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Relationship between genetics and obesity
Relationship between genetics and obesity
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Women should not lift heavy things or else they will get bulky. At least that is what one of the biggest myths of female fitness will tell you. Just 17. 5 percent of American women, and only 20 percent of college-age American women, meet the aerobic and strength training recommendations of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). Women who incorporate weight lifting into their workout routine are significantly decreasing their likelihood of living with gender common diseases. The myths surrounding women and weight lifting by far exceed the truth and realistic benefits. The stereotypes that have formed from extreme bodybuilding and body sculpting figures are far from the physiques of the average women. Hiding behind strength …show more content…
Very few women share in a passion for squats, presses, and curls, in part, because they fear bulking up into a she-Schwarzenegger. This widespread myth is very far from the truth. In fact, an ESPN profile of Olympic lifter Holley Mangold (a contestant on last seasons The Biggest Loser) notes that the typical woman is physically incapable of developing into the Incredible Hulk because of insufficient levels of testosterone (2012). Mangold, at 5 foot 8 inches and 330 pounds, told the reporter she was comfortable with her own physique and lamented that she would have more lifting peers “if women just realized that they’re not going to get as huge as I am.” Her statement is backed by several scientific studies on women and weight lifting. The truth is if you are lifting and still taking in a calorie deficit, you are not going to bulk up. The masculine female bodybuilders you see pictures of online are most likely taking steroids, supplements, and taking in large amounts of food in order to shape their body to compete. Not to mention, it takes upwards of 3-5 years to get anywhere near the physique they have. The second biggest myth in women’s fitness is that you are able to spot reduce fat. Doing side bends and sit-ups so that you can keep your booty and produce a trim and toned set of abs like Sir Mix-A-Lot suggests is complete bologna. You may notice that you sometimes lose fat in some areas more quickly than in others; this is simply due to a genetic selective pattern rather than a particular type of exercise (Carera/Vani, 2014). Exercise is not the lone piece of the puzzle in the goal of achieving optimal health. In order to reduce fat, and bring out those abs you have built with strength training, you also need a healthy diet, and cardiovascular exercise. What you eat and whether or not you choose to exercise are two of the biggest influences on your
The movie, "Pumping Iron II" is an example of women doing bodybuilding which is considered a non-traditional sport. Images of muscular women are viewed by some people as threatening and imitating. The benefit of this non-traditional sport is that it forces us to question our thoughts about women and what they are. We must ask, what is a woman? Bodybuildi...
At times I was dangerously thin, and my arms have always been longer than they should be for someone of my height. Nonetheless, my body has never gone under scrutiny and in fact, was common and celebrated among male basketball players. This is one of the many benefits of my male privilege. Female athletes, on the other hand, are subjected to a contradictory ideal that they should maintain a strong athletic body for the sport they play, yet also remain thin and appeal to the sexual ideal men hold them to. Nita Mary McKinley states in, Weighty Issues: Constructing Fatness and Thinness as Social Problems, “The construction of ideal weight parallels the construction of the traditional ideal woman and ideal weight becomes gendered” (99). This is unfair to the female athlete as it creates a conflict between physically exceling in their sport and being sexually discriminated against by men. As a male, there is practically no sexual consequences I suffer from that pertain to the body type I maintain. One of the most publicly scrutinized athletes for her body shape is tennis legend Serena Williams. Male sports writers in their attempts to objectify Williams, have shared their thoughts on how she is too strong and too muscular to sexually appeal to men. Serena has since reclaimed her sexuality by posing in ESPN Magazine’s body issue, along with appearing in Beyonce’s “Formation” music video. American celebrity culture, European fashion culture, and international advertising are all responsible for the development of thin female body types being the most sexually desired among males in America. It is important to apply locational context and recognize that other female body types are celebrated throughout other cultures. For instance Fatema Mernissi confesses, in Size 6: The Western Women’s Harem, “In the Moroccan streets, Men’s flattering comments regarding my particularly generous hips have for decades led me to
Leit, Richard, Ph.D. "International Journal of Eating DisordersVolume 31, Issue 3, Article First Published Online: 14 MAR 2002." The Media's Representation of the Ideal Male Body: A Cause for Muscle Dysmorphia? Wiley Online Library, 14 Feb. 2001. Web. 18 Apr. 2014.
According to the Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy Review’s article on the female athlete triad, in the past forty years, American women have become increasingly involved in athletics as a result of laws allowing them to participate in sports. (Lebrun and Rumball) For instance, Cathy Rigby won eight Olympic gold medals in gymnastics during the ‘60’s and 70’s when these laws were just coming into effect. (Brunet) Nevertheless, there is an ugly hidden underbelly to the many benefits of women’s increased participation in sports. Many sports have very high standards for body image, which has led to the increasing prevalence of three “separate… but interrelated conditions” collectively known as the female athlete triad. (Lebrun and Rumball) Despite Cathy Rigby’s aforementioned success, an article by Dr. Michael Brunet reveals that she was severely affected by the most well-known of the female athlete triad: the eating disorder. This eventually caused her to suffer cardiac arrest twice. (Brunet) These effects are not limited to elite athletes, however; high school athletes are also affected by the triad, particularly those participating in sports “in which leanness is perceived to optimize performance” or which use “specific weight categories.” (Lebrun) The three components of the triad, osteoporosis, amenorrhea, and disordered eating, are increasingly becoming an unfortunate effect of distorted body image on sports.
Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies. This can mostly be contributed to societies standards of what men and women are “supposed” to look like. This image is often affected by family, friends, social pressure and the media. Unfortunately, only 5% of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media (“11 Facts”). "Body image" is the way that someone perceives their body and assumes that others perceive them, but the athletes who have a specifically hard time with body images are ones such as dancers, ice skaters, and gymnasts. The perfect body of a gymnast is someone who is about 5 feet tall
girls believe they are overweight. Boys also feel pressured into weight training and using steroids to
Females can be strong but they have to work at it much harder than males because males are just naturally stronger. This is because, “Men are 50 percent stronger than women in brute strength” (drjamesdobson.org). Men are stronger than women because the sex hormone testosterone, is found in high levels in men which gives them a head start in building muscle, “The sex hormone has anabolic effects, meaning it promotes muscle development. Secreted by the pituitary gland, testosterone binds to skeletal fiber cells and stimulates the growth of proteins, the building blocks of meaty muscles” [source: Roundy](science.how...
When people see a barbell most of them think of this subculture because it is one of the main items bodybuilders use like in bench press or squats and also deadlifts and shoulder press and other workouts. Being the most commonly used weight among bodybuilding I think that the barbell is the perfect icon for this subculture because anyone would think of th...
“The Politics of Muscle” by Gloria Steinem is an essay arguing the difference in strength between men and women. Steinem starts her essay by stating how she grew up in a generation where women didn’t participate in a lot, if any, sport activities. She goes on to say that she believes this is the reason why women of her generation believe that it’s not what the female body does, but how it looks. Steinem feels that women always seemed to be owned in some degree as the means of reproduction. She believes that women are made to feel ashamed of their strength and that “only when women rebel against patriarchal standards does female muscle become more accepted.” (pg 372)
Taking all this into consideration the goal of my paper is not to discourage you from working out, but rather inform you in the realities of weight lifting. The media and society continues you to fill out heads will lies about weightlifting weather its gender stereotypes and just the belief that one can achieve the stereotypical perfect body. There should be a greater understanding of how the media incorrectly portray weight lifting, working out, the idea of the perfect body and how society.
Not many sixteen years olds can say they can lift three times their body weight and over five hundred pounds. Many will create a image of a six feet, sixteen year old who weighs over two hundred twenty pounds. However in my case I'm a five-seven, hundred fifty two pound Hawaii powerlifter who started in the seventh grade summer. Powerlifting is a small growing sport of who can lift the heaviest weights based on how much you weigh. I currently am a seven time WABDL world record holder and numerous state and national record holder in Powerlifting. I compete in many Powerlifting competitions and after 3 years, i'm considered one of the more successful powerlifters in Hawaii. However success in powerlifting did not come easy, it took dedication, drive, and a skilled coach. Without these key elements I personally wouldn't have been
Cause and Effect of the Fitness Movement. In our ever-changing society, the one common thread that now every American seems to possess is a desire to have a body that is not hour-glass (1950’s) nor waifish (1990’s), but one that is lean, trim, and can physically go the “extra mile”. I speculate that the all-around athletic look is so popular because it is probably one of the hardest body types to achieve. In earlier times, hour-glass figures were the product of genetics and corsets, and the emaciated Kate Moss look could simply be achieved by starvation.
Bodybuilding is a practice where through dieting and strengthening individuals enlarge the muscles of their body. Consequently, there are many health risks associated with bodybuilding. It takes a very big toll on a person’s health, not just physically, but mentally as well. For many years the sport of bodybuilding has been male dominated but in the last few decades, female bodybuilding has been making an appearance within the industry. Many believe that female bodybuilding is an act of feminism because it represents the transgression of the social constructs of gender roles such as what it means to be a woman and how a woman should look. For female bodybuilders, it allows them to take charge of their mental well-being and feel empowered.
Celebrity-athletes like Arnold Schwarzenegger unleashed the caged world of fitness from the elite few to the general public. Before the 1970s, physical fitness was closely related to bodybuilders and athletes, but certain athletes were able to break down the barriers that separated the sports industry from the media entertainment industry. Such an athlete was Austrian-born bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger started his bodybuilding career in the late 1960s, a time where it was considered that only the lower class admired extreme muscularity in men (Sailer). Here, Schwarzenegger redefined the level of competition in bodybuilding with his tall physique anchored with large aesthetic muscles, but then also surprised the world by crossing over to the movie industry. Even with his thick Austrian accent, Schwarzenegger had made himself the biggest movie star in Hollywood by the late 1980’s and reinvented masculinity in his own “bulging, bru...
Some people will argue that the physical differences between men and women are substantial enough to dismiss women from infantry. In the Army, women do not have to score as high as the men on the physical fitness test, further backing the argument about physical strength. Women, on average, have less upper-body strength, less muscle mass, and a lighter skeleton, which could lead to an increased risk of structural injury (Owens). If women were assigned to the front lines, they may not be capable of doing the physically demanding jobs such as handling Howitzer munitions (Owens). There is a feeling of a double standard because men are held to higher physical fitness requirements than women.