{"id":3825,"date":"2023-05-16T18:28:12","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T11:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/weightlifting-made-empowerment-my-fitness-goal\/"},"modified":"2023-05-16T18:28:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T11:28:12","slug":"weightlifting-made-empowerment-my-fitness-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=3825","title":{"rendered":"Weightlifting Made &#8216;Empowerment&#8217; My Fitness Goal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"post-share hidden md:flex justify-center relative bg-transparent text-justify bottom-0 md:bottom-auto left-[20px] right-0 md:right-auto z-10\" data-module-init=\"post-share\">\n      <a class=\"post-share__button inline-block mx-[4px] py-[11px] text-center text-gray no-underline leading-4 border-0\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fweight-lifting-empowerment%2F\" data-vars-event=\"Facebook\" data-vars-info=\"\/weight-lifting-empowerment\/\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"text-sm sm:text-base icon-facebook\"\/><br \/>\n      <spann class=\"visually-hidden\">Share on facebook<\/spann><br \/>\n    <\/a><br \/>\n      <a class=\"post-share__button inline-block mx-[4px] py-[11px] text-center text-gray no-underline leading-4 border-0\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=Weightlifting%20Helped%20Me%20Shift%20My%20Fitness%20Goal%20From%20Getting%20Smaller%20To%20Taking%20Up%20Space%E2%80%94And%20I%20Feel%20More%20Powerful%20Than%20Ever%20via%20%40iamwellandgood&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fweight-lifting-empowerment%2F\" data-vars-event=\"Twitter\" data-vars-info=\"\/weight-lifting-empowerment\/\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"text-sm sm:text-base icon-twitter\"\/><br \/>\n      <spann class=\"visually-hidden\">Share on twitter<\/spann><br \/>\n    <\/a><br \/>\n      <a class=\"post-share__button inline-block mx-[4px] py-[11px] text-center text-gray no-underline leading-4 border-0\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pinterest.com\/pin\/create\/link\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fweight-lifting-empowerment%2F&amp;description=Weightlifting%20Helped%20Me%20Shift%20My%20Fitness%20Goal%20From%20Getting%20Smaller%20To%20Taking%20Up%20Space%E2%80%94And%20I%20Feel%20More%20Powerful%20Than%20Ever&amp;media=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F05%2FBodiesIssue_Weightlifting-fitness-goals_inset-1-533x400.jpg\" data-vars-event=\"Pinterest\" data-vars-info=\"\/weight-lifting-empowerment\/\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"text-sm sm:text-base icon-pinterest-p\"\/><br \/>\n      <spann class=\"visually-hidden\">Share on pinterest<\/spann><br \/>\n    <\/a><br \/>\n      <a class=\"post-share__button inline-block mx-[4px] py-[11px] text-center text-gray no-underline leading-4 border-0\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Weightlifting%20Helped%20Me%20Shift%20My%20Fitness%20Goal%20From%20Getting%20Smaller%20To%20Taking%20Up%20Space%E2%80%94And%20I%20Feel%20More%20Powerful%20Than%20Ever&amp;body=I%27m%20no%20longer%20treadmill-hopping%20with%20the%20intention%20to%20shrink%E2%80%94now%20the%20only%20numbers%20I%27m%20concerned%20about%20are%20in%20relation%20to%20the%20weight%20I%20can%20lift.%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fweight-lifting-empowerment%2F\" data-vars-event=\"Email\" data-vars-info=\"\/weight-lifting-empowerment\/\"><br \/>\n      <span class=\"text-sm sm:text-base icon-paper-plane\"\/><br \/>\n      <spann class=\"visually-hidden\">Share on email<\/spann><br \/>\n    <\/a><br \/>\n  <\/aside>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> When I first stepped through the giant warehouse doors of the <a href=\"https:\/\/globalstrongmangym.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/globalstrongmangym.com\/\">Global Strongman Gym<\/a>, a powerlifting gym in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, I saw a lot of unfamiliar equipment: tractor tires leaning against each other, squat racks reaching back to the far end of the gym, a gleaming silver bowl full of powdered chalk for improving your grip, and huge round concrete balls I would later learn are \u201cAtlas stones\u201d made for picking up and setting down very carefully. <\/p>\n<div class=\"block-thin mt-[30px] mb-[40px]\">\n<div class=\"acf-video text-left relative\">\n<figure class=\"w-full h-full m-0\">\n<div class=\"image-2021 overflow-hidden h-0 relative !h-full\" style=\"padding-bottom: 63%; \"> <picture><source data-srcset=\" https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-1_1200x756_true_75.webp 1200w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-1_1800x1134_true_75.webp 1800w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-1_2400x1512_true_75.webp 2400w, https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-1_1200x756_true_75.webp 1200w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-1_1800x1134_true_75.webp 1800w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-1_2400x1512_true_75.webp 2400w, https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-1_1200x756_true_75.webp 1200w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-1_1800x1134_true_75.webp 1800w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-1_2400x1512_true_75.webp 2400w,\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\" (max-width:640px) 1200px,  (max-width:768px) 1200px,  1200px\"\/><img data-module-init=\"image-2021\" data-module-immediate=\"\" alt=\"\" class=\"image-2021__img             