This post is a teachable moment about a difficult but important topic: the sexualization of women in the fitness world.
Last weekend I spoke at the NSCA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference near Philadelphia. It was a great event, drawing more than 500 attendees—the largest turnout for an NSCA event outside the national conference. I gave two 50-minute talks: one on the deadlift, breaking down hip hinge progressions and coaching concepts, and another on the shoulder, focused on assessment and improving overhead mobility.
I flew back to Boston Sunday morning feeling good about the weekend and my performance. I had a few things I’d tweak, but overall I felt I communicated my message well, and the feedback was strong.
That same day I received an email from a female attendee named Amy. She described attending the conference, following my work, and said she was disappointed by a slide showing a photo of a woman performing a cable pull-through. She noted that it seemed to objectify women and that the talk didn’t offer equal representation of women as study subjects, while also calling out a joking line about Googling “cable pull-through” as outdated. She expressed that many women in the audience share this view and asked that I consider replacing that slide in future talks. She complimented my other work and urged accountability.
Reading the email gave me a pit in my stomach. I spent days exchanging messages with Amy, thanking her for the feedback and agreeing that the topic deserved discussion. I talked with a few of my female clients and discussed it at length with my wife, who is a psychologist, to unpack what happened.
Regarding the image, in the middle of the presentation I used a photo of a woman performing a cable pull-through as an example of the hip hinge. The photo was of Dani Shugart, wife of my editor, used in a prior article. It wasn’t the image itself that was the problem, but my offhand reaction—laughing when the slide appeared and making a joke about the Google search—that came across as objectifying.
I later explained to Amy that I did show another image as well, a woman attempting a heavy sumo deadlift, but the issue was my commentary and tone more than the image itself. That brief moment shaped how Amy experienced the talk, and that’s not what I want for any woman I work with or speak to.
My goal is to empower women and show that strength exists in everyone and that the weight room is a place to grow. This was a teachable moment for me, and I don’t want any woman to feel embarrassed, uncomfortable, or demeaned.
It’s our responsibility—especially for men—to listen, learn, and be willing to change. Thank you, Amy.
My backup talk was just going to be me ranking and discussing my favorite Jason Bourne fight scenes. Although, magnified many times over on a big screen, perhaps not the best alternative either.
Update: to be clear, I did not say anything overtly sexual. It wasn’t that the image was explicit, but that my reaction to it—my joke about the Google search—made it feel objectifying. In hindsight, if I had simply stated, “this is a slide about how to do a hip hinge,” and moved on, it would have been more appropriate. I’m not claiming to be in the same league as predators, but what happened last weekend is part of a larger issue.
