Two weeks ago, this article by Danielle Friedman (a journalist I adore) about how the gender gap persists within exercise was blowing up my feeds and group chats.

A study she cited showed that only 33 percent of women met weekly recommendations for aerobic exercise, as opposed to 43 percent of men.

This shouldn't come as a shock. Experts say (and most women intuitively know) that this has a lot to do with the, “disproportionate amount of time and labor women devote to caring for the home and for others. It’s also consistent with research suggesting that, on the whole, women tend to prioritize other people’s health above their own.”

Meanwhile, it's a well known fact that exercise boosts focus - this Harvard Health article goes as far as to call it "cognitive training" - improving output in reasoning, problem solving, decision-making and more. That's right, exercise is not only good for our physical health, it boosts our mental acumen, work output and more. There's a direct correlation between physical exercise and leadership performance in the workplace.

Socializing is another thing that frequently goes on the back burner for women, especially moms. SO what if we could solve this problem by combining the two? Socialize while moving our bodies, all while improving our cognitive functioning and workplace performance?

P.S. If you’re new here, I’m Amy, a corporate speaker, marketing consultant, journalist and USA TODAY bestselling author of The Setback Cycle. (Want to work with me? Shoot me a note here.)

I’m not necessarily someone you would call athletic. But I am very social. Movement has always been about socializing for me. I loved playing on a basketball team in elementary school. In my teens, I ran track, took local dance classes and joined my school’s kickline team (they were actually called the “East Meadow Rockettes” which in retrospect I find hilarious) and I even danced competitively for awhile.

Throughout my 20’s and 30’s, my friends and I frequently took group fitness classes (shoutout to Crunch Gyms’s spin and hot pilates classes,) after which we would all head back to my apartment for takeout and TV.

Fast forward to the pandemic when I hopped right onto the Peloton craze and frequently scheduled rides with friends, where we would high five virtually even as we worked out physically alone in our basements. When the studio opened back up, I was there, doing that first ride in person. I still always accept invitations from their PR team when they do press days (and yes, that was me on your screen during Tunde’s November 8th 90’s ride.)

Sure, exercise is about the endorphins, the strength building and the mental resilience benefits of course, but it’s also an excellent means of social connection.

Which is why a day or two after the election, I texted a few of my local neighborhood moms to tell them I had just designed a rage-inducing workout in my garage home gym, inviting them to come over to join me. “Can you start before 8am so I can join and then make it to work on time?” one responded. “My husband can walk all our kids to school,” said another.

“I’m in!” responded a third mom. Soon, there were four of us slamming battle ropes and throwing weighted medicine balls against concrete garage walls as we let out primal screams and joked about who we were visualizing as we slammed and threw. (It was mostly our incoming President and various members of his cabinet.)

Since then, we’ve hosted weekly gatherings of what we call “Mom Rage Fight Club.” When we gather on weekends, our daughters play in the basement adjacent to us, coming out to join us at the end of the workout (safely, under careful supervision!) In those moments, we are very aware that they're watching us, not only as we partake in a physically demanding activity that builds strength and resilience, but as we make time for ourselves and for each other.

When I saw Eve Rodsky’s Fair Play account share that very NY Times article about the gender gap in exercise, I posted about Mom Rage Fight Club, recommending other moms use it as a way to fit exercise into their weekly routine.

Make it social, make it ragey.

Immediately the comments and dms poured in. “We need to know more.” I promised I’d write a newsletter about it. Here is that newsletter.

From slamming medicine balls down onto the ground or at a wall, to hurling battle ropes against the floor, to our grand finale of “primal scream push presses” which we alternate with a break dancing move, this workout is designed to truly unleash your rage. It doesn’t have to be political. If you have frustration towards work, a partner, a boss, or the state of the freaking world right now, go slam something against a wall in your garage -- safely, please don’t get injured or destroy any of your furniture. We still deserve nice things - and properly working limbs.

Gather with your friends at your local gym, in your garage, or in your living room, and LET IT OUT using any combination of the moves below, or none of these moves at all, and design your own!

A few quick notes before you begin:

• All exercises are done in Tabata format.
• Each set includes eight rounds. Each round consists of 20 seconds of exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. I use a boxing timer app to cue us through each set. And I find that Spotify’s Tiesto workout mix is fun and especially good at releasing rage.
• During each round we alternate between two different exercises, which means we do each move a total of four times.
• There are seven rounds and you should try to keep the breaks between rounds as short as possible to reduce recovery time and keep your body warm until the end, when you better stretch like crazy because…

*The first rule of mom rage fight club is DO NOT GET INJURED.

**Speaking of getting injured, please remember, I am not a fitness coach. This is just for fun.

So go ahead, unleash your rage, build some muscle and enjoy a social, sweaty self-care session. Please join us on our mission to close that exercise gender gap, one ragey mom at a time.

In the meantime, here’s what I’m:

My friend and client, Gwen Whiting, was profiled in this week’s issue of New York Magazine. The photo is amazing and the last line is so perfect: “Wool is a wildly resistant fiber.”

​This interview with Julie Scelfo on Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway’s Pivot Podcast. I love the work her organization, MAMA (Mothers Against Media Addiction,) is doing to help with the kids + social media + mental health crisis.

The idea that Taylor Swift might ruin the book publishing industry.

Speaking of women letting out rage, meet Amanda Serrano, the woman who stole the show that night you stayed up way too late to watch Mike Tyson fight that douchey internet guy.

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