If you go to the gym more to pick up hot dates for Saturday night than to actually lift weights, then Monday night's body building and weight lifting program held in the Chase gym might not have interested you. Then again, the weight training and health information session, called "The Evolution of Muscle," was designed for both the experienced lifter and the interested observer.
"We tried to answer questions for students who feel frustrated at a plateau or have never tried weightlifting and want to try," said junior Franci Otting, who was a program coordinator and emcee for the event. Otting, who was a varsity swimmer for three years, is a major proponent of weightlifting.
Weightlifting can increase metabolism, build muscles, or add energy and vitality to your life, making it a great approach to living a healthy life, Otting explained. "It's a natural way to get a high," she said.
Organized under the auspices of the ResLife duty teams, the program "[tried] to present different opinions of the issues around weight lifting," according to Otting. "It's a way for students to have their fitness questions answered."
The evening's program featured many speakers, including two Tufts athletic trainers, and a short routine from Kimmy Murch, a 31-year old competitive body builder. Murch competes at an amateur level and trains completely naturally, and she participates in an average of two shows a year.
The trainers and weight-training experts were there to instruct and teach students on how to lift properly so as to achieve results and avoid injury. Dr. Tim Donovan, a local chiropractor, related his own first experiences with the weight room and showed how proper technique is the key to success.
"I did it incorrectly because I learned from somebody who did it incorrectly," Donovan said.
The doctor emphasized posture by waddling around the stage, hunched over with neck craned and shoulders slouched.
"Exercise is not what hurts you. It's you doing the exercise that hurts you," Donovan said.
The importance of stretching and the mental aspect of lifting were discussed during the session. Perhaps the most crucial aspect brought up, however, is to avoid overtraining.
"How many of you lift to impress the person on the stair master next to you?" Donovan asked the crowd of guilty smiles. "Typically what you worry about it what you can see. Do you look at your rhomboids? No!" Donovan said.
A common mistake among lifters is to work the same muscles over and over, which causes long term strain and muscle imbalance. The tiny, stabilizer muscles in our body are just as important as the bigger ones. Donovan challenged lifters to use concentric contractions and eccentric contractions equally, meaning that for every push there is a pull.
In her first year as a Tufts athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach, Pat Cordeiro spoke about the nutritional aspects of weight training. She challenged the group to eat healthily and showed how to do so by diagramming the traditional food pyramid with slight alterations for a new, large category at the base for water.
Cordeiro asked students to think about the noise their food makes. The sound of opening a bag of potato chips is not healthy. "If you pick up a banana, does it make any noise?" Cordeiro asked.
Cordeiro emphasized that everything you need to eat healthily is located only on the outside of the grocery store: the milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and meats. "Maybe if you need a box of cereal, you can go into the aisles. But get out of there quickly," she warned.
Students in attendance had different opinions about the event. Junior Bryant Coen, who has run track since his days as a freshman in high school, found the session useful and informative.
"[The program] told me that some of the things I do are good, reinforced what my coach has said... and made me more aware of balance," Coen said.
"I have weights. I just don't use them," said sophomore Kate Burke-Wallace, who was inspired by the presentation to start lifting.
Other students had hoped for more about the sport and competition.
"I expected to learn more about body building and competing," senior Ivan Padilla said. Following in the footsteps of his father who boxed, ran, and introduced him to sports, Padilla has been a serious body builder for the last four years.
"Personal experience is the best tool to see what works or doesn't work," he said. As for the nutrition, "vegetables are my weakness," Padilla added.
Sophomore Sonny Kathpalia, a varsity tennis player described the event like a high school gym class. "They didn't talk about anything that affect me on a personal level...it was just too broad and vague," he said.
"I learned to use negatives (concentric contractions) and not so much weight," said sophomore John Burns said, An ex-football player in rehab with athletic trainer Mike Pimentel. "I'll probably incorporate some of the ideas in my workout," Burns said.
"We want students to take the information most useful to them and use it," Otting said.
