Body for life We watched the video together and laughed about how silly most of it was. "Body for Life" a excellent idea, although by know means a new, just good marketing, had taken the country by storm. Men and women working out creating a new body, following basic workout techniques, and getting harder stronger physiques. My wife decided to try diet/workout program and together we watched the complimentary video that came with the program. Although comical, in made some good points and we talked about after and during the video about dieting and working out. My wife, Laura, was decent enough athlete, although she never really hit the weights that hard, she had good endurance and was pretty quick for someone her size. Laura stood about 5'4" and weighed around 150, which she didn't like one bit. Her weight was always an issue, although until now she didn't care to much about it, she liked to eat, drink, and have a good time. The body for life was her way of getting into excellent shape and staying that way, according to the program. After the video she showed me a magazine article and asked me to read it so we could discuss it. It had to do with strength and the difference between males and females. The article, in a woman's fitness magazine, said that the genders are basically the same in strength when you take size and body weight into consideration, and the average male was only 33% stronger than the average female. Most of that strength being upper body, the lower body strength being almost identical. I read the article, which I think was written to make woman feel stronger, and turned to speak with Laura. "So what do think Mike? Any comments from the gallery?" she asked smiling. "I think it's all on a person by person basis. Some people are naturally strong and athletic and some people are not. I work out all the time but never get that big or much stronger." "What do you think about the guy/girl thing? You think a girl can be as strong as a guy if she worked out hard enough?" Laura asked. "I don't know about that. I think a woman can get strong if she works out, but what do you mean by strong? You mean relative to size or do you mean just anyone no matter what size?" I countered. "Let me put it this way, who could lift more me or you?" "I could because I'm bigger, in height and weight, and I've been lifting for a long time." I replied. "What about a female body builder that same height as you, or even a little shorter, even someone close to my height. What about that girl on TV, she could definitely lift more than you, her legs make yours look silly" she laughed. "That's true enough, but that woman was on steroids or something. She probably weighs a little more than me and is a little taller, but that's a bad example. She's a professional body builder, I'm not. That's like saying that a world class sprinter is faster than me. Of course she would be" I am about 5'10" and weigh about 170 pounds, not the biggest guy in the world, but not really a weakling. What are getting at?" "Pound for pound I bet I'm as strong as you are. In fact, I'll bet that after my program is done, I'll be stronger than you pound for pound. How about them apples!" she said happily but seriously. "How exactly do you intend on finding that out little lady? You want to do some kind of test at the gym? I asked having some fun with this. "That's exactly what I'm proposing! In high school we had to do a test which showed pound for pound, and by gender how strong you were. I was not only the strongest girl, but pound for pound, I was the strongest person! Remember that through junior high guys had not developed physically, and I was always knocking them around when they pushed me. So what do you say? I'll get the test and you and I will do it. It will get me more motivated. You're not chicken are you?" she asked laughing and hitting my arm. "Ok, if you really think it will help you, I'm game" I replied knocking her onto the couch. She jumped up and pushed backwards forcefully. "Push me while you still can tough guy. In twelve weeks we will see who is pushing who" Laura smirked and walked away. The next twelve weeks went by quickly for both of us. We each were involved in our own little worlds filled with work and other mundane activities. For Laura, the twelve weeks were testing but rewarding. The changes in her body started around week 7, when some weight began to drop off and her body fat started to drop. When Laura hit week 10, the results were more noticeable, and her workouts became more fun, and longer. The final day of her last week we took measurements together to see where she was at. She had dropped weight and added muscle and weighed 130 pounds even, but her body fat dropped from 21% to 14%. She lost inches everywhere, losing the least in her arms which gained muscle where there had been none before. Overall she was dramatically improved, and although she complained about losing more weight, she was very happy where she was and eager to move forward. I had almost forgotten about our little contest, but she had not. We scheduled a Saturday morning, and went to the gym together, we usually work out at different times so this was a nice treat. The contest was several different events which included, Bench Press, Leg Press, Curls (straight bar), pull-ups, dips, shoulder press, leg extensions and hamstring curls. Some of the events where one rep contests, but others were testing reps, like dips and some of the leg work. We had a good time doing it, and I was really impressed by Laura's strength and determination to do well. I had never seen her competitive side before, and it was really fierce. It was hard to tell who was winning at the gym because my weights were more than hers, but in this equation gender and weight were added to make it more equal, or so Laura said. We were pretty close in the contests that involved leg strength, but there was nothing that she beat me in head on, I just didn't know how the formula would change things. I found out soon