lazy                         w-full !h-full min-h-full inset-0 !absolute block left-0 top-0 object-cover\"\/> <\/picture> <\/div><figcaption class=\"text-gray-light text-[13px] leading-[20px] text-center\"> Getty \/ Vladimir Sukhachev <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> If you told me on that first day that I\u2019d soon be squatting down to push and then flip forward a 375-pound tire\u2014only to squat down and do it again\u2014I\u2019m not sure I would have believed you. I definitely would have questioned the notion of soon graduating to the 450-pound tire. But that\u2019s indeed what my future would hold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> In 2018, I was feeling insecure about my body and not great about how winded I felt after hiking up New York City\u2019s subway stairs. I wanted to work out, but not somewhere packed to the gills with other people. Then, a friend recommended I drop by the gym where she works out by lifting weights and flipping tires\u2014by taking up space. It was a much different approach than what I\u2019d long associated with the gym-going experience, and I would soon find that by abandoning the treadmill-hopping habit I had taken up with a goal of becoming physically smaller, I\u2019d open myself to the big life fitness could give me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> I signed on to train several times a week with <a href=\"https:\/\/globalstrongmangym.com\/about-hans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/globalstrongmangym.com\/about-hans\">Hans Pirman<\/a>, owner of Global Strongman Gym, a powerlifting and bodybuilding coach with more than three decades of experience. When I initially told him that I didn&#8217;t want to get &#8220;bulky,&#8221; he brushed me off, saying my concern about bulk simply wasn\u2019t the way to look at things. He suggested I was there to get stronger and that weightlifting doesn\u2019t inherently make you bigger\u2014unless that\u2019s your goal. Through training and lifting, I would eventually come to realize that I was there to see what my body was capable of <em>doing<\/em>, instead of forcing it to look a certain way or become a certain size.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> In the beginning, Pirman and I focused on basics: learning how to deadlift, squat, and bench-press. He also had me work out my core and lift smaller weights with moves like five-pound dumbbell flyes to build my smaller muscles as well as my larger ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"block-full mt-[80px] mb-[80px]\">\n<div class=\"acf-video text-left relative\">\n<figure class=\"w-full h-full m-0\">\n<div class=\"image-2021 overflow-hidden h-0 relative !h-full\" style=\"padding-bottom: 63%; \"> <picture><source data-srcset=\" https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-2_1200x756_true_75.webp 1200w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-2_1800x1134_true_75.webp 1800w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-2_2400x1512_true_75.webp 2400w, https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-2_1200x756_true_75.webp 1200w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-2_1800x1134_true_75.webp 1800w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-2_2400x1512_true_75.webp 2400w, https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-2_1200x756_true_75.webp 1200w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-2_1800x1134_true_75.webp 1800w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Landscape-1200x756-2_2400x1512_true_75.webp 2400w,\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\" (max-width:640px) 1200px,  (max-width:768px) 1200px,  1200px\"\/><img data-module-init=\"image-2021\" data-module-immediate=\"\" alt=\"\" class=\"image-2021__img             lazy                         w-full !h-full min-h-full inset-0 !absolute block left-0 top-0 object-cover\"\/> <\/picture> <\/div><figcaption class=\"text-gray-light text-[13px] leading-[20px] text-center\"> Getty \/ Cunaplus_M.Faba <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> Calluses formed on my hands from learning how to lift the cement Atlas stones, and my chronic back pain started to subside (much to my surprise) as my core and back got stronger. Years of avoiding heavy lifting out of fear I would hurt my back melted away once I realized how much having and continuing to build strength stood to improve every area of my life. My reflexes got faster, I twisted my ankles less. I just felt so much more capable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> But my relationship with powerlifting hasn\u2019t been perfect since 2018; it doesn\u2019t follow a linear path of continuity. When the pandemic hit, I took a hiatus and opted to instead explore running, hiking, and working out at home. It wasn\u2019t until this year that I got up the gumption to return to the gym and start lifting again.