Interview with Philippines Weightlifting Olympian Hidilyn Diaz

Credit International Weightlifting Federation

Welcome to the New Year. 2016 isn't just any year, it's an Olympic year. The 31^st Summer Olympic will take place this August in Rio de Janeiro of Brazil. Weightlifting will be one of the many returning sports. For weightlifters, this is their most important competition. Winning an Olympic medal is unlike a medal from any other competition.

Most fans of the sport admire China, Russia, and countries that produce multiple top competitors. As a result, weightlifters from smaller countries may not receive as much attention. But not this time as I had the pleasure of interviewing Philippines weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz: the native of Zamboanga City is a two time, soon to be third, Olympian, and medalist at multiple international competitions. However before I get ahead of myself, let me provide a bit of background to how this came to be.

Before I arrived in Houston for the 2015 IWF Championships, I noticed Papa Yats would be in attendance as well. For those unfamiliar with Papa Yats (or Yatsek), he is a mentor of Hidilyn as well as a coach who provides alternative information about foreign weightlifting training methods and programming on his non-commercial Instagram account. Not only that, he's also involved in fundraising for Filipino weightlifting clubs. He is originally from Poland, has traveled extensively throughout Asia, and now lives in California. His weightlifting philosophy is rooted in Asian and Eastern European methods as he finds them most effective; he is not a believer of American methods.

I contacted Papa Yats to see if I could interview him when I arrived in Houston. He thought it would be more interesting if I interviewed Hidilyn instead. This didn't even occur to me because I assumed athletes would be tired from competition and would want to relax rather than sit down for an interview.

And so on my first night Papa Yats said I could come visit them at Hidilyn's hotel room. As I entered the room, I was greeted by Papa Yats, who introduced me to Hidilyn and members of the Philippines Weightlifting Association - President Roger Dullano and head coach Alfonsito Aldanete. It's at this point I realized I really am an amateur and very new to this sport.

Roger and Alfonsito left the room, leaving Papa Yats, Hidilyn, and myself to sit down and talk. I should mention at this point it was already around 10 o'clock at night and Hidilyn was tired. Also for both of them, English is their second language. Thankfully, Papa Yats knew answers to some of the questions I asked and was able to help Hidilyn if she might have needed clarification.

Overall I believe it was a great conversation. Enjoy.

Recent & Upcoming Competitions

Niel: Welcome to the United States. Congratulations on your performance Hidilyn. How do you feel training reflected in this competition?
Hidilyn: It’s really hard, you have to adjust in weather and jet lag. I could not sweat to drop weight so I cut my hair. We arrived on November 15th and started training on the 16th. I didn’t sweat because it’s so cold here. In the Philippines, I start to sweat even when I would stretch.
Papa Yats: Their gym in the Philippines has open windows where there’s no glass and it’s exposed to the open air where in Manila it’s super hot. There’s no air conditioning or good ventilation. It’s tropical weather over there.
Niel: And the training hall here is kept air conditioned.
Papa Yats: Yeah and it’s kept cold. Today was a little better.
Hidilyn: Then the jet lag – I haven’t slept for days. Yeah for 3 or 4 days then training started. Pangit (Tagalog word): You know pangit? It’s “ugly,” I couldn’t train properly.

Niel: You still did well.
Hidilyn: Yeah, but my goal is 103kg snatch and 123kg clean & jerk. Three weeks before I did a 93kg snatch and a 118kg clean & jerk in training.
Papa Yats: She typically lifts much more in competition than in training. I’m talking about snatching seven plus kilos more in competition than in training. Since she snatched 93kg, that was an indicator she could hit 100-101kg in competition.
Hidilyn: But I also got sick. That’s why my performance dropped for one week. Maybe because I couldn’t sleep I got sick.
Papa Yats: She only did an 85kg snatch the first day she came here (to Houston).

Niel: Hidilyn, how’s your schedule been? You competed at the Southeast Asian Weightlifting Championships in late June, Asians in September, Houston now, and have Rio coming up in 2016.
Papa Yats: Hadie (pet name for Hidilyn) has a competition on December 7^th in Qatar which is about two weeks from now. She already started lifting today (Tuesday) in the training hall for the first time after Sunday’s competition. She took Monday off and today she did very light training. Snatches up to 55kg which is very light. Some good mornings, little military press, side bends for the abdominal muscles, and that’s it. The Qatar Federation is paying for the whole trip and there’s a cash prize which is nice. That’s the goal.

A video posted by Papa Yats (@papayats) on Dec 1, 2015 at 4:51pm PST

Pull with rebend/Panda pull/Chinese Pull

So schedule has been tight. Southeast Asian Games was the original plan and they, Hidilyn and Nestor, weren’t supposed to compete in Asian Championships, but the IWF asked them to compete if they wanted to win individual qualifications for the Olympics. (The Philippines is not going for team qualifications. There is no budget to send that many lifters to international competitions.)

You know the situation. They switched the Asian Championships from June because there was an earthquake in Nepal and it was changed from Nepal to Thailand in September. There was a little bit of change there and the schedule wasn’t exactly set. Her results were practically the same for all three competitions: 213kg for Southeast Asian Championship, 214kg for Asian Championships, and 213kg for World Championships. Basically, she remained in competition cycle from April to November, never had time to go back to basic preparatory cycle. She was unable to increase results.
Hidilyn: It made it hard to recover and control my weight.

