Training

What a Strong Woman Wants


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We all know that looks aren’t everything; intelligence, humor, and quick wit are traits that many women admire in guys. Just like you men give lavish praise for a perfectly plump derriere, It’s only natural, of course, that we ladies have our favorite physical attributes on a man.

The women below spend a significant amount of time slingin’ iron and we know and respect the work that it takes to build a desirable body. Gentlemen, step away from the ab machine and standing calf raise. The ladies of Juggernaut are going to tell you which body parts we notice the most, along with some exercises to help you out!-JCK

 

Jen Comas Keck trains hard and appreciates a man who does the same. Learn more about her at JenComasKeck.com
Jen Comas Keck trains hard and appreciates a man who does the same. Learn more about her online nutrition coaching and Olympic lifting aspirations at JenComasKeck.com

Jen Comas Keck

 

My favorite body part on a man is a strong, developed back.

One thing that all of the men of Team Jugg have in common is a well developed, strong back. A strong back is crucial for good posture, and good posture is necessary in order to look confident, and we all know that confidence is attractive.

Shoulders pulled back and a head held high shows the world, and your girl, that you mean business. A nice back is something that shows in everything a man wears, from a favorite old college t-shirt, to the way it fills out a killer suit.

I’d trade big biceps and ripped abs for a killer back on a man any day!

Pulling exercises in all directions will build the wide, muscular, thick back that strong women like Jen love on a guy. Try this back training protocol to build a barn door back!

1) Bentover Rows-5 sets of 5-8 reps building up weight each set while trying to keep your back parallel to the ground
2) Medium Grip Pullups-4 sets of 4-6 reps using a weight you feel like you can do for 8-10 reps
3) Pullup Mechanical Drop Set-Beginning with wide grip pullups, perform reps until 1-2 reps shy of failure, as you fatige progress to medium grip pullups, neutral grip chinups and narrow grip chinups
JoEllyn McAtee is a former collegiate track and field athlete, who is now the owner of Crossfit Bluegrass
JoEllyn McAtee is a former collegiate track and field athlete, who is now the owner of Crossfit Bluegrass

JoEllyn McAtee

 

Strong, sexy and sculpted are just a few adjectives that could be used to describe the man of any woman’s dreams. These characteristics are perfect to describe the physique of an athlete or an underwear model. Why such a broad spectrum you ask … because looking good in underwear for a photo shoot or looking good while scoring a touchdown doesn’t start anywhere but from the calves and works its way up to the glutes.

The idea of a man protecting his woman is based on the presumption that he is actually stronger than her… or at least looks like it.  This male would have sculpted calves, strong quads and buns of steel. Ladies don’t want a man that can bench press a house and also wear his lady’s skinny jeans!  Ladies want a man that can sweep them off their feet, carry them up some stairs and bring them across a threshold. And preferably they can do this while wearing some fitted jeans that hug on that beautiful butt and show off some strong thighs.

The squat is the foundation of building powerful, strong legs that will catch a real woman’s eye. Try this squat workout to blow up your wheels!

1) Back Squat-55%x5, 60%x5, 65%x5, 70%x5, 75%x5+, do at least 5 reps here but if you feel good keep this set going past 5, staying just 1-2 reps shy of failure.
2) Straight Leg Deadlifts standing on 3” blocks with a 3 second pause at the bottom of the lift-12 reps, 10 reps, 3×8 reps
Now find your projected max from your last set of back squats by taking the weight you used x reps x .033 + the weight. Now divide that number by 2 and that is the weight you will use next
3) Front Squats-With the weight you found using the above formula for 1 rest pause set. For this rest pause you will do 3 reps less than failure, then rest 30 seconds, do 2 reps less than failure, rest 30 seconds and finally go to 1 rep less than failure.

 

Courtney Gould is an Olympic lifter, powerlifter and just all around strong chick.
Courtney Gould is an Olympic lifter, powerlifter and just all around strong chick.

Courtney Gould

 

A girl likes to feel safe (yes, even the strong ones) and to me, there’s no safer feeling than being wrapped up in my guy’s big arms and chest.  With that being said, it is easy to understand that a big gorilla chest and triceps are one of the sexiest things I find on a man.  I could give two sh!ts about biceps, but if you got that horseshoe going on from lifting heavy then I will look twice.

A big chest, traps, and nice triceps are some of the first things I notice on a man, unfortunately with normally baggy jeans it is tougher to see the legs and behind, although that is important too.  However, it’s one thing to see a guy with a big chest, but it’s another to see him push 500lbs off his chest with ease.  That is what’s sexy.  A guy’s strength is much more impressive because with strength comes size and then you have the best of both worlds!

