Back then, there were very few women lifting dumbbells. Many of us would feel intimidated by that fact; even today, gymtimidation and its effect upon women is real. But where many of us would try and shrink ourselves to take up as little space as possible, Jenna saw an opportunity. As a self-professed teenage tomboy, she liberated herself from any notion that she should be anything other than herself, and stepped into the weights room with the permission to be exactly herself.

Now a New York-based influencer who holds a corporate role at Peloton, this mindset informs much of her life; she’s happy being slightly contrarian. It’s certainly served her well on social media, where her account has grown to more than 127,000 followers—the majority of whom are women, who follow her for her smart, fun takes on how to be stylish in sport. She was among the first to tell women that it was okay to wear an “outfit” for a run—thus rejecting the notion that women should either be girly or sporty, but not both. Among her most popular videos are those in which she discusses sweat-proof beauty products, and the lip liners that stay on for the duration of a marathon.

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Jenna has helped show women that committing to your whole self, even when you’re exercising, is a way to ensure you actually enjoy it. She proves the Danimás ethos that self-expression should not be gated.

This week, we’re excited to bring you an interview with Jenna about her strength training journey. The world of social media might know her best for her running content, but it’s in the gym that she feels most like herself. Strength training, she says, is “the medium of exercise that connects me with myself; it’s my roots.”

Read to the end to discover her gym bag essentials, from make-up to training tools.

WHY I TRAIN: I WANTED TO PROVE PEOPLE WRONG

By Jenna Litner. As told to Grace Cook.

“I have a tattoo on my body that says ‘Doubt me’. It’s become my ethos. I enjoy people doubting me. Growing up, I was very athletic but I was a late bloomer and was always undersized. People did not expect a lot from me, but I’ve channeled it into ammunition—an opportunity to prove people wrong. Feeling underestimated has turned into a superpower, because now I approach things with the mindset that I have nothing to lose. When I showed up in the weight room for the first time, I had that same feeling.

I was 15 when I first got into weightlifting. Truthfully, it started for aesthetics. I was young and not feeling particularly confident in my body because I’d always had a very athletic, straight build which was not very feminine. Thankfully, I was fed content on social media that showed me there was a world where you could create a physical shape through building muscle. I bought into it completely.

I wanted to build a butt, so my focus initially was on lower-body dominant work. It was successful! I built a butt. Now, hip thrusts are still one of my favorite exercises. The want to build my body helped me shift my perspective on food. I began understanding it as fuel, versus a—a daily occurrence in my life, and b—something that I should be concerned about all the time. I started tracking my macros and paying attention to what was actually important for a woman’s body.

Being sporty my whole life has meant that I was never afraid to show up in male-dominated spaces. I was a tomboy; I have two older brothers and all I wanted to wear back then was my brothers’ baggy clothes. It’s funny to think of now because so much of my professional identity online has become about style, but I think being a tomboy back then opened me up to this world where it was okay to be different; that I didn’t have to conform to the norms that I was seeing in these spaces. That I can do it my own way.

Jenna’s “Doubt me” tattoo. Photographed by Marsha Lebedev Bernstein for Danimás.

A lot of my style inspiration comes from this ethos. I have a full-time corporate job working for Peloton, but I built my online influence through talking to women about workout style—my content centered around how women can express themselves when exercising. I think my first videos went viral because they offered that more contrarian approach. The title for the series was an in-joke with a friend. She’d always joke that I would turn up to a run looking amazing, and she would look like sh*t.

“Feeling underestimated has turned into a superpower, because now I approach things with the mindset that I have nothing to lose.”

For me, feeling and looking good motivates me to get out of the door and do that hard workout. It makes me feel really confident, and I get to play around with my style. People always complimented my hair or my jewelry when I was exercising—I wear big hoops when I run—so it was really a marrying of those worlds. I think it has maybe made women realize that they too can accessorize while working out.

There is more freedom in the clothes you can wear in the gym than when you go for a run. You can sort of wear whatever you want as long as you’re wearing the right bra. I love wearing terry cloth shorts, or vintage soccer shorts or graphic tees that I’ve cropped myself. Or bigger tomboy-style shorts with an itty bitty bra. It’s fun to play with contrast and proportion in the gym.

Jenna in one of her signature vintage graphic tees, styled with the Danimás Reveal glove. Photographed by Marsha Lebedev Bernstein for Danimás.

The gym is my time for clarity and a chance to step away from everything. My life runs at 100 miles per hour and it’s so easy to be focused on the noise. Running helps me for mental clarity, but lifting helps me stay really focused on the task at hand.

Take Bulgarian split squats, for example. They are my most-hated workout move but I love having them as part of my routine because I know that if I focus really hard on them, I’ll get through them and then they’ll be ticked off my list. I write a list every single day, but my list never gets completed. Except in the gym. I check everything off, and I feel really happy and accomplished for doing it. My next body part to build is my shoulders. I want capped delts.

