You found us!

Hello and welcome to our new BAM Strength Blog.

We’re just getting settled in, but while we rearrange the furniture and hang some pictures on the wall, we thought we would answer a few questions.

Check back in soon for more!

What’s with the name?
BAM! Because once you get swept up in our silly, encouraging wake, you won’t know what hit you. And also, Bad Ass Mamas…or Mavens, if you prefer. Or some other M-word of your choosing. Part of the name was inspired by the idea of Strong is the New Skinny (and Silly is the New Sexy…our own personal invention) to remind us all that strength and being badass is better than evaluating whether our outsides look like the airbrushed bodies on magazine covers. And in case there was any doubt, a BAM could totally take a MILF in a fight.

Who are you?
We are an informal, growing group of women working on staying fit and strong, encouraging one another, and laughing a lot while we do it. We like long walks on the beach, re-writing popular songs into silly oblivion, and comfortable work out gear. Also: food. Ruth, Linda, and Sarah met while making goofy replies to Bear Strength Clothing Co. on Twitter. Through our Twitter chatter (Twatter?), we decided to see what would happen if we did a 30-day strength challenge together. What happened was a lot of fun, accountability, and a renewed commitment to working out. We decided to invite others to join us.

Were you friends before? Have you ever met? How do you know you’re all real?
No, not yet, and faith? I mean, this would be a really weird catfishing scheme if we weren’t all real. We do plan to exchange Christmas cards and woolen goods soon. And hopefully meet up some day.

Are you fitness professionals? Can I ask you for medical/dietary/physical therapy advice?
We are not. Think of us like the group you meet up with to go for a run in the park. We’re here to support and encourage and challenge ourselves alongside you, but not to coach or train you. We will not be making up the fitness challenges we use and we in no way endorse the products or represent ourselves as personal trainers. It is up to you to know your own limits and make modifications as you need them. Please do not ask us for advice, unless it is for the best detergent to get the aroma of workout funk from your tee shirt or whether we find lavender or peppermint more invigorating in the post-workout bath. We are nerds who read a lot of books, but none of them are medical journals. If you have any concerns before starting a challenge, please, please, please talk to your doctor about them. All challenges and workouts will be available online, so it should be easy to share with your doctor unless she is a Luddite. In that case, you can print it out for her.

I’m just getting back into working out, am I in the right place?
Heck yeah! Even if you’re not doing the same challenge as the rest of us, we want to hear how it is going and will cheer you on through your personal victories. Just make sure you chat with your doctor if you’re starting something new.

What’s next?
Well, December 1st is the kickoff to our first big BAM Strength challenge. We’re calling it Kind to the Core (#K2C for Tweeps). We will be doing this: http://neilarey.com/challenges/core-challenge.html
For every day of the challenge, we are asking participants to consider donating a dollar to Leukaemia Lymphoma Research (http://leukaemialymphomaresearch.org.uk) If you donate, you can do it in a lump sum on Day 1 as a statement of intent, or as a triumphant victory lap on Day 30. We’ll be posting more here about how we can track donations within the next 24 hours.
We thought it would be a great gesture to kick off this endeavor with kindness. And since all of our lives have been touched by cancer, this felt a fitting place to direct our giving. If you want to give but cannot participate in the challenge, you can pick a team member to “sponsor” and join in the giving anyway.

We plan to kick off 2015 with a new challenge too, starting January 1st, so check back in to learn more about that too. As the group grows, we will be looking to you for feedback on what you would like to see in the future.

More soon, BAMs. Watch this Space. 😉