The #gymselfie Epidemic

I recently read this article about the whole gym selfies thing. This is a topic I have debated writing about probably 20 times. I really liked that article, so I took it as a sign that it was time to put throw in my two cents.

So, what's my opinion on gym selfies? This will probably upset almost everyone, but I think they're just a cry for attention. I can hear you now..."but CHRISSY! You post videos and pictures of you lifting, how is that not a cry for attention?!" Well, you've got a point. But, I can honestly tell you I do not do it for attention. I do it because my coach and teammates live far away from me. It's a great way for us to see how everyone's doing, and my coach NEEDS videos in order to see how I'm progressing (and so he can do his job of programming for me). I do it for the feedback I can get from other lifters. I train alone, for the most part, so its important to me to be critiqued by other lifters. You'd be surprised how much you can learn from an instagram comment....that's how I found my current coach! And I also do it because, lifting heavy is freakin awesome.

I'm not the kind of person to post a #gymselfie of myself half naked, posing with the lights dimmed so that my muscles look better than they actually are. There are a few reasons for this:
1) I have never been confident enough in my body to do that
2) I know for a fact my followers don't want to see that
3) I get enough unwanted attention just for being a female powerlifter-I don't want more by posting pictures like that.

Now, just because I don't post any pictures like that, doesn't mean I don't take them. My phone is actually full of pics of me in a bikini in front of a mirror. I do this for MYSELF. I like to see progress I'm making. I have no plans to ever post these pictures anywhere. So, I guess what I'm saying is, I understand why people do them. I understand the whole progress pic thing. I understand that some outlets of fitness (especially people who compete in physique competitions) need to do this to show how far they've come. And I think that's great-in moderation. I don't think it's necessary to post something like that every week/day/whatever. I don't need to be scrolling through instagram seeing a half-naked chick posing every other picture. Show me REAL progress-lifting pics/videos.

Which brings me to my next point. I strongly believe that spending time looking at these #gymselfies can be detrimental to physical and mental health. The article above referenced 2 "studies" done about this topic. Here is my personal story:

I used to follow a TON of "fitspo" accounts on IG. I also have a lot of friends who compete in things like bikini, figure, bodybuilding, etc. So, I would always see a ton of those pics every time I would open my IG and scroll through. This started having a negative effect on my body image. I would stare at myself in the mirror and wonder why I didn't look like that. I was lifting heavy, I was doing (some) cardio, I was eating healthy. It got to a point where I increased my cardio so much that the back pain had been been working on getting rid of so diligently for 8 weeks came back. I completely undid all the back rehab with just 3 cardio-centered workouts. Talk about stupid. When my coach asked me why I was increasing cardio without talking to him first, my response was, "I'm getting fat". To which he replied, "Shut up. No you're not. You look great and you're so much stronger than you've ever been. Where is this coming from?" We went on to discuss what I was feeling and after talking to him, I felt a lot better. I unfollowed most of those accounts, because I don't need to be looking at that every day if this is what it will do to me. Was it a momentary lapse in judgement? Did I just freak-out for a hot second? Maybe. But I don't want it to happen again.

I've come to terms with the fact that I am NOT a fitness model or physique competitor. I am a powerlifter. I may never have visible abs and that's ok. I will never have a thigh gap, because I really, really, love to squat. But I WILL always be strong. I don't go to the gym to get a "pump" or to work on one specific muscle-I go to get stronger. I don't want other women (or men) to look up to me because of how I look-I want them to look up to me because of what I've accomplished. If you can't be impressed by my lifting alone, you're not someone I want in my life anyways.