enough. Laura went right into the kitchen when we got home and began feeding information into the formula. With pencil, paper, and calculator in hand she quickly worked and her equations and results. I did not hear much for about twenty minutes, and she appeared in the living room holding a piece of paper, but unable to hide her smile. "It was pretty close, actually not that close, but I'm afraid you have lost big man. In fact you only won one category, and that was by the skin of your teeth. I won all the others, some closely and some, well let's just say, by alot. So I am stronger than you now weakling!" "That's such nonsense. I was clearly stronger than you at the gym, you didn't lift more than me, not in one contest. The formula is stupid. Your formula can say whatever you want it to, but I'm still stronger so don't act all weird" I snarled. I don't know why I took such exception to her comment, but she really seemed to be rubbing it in my face. I was stronger than her and didn't need her acting all tough because of this nonsense. "You're a baby. You are not man enough to admit a woman can be as strong as you, like all macho, idiotic men. Why can't you guys admit defeat gracefully? The contest was based on tests that have gone on for years. Woman are not as big, but we can be very strong for our size. If I was your height and weight, I would just as strong, no stronger than you without any formula. I'm stronger than you right now, even without the formula, it would have been closer that's all. I punched in all the numbers like I was a guy the same height and weight and won. Since when are so you so defensive about all this? Why can't you except that I'm stronger than you?" Laura said looking down at me. "Why are you so caught up in this crap?" I replied "it's not like you're superwoman now capable of leaping over buildings. It doesn't make you anything. I'm still bigger, stronger, faster, and tougher than you are, so get off it." "Who said anything about being tough? You maybe bigger than me and weigh more, and you maybe faster than me, although I'll bet I'm quicker than you are. In fact, I'm also more flexible than you, I have more endurance, and I'm agile. And lastly, why do you think for an instance that you are tougher than me? Have you ever tested my toughness? And since when are you so tough?" she questioned and sat next to me, facing me in a defensive posture. "First of all you're nuts. Secondly, since when did I have to prove my toughness? I'm a guy.." "And that makes you tougher than me? That's bullshit. Gender has nothing to do with toughness, and you should know that. I'm just as tough as you are mentally and physically, and you know that. You have never seen me act cowardly or like a priss. I have never backed down from a challenge, not from you or anyone else. Being a guy does not make you tougher it makes you ignorant of a woman's toughness. You believe that because you are a guy that makes you tough? I say people are tough because of who they are" she said forcefully. "Look I never said you weren't tough. I simply said that I'm tougher. When it comes down to it, if you really want to hear this, might makes right. Only the strong survive. Remember all those sayings. Basically I'm tougher than you because I could beat your ass" I declared. "So let me get this straight. I beat you in a strength competition, fair and square let me add, and now your pride is hurt and your whining. I don't have to prove anything to you Mike, but something tells me to do just that. So here's where we are." Laura said and moved closer to me, putting a hand on my leg, "We just went to the gym, competed in a strength test, which I won, and now your saying that you are still stronger, and not only that, but your tougher and could kick my ass. Is that what you're saying?" I nodded yes and she continued. "So it didn't matter what the results were, you would refute them by saying you were still stronger with no way of proving it. Then you continue by saying you are not only stronger, but tougher and all this other stuff. Personally, I don't think you're tough, in fact I say I'm tougher than you in every way. So take tougher out of your side, you maybe bigger and weigh more, but I'm stronger and tougher." "You're being crazy. You have some test to prove this to?" I said sarcastically. "There's many ways we can settle this, but only one that makes sense. I would gladly get in a fist fight with you, but the bruises and cuts would be hard to hide. On you I mean. Might makes right doesn't it? So putting this in your ignorant terms, you think you are stronger and tougher because you could kick my ass. I say you can't, and actually I would beat yours." Laura said looking at me now without smiling. "So I figure a good test of strength, toughness, endurance, and about every other attribute is wrestling. Me against you, no excuses. One wins and one loses, period. In fact, I say we do several matches, so you can't lose one and say I was lucky. Let's say 3 out of 5. Interested?" I couldn't believe she was saying this. I was pissed, but fascinated by the discussion. It might be some fun wrestling with her, although she seemed pretty serious. Actually she was very serious, and I knew she was. I figured by doing it I would shut her up and prove a couple of points to her. "I'm very interested in this Laura. I hope you know what you getting yourself into. I won't let you win, not even once. I'll prove my point and end this nonsense. We have never done this so what do we do?" I asked. Laura explained to me how she wanted to do it and I agreed. She seemed to know quite alot about wrestling and how it's done. We had to wrestle until a submission, because there was no ref to count my shoulder pinned she said. Three out of five matches, no punching, pulling hair or pansy stuff she said. We would do it in the living room, and after moving some furniture around, met in the middle of the room. Laura was wearing a sports bra and underwear, revealing her new found muscles in