2015 Asian Championships

Credit Sportivny Press

Niel: How do you like competing as a 53kg versus a 58kg? Is eating less more comfortable for you?
Hidilyn: I don’t like it.
Papa Yats: She means she doesn't like watching her diet.
Niel: You had to eat a lot to maintain and keep your weight as a 58kg, right? Now you have to watch your weight.
Papa Yats: When I saw the 58kg girls, they’re big now – so masculine!
Hidilyn: They’re so big and strong. Yes, I have to watch my weight, but it’s okay. The best strategy is to lower my weight to compete in a different class. Although I have to eat healthy.
Papa Yats: And the strategy worked.
Niel: Do you eat a lot of Filipino food?
Hidilyn: Yes, everything. I love Korean food, Japanese food, Mexican food, everything. And I love nachos. That’s why it’s hard for me to keep my weight, but I have a nutritionist now who plans my meals. I use to eat healthy food so I’m okay with 53kg now – until Rio.
Papa Yats: Then retirement from lifting.
Hidilyn: I don’t know. It’s really hard. You want to eat with your friends, but then your friends want to eat cakes, milk tea, pizza, and all those kinds of foods. I can’t eat sugar and sweets. Yes it’s hard, but it’s okay. You see I placed in the 53kg.
Papa Yats: Or maybe they’re going to a party or something like a birthday. For instance, she gave me her cheesecake because she couldn’t eat it. She actually brought it to me, because she couldn't decline it from her friends. She actually has chocolate all over the place here (her hotel room). Now it’s different, today is different. Although the Qatar competition is in two week, but maybe you can’t go that bad. (Note from Papa Yats: She went overweight there, and had to lift in 63kg class, because they didn't have a 58kg class. She still won.)
Hidilyn: It’s okay. I already ate chocolate last night so I’m good with that. You want some chocolate?

Papa Yats: Soon she’s going to have to watch her bodyweight again for the Qatar competition. We went for a nice steak dinner today with my friend Jonas (Dr. Westbrook from Two Doctors), but that’s about it. The athlete’s buffet is pretty good downstairs in the dining room.
Hidilyn: The food is good, but it’s the same every day.
Papa Yats: I just want to say in the Philippines, she doesn’t get any extra bonus for winning this. No money involved. She buys her own food. There’s no food fairy that provides food for the high level athlete. She gets some stipend in general from the Filipino Olympic Committee, but it’s not nice like in the United States Olympic Training Center. There are no dining facilities or even a kitchen for the lifters in the Philippines. You have to buy food outside.

In the US, the weightlifters have everything they need to train. At least that's what coach Zygmunt said when he was inviting her over to train in Colorado. Over there they don’t even have air conditioning. They don’t have proper equipment. The gym is falling apart. Niel, you saw the picture of the gym. I mean does it look good?
Hidilyn: You saw how old the plates are?
Papa Yats: Ten years old or more.

Training

Niel: I understand you had some issues with your leg. Has that been getting better and did it affect your performance?
Hidilyn: I don’t like to back squat, but I have special training for the squat. I bounce out of the bottom. I use it so my clean will bounce up when I receive the bar. I squatted heavy weights, but there’s a big bounce at the bottom. It helps a lot for my reaction in the clean, but my squat is still not too good. I don’t know why. The issue isn’t pain, I just don’t have strength for the back squat.
Papa Yats: She doesn’t like the squat exercise so she tries to avoid it.

Arrived in the morning and already in training with @haidie20  I do believe that with a little luck we can squeeze a tiny bronze medal at World Championship in Houston 2015. I say "we" however in all honesty I'm just adding my little brick to the wall... All other lifters left the gym and there's only her and I. Extra work needs to be done. Her biggest weakness is getting up after a heavy clean.  Her leg is injured, and she is doing only minimum of full back squats. We are forced to do different #squat exercises to maintain or even increase strength of her legs (6 weeks only to Asian Championship). Half squat is nothing new, but these here are done with slow tempo and full control, lighter weights, working on feeling deep muscles, glutes, and abdominals. We finished with some electromuscle stimulation for quads (I'm using Compex, but Globus is a good one, too). For the record, I'm not really her #coach, just sort of friend, motivator, and impresario. Beyond certain level, disciplined lifters can really coach themselves, but of course they need that someone to be there with them. Don't be afraid of half squats, but do them for slow muscle building, not for #powerlifting records. When I program, I'm really big on different squat variations, and the results have been convincing to say the least.  #olympicweightlifting #oly #weightlifting #crossfit #usaw #coaching #filipinostrong

A video posted by Papa Yats (@papayats) on Jul 25, 2015 at 8:34am PDT

Niel: You competed in the 2008 Olympics when you were 17. You have more experience now. How does your experience now compare to back then?
Hidilyn: At that time when I was 17, there was no pressure. I didn’t know what the Olympic was or anything. I just went there and was amazed thinking, “Oh, this is the Olympics.” I was able to go because I got a wild card. The Philippines Weightlifting Association didn’t expect anything from me, but sent me for exposure.
Papa Yats: She was happy to be there, but she also had kind of good results too. They don’t give wild cards for nothing.
Hidilyn: Yes. In 2007, they saw that I have potential because I got bronze at the Southeast Asian Games and I was only 16.

Left to right: Hidilyn at Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, and 2015 now

Niel: Training can be very hard mentally. What helps you through hard days?
Hidilyn: I set my mind to compete in Rio. I tell myself this is my third time, it’s my third Olympic Games. I want to win, so if I give up then how will I be able to go there? How can I reach my goal? When I train, I always think “Rio, Rio, Rio” in my mind. I promised myself when I qualify that I have to win any medal. I have to win because it’s my third Olympics.

