A More Than Satisfied Female Customer
Written on July 16, 2010 at 5:05 am, by Eric Cressey
I have to admit: when I first saw this subject line for an email, my mind was a bit in the gutter!
However, as it turns out, it was an awesome review of the Maximum Strength program from a female exercise enthusiast who had undertaken the program from start to finish. Check out what she had to say:
“My name is Alison Minton, I’m a 25 year old ‘recreational’ lifter. I was given your book, Maximum Strength, about 5 months ago by a friend at my gym (who happens to be one of your guniea pigs for your next project). I just finished the program today and I wanted to share my thoughts with you. A little background: former avid runner, sidelined by unsuccessful bilateral fasciotomies for compartment syndrome in my lower legs 3 years ago, which lead me to really hit the weights. My workout routines were getting pretty stale in the last year or so and I was getting frustrated and bored from circuit after circuit of moderately heaving lifting. I had exhausted everything I knew from years of reading about fitness/running/lifting and realized every female fitness magazine I received was going straight to the trash. I begged my friend at the gym for help and he gave me your book for guidance. I’ve since read your and Tony Gentilcore’s blogs religiously!
“I know you have gotten tons of very well deserved feedback by satisfied guys who have read the book/complete the program. I wanted to write to you because when I was thinking about starting it, I searched high and low for any information about women doing the program, and I found very minimal material in the way of feedback, tips or special considerations (if there even are any). Even after that, I figured, what the heck, if some random guy at the gym can do this, then so can I! So, I had my friend help me with packing day and the rest is history! I absolutely loved the program, stuck to it like glue and got some decent results:
Broad Jump: 72 inches –> 78 inches
Bench Press: 100 lbs –> 115 lbs
3 RM Chin Up: BW + 7.5 lbs –> BW+17.5 lbs
Deadlift: 175 lbs–> 190 lbs
Box Squat: 130 lbs –> 135 lbs
“I would loved to see the DL and squat go up a little more, but I did do a bit more cardio than prescribed (in the form of sprints and technique workouts, mostly) and wonder if that hindered me a bit. My body composition also changed significantly for the better and my before and after pics totally rocked.
“Just wanted to tell you that as a female ‘lifter’ I loved your program and the ideas/concepts that come out of the CP team blogs. I would LOVE to see a little more encouragement to all the ladies out there! It didn’t intimidate me to find minimal feedback regarding women attempting Maximum Strength, but some women need a little more persuasion to get over the apprehension of starting a program in a book geared towards men.
“Definitely looking forwards to your next book/program! Thanks again!”
-Alison Minton
Click here to purchase your copy of Maximum Strength for just $18.95.
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July 16th, 2010 at 6:45 am
Good stuff. I’m also a woman doing the program and just starting phase 3. My bench has already improved by 10 lb, and I’m guesstimating a 10+ lb. improvement in my dead since I’m doing my previous 1RM five times. Pretty sweet for just 8 weeks, but we’ve been pretty religious about it. I haven’t missed a single workout yet.
July 16th, 2010 at 6:53 am
I completed the program at the beginning of this year as well and saw amazing results. Especially with my deadlift form and increase in weight. Thank you again, i would recommend this to any lifter looking for a challenge and increased mobility.
July 16th, 2010 at 9:49 am
I haven’t seen this program yet, but it looks awesome. Looks like there are some great things being said about it.
I’ll definitely have to take a look.
July 16th, 2010 at 10:25 am
I’m currently in the 2nd week of phase 2. So far, – love the program. I do all my lifting days but sometimes it’s a struggle to get the cardio in. Sometimes I’ll work in some finishers at the end. However, this is the first program I haven’t given up on because I’m never bored. I already feel stronger in just 6 weeks. I’m excited to see where the end will take me. Started with a max bench of 100. Hoping to hit bodyweight at 125.
July 16th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
OK OK I’m finally getting the book out of my Amazon cart and into my home. And I’m such a freakin fangirl that I’ll probably add it to my kindle as well. Your advice regarding hip mobility has been so helpful to me and worth way more than the cost of your book.