Little But Big. But Little.

There was a little-ish boy in our gym yesterday... he was probably nine or 10 years old. He came with his dad to our recess class, which tends to be packed out with both men and women.... many of who just so happen to be plain ol' grown-ups turned bad asses.

I wish I could have snapped a pic of his face as he repeatedly scanned the room, taking in the incredible strength, speed, tenacity and power of the twenty or so women racking their own body weight to their shoulders so they could squat it for sets of ten.

Some thoughts about that:
I believe he saw them. Like, really SAW them. Those mommas and accountants and stylists and sales reps walk in to our gym in their high heels, but 20 minutes later, they're remembering that their real day job just so happens to involve super heroic feats. It''s absolutely mesmerizing to watch it go down.

Ladies, here's the deal: Muscles are going to give you what you want... which, from what I'm told often and a lot, is a hard, shapely booty and legs. I realize many of you are under the mistaken impression that if you move big weight around, you'll get bulky. And I'm here to tell you, that's just not true.

I hear this som etimes tho...... "Oh. I don't want abs like that. That's too much for me." Or, "Her upper body is too muscular. I just want to be toned." The problem is this: Your muscles have one of two options: To grow or to atrophy. And the older you get, the more they just want to lay in droopy little puddles loosely wrapped in skin. Super low calorie or low carb dieting along with massive amounts of cardio or other programs that "lengthen" your muscles (that's not a thing by the way, except a made up one) will not improve the stuff you don't like. Many times it actually makes it look worse.

Big weights will make you overall SMALLER. You will like what you look like in a bikini or in your naked SO MUCH BETTER if you fill those spots up that currently make you shudder when you check them out in a three-way-mirror. Small weights for bazillions of reps will not make you look "long and lean" or "toned". They just won't.

That’s cardio with a little bit of weight in your hands and it will never change the shape of science.

Ya'll: We have GOT to stop body shaming women who love weight training. I saw a post yesterday of this REDIC bad ass girl who couldn't have weighed more than 130 lbs overhead squatting what looked like 185. She had not one ounce of fat on her. She was tiny and RIPPED, six pack poppin, every muscle in her arms showing as she bossed that barbell around. But one of the comments made me shake my head.... "My husband said she looks like a dude." Ugh.

She looked anything but like a dude. She looked like a GD, mother effing BOSS LADY who had begun to realize her power. It wasn't just her physique. It was the way she focused. The way she moved. Her whole being dripped with confidence.

I'd personally much rather have prominent abs than a saggy ass. And since I don't want a saggy ass, that means I have to keep my upper body growing too. (Again.... hashtag science). You will get to a point in your life where you'll have to choose: Tiny and "skinny" with the ever-elusive notion of "long and lean" or pick up some real weight and learn how to fall in love with both your body AND your soul.

And in the words of Brooke Ence..... "I'd rather look different and be awesome than fit in the mold and never stand out." Yes. Yes, ma'am. So would I. And so would a whole lot of other women who've discovered they're more than an object to be judged as hot or not hot, sexy or not sexy, lady-like or manly (whatever that means), or any other irrelevant opinion about our "too big" bodies.
Next time you see a lady with abs and traps and quads and a booty that looks like it could push a car uphill, go and talk to her. I can promise you, you'll like her.

Cuz her soul is every bit as big as her butt.