With all the talk about Movember and Decembulk lately, I’ve been neglecting my readers who cannot grow moustaches and don’t want to be giving away tickets to the gun show.
You know: the ladies.
Luckily, I’ve brought in my friend Nia Shanks for an interview on all things to do with females. She’s an expert, and there’s a reason I included her group, Girls Gone Strong (GGS), in my Top 40 Fitness Professionals list last year (GGS is number 22).
Girls, you’re going to love this. Guys, show this interview to your girlfriends if you want them to get into the best shape of their lives.
From now on – since I am the interviewer – I will be writing in bold.
Hey Nia, thanks a bunch for doing this interview. Let’s pretend this is a 30 second commercial all about Nia Shanks. Can you tell me who you are and what you do?
Hey, thanks for having me on here! Absolutely, Jason. I’m a personal trainer, writer, and leader of the Beautiful Badass & Lift Like a Girl Revolution. My philosophy is all about promoting simple, no nonsense workout and nutrition information that’s tailored to the lives of my clients. That means designing workout programs and providing simple, flexible, stress-free nutrition guidelines that suit the individual’s lifestyle, personality, and preferences. I also graduated from the University of Louisville with a BS in Exercise Physiology. Oh, and I’m a chronic moonwalker.
Moonwalker? I hear that’s one of the fundamental human movements. Besides not being amazing at moonwalking, what’s the biggest problem you see with girls who want to get into the gym to “lose those extra pounds”?
Most rely too heavily on cardio and neglect strength training. Most have it completely backwards. They should follow a simple strength training program and focus on improving their performance and then sprinkle in some cardio/conditioning work.
What about emotionally? What goes through their heads? What are they afraid of?
Many are terrified of getting big ‘n bulky. But when I point out the physiques of my clients and say they build their bodies with progressive strength training, they’re not as nervous to start lifting.
(Nia can lift a lot. That’s a whole lot of strength without being “big ”n bulky”.)
So how do you respond to girls who say “but won’t lifting weights bulk me up”?
I tell them, “If by some crazy chance you get ‘big ‘n bulky’ you can scissor kick me to the head.” In my 10 years of training, I’ve never had a woman say she got “too big”.
“I’ve never had a woman say she got too big.” – Nia Shanks – Tweet This
Nia, I totally hear you on that one. The hardest part is getting over that fear. What have you found to be the best solution for getting girls into the best shape of their lives?
Following a fun, motivating, strength training program and focusing on what they can DO. I strongly discourage trainees from focusing on their scale weight. It’s truly a poor indicator of their success. It’s about attaining the LOOK they want and focusing on what they can DO in the gym. The number on the scale is worthless, for the most part.
Girls just wanna have fun… Let’s talk about something that’s not so fun, but a total reality. How does the menstrual cycle affect training and nutrition?
It varies from woman to woman. I always urge women to do what works for them, with working out and nutrition. If that means organizing a program around their menstrual cycle, then we do that.
That makes total sense. What about eating? As you may know, I’m a huge advocate of intermittent fasting. What’s your position on fasting for women?
Most of my clients use intermittent fasting in one form or another. Some prefer to fast for 14 hours and have a 10 hour eating window, and other prefer the Eat Stop Eat method and do a 24 hour fast once per week. It comes down to experimenting and them discovering what works for them. There’s no single solution for everyone.
That’s one thing I’ve noticed as well. The bottom line: do what works for you. Thanks a lot for your time, Nia. My female readers will totally dig this interview, and all my male readers will probably be sharing this with their girlfriends. You actually have a completely incredible resource on the subject of lifting, thinking, and eating like a girl to look completely awesome. Can you tell me more about this?
Absolutely. The Lift Like a Girl Guide (click here for more info) is the ultimate resource for women who want to sculpt the body they want with customized workouts based on their experience level, unique goals, preferences, available equipment, time to workout, and flexible nutrition principles that fit their lifestyle.
Wow, that sounds pretty fantastic. It’s good that you’ve made something like this since a lot of the workout and nutrition advice I’ve seen for women in the media is terrible. Also, the graphics are pretty fantastic too. (Editor’s note: Ok, ok, ok, so my girlfriend did the graphics for this.)
Lastly, how can people get a hold of you online?
They can check me out at my website NiaShanks.com and join in the fun on the Lift Like a Girl Facebook page.
Thanks again, Jason!
Thank you, Nia. This was awesome.
We value your privacy and would never spam you