her shoulders, arms, and chest. Not to mention her previously defined legs, which were more impressive than ever. I was wearing a pair of shorts, and quite honestly, didn't look as athletic as my opponent. She was definitely the more muscular one. "Ok, we both know the rules, but I want to say this. When we are done, no bad feelings, no whining, no sulking. We are doing this to prove something to each other and both have our reasons, but our relationship should not be hurt. If you win I will deal with that, shake your hand and say congrats, if I win you do the same. Can you handle that?" Laura asked. I said that I could, and we prepared to start. We both got down on our knees and faced each other, which is how we decided we would start, and began. We locked arms high around the shoulders and began to test each others strength. We pushed each other, which is something I didn't think she could do to me, already hitting my ego, and we fell to the side. Laura was quick to squirm her way on top of me and tried to lock her legs around mine. I was able to push her off and leap towards her, wrapping my arms around her head and neck. I squeezed tightly and had her in a front headlock, and positioned my body away from hers, attempting to gain leverage. This was easy. She was struggling, and I was in control, until Laura suddenly grabbed my hands and began to pry them apart. I held on as tight as I could , but she continued to move them, until she broke my grip. Laura held onto both wrists now and drove me onto my back. She wrapped her arms around my head and neck, trapping one of my arms, and at the same time, wrapped her legs tightly around mine. I tried to rock her off me, and she moved forward and had her knees now holding my legs in place. I struggled to get free but she actually had me immobilized completely. I continued to struggle to get free, and realized she was barely trying at all, only allowing to exert energy. I stopped moving for a second and she sat up, looking me in the face. "Not what you expected is it? You had me and I had you. I could hold you there all day, but you wouldn't give up, it's not painful enough. I have beaten you already, you've felt my strength, which is equal if not greater than yours, and you know I'll win. Shall we continue?" Laura sat up but didn't move off me, she sat on my chest and tried to grab my arms. She was not only the aggressor, she was much stronger than I thought. I wasn't sure I could simply overpower her. I tried to roll her off me, and succeeded on rolling to my stomach, but she simply snaked her way on my back. She wrapped herself tightly around me, catching my legs in hers and attempting to grab my arms. She was able to grab my right arm, and she forcefully wrenched it behind my back. I tried to break free, but she forcefully and carefully held me there, slowly twisting my arm towards my shoulder. The pain began to increase, and I knew I could not get out. I killed me to give up, but I had to. She beat me, fair and square. I had no reason to complain, she simply beat me. She let go quickly and got off me slowly, letting me feel her muscles uncoil. Her victory was immense. Everything had changed. We both felt it. Suddenly we were physical equals, or if anything she was the dominant one. It felt strange, and humiliating. She looked at me and smiled. "I'm proving nothing to myself. I always knew I could beat you. You're a pretty strong guy, I'm just tougher, and a better at fighting. I know you must be pissed right now, and at the same time confused by how strong I have become. It's not just about strength either, it's about losing to a woman to you. You should stop being so ignorant. I'm very strong now, but more importantly, I'm the tougher one here. I can fight and wrestle better than you. You ready to keep going?" she asked getting into a position to wrestle again. I told her I was ready again and tried to act indifferent to her lecture. We moved towards each other again, and I was feeling a little more hesitant to move in. She had intimidated me by winning the first match, and I didn't know what to expect now. Laura moved in quickly and again we locked arms. This time Laura pulled me towards her, and not expecting the move, I fell onto my stomach. Laura was quick to move and threw her body onto mine. Laura, like before, wrapped her body around mine, not so much in a hold, but to keep me immobile. Unable to wrap her legs around my head, she moved quickly around me, and again tried to twist me arm behind my back. I held my arms in tightly, and noticing this, she moved her arms up around my shoulders, and then attempted to get her right arm around my neck. I held my head low, and moved my arm up to block her move, which enabled her to get her arms around mine. She tried to lock her arms in a full nelson position, but because her arms were not long enough, it was not that painful, but effective. She continued to grind her arms in closer and tighter, so her hands could secure tightly, and eventually, it worked. The full nelson, although not very painful, left me again stuck in her grasp. We rolled to the side and eventually wound up on our butts, which allowed her to wrap her legs around my midsection. She held me there, securely wrapped up and dominated by her strength and fighting skill. I began to pull at her hands, and was finally able to break her grip, but before I could react, she quickly wrapped her right arm tightly around my neck and squeezed slowly. The pain forced me to stop moving, and allowed her time to perfect her new hold. I was unable to escape this hold, she playfully flexed her right arm, stopping the flow of blood to my head, and could do this at will. She asked me repeatedly to escape her hold, knowing that I could not, and laughing at my attempts. I gave up several times before she let me go. She could have held me there forever. "That was a great hold. I've been dying to try that one. You had no chance of escape, no matter how big or strong. That's two to nothing. You ready