Weightlifting in the Philippines

Niel: Is weightlifting popular in the Philippines?
Hidilyn: No.
Papa Yats: Filipino weightlifting is more popular here in the US than in the Philippines. I’m sorry to say that she has more fans in America than in the Philippines.
Niel: That seems similar to many countries – there’s no recreational weightlifting. There’s only weightlifting to compete at a high level.
Papa Yats: Yes, there’s no recreational weightlifting.

Niel: Is there a Filipino weightlifting system?
Hidilyn: No.
Papa Yats: It’s everybody for themselves. Of course, their group of Nestor, Hidilyn, Jeffrey, Richard, and Chris train together some times. They’re going to have the same kind of training ideas because they have been training together.
Hidilyn: I’ve trained in China in 2007, 2008, and 2013. In 2007, I trained in Guangzhou for two months and in 2008 and 2013, I trained in Guangxi for three months each.
Papa Yats: Which one did you like better, Guangxi?
Hidilyn: Yes, Guangxi. There was Deng Mengrong, Lu Yong, and a 48kg girl. The place is good. China’s training is good.

Niel: They have a system and schools.
Hidilyn: Yes.
Niel: It’s not like America.
Papa Yats: She’s not familiar with training in America. She sees the videos on the internet, but she doesn’t understand why people would use or teach bad technique. She doesn't understand that you can become a weightlifting coach in one weekend. Obviously I’m not saying it’s everywhere. There are good coaches and systems here, like Coach Zygmunt Smalcerz. He’s doing good things.

Niel: Aside from more medals, what would the Philippines Weightlifting Association like to see happen in the country?
Papa Yats: Right now any kind of bump in popularity and introducing more kids to the sport, but for that you need money for equipment and facilities. It’s not easy, but hopefully with her and Nestor there can be some progress. This is the first time in a long time that the country had any kind of success in weightlifting.
Niel: Speaking of more money, the fundraiser you began passed its goal.
Papa Yats: It’s still not enough, but at least it helps one club. I’m going to set up the next one and I’m going to help Hidilyn's club in her hometown, Zamboanga City. There are many people that want to help, but they don’t know how to help.
Niel: Do you have more ideas in mind?
Papa Yats: Yes, I think everyone who donates will get a copy of Hidilyn's weightlifting program. You can either donate money to my crowdfunding, or donate equipment (shoes, plates, barbells). If you decide to donate equipment, I'll provide you with address of the club in the Philippines to ship it to. That way you can do it your way, and there is no middle man involved.

Short Questions

Niel: What do you like more, the snatch or clean & jerk?
Hidilyn: I love the jerk. But my clean is no good.
Papa Yats: In my opinion, her best lift technically is the jerk. Just the jerk. From the rack I think I saw her a few times do 125kg with good technique. Anything she can clean she can jerk. In the opinion of several foreign coaches, she actually has a better technical jerk than other competitors in her weight class. Actually, the same goes for Nestor.

A successful 117kg jerk by Hidilyn in Houston

Credit International Weightlifting Federation

Niel: If you weren’t in weightlifting, what do you think you would be doing right now?
Hidilyn: I’d have six kids, ha. No, seriously. Six kids – Do, Re, Mi, Pa, So....
Papa Yats: Yeah, a bum no good husband and several kids. Weightlifting helps people grow over there in the Philippines. In many poorer countries, through sport you can finish school. If you look at kids from her neighborhood, who didn’t do any sports, that’s their future: Girls her age with several kids.

Niel: What’s your favorite thing about weightlifting?
Hidilyn: The process and when I struggle in training. When you’re an athlete, you don’t want things to happen so easy. I want to achieve that goal.
Papa Yats: It’s all about the journey, not going to the top.
Hidilyn: Yes, I want it that way.

Niel: What’s your least favorite thing about weightlifting?
Papa Yats: Injury? I don’t know.
Hidilyn: Yes…..and the stretching after training.
*group laughter*
Papa Yats: I think she’s talking about the mandatory partner stretching when you push a little over the limit.

In our quest for new PRs we often tend to 'forget' the importance of mobility and other accessory work, because they do not bring DIRECT results in terms of kilograms.  Southeast Asian Champion @haidie20 being stretched by Southeast Asian medalist, now coach, @jerker_pep  You should be doing this after every session with a partner, use rubber band, wooden Swedish ladder, or another setup. I uploaded longer stretching video to Filipino Strongest Team youtube channel (link in my profile). Please subscribe. #stretching #yoga #olympicweightlifting #crossfit #coaching #oly #weightliftinggirls #olympiclifting

A video posted by Papa Yats (@papayats) on Aug 10, 2015 at 10:06pm PDT

Partner assisted stretching

Hidilyn: After training, I have to stay in the gym to do stretching to prevent injuries, but I don’t like stretching.
Papa Yats: Who likes stretching? No one. I hate stretching, mobility, but of course even I do it almost every day or I try to.
Hidilyn: I had injury before, last year that’s why. Lesson learned. After training I have to stretch and I have to do general preparation exercises

Conclusion

Niel: So to wrap it up, what advice would you give to your younger self?
Hidilyn: Dream big. Do it. Believe in yourself. The thing is, if you dream big, everything is possible. If you want it, you can get it.

Niel: That’s very encouraging. Do you plan on visiting the US again?
Hidilyn: Maybe yes.
Papa Yats: And you need to spend some time with my kids then. You’re going to miss my kids!
Hidilyn: Yes, of course.