“My professional identity online has become about style, but being a tomboy opened me up to a world where it was okay to be slightly contrarian.”

When I started lifting, I didn’t really know what I was doing. It was definitely very uncomfortable. I was saving content on Instagram from women I admired, like Grace Beverley and Chrissy Cela, both of whom were posting workout videos and routines back then. I actually didn’t have my own personal Instagram account until 2020. Prior to that, I had a burner account on which I followed 10 women who were weightlifting. I would be in the gym, swiping through their content and trying to replicate what they were doing. I had no sense of what types of weights I was supposed to be doing, no sense of the volume or reps.

I was really motivated by seeing a change in my physique within a couple of months, but I noticed other improvements almost immediately. My confidence went up because I felt so empowered in that space, and my strength increased much faster than I expected. This was helpful, as I am incredibly ambitious but I don’t have a ton of patience, which is both a superpower and a toxic trait.

Strength training has furthered this motivation for me to show up in spaces where I am not necessarily welcomed in other avenues of my life. It has helped me see that I can create this image of myself in my own brain about what I am capable of, and the challenges I am willing to accept and take on to get there—all of this has propelled me elsewhere. It has meant I felt confident flying out when I was 20 years old to do interviews for investment banking, having come from a school that typically would not be accepted at that kind of job.

As long as I am not doubting myself, I’m good.”

WHAT’S IN JENNA’S GYM BAG?

Her number one product: dry shampoo. “I always keep K18 Hair Airwash dry shampoo in my gym bag. I am someone who loves to wear my hair in fun ways; when I go to the gym, I want to leave looking like I still have a fresh blowout.”

Make-up: “I always keep a lip combo; one or two lip liners, plus some form of lip balm and a gloss. I really love the lip liners from Saie Beauty 101, and I also recently started using the POV Beauty liners, which are amazing. They do not move, which is one of the reasons that I love them because I can wear them for a run or a workout, and it’s not smudging anywhere.”

Her gym tools: lifting straps, warm-up bands, and Danimás’ silver Wrap glove. “Great grip strength is important to me; the Wrap glove makes it beautiful. I’m not great at warming up, but I usually keep some resistance bands in there, too.”

Lifting shoes: “ I always keep the Nike Metcon in my bag.”

HER DIETARY MUST-HAVES:

Her comfort fuel: protein oatmeal. “If I lift in the morning, I typically do it fasted, and I’m always excited to come home and eat my bowl of protein oatmeal. I’ve been loyal to protein oatmeal since 2016 and it makes me so happy. If I lift in the evening, I’ll eat a slice of toast with some banana and cinnamon beforehand.”

Her healthy go-tos: “I love a full-egg omelet, with asparagus, mushrooms and sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are a superfood; they’re great to have with cinnamon.

Her favorite take-out lunch: “I became really obsessed with turkey sandwiches. There’s a place in New York called Francesco that does a really great turkey sandwich that I’ve just fallen in love with. They have it with homemade aioli and bib lettuce, and it just tastes very fresh and bright for me—and it’s such a great source of protein. They do really good wraps as well, actually.”

Americans love to flock to Europe in the summer, but most European hotels do not have air conditioning, let alone a gym. How are we supposed to stay in a routine when we travel? Plus, we don’t necessarily want routine in August; right now, we’re likely all throwing caution to the wind and embracing a fluid schedule where the plan of the day to be horizontal, sunbathing on a rock in Marseille. Soon, the gym slides so far down our list of priorities that it falls off the page.

Writer Chanté Joseph knows this all too well. As the author of the viral Vogue story, Is Having A Boyfriend Embarrassing Now?, Chanté is more tuned in to the zeitgeist and the mindset of women than most. We’re super excited to bring you her first story for Danimás in this week’s issue of The Huddle.

Scenes from Chanté’s long, hot summer

Chanté herself has fallen off the workout wagon many times—so many times, in fact, that she’s developed an entire strategy around getting back onto it. She’s realized that while her ADHD makes it harder for her to maintain her interest, it can actually be a superpower when it comes to having a fun and fulfilling fitness life.

It’s always summer somewhere

With Labor Day around the corner, chances are we’re thinking about our own routines right now with a sense of hesitancy and, dare we say it, dread. This week, Chanté proves that we don’t have to, with a return-to-workout plan that will feel so fulfilling to enact that it makes us want to fall off the wagon in the first place.

HOW TO GET BACK ON THE WORKOUT WAGON

It’s easy to fall out of your fitness routine. Chanté Joseph discovered the key to getting back in the driver’s seat was turning her ADHD into a superpower.