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> My first few weeks back, I felt self-conscious and even embarrassed (though not surprised) about my diminished downshift in strength. However, just a few weeks in, I deadlifted 50 pounds shy of my highest personal record. (Experts say that it\u2019s easier to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/regain-muscle\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/regain-muscle\/\">regain muscle than build it from scratch<\/a>, and I sure was glad to have found this to be true.) To me, this felt like coming home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"text-align: center;\"> ***<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> My relationship to fitness has been inextricably tied to my physicality and appearance. The very neutral truth is that I am fat. I am fat now and if I lost a significant amount of weight, I would still be fat. As a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/body-liberation\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/body-liberation\/\">fat liberationist<\/a>, I believe fat people deserve to live a full, expansive, good life with access to things non-fat people gain with ease. And, I don\u2019t believe weight loss should be a prerequisite from that access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> Having this core belief doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s \u201ceasy\u201d to exist in a larger body in our world, though. Messaging that supports a thin ideal abounds in mainstream American society, whether through enduring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/signs-doctor-weight-bias\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/signs-doctor-weight-bias\/\">medical fatphobia<\/a>, needing to buy multiple airline seats, perusing the jewelry section of a store while your friends try on clothes because it doesn\u2019t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/size-inclusive-fashion-brands\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/size-inclusive-fashion-brands\/\">carry your size<\/a>, and not seeing fat people represented in advertisements or media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> These repeated messages are hard, if not impossible, to ignore. I\u2019ve tried to escape the ever-present, gnawing pressure to conform via diet and exercise that comes with not being the size that the world thinks you should be. Nothing has ever silenced the buzz completely, but weightlifting has helped drown it out enough for me to realize I can live a beautiful life full of joy and excitement and complex feelings.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> It\u2019s taught me I don\u2019t have to dedicate energy to figuring out how to be smaller and, by proxy, fit in with the masses. Only when my arms grew large enough to make my sleeves too tight (and my thighs did the same for my pants) after building muscle was it distilled for me that what I can do is more important than how I feel I should look.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> Back when my sole fitness goal was to get small and stay small, I never felt powerful or capable. Weightlifting has helped in my journey to unpack my internalized fatphobia and celebrate the expansive, high quality of life I can live when my body is as well.<\/p>\n<div class=\"block-wide min-h-[400px] py-5 w-full flex flex-col justify-center items-center text-gray font-serif mt-[58px] mb-[40px]\" data-type=\"acf\/premium-article-media-text\">\n<div class=\"flex flex-col md:flex-row justify-center md:items-center w-full gap-[18px] md:gap-[37px] lg:gap-[48px] xl:gap-[54px]\">\n<figure class=\"w-full md:w-1\/2 m-0\">\n<div class=\"image-2021 overflow-hidden h-0 relative\" style=\"padding-bottom: 146.36363636364%; \"> <picture><source data-srcset=\" https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Portrait-1100x12762-1_1100x1610_true_75.webp 1100w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Portrait-1100x12762-1_1650x2415_true_75.webp 1650w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Portrait-1100x12762-1_2200x3220_true_75.webp 2200w, https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Portrait-1100x12762-1_1100x1610_true_75.webp 1100w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Portrait-1100x12762-1_1650x2415_true_75.webp 1650w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Portrait-1100x12762-1_2200x3220_true_75.webp 2200w, https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Portrait-1100x12762-1_1100x1610_true_75.webp 1100w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Portrait-1100x12762-1_1650x2415_true_75.webp 1650w,https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Portrait-1100x12762-1_2200x3220_true_75.webp 2200w,\" srcset=\"\" sizes=\" (max-width:640px) 1100px,  (max-width:768px) 1100px,  1100px\"\/><img data-module-init=\"image-2021\" data-module-immediate=\"\" alt=\"\" class=\"image-2021__img             lazy                         w-full !h-full min-h-full inset-0 !absolute block left-0 top-0 object-cover\"\/> <\/picture> <\/div><figcaption class=\"text-left text-gray-light text-[13px] leading-[20px] mt-[10px]\"> Getty \/ Corey Jenkins <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"flex-1 w-full md:w-1\/2\">\n<h3 class=\"text-h3\"> <\/h3>\n<p class=\"text-big\"> That fear of bulking up, getting bigger, gaining weight\u2014and I mean weight of any kind, fat or muscle\u2014isn\u2019t a just-me thing. Research has shown that women are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5955292\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5955292\/\">less likely than men to practice weight training<\/a>. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caseyjohnston.website\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.caseyjohnston.website\/\">Casey Johnston<\/a>, weightlifter and journalist behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shesabeast.co\/tag\/ask-a-swole-woman\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.shesabeast.co\/tag\/ask-a-swole-woman\/\">Ask a Swole Woman<\/a> column and author of the forthcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.caseyjohnston.website\/my-work\/lifted-the-book\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.caseyjohnston.website\/my-work\/lifted-the-book\"><em>Lifted<\/em><\/a>, some of this is tied up in diet culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe number-one thing people don&#8217;t do to support their training, or their lives, is eat. They will do strength training but continue to diet aggressively because they are afraid of gaining even an ounce of weight,\u201d Johnston tells me in an email. \u201cIf you don&#8217;t give [your body] food, it can&#8217;t heal.