Niel: Are there any specific plans for the future we can expect from you? Besides Rio.
Hidilyn: I don’t know yet. Maybe after Rio I’m planning to rest for a while. I want to be some place and I want to explore. I want to relax my mind because for how many years? For 13 years in weightlifting, I don’t even get five days of rest. Only during the holy week, I have only two days rest so I have to enjoy life. I want to see the world and how beautiful it is. Yes, then maybe do some charity work, teach weightlifting to kids.

They asked me why I love to coach weightlifting to people, for me it's two way learning, I learned from them they learned from me!  I want to teach them coz I know someday they will become the future of Philippine weightlifting.  Teaching AJ snatch technique

A video posted by Hidilyn Diaz (@haidie20) on Jan 6, 2016 at 6:44am PST

Niel: Is there anything you would like to say to all your fans out there?
Papa Yats: She doesn’t even know she has fans, but I keep telling her she does.
Hidilyn: Thank you for the prayers, for the support, and for believing in me. Because of them I have the courage to train because sometimes they message me words of support like “You can do it.” I get encouraged by them. Thank you for that.

Post Interview

At this time, Papa Yats and I left to walk around the convention center as well as check out the late night sessions. On our way to the competition hall, we ran into IWF member Aveenash Pandoo (see the previous post), as well as other weightlifters who came to watch the championships, which provided us with additional opportunities to talk more about the sport. For me, this was great. I quickly learned to walk around as much as possible during the rest of my stay and interact with as many people as I could.

Thank you to Hidilyn and Papa Yats for taking the time to sit down with me for this interview. Hidilyn, I wish you much success in 2016 and Rio!

UPDATE #1: She placed 2nd and won the silver medal in the Rio 2016 Olympics!

UPDATE #2: She placed 1st and won the gold medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics! This is the first gold medal to be won by an athlete in the country's history. Be sure to send her congratulations on an excellent performance! Her social media sites are linked down below.

If you enjoyed reading this interview and want to stay updated on Hidilyn's journey, you can follow her and Papa Yats on the following social media sites below.

Hidilyn Diaz

• Facebook

• Instagram

Papa Yats

• Instagram

Related Discussion,

• Doc and Jock podcast featuring Papa Yats

Visiting India, Part 2

Massive Radha-Krishna in a nearby 
office building lobby

Continuing from last time, this post will be a general overview of my observations from my trip to India.

The easiest way to describe it is that it's a different culture. Plain and simple. I grew up with a basic understanding of the culture and it made me quick to pick up mannerisms and behavior while I was there. On the other hand take a random person raised in the West and plop them in India and they will think it's a mad zoo.

Urbanization

There are a few metropolises (extremely congested), some cities, and a whole lot of villages. Very few areas had the semblance of a town. Good housing structures run 1-to-3 rooms large with a kitchen and a flat toilet. People on the lower end of the SES spectrum have a lot less space.

Depending on where you look you can see the introduction of basic modern housing utilities. The neighboring town-city has introduced gas lines directly to homes in our village - presuming your house meets the provider's requirements. Some people still use gas tanks connected to their dual stove top burners but that will become obsolete because of the new gas lines. Predating the tanks, cooking was done on an open fire.

Place the fueling agents in the crater, ignite, then
rest your cookware on top of the open flame to begin cooking

Another village we visited didn't have gas lines but direct water lines to the homes. In contrast, our village relies on an underground well that has water pumped to the homes during mid-morning. There's progress in the country but it's slow and very dependent on the region. As a result, many of the infrastructures present here and in other developed countries are not as widespread in India. The mix of urban and rural areas don't have connecting utility systems. Take rest stops for example. Because many are situated out in the middle of nowhere on the highway, the facilities are latrine-based due to the fact there is no sewer system. Unfortunately, this is the case with a number of basic services.

10 years ago I noticed people openly littered on the ground. It was a very minor problem then and little trash was noticeable outdoors. 10 years made a huge difference because there is a ton of garbage strewn about everywhere. The increase in non-biodegradeable materials - namely plastic - combined with the lack of garbage processing centers and nonexistent waste disposal practices are major contributors to the pollution. The problem is further magnified due to the large population. The only method of waste disposal I saw was garbage burning. Whatever natural scenery remains in India is in jeopardy of disappearing if these conditions continue or worsen over time.

Roads, Highways, and Everything on Them

I initially thought to exclude this section of the trip. I thought to myself, "Why bother? It's not that important." Then I thought about it again and realized it - yes it is important. Highways look almost identical to the ones we have here and appear very new and modern. Not all portions of it are like that but I'd say close to 90% of them are similar. When you get to the local roads then everything becomes a big mess.

Road systems seem to be reliant on whatever pathways were previously in place. These avenues are shared by everyone and everything. Motorcycles, bikes, cars, rickshaws, pedestrians, water buffalo, goats, you name it. I'd presume these paths were originally made for pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles but that's no longer the case. Dense areas have motorcycles and cars attempting to squeeze through crowds of people.

While there are cars available, not everyone can afford one nor do they need it unless traveling long distances. On the other hand, tourists need someone to chauffeur them around because they're unfamiliar with the locale. Consequently, this has given rise and value to the driver profession. It's a lucrative business and career choice if an individual can drive well. It's similar to being a truck driver - drive frequently for extended periods of time except that they're transporting people from point A to point B. However, instead of trucks, 5-9 seat passenger vehicles are popular. Some resemble a minivan, others are more of a mini-hummer in appearance. Often you could spot the Toyota Qualis on the roads:

Typical packed car

Why buy a massive car? The more passengers you can fit the more money you make. Even with less passengers, such as our small party of three, we had quite a bit of luggage leaving and going to the airport. It wouldn't have fit in a regular-sized sedan. Large vehicles make sense but their use in villages and small towns is an issue. The aggressive driving style is dangerous because rules and penalties are not in place and are not enforced by authorities.