to admit that I'm the stronger one in this relationship? The tougher one? It's been very lopsided so far, you have any fight left in you?" she asked very sarcastically. "I'm not quitting Laura. You have to win one more." I responded coldly. The results so far were hard for me to swallow. She seemed stronger than me, able to move me and control me at will, but more importantly, she was very tough and an excellent wrestler. Wrestling is the most challenging one on one event around, and is only a reflection of other competitions. You can't hide in this contest, and she was clearly beating me, and we both knew it. Laura had become my equal in strength, and had a toughness that I seemed to lack. I began to think what I knew she believed. If she could overpower and defeat me so easily at wrestling, she could also beat me in fight. The ultimate might makes right contest. I looked at her and saw her in an entirely new way. Laura was attractive, but tough looking. Her body, although not cut, was heavily muscled and sturdy, definitely more muscular than mine. I was intimidated by her, and she could sense that now. "No crying after this. When I win, you will admit that I'm stronger than you, and give me break with this toughness nonsense. There should be no complaints, we fought fairly and when I win, I will have one fairly. If you have other contests you want to try to gain some dignity back, we can discuss those after. I win you admit defeat, right?" Laura asked demandingly. "If you win Laura, I will have no reason to bitch. You have proven how strong you are, and you will have beat me in wrestling, nothing else." I replied. "What does that mean? I couldn't beat you in a fight? Maybe later we will actually fist fight, but I was trying to avoid that. Right now I'll beat you so easily, you will have no thought to even try it." Laura said. We started in the same position, but Laura quickly moved towards me, kncking into me and sending me sprawling back. She pounced on me as I fell, and I wrapped my arm around her head. I squeezed tightly, but she managed to use leverage to push me arm up and escape the hold. Using her usual method, she snaked around me, wrapping me up tightly. I used my own leverage and knocked her off for a moment, but an instant later she was moving in again. I was trying to get up, but she moved to fast and grabbed my wrists and pushed me down. Laura was able to push my arms down to the side, and then sat up on my chest, in a perfect pin. I tested her strength trying to push my arms up, but that was no easy task. We tested each other, until again I realized I was exerting much more energy than her. Eventually she lost balance and fell to the side. Our fingers became locked and our arms were pushing to gain leverage now, each of us trying to get on top of the other. We pushed and strained, which again was damaging to my already hurt ego, because I was not overpowering her, we were actually equal. We released this test, and again showing her quickness, she moved in close and wrapped me up. She grabbed me right arm, and pulled me into her, this time moving her legs high, and suddenly wrapping them securely around my neck and right shoulder area. My left arm, although free, was useless and simply attempted to pry her legs apart. She had my right arm trapped with her hands, and my neck tightly wrapped in her powerful legs. Our faces were only several inches apart in this hold and as she squeezed she laughed and taunted me. I did not want to give up, and tried desperately to escape, but I could not. Laura asked me several times to give up, constantly squeezing her legs together. "We both know I could squeeze so much harder than I am, but I don't want to cause permanent damage. Give up now honey or I will" she demanded, "I also want to know right now if this is over. I beat you easily, and could beat you every time. If you want to drop it I will. I will never discuss it again, but right now admit what happened. I'm not into kicking your ass, I just wanted to prove a point and I did. Now you need to handle this and be an adult." "You win Laura. You are the better wrestler, and tougher than I thought." I replied. "Are we done then? You want to take this to the next step? I'm prepared right now to kick your ass if you need me to. Admit to me that I'm the tougher, just this one time, because I have earned that from you. Or we fight again, and there are no rules. It's up to you." I looked at Laura, who maintained her hold, and realized I didn't want to fight her. She had completely beaten me and now intimidated me to the point that I had no reason to think I could win. I had to admit now that Laura was the physically dominant person in our marriage. I had no reason to think differently. I felt bad, but not as bad as I thought I would. Maybe it took this to bring the truth out of us, but it was out now. "You won Laura. I admit everything. I'm not strong enough to beat you, and you are the better wrestler. I don't want to fight you, because I think you would beat me. You have nothing else to prove to me." I said quietly. Laura released her hold and sat up facing me. I sat up against the couch and looked at her admiringly and sighed. It takes a big man to get his ass beat by his wife and not fall into a serious psychological shell. Laura reached back on the shelf and hit a button on the vcr. I looked up and noticed she had the cam-corder going the entire time. She looked over at me and laughed. "A week or month from now when you get your pride back and you want a rematch, just watch this. This tape is part of my body for life competition. I have decided that I will continue to test my self against you to see how strong I'm getting. I suggest that you also join the competition so you don't get killed. You know, I have always been tougher than you, and could have probably beat you years ago, but this added muscle really did the trick. What you think of the program now?" she asked. "Just hand me the book" I said and walked into the other room.