’re told to carry on as if nothing happened, or worse, to “fix” ourselves so we can look like we never changed at all.

I remember the shock of how I felt in my body after becoming a mother. It wasn’t just my muscles or my soft belly that felt different, it was as if my entire sense of self felt like it had disappeared. Who and how I was in the world suddenly felt unfamiliar. I was totally unprepared. 

“I want to be seen for who I am now, but I don’t know who that person is yet.” I wanted to get back into my body. I wanted to put my time to building myself up again, but everything I tried felt off in my body. How do you come home to someone, somewhere you don't know?

As I worked into my body the layers of conditioning came to the surface. How I should look, how I should move, what my body should do, what I should eat, what I should weight... wave after wave hitting me in the face.  I realized then that all women carry a history of who they’ve been told to be, but we get very little time to explore our own desires outside of what we've been told to expect.

When a woman walks into a session with me, she isn’t just bringing her muscles and bones, she’s bringing decades of conditioning about who she’s been told to be. And if she really wants a new way of being in her body she needs a deeper kind of support.

Getting "back" to your body

Traditional fitness and movement training often focuses on going back to some previous, better self. By losing weight, lifting heavier, running faster, and building visible muscle most programs focus on the external. But women are often craving something deeper: safety in their body, confidence, relief from pain, connection to their bodies, and the freedom to move and be without shame.

Here's the kicker: you don't have to change your body or your exercise routines to have a better experience in your body.

For many women, finding a deeper connection to their bodies is about having a different approach:

• Permission to slow down

  Learning how to move with intention and NOT push is harder than you realize.

  
  

• Space to relearn how things work

  You’re in a new body, you need time to get to know it!

  
  

• Strategies that integrate mind and body 

  How you move and why you move is key to moving with ease and intention.

  
  

• Building new desires

  Letting go of old ideas about what your body should do and focus on what YOU truly desire now - you probably don't want the same things as you did in times past.

  
  

These were the key pieces in my postpartum journey. Once I stopped trying to go back to how my body felt in the past and started listening to what it wants now, everything changed. Once I could let go of a past that no longer served me my pain eased, my strength grew and I felt more at home in my body than ever before.

Support That Sees the Future Person

So yes, women need something different. Not because our muscles demand it, but because our lives do. The weight we carry (physical and emotional) requires support that sees the whole person, not just the body.

This is why I started a coaching practice geared towards women - because there wasn't anything out there that really spoke to the depth of change that happens in a woman's body in postpartum and in perimenopause. It's not simply that you body has changed, but all of you has. When you're no longer limited by who you thought you would/could/should be, literally anything is possible.

So what new story would you write for yourself?

When women are supported this way, they don’t just get stronger, they become self-actualized.  They learn how to truly support themselves in creating a life they love.

If you're looking for a better relationship with where your body is now reach out about scheduling a free intro call or sign-up for the newsletter to learn about upcoming workshops and special offers.