People's Living

India has over a billion people. With a population of that size, the SES stratum is diverse. This actually made it difficult to distinguish who was indigent at times. For instance, an individual who earns 100 rupees* a day - roughly equivalent to 2 US dollars - is considered to have a low income. Yet, the same person can live in a one room home without any transportation means, but own a standard definition TV and a cellphone. It's a bit tricky to define "destitute" when odd variables like those are thrown into the mix. In fact, one night a neighbor and I were talking about how everyone in the village is glued to their TV at night which is contrary to a few years earlier. Everyone use to sit outside and talk to one another. A TV in each home has become the norm whereas ten years ago our home was the only one with a TV. As you can tell, that's quite the opposite!

*One dollar is roughly equivalent to 50-55 rupees depending on its current value. 50 is used as a base for easy calculations.

To better put things into perspective, I'll go over a few values and costs of goods I noticed there and discussed with my mother. First she explained that 100 rupees is a lot and is considered the same as $20 here (but remember the true currency conversion is $2). Our family's okay with giving money as a gift to a relative whether it's a birthday, Christmas, or a small occasion. This is usually when a niece or nephew is given about $20 as a nice little gift. Typically, 100 rupees isn't given to someone as a gift. It's more common to give around 10 rupees. Several prices I recall were,

• 1lb. of chicken = 200-300 rupees

• 1lb. of goat = 500 rupees 

• 20oz. of cow's milk everyday for 3 weeks = 700-800 rupees 

• full tank of diesel or petroleum fuel for a car = over 1,000 rupees

If you think about it on a $20-base scale, that is incredibly expensive! Going by those numbers, a pound of chicken would cost a minimum of $40 here in NJ. That's more than four times higher than its current cost. A gallon of milk? For one week, it's about $40 (231 rupees for 7 days [700/21 days times 7 days in a week]). The cost of living for the citizens of India is much higher than our standards.

Yet despite limited resources and technology, by our living criteria, Indians manage to do pretty damn well. They create efficiency out of inefficiency. The phrase "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" perfectly illustrates this concept.

The dabbawala highlight how efficient and resourceful Indians truly can be. Recall last time I wrote about how women are able to carry heavy bulky items on their head as they walk. No one owns a wheelbarrow to transport stuff around the village. Another example is the use of cow dung. It's shaped into discs and set to dry. Then in conjunction with wood it's used as a burning agent (wood alone in India is not enough to keep a fire lit). That actually doesn't seem efficient at all but my dad told me before detergent was available the ashes from the fire were used to wash clothes. To my surprise he said the laundry came out very clean.

While the dried cakes are not good for the atmosphere,
this must eliminate a great deal of animal waste

Anyone who knows how driving is in India would exclaim it's erratic and absolutely crazy. To a certain extent it's true. A whole lot of honking and one car over taking another doesn't make sense. On the contrary there is a rudimentary style of how one should drive: use your horns and high beams liberally to inform the nearby vehicle of your presence or to move aside so that traffic can flow smoothly. And slow down or stop if something is in front of you. I didn't claim it was a great way of driving but it works for them.

Patriarchy

While there are very efficient processes present in the country, the huge glaring obstacle I saw was the lack of women's presence. India is a patriarchal nation. The women are tough as nails and religious scriptures highlight their value but their role in society is minimal. From what I know, women in the state of Gujarat are treated better than women in the other states (Rajasthan being the other exception). However, I'm not talking about oppression or abuse. Outside of being a stay-at-home mom, only a fraction of women are visible in the workplace. Hell, we didn't even see one driving a car in the entire 3 weeks. But the status of women became glaringly obvious when we were out shopping for women's saree. These huge fashion stores had men as their sales associates. That's not to say men can't sell women's clothing or be in the fashion industry....but not a single woman was a sales associate? That's funky. Only one store had women employed and they were in charge of administrative tasks (tracking customer orders, noting tailor requests, payments, phones, miscellaneous duties).

Outside of that, most jobs appear to be dominated by men. I won't say all jobs because I did hear neighbors mention a few women go to work in newly built factories because of the good pay. We even came across one 22 year old who runs a coconut business with her mom. And while we didn't see women driving cars, 10 years ago only men were riding around on motorcycles and scooters but now it's more common to see women dipping and diving through traffic. Like I said earlier, there's progress in the country but it's slow and dependent on the region.

People as People

Being visitors, we met quite a few people during our stay. We also visited others who weren't able to come to our neck of the woods. Let me just say that when you visit another person's home that their hospitality is unbelievable. They are EXTREMELY kind and welcoming to their guests. They want to treat them well and give them the most pleasant experience possible. At times it can be overwhelming. One memorable instance was when I stopped off at an extended relative's home after spending the afternoon out in the city. They were being so over-the-top kind to me that at one point I was beginning to feel awkward. They told me,

"Come! Come! You've been out all day. You must be tired."

Yes! Here lie down. Put your feet up.

Let me get you fresh coconut water."

You know, things of that nature.

Strangely though, there are no set formal manners, if any. No please, excuse me, your welcome, bless you, or any phrase of that sort. If you burp, you burp. No one cares that you did it because it happens and no one minds it. "Thank you" does exist in Hindi as "dhanyavaad" but no one uses the expression. They definitely need "excuse me" because people have no words to say if they want someone to step aside. I saw one guy simply waiting for another person to move. Aside from that, it did make me think if we're sometimes overly polite here.

