One of the foundational pieces of training and sports (when you want to build a strong body) is correcting your posture.  

As we develop from children to young women our bodies change shape – our hips widen and we gain weight around our bellies, thighs and chest. This changes our weight distribution, and as this occurs we don’t maintain strength integrity in our hips, unless actively doing so. This is because it is not inherently necessary for our biological role as mothers and gatherers (sorry, modern-day feminists). 

We each have a waist-to-hip ratio, with most women’s waist being more narrow than her hips, as compared with men which can be either equal or a waist larger than his hips (with the exception of bodybuilders who actively grow their glutes)

If you get your waist measurement and divide it into your hip measurement, the larger that number is, the more likely you will have postural issues. 

A woman who has more of a ‘square’ body shape will generally have less, as this ratio is closer to that of a man’s. For performance and posture maintenance, the narrower the hips are the better, as this ensures the angle between the hip and knee is straighter. The more dramatic the angle, which we call the Q Angle, the more likely there are to be issues. 

So for everyone, the stabilising muscles can weaken simply because we sit all day – this shortens the opposing muscles and disengages the glutes and abs, which are responsible for good posture .

We see the biggest issues in women with wider hips, as the Q angle is larger and the glutes and abs have a more difficult time remaining connected. 

These glute and deeper abdominal muscles are essential to good posture, and good posture is key to positive results in fitness and sports, so as you can imagine, reconnecting these muscles is crucial if you are to succeed in any physical endeavour, or build a strong body at all.

This applies mostly to sports and weight training, as there are some sports where developing the glutes and abdominals is core to the activity, like pilates, or gymnastics, or yoga. Those activities have a fantastic impact on the female body, improving mobility and strength in the hips and abdominals as a foundational element. 

In weight training, it’s assumed that there is no problem at all, if you don’t begin your journey with an experienced professional. There is little recognition of this process so you need to either choose a professional that understands the female body, or focus on correcting your posture yourself.

So in summary, the abs and glutes support the pelvis, and when they’re weak or under-active, the quads and lower back will take over. Generally, the pelvis is forward tilting, making most functional movements uncomfortable.  

Build a strong body with the posterior chain

Along with the glutes and abs, the hamstrings and back connect to form what we call the posterior chain. Without the posterior chain connected, we aren’t able to achieve good posture, and won’t be able to perform gym activities correctly. If you can’t perform an exercise currently, you won’t get any benefits from training, and you won’t be able to build a strong body in the short or long term.

So you want to strengthen your glutes, abs, hamstrings and back first. If you can only do 2 sessions per week, you would only train these muscles in isolated movements. As your posture improves you start to add in more complex movements, where these muscles are required to work together. 

• An example of isolated movements include rows and pulldowns, hamstring curls, leg pressing, glute bridges and kickbacks, planks and leg raises. 
• An example of compound movements include lunges, squats, hip hinge movements like the RDL or deadlift, and hip thrusts. 

So in summary, if you want to build a strong body; 

• You want to go through a process of correcting your posture, and,
• Train for overall growth. 

If you just do pushups and train without correcting this first, you will be less satisfied as you find injuries come more often and your strength plateaus in a really short time. 

To dive much, much deeper on this topic, check out my Female Training course on the topic. It’s super-low priced and will have your gym results skyrocket in a few short weeks.

Jen X