Try this chest and triceps swolefest and maybe Courtney Gould will give you a second look…

1) Bench Press-Up to a heavy set of 3
2) 1.5 Rep Paused Benches-Drop down to 60% of whatever your best set of 3 was on the bench and do 3×5. To do a 1.5 rep Paused Bench, lower the bar to 1” off your chest, pause for 1 second, explosively drive the bar to halfway to lockout, lower the bar to your chest and press fully to lockout-that is 1 rep. Learn more about this style of benching and how it will skyrocket your bench, check out this article by Brandon Lilly.
3) DB Incline Bench-1xMechanical Drop Set, starting at a high incline you will begin to rep out a medium/heavy weight on the DB Incline, when you get close to failure, sit up while your partner lowers the incline on the bench one notch, immediately begin benching again until your are again just shy of failure, sit up while your partner lowers the incline one more notch (it should know be one notch about where it would be flat), finish off at this lowest incline with a set to failure.
4) Band Tricep Pushdowns-100 Total Reps, break this up however you want 2×50, 5×20, 4×25, 10×10, it doesn’t matter really, just challenge yourself.
Former collegiate swimmer, Ariel Stephens, has already put up very impressive numbers of 100kg in the Clean and Jerk and 76kg in the Snatch during her short Olympic lifting career.
Former collegiate swimmer, Ariel Stephens, has already put up very impressive numbers of 100kg in the Clean and Jerk and 76kg in the Snatch during her short Olympic lifting career.

Ariel Stephens

 

When I spot a good looking guy, after noticing his face, I naturally start to scan the body. One of the first muscles I always notice is the traps. Strong, developed traps can tell you a lot about a guy. No guy who is serious about lifting has small traps. If a guy has muscular traps, then the scan continues to the chest, arms, abs, legs, back, and butt. If a guy has small traps, then the scan stops and interest is quickly lost. Many guys take pride in their arms, back, and chest muscles, but how will those muscles ever get noticed if a girl can’t see past the weak under developed traps?

Muscular traps are appealing to the eye and usually make guys seem like they have bigger shoulders. If you don’t care about the size or development of your traps, My next question would be… Do you even lift?

Everyone knows that a big, powerful yoke only comes with hard and heavy training. Build a powerful upper back and neck with this routine!

1) Power Cleans-5 reps, 4 reps, 3 reps, 2 reps, 1 rep, adding weight each set
2) Snatch Grip Deadlifts from 4” Blocks-15 reps, 12 reps, 10 reps, adding weight each set
3) DB Shrugs w/ 1 second hold at the top of each rep-3 sets of 30 reps
Molly Galbraith is a phenomenal coach and trainer, as well as being an accomplished powerlifter and figure competitor. Learn more about her at MollyGalbraith.com
Molly Galbraith is a phenomenal coach and trainer, as well as being an accomplished powerlifter and figure competitor. Learn more about her at MollyGalbraith.com

 

Molly Galbraith

 

When Chad asked me to contribute to this article about which body part I find most attractive on a guy, I’ll be honest — I wasn’t quite sure what to write!  I mean, who wants to choose if you don’t have to, right?

Of course I’m a fan of big, muscular legs, a wide and thick back, a nice chest, and strong arms… I want the whole shebang!  But after a lot of thought, I was able to narrow it down to just one body part.

Nice hands.  Yes, hands.

My favorite thing about hands is that they are the most fantastic multi-purpose tools on the planet.  They can do everything from gently wiping away a woman’s tears and tucking her hair behind her ear, to breaking someone’s nose and picking up 800 lbs. off the ground.

Nice hands make a woman feel warm, safe, loved, and protected.  They are strong and capable.  They have accomplished something.

Nice hands can take care of a woman and provide for her, even if she doesn’t “need” it.  Let’s be honest…even strong and independent women enjoy feeling taken care of occasionally, and it’s nice for a man to feel needed too.

Follow Chad’s training advice below to get strong hands and a super strong grip that your lady will love.

Small piece of advice: strong hands do not have to feel like sandpaper!  I am all for callouses, (I rock some wicked ones myself!) but when you touch your woman’s arm it shouldn’t feel like she is getting turf-burn.  Exfoliate occasionally and don’t be a stranger to hand cream here and there.  If you want your hands all over her, they better feel nice!

Strong hands and forearms are a sign of strength and hard work. Use these exercises to build a pair of powerful mitts that will make your feel taken care of!

1) Farmers Walks-Grab the heaviest pair of dumbbells your gym has, or load up some farmers walk handles and walk for 5 sets of 50-100’, squeezing the weight in your hand as tight as possible the whole time.
2) Towel Chinups-Drape a towel or rope over the chinup bar and bang out reps until you can’t hold on any longer. Try to keep this in the 8 to 15 rep range for 3-5 sets, so if that means adding weight or band assistance, just get it done.
3) Reverse Curl/DB Curl Combo Set-Using a weight you can curl for 20+ reps, begin by performing reverse DB curls until your forearms are on fire and you only have a few good reps left, then flip your hands over and continue performing regular DB bicep curls for max reps. Repeat this for 2-3 sets. 

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