But unfortunately, just because those individuals are kind to their guests doesn't mean they're kind to everyone. Sadly, attitudes towards a person are based on their background. If you don't come from a certain status/background or position of "power" (for a lack of a better term) then you will be treated poorly. What makes it worse is that it's tolerated and expected to an extent. I wouldn't call it discrimination but maybe it is and I'm blind to the truth. Either way it's not good for the people.

I've written a lot detailing my trip. However, words on a screen cannot convey the true experience of visiting India. I left out an incredible amount of information and what I did share only scratched the surface of the adventure. Trust me when I say a lot happened.

But it was amazing. When I got back, the trip felt like a fleeting memory that didn't even happen.

It dawned upon me that I was in India one early morning. My dad asked me if I wanted to visit our family's farm lots. We hiked through the tall grass and thickets then began to walk on a narrow dirt path. About a quarter mile in, I looked behind and in front of me. Not a soul could be seen. There was only my dad treading ahead of me pointing out and explaining the various fruit trees and how it was when he grew up, feeling the red sun warming the cool air, and listening to the peacocks' high pitch calls.

That was India.

Related content,

• Web Album: Pictures from the Trip
• Web Album: Pictures of Food from the Trip
• Visiting India, Part 1: Food & Fitness

Sculpting the body you want

The Thinker...er, thinking.

How's it done? Most times I joke around and say steroids, but how do we really get the body we want? You know, the one you want to flaunt around at a party or on the beach.

It's common knowledge that having too much body fat hinders "le sex appeal" as the French would say...or at least how I envision Pepé Le Pew in my head.

Suave is his middle name.

Lose the fat, look good. Got it.

However, that's only one part of the equation. Say a person does get rid of a lot of fat, but they didn't build any muscle. What do you get? A skeleton on the extreme end, but more so a lack of curves. Such as,

Where the booty at?!

Yes she is attractive, but I don't like to snap my ladies in half when I hug them. (or do I? Kidding.)

No curves means no muscles. It's great to have low body fat, but building up the proper muscles shouldn't be neglected. (Need a start? Look here)

If you're going to work you ass off to look good, do it right.

Rachel Mclish: Plenty of curves and
strong enough to tear my penis off.

When Anna Meets Jane, part 3: The Results from a Bad Foundation

It is fun, but not whatever the hell she's doing.

Parts 1 & 2 covered the factors affecting women and fitness. The former examined the major problems, while the latter discussed slightly less direct details that are beyond one's own control.

Today, we'll take a closer look at what women do when they decide "Enough of this muffin top and these jiggly thighs, I need to take action!" and then unfortunately, simply make bad choices. First up will be exercise methods followed by nutritional approaches.

Exercise

Let's begin with a real kick in the crotch.

No way in hell do women who lift want to look like this:

"Hulk smash!"
And to answer your question,
yes, I did vomit all over my
keyboard after seeing this.

And luckily, they can't unless they inject themselves full of steroids.

BUT, despite not wanting to look like that, they follow a bodybuilder routine, meaning a body part split. You know, either one muscle a day or chest/back on one day, biceps/triceps another, legs this day, so on and so forth. These methods are employed by bodybuilders to really emphasize their muscles and get distinct muscular definition.

Perplexing eh? Often, women - as do men - choose to follow a regimen like this because it's what's most popular. It's not a program for those who want to avoid the "bulk."

It's a given people don't like to venture out of their comfort zones, so these same people do what's familiar and simple. They resort to exercises everyone else does in the gym and/or hop on a machine.

If not that, too much time is spent using weights that aren't heavy enough to elicit adaptation, meaning no progress, and train too often in the vertical plane (weight moves up & down in relation to the body, i.e., squat, curl, shoulder press, etc.). The lack of horizontal work - specifically pulls - leads to imbalances. Not to mention, your boobs may look saggier than they should because of weak back muscles (magnifies hunched posture).

And because I couldn't resist...

She look familiar to you? We've all seen
a lady like this. Just don't become her.

Also, keep in mind why lifting light weights isn't effective. If they're light, they won't require as much energy to move them. How will you burn fat? Low intensity exercise doesn't call on your body to use its stored energy - specifically, the fat you want to get rid of.

And if you didn't quite catch that,

light weights = low intensity = less fat loss

Women typically focus on trying to slim their arms, which requires less overall work. That's a small part of a total package. If a woman wants to look good to go out on the town, she won't paint her nails and be done. She'll do her make-up, her hair, find an outfit, choose accessories, and anything else us guys don't understand.

Likewise, the body needs to be treated as a whole. The bulk of the body is the torso and thighs. Effort should be concentrated there.

And oh those thighs, they are tricky. There's a lot to it, thus, better if I make a list.

• Weak posterior chain (muscles on the back of the body) creates an imbalance
  
• Women's quadriceps, front thigh muscles, are strong and become stronger with age, intensifying the imbalance
  
• Worsens since lower-body exercise focus is on leg presses, leg extensions, lunges, and squats, which predominantly train the quadriceps
• Using a treadmill shuts off the hamstrings, making the quadriceps do all the work

Pretty sucky if I do say so myself.

It's boring, but you don't
have to lie about it.

Endurance exercise itself is overused and the popular form of it is to run. Running is a sport in itself and can't be taken up thinking it leads to automatic fat loss. I'll be doing a future post on running, therefore I won't expound any further on it here.

All this usually ends up with a woman exhausted, stressed, not satisfied, wasting time & effort, but above all things, not having the body they want.

Nutrition

This is equally as important as the exercise section. What good is it to upgrade the parts of a computer (your body) if you're not going to install the proper software for it to function (food)?

