I was recently told by someone that ‘strength training’ isn’t your thing and you must do something different. This was said to me as I propagate strength and functional training to everyone but probably don’t look the part (no pictures showing my abs et al). And that exactly is what I keep fighting for. Strength training is not only my thing, it should be a thing for every single person irrespective of the gender. We have the notion of it so wrong. Strength training doesn’t necessarily mean you need to have abs or you can suddenly start doing superman push ups. It means that you are building a strong muscle mass to carry you through as you get older. For women, even more so as it helps in increasing bone density. But the reason I started writing this article isn’t because I wanted to rant but I wanted to point out three things you will notice as a woman once you are into body weight training.

1) Firmer breasts – Breasts tend to sag if they are big, post birth or with age. Let’s not get into how much the shoulders and back hurts because of that and the pain of finding bras which can offer good support without digging into the skin. In the last one year, I have seen a significant change in this regard. They are firmer and my shoulders hurt no more even during high intensity workouts or very long days.

2) Regular periods – My periods have been quite regular for the last one year. I still do get cramps though on the first day or two but otherwise no problems and always on time.

3) I think this is the one I feel most chuffed about. I pick up my 10-year-old son like a boss. I had started working out when my son was two so that I have enough energy levels to play with him. Running did a lot of good to me in terms of endurance but I used to get tired if I had to hold him for elongated periods. And now, even though I don’t need to but it feels good. It also means I pick up groceries or my suitcase while traveling with ease and without requiring anyone to help me out.