Sixteen women explain how strength training has helped them find a strength they didn’t know they had.
Image by Thomas Tolstrup / Getty Images, graphic by Mackenzie Kruvant / BuzzFeed
Lifting weights as a woman gets a bad rep. Many shy away from it because they worry that if they lift they will look too manly. Instead they focus on cardio. While women fight to become skinnier, many don't push to become stronger. The number on the scale is still seen as the ultimate goal. It's unfortunate for a lot of reasons, one being that lifting can have amazing physical and mental benefits. I asked some women to explain how "picking things up and putting them down" has changed their outlook on life and their connection with themselves. Here's what they said:
"Lifting has taught me to become comfortable with failure. Failure in lifting means that your body has reached maximum capacity. And with that comes the opportunity to start fresh with something more challenging and rewarding. It's taught me to not be so hard on myself. Every day presents challenges, but on days when I can lift, I feel like everything in my life is easier." —Tracy
"My experience weight lifting has had many evolutions. I ran cross-country in high school and the workouts I despised the most were not sprints or hill training, it was the weight room, pathetically mimicking the boys cross-country team that I found painfully dreadful. During college I changed my mind about the weight room and made a greater effort at lifting, vaguely repeating the same bicep curls from high school and for the most part being the only girl in the weight room. My weight lifting evolved a bit more after college when I was forced to actually have a gym membership, to a brand-new gym with shiny equipment, a female population, and more educated people. I realized, I had options; weight lifting was not as cookie cutter, bulk inducing, and boring as I had believed. My last evolution came when I met my trainer who led me through such challenging workouts that I can proudly admit that running has been bumped down from its pinnacle to second place, behind weight lifting. I have overcome injuries, prepared for pregnancy and its afterthoughts, refined how I use and move my body in daily activities, as well as developed a deeper respect for how powerful, awe-inspiring and enduring my female body truly is." —Maggie
No comments:
Post a Comment