‘Strong is the new skinny’: Is strength training progress for women or just another body image trap?

Oona Hanson is a writer, educator and parent coach who specializes in helping families navigate diet culture and eating disorders.

Like the rest of my Gen X peers, I grew up with the message that striving for the “Buns of Steel” body was about how you looked in a leotard, not how much weight you could squat in the gym. Women were actively discouraged from strength training for fear of becoming bulky.

For women, cardio has been king — or should we say queen? — for decades, but new awareness of the health benefits of building muscle , particularly for those in middle age, has led more women to start lifting weights. Strength training can be important to protect bone density and overall well-being as we get older.

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New pressure to lift heavy and count protein grams to build muscle mass can lead to another problem for some women, however: an unhealthy preoccupation with exercise and food and yet another aspirational appearance standard.

Women need to know how to care for their bodies without falling prey to unrealistic expectations that can undermine their well-being.

Liz Bucar , a professor of religion at Northeastern University in Boston, used to experience fitness through a cardio-only lens, “always trying to be smaller.”

In midlife now, “we’re all being told, actually, oops, all that advice was terrible,” said Bucar, author of “ Beyond Wellness : How Restoring the Religious Roots of Spiritual Practices Can Heal Us.” “Your bones are disintegrating because you didn’t have your period because you were just on the stair machine for hours a day.”

Bucar, who now strength trains with a coach, described this shift from counting calories to progressing in the weight room as powerful because it is “more protective of our health” and “pushes back against conventional beauty norms.”

“I love the idea that we’re creating this whole generation of grandmas who can’t knit and bake or whatever but are the first in our line of ancestors who can lift our husbands over our heads,” Bucar said.

Strength training can be a way for women to heal their relationship with physical activity and their body, according to fitness journalist Mikala Jamison , who writes the Body Type newsletter and is the author of the forthcoming book “ The Forever Project : How Exercise Strengthened Me Inside and Out for the Long Haul.”

“For so many of us, exercise was this very toxic thing when it came to our bodies and our mindset, and how it was entwined with diet culture ,” Jamison told me. “Taking care of yourself through fitness feels like inarguably a good thing to do. It’s women taking up space.”

Even though Jamison credits strength training as a critical part of her own eating disorder recovery, she still has concerns about the framing of this fitness trend. “‘Strong is the new skinny’ should be like a Bat-Signal to somebody like me, right? Like, oh, that sounds so great. But I think it’s also very complicated,” she said.

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Even though women of all sizes are trying to build strength, the images on social media suggest “it’s all about strong and skinny. It’s just another body standard that can be very damaging,” Jamison said.

“More women are strength training than ever before in America. The benefits of that can’t be overstated,” she said. “But at the same time, the face of that message is often women who are still objectively small, just with some additional obvious musculature.”

Keri Harvey, a certified personal trainer and co-owner of Form Fitness Brooklyn in New York, agreed that larger women who lift weights are underrepresented in our culture.

“You’re seeing people in smaller bodies who have muscles, and they are strong, and that’s amazing,” Harvey said. “And yet there are people in larger bodies who are strong as well, and their bodies also have cellulite. Their bodies also have fat. And it may not look like the person that you’re seeing on Instagram or the magazine cover, but that is still a strong body.”

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Building strength is often literally at odds with shrinking the body.

“I like to tell people to remember that muscles need room,” Harvey said. “Our lats, as they get stronger, it may mean we have to go up in a bra size. Or as your biceps get stronger, it might mean your shirt that you were expecting to fit more loosely might be a bit more snug.”

Harvey encouraged women “to be comfortable with the idea that your body is going to change as you get stronger, but it may not change in the way that you think it should and that’s not a bad thing. It’s tough because a lot of us have been taught that we have to be small.”

While the popularity of strength training is getting more women into the weight room, it can also feed into a “very aspirational body standard,” Jamison said. “Sometimes it feels like we’re just constantly shuffling these cards of what is the look to have, but we’re just calling it different things all the time. Like, OK, it’s about strength, but, really, is it? Or is it about just being really, really lean?”