I always wonder what the girl who says "Carbs are bad" and "Fats are bad" eats.

Although, it's probably not surprising she eats nothing but salads. I'm not knocking salads, but they definitely shouldn't be viewed as the solution to weight loss along with portion control.

Can't promise a carb free salad since
vegetables contain the carbohydrate cellulose.

Portion control works and is useful if a person is already eating unprocessed foods, but a problem comes about for those who continue to consume junk food. If you're scaling back the amount of junk you eat until your goal weight is achieved, it will return once you begin consuming the amount of food you were before practicing restraint.

And you become unsatisfied again. Big shocker.

But as always, it's not that simple. Yo-yo dieting is pretty common. Instead of fat being burned in a caloric deficit, muscle is broken down because the body isn't given adequate nourishment of the necessary nutrients.

To simply even further:

Less muscle = less body weight at first

Which is the primary goal, BUT because more energy is used to maintain muscle than fat and there's less muscle now...

Less muscle = slower metabolism, leading to easier fat gain

In the long run, you'll get what you got rid of plus some extra. That's not just failure, that's worse. (Epic failure sounds appropriate)

Additionally, let's not forget the time spent miserably controlling foods to eat and how much to eat. I'm also willing to bet during the decreased food intake, someone wasn't feeling all sunshine and rainbows either. Probably more along the lines of "Get the hell away from me before I beat you for that cookie!"

Honestly, I'd expect a person to be in a more depressed mood after an unsuccessful attempt and there's no telling whether they may binge or not, especially if their fitness-related actions are perceived as hopeless. After not meeting their goals, they may think "What's the point of watching what I eat if I'm not getting any results?" and proceed to chow down on anything and everything.

A smart approach needs to be taken to achieve the desired body. My dad always says think first or there's no meaning in working hard. It's good advice.

But it isn't all gloom and doom for women.

I wouldn't leave you hanging without any solutions.

Hardly. I would never do such a thing.

But of course, I need to leave something for part 4.

And on that note, I hope you all enjoyed this 3^rd installment and advise you to stay glued for the finale! In it, I'll share with you an exercise program or two and resources to start making progress.

Salad anyone?

When Anna Meets Jane, part 2: The Contribution Men & the Media Make to Create Weak Women

"I thought you were kidding! I thought it was a

joke, I even wrote it down in my diary."

Bold title of me to choose? Possibly.

In the first installment, we took a look at how women are not satisfied with their body due to changes that come about in life, as well as some interpersonal influences, that push women to exercise, but certainly not efficiently.

Today in part 2, we'll discuss subtle less known societal factors, which believe it or not, are significant themselves.

One day, my ears caught the following:

"Yeah she plays sports and is athletic, but I don't really like girls like that."

I thought it was absurd, but I didn't know the guy, so I just kept walking.

It wouldn't be a big deal, but it's not the first time I've heard such a statement. Some guys aren't attracted to a girl who takes up weight training. They either don't like muscles on a girl, think it's not part of the "proper" feminine role (whatever that is), feels it threatens their alpha male status, or some other outlandish idea.

And of course, women want to impress the opposite sex, but not in an unattractive manner (i.e., lifting weights). As a result, they either go hit the lovely cardio machines or that small area of the gym with dumbbells no higher than 35 lbs. If it's the latter, they still don't lift a weight that's heavier than a gallon of milk.

What if they venture into - gasp! - the guys' area and do real lifting? All the guys, unfortunately, stare. I'm sure that's what they were trying to accomplish. The only women their lifting like they should, and all eyes are on her. I bet that makes her feel so much more comfortable - yeah right.

All that combined with those women who believe it will bulk them up, well you could understand why they would never venture near a barbell.

What about the media? What do they do in all this?

Plenty. Models anyone? Tall, thin, and most importantly, unrealistic.

There's a large gap between what they present and what is typical of most women. If the average body weight of women has been increasing, due to improved health and nutrition, how are they suppose to look like a model? The average American women is 5'4" tall and 140 lbs., but the average American model is 5'11" and 115 lbs. These women aren't representative of the norm, but are presented as the ideal figure.

Let's not forget magazines and the images they publish. The rise of computers has allowed us to do incredible things. Photoshop however, is now used to edit photos before they are published. A great demonstration of how drastic the changes are can be seen in the following video.

Women see those magazines and want to look like that, but it's not even possible!

Television shows have the main characters as slim women. How often is the leading actress not attractive? or large? Usually, not a lot, except maybe Ugly Betty.

Ugly Betty left, and on the right, you can

see America Ferrara is hardly ugly.

Addition to that, these women in movies and TV are depicted as successful and powerful.

Advertisements try to make women feel unattractive because they're trying to push what they're selling, hoping they'll provoke women enough to buy it.

Now, we have more factors added to the previous ones mentioned last time. Exercise and health is tougher for women than it should be.

Weight training is important for women - more so than it is for men - because it offers a host of benefits, such as (taken from Science and Practice of Strength Training)

• Increased bone density, reducing risk of osteoporosis
• Stronger connective tissues to increase joint stability and help prevent injury
• Increased strength for daily activity
• Increased lean body mass and decreased body fat
• Higher metabolic rate because of increased muscle mass
• Improved self-esteem and confidence

The bottom line?

There are a lot more factors affecting women in relation to exercise than there are that affect men. Don't let them come between you and the body you want.

So just lift. Suzanna Sanchez does, and boy, does she go heavy.

Next week, part 3 will cover the common mistakes and problems that women encounter in training and diet. Stay tuned!

