Natalie Ribble, shown working with a Seattle Strength & Performance client, says “there are a lot of myths about what women’s bodies should look like.” | Photo courtesy Seattle Strength & Performance
On her LinkedIn profile, Natalie Ribble says she’s “helping people fall in love with getting strong.”
Ribble is the chief marketing and brand officer and a strength coach at Seattle Strength & Performance, a training studio with six locations across the city. The strength-training gym/training studio focuses on personalized coaching rather than a typical open gym, with programs tailored to each person.
Ribble was once a competitive powerlifter but now does three full-body strength-training days each week. She also goes on twice-weekly runs.
“I’m just trying to have the most athletic and functional body I can,” she says. “I want to do things I like to do, and I want to maintain that as I get older.”
Yesterday, Formidable explored the unique benefits women get when they exercise. Today we’re talking with Ribble, who has held various roles at Seattle Strength & Performance since joining five years ago.
What are the benefits of strength training for women? It’s not historically been something that women are encouraged to do, but the health benefits are incomparable to any other form of exercise as far as maintaining bone density, maintaining muscle mass, getting through menopause, hormone changes, all those kinds of things.
What’s the mix of women versus men at Seattle Strength & Performance? Probably about 60% women, 40% men. In the industry generally, coach- or trainer-led fitness tends to be fairly female-dominated, like in group fitness classes. All different ages. The average is probably about 50.
Why haven’t women traditionally done strength training? It's just a very traditionally and historically male-dominated space. Walk into a typical weight room and it's mostly going to be men. More often than not, in my life, in various gyms, I'm the only woman in the weight section.
Why do you think that is? It’s a cultural thing. There's so much societal expectation what women's bodies should look like. There’s this idea that lifting weights is going to make you bulky, or lifting weights is going to make you look like a man, or you're going to immediately turn into a bodybuilder. There’s a lot of messaging that pushes women more toward things like Pilates and yoga or lighter weight, more reps.
What are the main hurdles women have over hitting a gym or lifting weights? There's a lot of myths out there about women's bodies and strength training. There's a lot of fear-mongering around injury. They’re afraid they’re going to wake up one morning and look like The Hulk.
What do women say they want to get out of their workouts? There's a lot of women doing this because they're like, "Hey, my mom is in her 70s and has bone density issues, and I really don't. I know that's in my genetics, and the internet told me that the best way to avoid that is to strength train.” It’s not that they're trying to be a competitive athlete or anything like that. They just want to stay healthy.
What’s it going to take to get more women into the gym? Representation is a big thing. I think the rise in women’s sports is interesting, and women see they can be strong and can and should be athletic. I've also heard a lot more women in their 40s, 50s, 60s say, "Hey, my doctor said I need to strength train.” With more research into metabolic disease, menopause and bone density, the medical community is realizing the importance of strength training, especially for women.
How does the SSP gym model differ from large fitness chains? We don't have mirrors. We don't have TVs. We don't do heart rate monitors or any of that kind of stuff. It's very people first. We’re like everybody’s little neighborhood gym. It’s not an intimidating space.
