Two important things for women

This post is in two parts, both related to women and the things that are good for them.

The first post came to me from my sister-in-law. Wise words about friendship from an unnamed writer:

"They Teach It at Stanford
I just finished taking an evening class at Stanford. The last
lecture was on the mind-body connection - the relationship
between stress and disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry at
Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things
that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman,
whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her
health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends.

"At first everyone laughed, but he was serious.
Women connect with each other differently and provide support
systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult
life experiences. Physically this quality 'girlfriend time'
helps us to create more serotonin - a neurotransmitter that
helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well
being. Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships
around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk
about how they feel about certain things or how their personal
lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing,
hunting, golf? Yes. But their feelings? Rarely.

"Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our
sisters/mothers, and evidently that is very good for our health.
He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to
our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.

"There's a tendency to think that when we are 'exercising' we are
doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out
with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more
productively engaged. Not true. In fact, he said that failure to
create and maintain quality personal relationships with other
humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking!
So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat
yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing
something good for your health! We are indeed very, very lucky.
So let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently
it's very good for our health."

My second point is about something else that's very good for our health: strength training. Ever wonder if it's really worth all the sweat and effort (and sore muscles) to strength train? Wouldn't that time be better spent going for an extra run or doing a step class--especially if you're a woman? After all, how much stronger can you really hope to get?

I'm hear to say emphatically that strength training--when done correctly--DOES work.

Here's an anecdote for you: Today, I couldn't push myself out the door for yet another run, so instead I did a TaeBo DVD I hadn't done in well over a year: "Billy's Boot Camp, Ultimate Boot Camp." Let me tell you, that video used to make me cry it pushed me so hard. But today, after having diligently done my Bob Harper "Pure Burn Super Strength" DVD and Cardio Muscle classes all summer, the TaeBo tape was so much easier! Don't get me wrong--it was still tough, but not nearly as hard as it used to be.

Strength training really does build strength, as the name suggests. And by pushing yourself a little harder (lifting heavier weights, doing more reps, or simply training more often), you will build noticeable strength. Don't give up on this one--it's worth the effort!