When Anna Meets Jane, part 1: The Underlying Problems & Beliefs Most Women Suffer From

Meet Anna Freud; my professor liked her.

This is a pretty dense post, bear with me.

In my class, we covered anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), but due to both having low prevalence, and I don't think any of my readers suffer from either disorder (I hope not), our focus will shift to another set of eating disorders. They're known as eating disorders not otherwise specified, abbreviated EDNOS, or also known as partial syndrome eating disorders.

They are less recognized because they don't meet full criteria for AN or BN. The problem?

50-70% of eating disorders are EDNOS. What's with this?

Well, did you know that because body-image dissatisfaction, satisfaction/dissatisfaction one is with one's body & physical appearance, is so common among girls and women that it's considered the norm? This means a significant portion of the population shows being unhappy with their physical appearance as typical.

This is awful, and unfortunately, there's more.

A type of corumination - the focus & discussion of negative feelings with peers - termed "fat talk" refers to weight-related negative body talk that occurs in peer groups, which in turn perpetuates the thin ideal. Not only are the majority of women dissatisfied, but their feelings are further reinforced by this "fat talk."

Simply saying things such as

• "Do I look fat in this?"
• "You look great, have you lost weight?"
• Commenting on what one is eating.
• Criticizing others based on weight.

"I feel fat," how often have you heard the phrase? How often has the person looked perfectly fine? I'm sure plenty of times.

And to make matters worse, these worries about appearance can be found in young children. A few facts we were given in class...

• Over half of average-weight adolescent girls have at one point in their lives tried dieting.
• In one study, almost one-third of girls (ages 10-14) were currently on a diet.
• The majority of girls who diet begin dieting before the age of 15.
• Concerns about being "fat" and high levels of body-image dissatisfaction are found in children as young as 7 or 8.
• Half of girls between 7-13 years old, and two-thirds of girls between 14-17 report often feeling "fat" or wanting to lose weight.

That's ridiculous.

Let's look at a few reasons that high body-image dissatisfaction is present.

1) Pubertal development:

• Girls experience an average weight gain of 20 lbs. during puberty. The body changes significantly during this time period.
• Interest in opposite sex leads to more concerns about appearance.
• Importance of peer relationships increase, fat talk occurs with peers.

2) Adulthood:

• Stress increases.
• Metabolism slows down later in life, and no longer able to simply eat whatever you want.
• Responsible for what you eat as you get older. Easiest options aren't always the healthiest.
• Friends eat junk, easier for you to "go with the flow" instead of choosing better alternatives

Looks bad, right? That's because it is.

Another change that occurs is in the size of muscle fibers. Men develop larger type II/fast twitch muscle fibers than women, who actually develop larger type 1/slow twitch muscle fibers. The former-mentioned are important to train in weight lifting. They allow for sprinting, lifting heavy, and doing virtually anything that requires strength. The other fibers, they're better suited for activities like long distance running.

So far we know that,

1) the majority of females are not happy with their body.
2) "fat talk" compounds the problem within a social circle
3) concerns begin young
4) changes occur with aging (physical & intra-/interpersonal ones)

Now, what does a person do when they want to improve their appearance? Either diet, exercise, or a combination of the two.

Diet will be covered in part 3, but let's look a little at exercise.

What do most women use as their form of exercise for fat loss? Usually, long distance running.
What did I say about muscle fibers? Type I/slow twitch muscle fibers are larger and better for long distance running.
How often has it led to that dream body? Most likely, not enough.

It's important to make those type II/fast twitch muscle fibers grow. But still, women don't want to take up weight training. It's the fear of bulk and having muscles that scare women. This aversion is a limiting factor for potential success.

As you can see, Rachel Cosgrove's hardly "bulky"
despite holding 225 lbs. in that picture.
(click the image for the original article)

Where's this perception of bulk come from? Chances are because muscle is usually added before fat is shed - creating more total mass - and the fact that muscles become bigger during a workout session.

It isn't that simple to become hulkish, as in bodybuilder-like (despite women following bodybuilder routines, more on that in part 3).

I'll end this first installment on a simple note.

In one word, what is the function and purpose of the muscular system?

Movement.

And movement encompasses an array of motions outside just running.

Also keep in mind, this doesn't include every single female individual. There are women who train hard, eat wholesome foods, and aren't part of the majority that are stuck in a rut.

Hope you all enjoyed part 1. Stay tuned for part 2 next week, where I'll go over how men and the media play a role in this big picture.

An introduction to women in relation to fitness, society, and why the perfect body is so hard to achieve

Think of the title almost as an abstract to a paper. The purpose of this post is to lay out the structure of the upcoming 4-part series "When Anna Meets Jane" I mentioned last post.

My child psychopathology class spent 2 lectures on eating disorders, which affects our society more than we know.

My goal is to discuss and go over what I learned, as well as connecting it to women and the approach they take towards diet & exercise. Additionally, I'll take a look at the role of others - men & the media - in regards to how they reinforce negative behaviors/habits for women, that in the end, only do more harm than good and create unrealistic ideals & goals.

I'll do one post every Tuesday, with it following this format:

1) 12/29/09 - Part 1: The Underlying Problems & Beliefs Most Women Suffer From
2) 01/05/10 - Part 2: The Contribution Men & the Media Make to Create Weak Women
3) 01/12/10 - Part 3: The Results from a Bad Foundation
4) 01/19/10 - Part 4: A Start to the Right Path

The titles aren't set in stone, but that should give you an idea of each post.

For any guys that read my blog, don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you. I'll still be doing an additional post near the end of the week.

The first post as you can see will be this Tuesday, and I hope you all stop by to read it!