By Heather N. on Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 1:44 AM

I don't understand why there are specific DVD's targeted for women or why that would be appealing. I respect some of these female trainers, but I think as a strength training device, gender should not matter. Everybody starts at some weight and builds up. I think it's largely marketing. I'm getting Diluglio's videos. Andrea DuCane's video is probably the best for women, she is like Pavel (Tough Love is apparently hard to get into) but it's definitely female oriented and hardcore. However, I am ready for the dude DVDs now, esp. Anthony! Be curious to hear how his Providence/Newport/Firepower stacks up in difficulty to the stuff he's done with Beth C. I think one of the Beth C. collaborations is a remake of Providence?????

 By Laura on Friday, March 20, 2009 at 2:12 PM

I agree with Heather. No one ever looked at a muscle fiber under a microscope and said "aha! this obviously came from a female!" Women's muscles respond to the same stimuli as those of men, and for the most part should be trained in the same way.

That being said, if women find it less intimidating to work out with videos that are oriented towards females, I'm all for that as long as the videos are not "dumbed down" in any way. Whatever gets people moving, right?

 By LKB Editor on Friday, March 20, 2009 at 4:15 PM

Precisely ladies... the content of these work just as well for men, the packaging and discussion is just more geared to women.

Actually, for years I suggested both men and women start with From Russia w Tough Love because it had better explanations than Pavel's stuff for men.

Make no mistake, any of these workouts will kick anyone's butt.

 By Chris on Saturday, March 21, 2009 at 3:12 AM

I'm for male female equality as much as any one and use Steve Cotter alongside Lisa. However many women will get turned off by the ironman, extreme workout labels on many of the videos and these videos get away from the image. Similarly I find Lisa's Kettlebell inc site less intimidating than Dragon Door because it's not all about showing off how much you can lift.

 By Heather Noble on Monday, March 23, 2009 at 9:52 PM

Hey thanks, Jeff, I agree. I think the female oriented videos are a fantastic way for women to 'entertain the idea' of weight training. Unfortunately, so many women really really think their ideal figure/physique type is small over strong and are afraid that weight training will pump them up like nobody's business. From what I have seen in kettlebell athletes who are female, this is so not the case. Pavel's statement about Barbie and Ken parts could not be more true. I think bodybuilding is a bit strange, and women who can 'jump' their pecs independently are well.....uh......overdoing it?

Kettlebells are so functional. Can I just tell you how many grocery bags I can carry at a time with so much more ease? NO problem! I fight my dad for the privilege (he's old fashioned and always insists).

In any event, I feel like I have achieved a pivotal moment in my training. I have been through Iron Core, Kettlebell Goddess (Andrea DuCane is hardcore if you want it that way, just increase the weight), and now I'm on to Providence, and I'm already fantasizing about Newport.

So let's see how it goes. I'm looking forward to Kettlebell-dude-land. Any ideas about Keith Webers Extreme Cardio Kettlebell workout?

Thanks for your encouragement. I wish I could meet folks locally who are 'self-enthusiasts" like me (we have a kettlebell gym I don't really want to join)...but no matter, kettlebells is the perfect weight training solution for women, like me, who have 20 years of dance, and love to use a whole-body approach to lifting. Can't believe the transformation in my abs (my post-pregnancy kangaroo pouch!) And it's just been six weeks, a couple times a week (maybe 4 to 5)

Cheers, I love your website. Maybe I'll send you some progress pics soon.

H.