The physical and mental health risks of getting swept up by a fitness trend are a concern to Megan Hellner , a registered dietitian and cofounder of AthleatMD , a medical and nutrition treatment program for athletes with relative energy deficiency in sport, or RED-S , and eating disorders. “It feels like we’re trading one very narrow body ideal for another,” she said.

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While Hellner warned about the risks of trying to change your body to match what she refers to as the “athletic aesthetic,” she acknowledged the upside of an emphasis on strength over thinness is that “it does at least require an input of energy. Muscle is very expensive tissue to build and maintain calorically.”

In contrast to an emphasis on thinness that led many women to restrict calories, a focus on lifting weights simply isn’t compatible with dieting.

“Strength and building muscle require that we eat. We have to feed the muscles, and so a lot of the categories of foods that have been demonized in other trends are things that we need in order to build the muscle,” Harvey said.

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Rather than carefully monitoring their body on a scale, some women find themselves fixating on a different kind of weight, as they strive for increasing the amount they can lift in a training approach called “progressive overload. ”

For those who find their relationship to strength training is becoming obsessive, Harvey invited them to remember that “our main goal should be for us to feel strong enough to live our lives,” Harvey said. “If we’re so focused on never feeling like we are doing enough, then it takes the joy away from lifting.”

Hellner advised women to watch out for “ignoring whispers from the body before they become screams. If there’s pain or injury and someone is not honoring their body and resting, that is a red flag, or if there is quite a bit of distress when they’re not able to strength train on a given day.”

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For someone used to going hard on the cardio machines every day, Harvey noted that the schedule for strength training can take some getting used to.

“Your body needs rest just as much as it needs the strength training. We don’t want to fatigue the muscles constantly,” she said. “We want to give them time to learn a pattern, to be comfortable with a load, and then we can move on.” Without adequate rest, lifting weights can “just tear the body down.”

When it comes to nutrition for strength training, Hellner encouraged women to avoid seeing food only as something that supports their fitness routine and instead “thinking about fueling for all of the reasons we need food: basic life processing, hormone production, organ function, all activities of daily living, including connecting with people, building community, experiencing joy.”

Both Harvey and Jamison emphasized the importance of finding the right balance and a routine based on your personal needs. A woman who wants to feel less creaky in daily life doesn’t have to approach strength training like she’s preparing for a powerlifting competition.

While this fitness trend might be getting more women to start lifting, Harvey said she wanted them to find sustainable ways to pursue their goals that go beyond appearance or a fitness fad.

“It is so encouraging to be able to walk into a gym, and in the free weights section, I’m not the only woman there,” she said. “That is a really cool and exciting thing, and I just am hopeful that it continues, and that it’s not something that drops off when the trend changes because it will. It always does.”

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Separating exercise from appearance can be the best way to find a health-promoting, personal connection to movement. It’s why Jamison argued for a much more inclusive approach than is typically portrayed online.

“I don’t think the only way fitness should be appreciated or commendable is if it results in a lean and very obviously muscular body,” she said. “That should not be the only picture of health, strength or fitness.”

Note: If you or someone you know may be struggling with an eating disorder, the National Alliance for Eating Disorders provides free resources and referrals.

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奥娜·汉森是一位作家、教育家和家长教练，专门帮助家庭应对饮食文化和饮食失调问题。

和我的X世代同龄人一样，我从小就被灌输这样的观念：追求“钢铁臀”身材的标准是穿紧身衣好看，而不是在健身房能蹲起多重的杠铃。女性甚至被刻意劝阻进行力量训练，以免变得肌肉过于发达。

对女性而言，有氧运动几十年来一直是健身之王——或者应该说是女王？——但随着人们对增肌益处的认识不断提高，尤其对于中年女性而言，越来越多的女性开始举重。随着年龄的增长，力量训练对于保护骨密度和整体健康至关重要。

