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Ladies … Looking for Ways to Increase Personal Power?

Building muscle increases more than physical strength

Michelle Thall
5 min readAug 22, 2020
Dr T — Pushup/Stretch Hybrid, Photo by Erica Holman

I love working out, especially my upper body! Up until recently, my favorite thing was push-ups, full-body often termed “men’s push-ups.” I never thought of doing this as work, because I enjoyed the feeling of getting on the floor, powering through a giant set of push-ups, and the stretching I did afterward. Yes, sometimes I felt DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) the next day, but that is a good sort of sore. It means I did something, I worked something, I maintained my strength or built it up. That sort of sore makes me feel powerful, proud, and confident. It makes me feel like I can do ANYTHING!

I started doing push-ups at about the same time I got serious about working out — in the 1990s — when I was dating a bodybuilder. He treated his body like a temple, was so diligent about his workouts, eating well, and avoiding anything that could have a toxic effect on his physiology. It was inspirational to me — the fact that his priority was caring for his body as opposed to building huge muscles. I was already accustomed to working out, but hanging out with him motivated me to consider new exercises. Push-ups seemed logical because women tend to have weaker upper bodies than men, and because we all get a certain amount of lower body strength…

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Michelle Thall
Michelle Thall

Written by Michelle Thall

Creator, Teacher & Learner on a journey to become myself — whole, well & happy — and help others do the same. Join the tribe @ TheWholeWellnessProject.com

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