\u201d As a result, you might not build as much muscle as you could\u2014and might not get as strong as you could.<\/p>\n<p>For me, a key to unlocking weightlifting and strength training was realizing that fitness was about so much more than trying to be smaller. But my path to where I am now wasn&#8217;t just a hop, skip, and jump from being insecure about touching the weights section to loving the way that lifting makes me feel (sturdy and like I take up more space). My arms, legs, and thighs all bloomed with red stretch marks a few months into lifting. When the stretch marks first appeared, it felt like I was back at square one, contorting my body in weird angles to look at them and fretting that they were a sign of something &#8220;bad.&#8221; <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> Beginning to feel comfortable with my body\u2019s changes took patience, and research, and following people on Instagram who have bodies that look like mine\u2014tall, fat, and increasingly butch-presenting. I needed a sense of community to feel good in my skin. (Take those stretch marks: These folks helped me see that the skin is an organ, and stretch marks are just a function of it. They were a sign that I was doing different things, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aad.org\/public\/cosmetic\/scars-stretch-marks\/stretch-marks-why-appear#:~:text=Stretch%20marks%20fade%20with%20time,heals%2C%20stretch%20marks%20may%20appear.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.aad.org\/public\/cosmetic\/scars-stretch-marks\/stretch-marks-why-appear#:~:text=Stretch%20marks%20fade%20with%20time,heals%2C%20stretch%20marks%20may%20appear.\">moving in different ways<\/a>, changing shape. They\u2019re morally neutral regardless of their cause.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> In addition to focusing less on my physical appearance and more on my level of strength, I started to read writing from women and non-binary writers and influencers in the fat liberation space, like Johnston, author and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aubreygordon.net\/podcast\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.aubreygordon.net\/podcast\"><em>Maintenance Phase<\/em><\/a> podcast host <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aubreygordon.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.aubreygordon.net\/\">Aubrey Gordon<\/a>, fat liberationist and author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.magsmcgill.com\/weightless\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.magsmcgill.com\/weightless\/\">Maggie McGill<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thepowerliftingsocialworker\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/thepowerliftingsocialworker\/?hl=en\">Kanoelani Patterson, LMSW<\/a>, yoga practitioner and author <a href=\"https:\/\/jessamynstanley.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/jessamynstanley.com\/\">Jessamyn Stanley<\/a>, and plus-size weightlifting influencer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/meg.boggs\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/meg.boggs\/?hl=en\">Meg Boggs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> The more I learned from people in the fat liberation space, the more I realized that working out didn&#8217;t need to be about losing weight. Despite first visiting the gym in 2018 because I was feeling less than confident about my weight, lifting weights did, in fact, make me gain weight. I started to realize I needed to eat more protein if I wanted to reach my goals of deadlifting over 300 pounds, benching over 200 pounds, and flipping the 450-pound tire with ease. And I\u2019ve come to realize that weight gain due to muscle versus fat is a distinction that doesn\u2019t matter when you&#8217;re not interested in taking up less space.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> &#8220;As a fat person and liberationist, strength training is my favorite form of movement because I don&#8217;t have to worry about being judged for being out of breath or too slow,\u201d says McGill. \u201cIn fact, I&#8217;m often stronger naturally because of my weight. It&#8217;s a form of movement where my body has an inherent advantage.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> This sentiment of size actually being an asset for some forms of exercise is something Gordon describes in her book <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/What-Dont-Talk-About-When\/dp\/B085S65FMM\/ref=sr_1_1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/What-Dont-Talk-About-When\/dp\/B085S65FMM\/ref=sr_1_1\">What We Don\u2019t Talk About When We Talk About Fat<\/a><\/em>, recounting her experience on the swim team as an adolescent<em>. <\/em>&#8220;My strongest stroke for the competition was the most complicated: I swam butterfly. Later, in adulthood, I would find a secret sisterhood of other fat-kid swimmers, all of whom swam the fearsome butterfly\u2026Our bodies weren&#8217;t held back by their fat\u2014to the contrary, they were powered by it. The momentum of our fat bodies propelled us forward, harder and faster than other swimmers,&#8221; Gordon writes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> This sentiment builds on what I started to learn in the gym: Sometimes, being big has been a strength. I am naturally strong, and am inclined to pick up heavy things. The years I spent being a slow runner always made me feel like I\u2019d never have an innate physicality for a sport. Now, though, I take pride in the fact that I am willing to run at whatever my speed is. That\u2019s not my strong suit, but my strongman lifting <em>is<\/em>\u2014and that feels awesome.