感谢 Dana Santas 提供图片

即使是适度的力量训练也能延缓与年龄相关的衰退。

然而，举重和计算蛋白质克数以增加肌肉质量的新压力，可能会给一些女性带来另一个问题：对运动和食物的不健康关注，以及对另一种理想外貌标准的追求。

女性需要知道如何保养自己的身体，而不必抱有不切实际的期望，以免损害自身健康。

波士顿东北大学宗教系教授莉兹·布卡尔过去只通过有氧运动来体验健身，“总是想让自己变得更瘦”。

“到了中年，我们都被告知，哎呀，之前那些建议都糟透了，”布卡尔说道，他是《超越健康：如何恢复灵性实践的宗教根源来治愈我们》一书的作者。“你的骨头正在崩解，因为你没有来月经，因为你每天只在楼梯机上待好几个小时。”

布卡尔现在在教练的指导下进行力量训练，他认为这种从计算卡路里到在健身房进行力量训练的转变非常有效，因为它“更能保护我们的健康”并且“对抗传统的审美标准”。

“我喜欢这个想法，我们正在培养出一代不会织毛衣、不会烘焙等等的奶奶，但我们的祖先中第一个能把丈夫举过头顶的人，”布卡尔说。

健身记者米卡拉·贾米森 (Mikala Jamison) 表示，力量训练可以帮助女性修复与体育活动和身体的关系。她撰写了《体型》通讯，并且是即将出版的《永恒计划：运动如何让我从内到外长期保持强壮》一书的作者。

“对我们很多人来说，运动曾经是一种非常有害的东西，它会影响我们的身体和心态，而且与节食文化紧密相连，”杰米森告诉我。“通过健身来照顾自己，这无疑是一件好事。这是女性争取权益的体现。”

尽管杰米森认为力量训练是她从饮食失调症中康复的关键因素，但她仍然对这种健身潮流的宣传方式感到担忧。“‘强壮才是新的苗条’这句话对像我这样的人来说应该像蝙蝠侠的信号灯一样醒目，对吧？听起来很棒。但我认为这其中也存在很多复杂之处，”她说。

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杰米森说：“尽管各种体型的女性都在努力增强体质，但社交媒体上的图片却表明，‘一切都讲究强壮和苗条。这只是另一种可能造成严重伤害的身材标准。’”

“在美国，进行力量训练的女性比以往任何时候都多。这带来的好处怎么强调都不为过，”她说。“但与此同时，传递这一信息的往往是一些身材仍然比较娇小，只是肌肉线条比较明显的女性。”

凯瑞·哈维是一位获得认证的私人教练，也是纽约布鲁克林 Form Fitness 健身房的共同所有人。她也认为，在我们的文化中，体型较大的举重女性人数不足。

“你会看到一些身材娇小的人肌肉发达、体格强壮，这很了不起，”哈维说。“然而，也有一些身材魁梧的人同样强壮，但他们的身上也有橘皮组织，也有脂肪。他们的身材可能不像你在Instagram或杂志封面上看到的那样完美，但那仍然是一副强健的体魄。”

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增强体质往往与缩小体型是相互矛盾的。

“我喜欢告诉大家，肌肉需要空间，”哈维说。“随着背阔肌变得更强壮，可能意味着我们需要换大一号的胸罩。或者，随着二头肌变得更强壮，可能意味着你原本以为会宽松的衬衫现在会变得有点紧身。”

哈维鼓励女性“要坦然接受随着身体强壮而发生的变化，但这种变化可能不会以你预想的方式发生，但这并非坏事。这很难，因为我们很多人都被教育要保持娇小的身材。”

杰米森说，虽然力量训练的流行吸引了更多女性走进健身房，但它也可能助长一种“过于理想化的身材标准”。“有时候感觉我们只是在不断地改变人们对理想身材的定义，却总是用不同的说法来称呼它。比如，好吧，它关乎力量，但真的是这样吗？还是说，它只是关乎极度的纤瘦？”

