After watching this video it made us think and brought to the forefront some of the issues we see on a daily basis.  Some of us can relate more then others, but strong truly is beautiful.  As Functional Fitness coaches we receive all kinds questions regarding the program and the type of results we typically see from our athletes.  One question we hear more often then not from women is, won’t all the weightlifting and resistance training cause me to become bulky and masculine with large muscles.  We can get into the science at another time, but our answer is always NO!!!  Yes you will get stronger, yes you may see an increase in muscle definition, yes you will decrease your odds of osteoporosis, yes you will increase your resting metabolic rate, and yes you will improve your overall health and living independence as you get older. 

In this video four women who have been Functional Fitnessting for a length of time and are of varying age, and background.  They are asked to shed some light on not only this question, but also touch on some of the other situations that strong women seem to face on a daily basis.  These women have obviously put a lot of work and dedication into their training and overall lifestyle.  However, it’s interesting to hear all of these women mention what they did once upon a time, how they trained and what their overall goals were.  One of the things that all these women mentioned and I think most successful Functional Fitness athletes can relate with is how they finally began to see success and feel happy about their bodies when they changed their areas of focus.  In stead of worrying about what the scale said, or what size clothing they fit into, or  in my opinion the most important one was they stopped caring what others thought and did what made them happy.  The world we live in has all kinds of social pressures.  We have to look a particular way, dress a particular way, eat a particular way, and act a particular way.  However, from my own personal experience as an athlete and as a coach. When an athletes decides to change their focus from being “skinny” or looking a specific way, and instead focus on being stronger, faster, and more powerful.  Having goals of lifting 300 pounds,  running a sub 10 minute mile, or getting their fist pull up, the focus is completely different and leads to health and wellness. 

These are four very successful Functional Fitness athletes and they have to deal with all the same pressures we all have to deal with on a daily basis.  So the next time an ignorant person gives you a hard time about looking or not looking a particular way remind them and remind yourself about all the great things you can now do.  Remember how far you have come from the person you once were.  Never forget the hard work you’ve put into YOURSELF and that strong truly is beautiful.