When I fall off my exercise routine, I fall hard. It’s a complete cliff-edge drop in activity. It becomes very difficult to pick the habit back up again, because once the movement stops, the guilt and self-loathing set in: I know I should be exercising, but I just can’t. Everything feels worse; every excuse is a boulder forcing me to stay in bed, and it becomes a cycle of misery. The post-workout high becomes a distant memory.

Most people can relate to this feeling of losing the momentum you once had. Restarting technically should feel easy, considering we’re constantly reminded that there are endless ways to move—that most involve starting small. Maybe you go for a 20-minute walk. Maybe you stretch at home, or do a simple mat Pilates routine.

The issue is, this does not work for me. Why? It’s not motivation that makes me fall off the wagon. It’s boredom. I’ve fallen in and out of exercise many times, and I’ve realized that connecting my experiences of ADHD with my behavior around movement was transformative in how I thought about my relationship with fitness. I quickly realised that exercise for me has to have variety. Rather than abiding by a strict training plan, fitness has to keep me interested.

“Getting your motivation back takes so much more compassion than you think...few of us respond to cruelty.”

Perhaps it’s the same for you? As women, we need to remember that we can do whatever we want. Unless we’re aiming for and training for the Olympics, we don’t need to specialize in one type of exercise. Instagram shows immaculate feeds of women who have built entire businesses around an exercise niche, but we can do strength training and Pilates and run, if we want.

It’s easy to fall into fitness trends, thinking doing one form of exercise will keep you motivated forever. But I’ve always struggled to be the sort of person that does just one thing. As a school and university student, I loved cheerleading; the combination of cardio, strength and flexibility hit all of the key fitness areas for me and kept me entertained. When I could no longer keep up with the grueling team practice schedule, I took up pole dancing. Pole gave me a clear marker of strength; certain moves could unlock over time with repetition and training. But pole classes aren’t always convenient as they often take place in the evenings; I realized I’d need to join a gym, too.

“Unless we’re aiming for and training for the Olympics, we don’t need to specialize in one type of exercise.”

Adopting this more fluid approach to working out has also enabled me to introduce novelty into my life—as well as pushing towards training goals. My affection for pole got me into aerial fitness; I dabbled in hoops, straps, slings and even trapeze, pushing the limits of my ability to defy gravity. Not only do I always feel good after my classes, I’ve developed skills I can watch back and be proud of. I’ve also found a community of likeminded women. The incentive to work out now goes well beyond my need to be fit; it has become about having fun, while showing myself all the amazing things a body can do and building relationships with people that support my journey. The trifecta of all three make staying on the wagon an easier ask.

When I am demotivated, I think of the root cause rather than only focusing on the outcome. Is it connected to a sense of boredom or frustration? Or am I no longer moving my body in ways I find interesting? Am I enjoying the workouts I am doing? Am I struggling because I’m feeling uninspired? Looking a little deeper can shed the light far quicker, which can snap you out of that downward spiral.

I’ve found that classes really work for me. The ease of booking, scheduling and the commitment I make to show up is second to none; on top of that, the variety ensures each workout remains novel and hybrid. Whenever I hit a wall, I move into what I now call my “trial-by-fire” mode—I do a class a day for a week, and I always focus on booking different classes that promise to get me excited about moving my body again. Try anything and everything.

After my most recent fall off, I booked a Total Body Workout, as well as a Blaze (HIIT) class, Pole Conditioning, a “Hips and Hamstrings” session, and a full-body stretch class. This sounds wild, but it is foolproof. This isn’t something you have to keep up forever, only for a short burst of time to reestablish your flow and the habit. Letting yourself be led by variety is the easiest way of doing both.

“Fitness is about having fun, and showing myself what my body can do.”

To prepare myself for fire week, I remove all blockers to inactivity: I book all my classes beforehand, I allocate time in my calendar for travel and getting ready, and I make sure my bags are packed. All of these minor adjustments to my day compound to reduce the amount of negotiation I do with myself in the morning, and therefore, the amount I can procrastinate. Planning means I begin fire week feeling prepared.

Getting your motivation back takes so much more compassion than you think. In fitness, we’re often told we have to be cruel to be kind to get results—that discipline requires strictness— but I think it is quite the opposite. Few of us actually respond to cruelty. Instead, when you’re compassionate, you seek to understand rather than judge. You become much more in tune with your body and mind and, as a result, you can better gauge where the hesitation and demotivation comes from.

Prior to commencing your own fire week, I recommend restarting your routine by establishing a new goal for yourself. Maybe it’s a weight you want to lift, a pose you want to hold for longer, or a flip or trick you want to impress yourself with. Start thinking about the exercises that will help you to do that, and get creative about where and how you train: it could be something as simple as new music you might listen to, or a new, brightly colored workout set you want to wear.

Remember: the trick is maintaining your own interest. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to practice my next aerial somersault.

