Bookmark this for when you need a motivation boost
So many reasons to love being strong, courtesy of the “muscular women of Reddit.”
A few weeks ago, I saved this Reddit post asking, “Muscular women … how does it actually feel to build and carry that strength?” Reddit tends to be the internet’s snark central, but this thread blew up with genuinely wholesome responses testifying to the difference that getting strong and visibly jacked has made for people.
You could easily spend hours reading the hundreds of responses, but who has that kind of time? Me apparently. I’ve gathered a selection that stood out to me and am sharing them here with no additional commentary. Enjoy =)
Text has been lightly edited for clarity.
Health, Longevity, Energy
DismalDepartment4656: I am in my 30s and I have a LOT more energy now than I used to 5-10 years ago, despite the fact that my life is legitimately busier and more difficult in a lot of ways. As other people my age are starting to talk about how they constantly have aches and pains, feel “old,” etc., I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life so far.
reduxrouge: I’m 43 and have been lifting off and on since high school. It really is the key to feeling young. My mom just turned 66 and she’s been lifting and running half marathons for a couple decades, too. She looks in her 50s. Seeing her compared to my friends’ moms is sometimes night and day. We just hiked the 102-mile Cotswold Way last October in 9 days.
Spell_me: I really can’t believe that I am actually 60. I feel like a kid. I love to MOVE. Even in hard times, I wake up every day feeling the pleasure of having a body that serves me well. Most people I know that are my age (and younger!) tell me they feel like crap and constantly complain about getting older. Not me. My relationship with my body is better than ever.
Say Goodbye to Aches and Pains
TealToucan: I’m 42, and every time I bend over the bathroom sink to wash my face and feel my glutes activate instead of my lower back twinge, it feels like a freaking miracle. I’ve been lifting for a couple years and weigh more now than I ever have, including during pregnancy. But my quality of life is so much better now than when I was thin in my 30s and constantly throwing my back out.
Puzzleheaded_Law_773: I have almost no sciatic pain anymore. I can squat without my knees cracking and bruising. My shoulder doesn’t pop out as much. My posture is better. I’m still fat, but I like feeling the solid muscle underneath all the fat. I feel more confident and have something to be proud of.
“I can do that, no problem.”
Sundae7878: I went paddleboarding with my friend and she couldn’t inflate the paddleboard with the hand pump to save her life. And then I realized how hard life must be for women who have no strength to do things in day-to-day life. I never wonder about whether I will be able to do something. I’m always strong enough. Of course I can lift that box, of course I can inflate a paddleboard, of course I can move furniture and appliances, of course I can shovel lots of snow, of course I can use power tools above my head, of course I can lift my bike onto the high rack in the garage, of course I can carry heavy things up and down stairs.
capslox: My favorite thing about being fit is how adaptable I can be, and how easy it is to switch active hobbies. In the last 12 years I’ve had my personality go from cycling to kickboxing to lifting to dance to climbing. Each hobby switch is easier than the last … I can do side quests like backpacking or a thru-hike, I can pick up skiing, I can train for a half marathon, I can go to a Jiu Jitsu class with a friend and not walk out destroyed, I can accompany a nervous friend to yoga or barre.
locus-amoenus: My strength is never a limiting factor in my day-to-day life. My friends all complain about their knees and backs starting to hurt and mine feel as good as ever. I can help smaller women carry things or put their heavy suitcases on racks and I look strong enough that they ask. Men offer to carry things for me and I get to say “I’m good” and do it myself with zero issue. I’ve had quite a few experiences where I effortlessly handed off something heavy I was carrying (a heavy bag of laundry, a big instrument in a heavy protective case) only for the person collecting it to drop it like a rock because they weren’t expecting the weight and it makes me feel like Anatoly handing off his mop.
mrspillins: One time I really noticed the benefit was at a music festival with my friends (who don’t lift weights). There was a massive hill that we constantly had to ascend and descend. For me it was nothing. I felt solid. I didn’t have to hold onto the fence, my knees could carry me fine. Everyone else, it was like watching old-aged pensioners trying to navigate it. We’re in our late thirties.
Shocking Others with Their Strength
AggressiveSherbetty: I feel like superwoman when I can easily carry 12 packs of lacroix with one hand lol. Also the water cooler at work, most women call maintenance to come change the 5-gallon jug and I’m like, nah, I got it.
Confident_Attitude replied: That last part is so real. I’m naturally pretty strong (broad shoulders and big arms giving a natural advantage) and people are always so damn shocked when I lift up the water jug at work without calling over a guy to do it for me.
Disastrous-Twist-352: I love it when I stroll out of a supermarket with heavy bags and see people look at me in shock.
Not Freezing All the Time Anymore
issathrowawayparty: The first thing I noticed when I started building muscle was that I was better able to catch myself from falling when I slipped on ice. I thought that was pretty cool. My other favorite thing is that I produce my own heat, like I can feel the warmth coming off of my muscles. I spent a lot of my life cold, tired, and anemic, so I appreciate not freezing all the time.
Household Chores and Hobbies Are Easier
orangepeeelss: I can hold the leaking garbage bag at arm’s length the whole way to the dumpster.
littlelivethings: With good core strength, I don’t have back pain from extended standing or carrying heavy things/backpacks. I don’t dread shoveling snow. I can bring in all the grocery bags in one go. I do some woodworking, and I can muscle a lot with gouges and knives without needing a mallet/chisel. I have a 2.5-year-old (who is the size of a 4-year-old), and we go without a stroller most of the time because I can pop her on my shoulders if she gets tired of walking.
Better Mental and Emotional Health
KimBrrr1975: I’ve been going 3 days a week for 9 months now and it makes a difference in every aspect of my life. Not just feeling capable and strong in my body, but it regulates my nervous system so I am less stressed and anxious. I eat better because I want to optimize my workouts. I sleep better. My moods are better. I am a better/stronger hiker (which is my favorite activity). I trust my body and I feel capable, which I hadn’t in a long time. Best feeling ever.
Compliments and Body Composition
Bella_HeroOfTheHorn: My weight stopped mattering for the first time ever …. When I met my colleagues in person for the first time, one of the women immediately made eye contact, flexed her arm, and nodded silently. At a conference happy hour, another person said they’d started lifting weights but had a long way to go and pointed to my arms.
Conscious_Chemist323: I’m about 14 months in. I’ve dropped a jeans size, my posture has changed completely — I’ve gone from rounded shoulders and hunched over to straight back and wide shoulders. … It’s been life-changing.
Used-Lingonberry5896: The best compliment was when a 17-year-old girl (family friend) told her mum she wanted to start lifting weights because she wanted arms that looked like mine.
FlamingMothling: I was probably more conventionally ‘attractive’ before this but I don’t miss being willowy. Muscle is vitality and strength is joy.
That’s what they said. What would you add?
Previously in Women’s Barbell Club
Recommendations
81 years young, trailblazing Duluth hockey player Bonnie Shea is still skating strong (Minneapolis Public Radio)
Hockey: For new fans of women’s hockey, PWHL offers drama, storylines to follow post-Olympics (The Athletic)
Soccer: How Denver Summit smashed the NWSL attendance record in their first home game (The Guardian)
Comedy: When protein’s in everything
On building bones (Dr. Alyssa Olenick)
I've been noticing lately that my core engages to do things like pick things up or get out of chairs. I've been relatively inconsistent (more like 1x week than 3) and was already strong and fat, but now I feel really solid in a way I didn't before.
now this is the aggregation and curation i deserve!