To think that "strong is the new skinny" is becoming a bit extreme?

[Namila]

I am not sure how to explain what I mean, but I'll try. Getting ready to be flamed as it often happens when discussing women's bodies.

In the last few years I noticed a new trend online among women, the "fit/strong is the new skinny" type of narrative. In theory I think that is an improvement and a positive change from the unhealthy trend of extreme skinniness we were stuck with for decades.

However, I can't help but thinking that the new "fit and muscular" trend is getting a bit over the top. It seems like now we should aspire to have huge, bodybuilder-style muscles now? We should strive to get a huge butt through never ending series of squats and weightlifting? Steel abs with not an inch of fat? Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest are full of this type of pics. I attached a couple to this thread just for reference!

It just seems a bit extreme to me. Of course a slim, healthy, active body is attractive, but I wonder why these trends always seem to get so extreme (e.g. super skinny, or super muscular, or super curvy Kardashian-style).

So AIBU to think that this trend is a bit much? Does anyone else share this view?

Timmytoo - that's amazing. Pretty please could you post your 45 minute routine?

My DH used to go to a CrossFit place full of really obsessive people. Many of the girls had insanely toned and fit bodies. Their entire Facebook and Instagram feeds were filled with details of their workouts and meals.
I used to envy them at first but then I saw that actually most of them were not terribly happy, and also none of them had periods. That is not good.

I used to envy them at first but then I saw that actually most of them were not terribly happy, and also none of them had periods. That is not good.

How on earth do you know they didn’t have periods?

Hi Laurie
I use the app BodySpace and I'm currently doing the transform workout called Hunter 1. This was a workout I specifically chose to rip. I built up muscle using Kris Gethin transform Build which is 45 min to an hour. Now I'm cutting down with Hunters 1 workout. If you download this app you can choose hundreds of transformation workouts, get flexible, get fit etc whatever look you're going for. It's excellent and it saves each workout to your calendar so you know what you will be doing each day.

I have lost 11kg in weight and have a much healthier muscle % this year.
I have done a mix of cardio and resistance but the weight only started to come off when I started lifting weights. I use a mix of the free weights and the machines at the gym.
I am nowhere near the pics in the op but I am much more toned, have a stronger core which has helped with my back/posture issues.
I have seen extreme examples of the sort of photos in the op and agree like anything people can go to ridiculous extremes but on the whole I think strength work is better than some of the ridiculous unhealthy fad diets people try

Thanks very much Timmy

@purpledaisies because they used to talk about it quite openly

YANBU
Just another reframing of the pressure to look a certain way. Sure, regular exercise is vital but running or hitting the gym 5x a week doesn’t produce those results. I’ve worked in gyms and it’s a product of of frequent intensive workouts and super tight dieting and/ or smoking / drugs to suppress appetite.

Drkrogers, you cannot build that muscle by not eating properly, it is physically impossible. If you really did work in gyms then you would know that lifting weights 4-5 times a week and eating a high protein diet with enough calories is enough to get those results. Muscle is built in the kitchen, not in the gym.

You most definitely can build muscle without eating “properly”
It takes intensive weightlifting and sometimes HIIT type exercises and a finely balanced diet. In order to achieve the modelled level of definition one’s body fat needs to be very low. It’s actually pretty hard to not get enough protein even with a restricted diet

Agree with Jstorm77. DrKrogers that’s a load of crap

I agree if there was no instagram these people would not be in the gyms!

I don't think the women in those pictures look very natural at all, definitely extreme exercise, photo shop or surgery involved somewhere. To me that stops them looking beautiful, they just look weird.

I do a fair amount of exercise and have been involved in a various clubs over the last 25 years (including running, cycling, swimming, triathlon, mountain biking, martial arts, climbing, kayaking) and so hang out with a lot of very fit women of a variety of ages and sizes, and IME fit and healthy women just don't look like that.

The beauty industry is very good at coming up with unobtainable looks and convincing people to spend a fortune failing to achieve them.

I agree if there was no instagram these people would not be in the gyms!

I would. Definitely. I don't even know what Instagram is really All my hard work is for me. And me only.

Stevie you are in the 1 percent. This whole fitness craze did not exist before social media. It’s a platform for people’s egos

as a motivation to exercise - to aspire to be strong rather than skinny seems not so bad to me. But then I already exercise reasonably regularly including weightlifting to help futureproof my bones.

The physiques in the OP are achievable by the vast majority of people by an hour of exercise a day or less. A lot of which can be resting between sets.

Probably the hardest part for most people is that it requires a moderate amount of effort over a sustained period of time, and you do have to be mindful of what you eat. However you can still have treats and cheat meals within reason.

if you really did work in gyms
I have done, yes, some years ago. I accept that things change in exercise and sculpting trends and acknowledge that but ime and imo those physiques pictured are not the result of sustainable healthy diet and activity. They’re not so extreme that they’re unhealthy, More to the point, I think that they’re just part of the background of imagery contributing to people feeling inadequate so they spend time and money on training paraphernalia

basically being a bodybuilder is a complete lifestyle

It requires lifestyle changes for most people. But it's not all consuming. An hour a day of exercise is easily enough if you do it right, and planning/tracking what you eat to some degree is also required (and many non-bodybuilders manage to meal plan anyway).

Effects of surgery aside, most people blame "genetics" for not being able to achieve results, until they actually start following a correct diet/exercise plan and realise the vast majority of people who look like this have pretty bog standard genetics.

I like the idea of ‘strong is the new skinny’ because exercise for strength and fitness instead of body shape is the correct motivation. It doesn’t work if you use the same mantra to mandate how women’s bodies should look. If you do that it’s as bad as ‘nothing tastes as good as being thin’. Let’s all just exercise because it’s good for our mental and physical health instead of trying to make our bodies fit whatever the latest trend is.

Most women are also unable to achieve the super-skinny waif-look by just eating a little less. (even if I lived on coffee alone, I would still only achieve the look of a bony cow, not a gazelle).

But in most cases it's healthier to strive towards a fit, sporty look than emaciated one, no?

You can never be too strong and if you enjoy it then that's brilliant. Good on these strong women.

I suggest you google "hardcore professional female bodybuilder" because the images you will find are not even remotely similar to these women.