注册营养师、AthleatMD联合创始人梅根·赫尔纳(Megan Hellner)对盲目追捧健身潮流可能带来的身心健康风险表示担忧。AthleatMD是一家为患有运动相对能量不足综合征(RED-S)和饮食失调的运动员提供医疗和营养治疗的项目。“感觉我们只是用一种非常狭隘的身材理想来取代另一种，”她说。

Kilito Chan/Moment RF/Getty Images

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虽然赫尔纳警告说，试图改变体型以符合她所说的“运动美学”存在风险，但她也承认，强调力量而非纤瘦的好处在于“它至少需要能量的投入。肌肉的构建和维持都需要消耗大量的热量。”

与许多女性因追求苗条而限制卡路里摄入不同，注重举重与节食根本不相容。

“增强力量和增长肌肉需要我们进食。我们必须给肌肉提供营养，因此，很多在其他潮流中被妖魔化的食物，其实是我们增长肌肉所必需的，”哈维说。

Edwin Tan/E+/Getty Images

有些女性并没有仔细地用体重秤监测自己的身体，而是将注意力集中在另一种重量上，她们努力增加自己能够举起的重量，这种训练方法被称为“渐进式超负荷训练”。

对于那些发现自己对力量训练过于痴迷的人，哈维提醒他们：“我们的主要目标应该是让自己感觉足够强壮，能够正常生活。”哈维说，“如果我们总是纠结于自己做得不够好，那么举重就会失去乐趣。”

赫尔纳建议女性注意“不要忽视身体发出的低语，以免它们变成尖叫。如果出现疼痛或受伤，而有人却不尊重自己的身体，不好好休息，这就是一个危险信号；或者如果她们在某一天无法进行力量训练时感到非常痛苦，也应该引起重视。”

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对于习惯每天在有氧器械上进行高强度训练的人来说，哈维指出，力量训练的安排可能需要一段时间才能适应。

“你的身体需要休息，就像需要力量训练一样。我们不想让肌肉一直处于疲劳状态，”她说。“我们希望给它们时间去学习训练模式，适应负荷，然后再进行下一步。” 如果没有足够的休息，举重“只会把身体搞垮”。

谈到力量训练的营养，赫尔纳鼓励女性不要仅仅把食物看作是支持她们健身计划的东西，而是“思考食物能满足我们所有需要它的原因：基本生命过程、激素生成、器官功能、所有日常生活活动，包括与人联系、建立社区、体验快乐”。

哈维和杰米森都强调了找到合适的平衡点并根据个人需求制定锻炼计划的重要性。想要在日常生活中感觉更轻松自在的女性，不必像备战举重比赛那样进行力量训练。

虽然这种健身潮流可能会让更多女性开始举重，但哈维表示，她希望她们能找到可持续的方式来追求自己的目标，而不仅仅是追求外表或健身潮流。

“走进健身房，在自由重量区，我不是唯一的女性，这真是太令人鼓舞了，”她说。“这真的很棒，也令人兴奋，我希望这种情况能一直持续下去，而不是随着潮流的改变而消失，因为潮流总会改变的。它总是会改变的。”

Moyo Studio/E+/Getty Images

无论他如何饮食或锻炼，他都觉得自己的肌肉不够发达。然后，他跌入了人生的谷底。

将运动与外貌分开来看，可能是找到一种有益健康、与个人生活息息相关的运动方式的最佳途径。正因如此，杰米森主张采取一种比网络上常见的做法更具包容性的方法。

“我认为，健身的价值和值得称赞的地方不应该仅仅在于拥有精瘦且肌肉线条分明的身材，”她说。“这不应该是健康、力量或健身的唯一标准。”

注意：如果您或您认识的人可能正在与饮食失调作斗争，全国饮食失调联盟可提供免费资源和转介服务。

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