Grunts vs. Zen: A Tale of Two Workouts

Walk into a gym, and you’ll notice something right away, it’s not just the equipment or the mirrors. It’s the soundtrack. On one side, there are a few dramatic grunts, maybe a dropped weight or two. On the other, there’s a quieter rhythm, stretch, breathe, move, repeat.

The crazy thing is that, with rare exceptions, the difference is largely due to gender. None of us can help but notice that man with the rippling muscles balancing some ludicrously heavy barbells over his head. On the other hand, if we look into the room in which everyone is silently stretching, we’ll notice that most of the participants are women. Why is there such a division by gender?

Many men grew up seeing workouts that looked intense, powerful, and very goal-driven. Lift more. Push harder. Go again. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a symbol of strength and manliness.

Women, on the other hand, were often introduced to a slightly different version of fitness. Think: lengthen, tone, balance, breathe. Movements that feel a little more fluid, a little more controlled, and yes, occasionally paired with a yoga mat and a moment of calm that looks suspiciously like peace.

So you end up with these two styles that can look like they belong in completely different gyms. One is quick bursts of effort, lift, pause, reset. The other is a graceful flow of energy.

Even the goals sometimes sound like they’re coming from different places. One voice says, “Let’s see how far I can push this.” The other says, “Let’s see how good this can feel.” Both are aiming for strength, they’re just taking slightly different scenic routes to get there.

And the best part? When people switch things up, it gets interesting fast. The person used to lifting heavy objects discovers that holding a yoga pose for 30 seconds is its own kind of challenge. The person used to flowing through stretches picks up a weight and thinks, “Wow, I didn’t know I had muscles in that part of my body.”

Both types of efforts lead to strength. Both count.” It’s just that we all learned different versions of what strength is supposed to look like. We just need to figure out what works best for us based on our individual needs, not preconceived societal criteria.