You may read
articles, blogs or tweets writing about our cultural objectification of women
and the sexualization of the female body.
I hear more and more women struggle as they work to feel comfortable in
their body and with their figure in a society that scrutinizes and comments on
the female form. Introduce those insecurities into the sometimes egocentric,
often loud, mainly male dominated arena of the public gym and there is the
potential for anxiety, over thinking and lowered self-esteem. Sadly these
thoughts and cognitive distortions can be counter-productive to the benefits
the gym can offer to anyone willing to participate.
For years I have
slyly tried to spy on the personal trainers as they worked with their clients at
my local gym. From a distance I would watch them and then try to imitate the
exercises that they took their clients through. Though my solo version of the
trainer’s activities seemed like a cost effective way to benefit from their
knowledge without paying the could-buy-a-good-used-car price, my adaptation was
saggy, soggier and generally lacking in proper form. It wasn’t until I had struggled with lower
back pain for ten years that I finally decided it was time to get a lot stronger. I would have to stop spying on trainers like
a hokey cartoon villain peering from around the squat rack, and legitimately
enlist the help of a personal trainer.
Training has been
a growth experience for me and some of the things that I have discovered in my
initial few months of training have genuinely surprised me. For one, I sweat even more than I thought that I
did. I credit this charming fact to an
excess of body heat and the awkward nervousness I feel about most things relating
to physical performance. Mark my words, despite the help of chalked hands, at
some point I will slide off of a machine or drop some kind of dumbbell on my
feet simply due to my sweaty, failing grip.
The other thing I discovered
is how markedly different the bodily positions (necessary for proper weight
training) are from the ways that I had become accustomed to holding my body.
For example, while working on strengthening the chest muscles, it is necessary
to puff out one’s chest like a superhero. And when I say, “puff out,” I mean way out.
Many of my
training sessions have been focused on the supreme importance of the gluteus
muscles. While I certainly knew that within the body one’s rump is a muscular
powerhouse, I had no idea that the key to some exercises involved sticking out that
rump with wild abandon! After finally letting go of my self-consciousness and
doing what comes naturally in order to move heavy weight (e.g. letting your bum
muscles expand and exert control), I almost burst with laughter when my trainer
exclaimed, “That’s it! Do that every time.” The caboose that I had always tried
to camouflage was going to actually come in handy? Well I’ll be darned.
Unfortunately, we
live in a culture that sexualizes women (and men, but particularly women) in
all spaces. As a public space often
characterized by randy pop music, roving eyes, and tiny outfits the gym can be
interpreted as an arena that sexualizes women, perhaps more than any other.
However, it also presents people with the opportunity to focus upon building
strength. The gym can create an environment to empower ourselves to let go of
self-consciousness and open up to the opportunity to become stronger than we
might have ever thought possible.
Show up, stick
your stuff out, and be proud of your fearlessness!
