Dear Dr. Laura:

I love that you promote strength training for women!  I'm a trainer who works with an adult population, and I'm also a strength and conditioning coach for youth athletes at a local high school.  I am constantly preaching to people the importance of strength training (especially for women).  

Sometimes I feel as if we haven't advanced much from the 1980s because women still lean toward cardiorespiratory work and avoid the weights.  Many of them still believe those old adages like "you'll get bulky," which makes me nuts.  That's why I love hearing women talk about their strength program.  Please continue to do so, as I know you're influencing a lot of women to take a second look!

I used to body build and power lift and competed on a national level.  Within the last two years, I decided to pick up competitive powerlifting again.  I thought you might like to know that as a 55-year-old mother, wife, and grandmother, I currently hold a world record in the bench press for my age group - 176.4 pounds.  Unfortunately, I only TIED the deadlift world record at 302 pounds.  

Thanks so much for all that you do to encourage women to take care of their bodies, and the positive influence you have on so many people, including me!

Claudia