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> &#8220;Strength training brings the freedom and confidence to say \u2018yes\u2019 to activities I might have skipped out on previously,&#8221; says McGill. \u201cFor example, if a friend asks to go kayaking or hiking, I know that my body is strong and capable of handling those activities. One of my favorite parts of strength training is getting more in touch with my body and knowing its capabilities, whereas before [having a\u00a0 strength-training practice], I was only focused on its limitations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"text-align: center;\"> ***<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> The health and well-being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/physicalactivity\/basics\/older_adults\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/physicalactivity\/basics\/older_adults\/index.htm\">benefits of strength-training<\/a> are far-reaching and sprawling, like tree roots you can\u2019t necessarily see. Sure there\u2019s the tree of it all: the literal, immediate, concentrated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.medicalnewstoday.com\/articles\/320839\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener sponsored\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.medicalnewstoday.com\/articles\/320839\">endorphins experience <\/a>that you get when you&#8217;re doing the activity, but then there are the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/healthy-lifestyle\/stress-management\/in-depth\/exercise-and-stress\/art-20044469\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.mayoclinic.org\/healthy-lifestyle\/stress-management\/in-depth\/exercise-and-stress\/art-20044469\">mental benefits<\/a> that you get outside the gym. The evidence of my hard work is clear in the thickness of my arms and thighs, how I can pick up heavy things in and outside the gym with ease. The roots of my hard work dig deep beneath the surface, too. It instills a sense of competence in me: that I am capable of doing hard things.<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> There&#8217;s also the <a href=\"https:\/\/orthoinfo.aaos.org\/en\/staying-healthy\/strength-training\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/orthoinfo.aaos.org\/en\/staying-healthy\/strength-training\/\">decreased risk of injury<\/a> and the possibility of improving various causes of chronic pain that furl out beneath me like a vast root system that supports the health of its blossoming maple above ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> &#8220;When I stopped focusing on weight loss, weight training became more than just exercise: It was a gateway to more balance, strength, and confidence,\u201d says McGill. \u201cWhen I was stuck in the body-shame mindset, I never stuck with a weight training plan long enough to see the results.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> To Johnston\u2019s point of view, the future of inclusive weightlifting looks optimistic: \u201cI want to think we are overall moving forward,\u201d she says. \u201cI see gaggles of teens in the weightlifting section of gyms giving each other form tips. While I don&#8217;t doubt they are experiencing their own wave of challenges to their self esteem from social media and the media in general, I think the education level on what a more balanced routine that skews away from cardio and calorie burning can do from you is rising.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"core-paragraph block-thin text-big\" style=\"\"> Now, what sends me to the gym is curiosity about what I am capable of lifting, pushing, pulling, and flipping. No longer is my driving force anything related to what I might see (or not see) in a mirror. And with this shifted focus away from understanding exercise as a vehicle to shrink, I\u2019ve grown in the best ways. The number I\u2019m most interested in isn\u2019t on a scale or a treadmill\u2014but on a weight: specifically, when I&#8217;ll be ready to flip the 700-pound tire. I have a ways to go, but it\u2019s a goal that I feel great about\u2014one that has nothing to do with the size of my body, but rather the power it can generate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"block-thin flex flex-col uppercase font-sans text-gray text-[13px] tracking-[1px] mt-[42px]\">\n<h4 class=\"text-h4 text-center mb-[14px]\">\n    Production Credits<br \/>\n  <\/h4>\n<p>\n    <span class=\"font-medium\">Designed by<\/span><br \/>\n  <span class=\"font-normal\"><span>Natalie Carroll<\/span><\/span>  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on pinterest Share on email When I first stepped through the giant warehouse doors of the Global Strongman Gym, a powerlifting gym in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, I saw a lot of unfamiliar equipment: tractor tires leaning against each other, squat racks reaching back to the far end of &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}