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Let us know in the comments: what’s your best strategy to get back into routine? We’re collecting the best tips, which we’ll publish in a forthcoming issue of The Huddle.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!

Peyton Dix offers us the full package this week. She’s an an intellectual, chronically online millennial with a penchant for pop culture—that duality is exactly what makes her so compelling. As a writer, podcaster, social media strategist and sports fan, the 32-year-old Los Angeles born, New York-based creative has built a multi-hyphen career on being herself.

One of her most recent accolades includes interviewing none other than Michelle Obama on her podcast, Lemme Say This; the Obamas’ media company just acquired it.

Dix she says the things that everyone is thinking but which many are afraid to say. Among her blockbuster stories was a piece she penned for Vogue, titled: “My Most Valuable Inheritance? My Granny’s Gay Gene.”

In it, she writes: “To me, queerness didn’t look like a rainbow flag pin, but rather a woman in her late 60s whipping around the parking lot of my private school in a car that resembled Bumblebee from Transformers… There were no pointed questions or formal sit-downs around her sexual identity; she just was. She just is.”

Here, she shares her hot list for living well, loving yourself, and liberating yourself from the fear of failure.

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Date yourself

“Having a crush can be debilitating and dating can be all-consuming, especially if you are a lesbian or have big feelings like me. So I’ve been dating myself and my friends in a totally new way. I never really cook for myself because I live alone; there’s something a little sorry and sad about it. I had forgotten how much joy it brings me to cook for a group of people, and how fun it is to nourish and feed the people I love.”

Tip: Singledom can be lonely, but inviting friends for dinner and sharing a meal is a way of fostering deeper connection and creating the feeling of intimacy in your home that isn’t reliant on romance.

Know your worth

“As a Black woman specifically, I have only ever been conditioned to push through an experience, or think that I am not doing enough especially to be seen at the same level as my peers. In reality, I was overextending myself. It’s really easy to move to a scarcity mindset—to think that if you work hard now, you can play hard later. But why not do both at the same time?”

Tip: Get curious about how certain work, rooms and people make you feel—ask yourself why. Recognize your contributions by checking in with yourself.

Dix is a fan of journaling

Set boundaries

“Boundaries are sexy because they create space for you to welcome more of the things you actually want to make the time for. I am constantly practicing the art of saying no—I’m not always winning, obviously. I’m probably mostly failing at it, but I’m trying.”

Tip: Go out of your way to do the things that are good for you, and prioritize around that.

Network

“Every job I’ve ever had was low-key from the club. It’s not gross to network, especially in a city like New York, where the people who you meet are always your peers. It’s so much more enriching to work alongside people that I know have a shared value system, or to have a shared interest, even if we’re not besties.”

Tip: Being outside in the world can sometimes lead you to a thought or a conversation or a job that you wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Talk more

“Small talk can be a really helpful tool and an entry point into a larger and more thoughtful conversation. I famously got put next to the quietest girl in school who never spoke, and I got her to start talking. Being a conversationalist is exercise, and it only becomes easier the more you microdose.”

Tip: Ask someone questions or talk to people about things that could feel innocuous or missable to other people.

How I dealt with depression

“I have voice memos of me just talking to myself. When I listen back in a clearer headspace, I realize that I am just going to keep growing, and getting better, and surviving. I myself become the living proof that I can do those things.”

Tip: Distil your thoughts or anxieties out loud. It can help clarify the thought, or get rid of it.

Build community

“Community building is one of the sexiest things that people can do.”

Tip: Go to sports bars when the games are on, and then go up to anyone [in the bar] and ask them a question. “I promise you, they’ll answer it,” says Peyton. Also, start listening to the podcast, The Sports Gossip Show to brush up on your intel.

Gossip is good for you

“Gossip can be catharsis; it’s therapy. Often when we’re talking through a feeling or a problem, a release comes from it, and sometimes a solution. I think to feel close and connected and heard and understood by someone can come just from gossiping.”

Tip: Don’t be afraid to speak your truth in the spirit of gossip. “It’s always fun to have a common enemy,” says Peyton.

It’s okay to bail… sometimes

“I live my life on Do Not Disturb. My phone buzzing gives me too much anxiety. I also tell my friends: know that this is hard for me, and if I’m bailing, don’t push back. Ethical bailing is a love language. There are rules. You can’t bail right before; if there’s a restaurant reservation and someone’s bank card gets charged, for example.

I try to block my calendar: I fill my Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, so that Tuesdays and Fridays are days I can have my head down a little bit, and know that there’s less expectation on me.”

Tip: Design your calendar based on your energy levels.

Get out more

“One time my father told my depressed brother to just go for a walk… but… go for a walk. So much has been brought to my frontal lobe on a walk. I’ve lived many different lives, and my mental health has looked many different ways. I Brick my phone, take a walk, and go and be in the world.”

Tip: Plug your wired headphones; Bluetooth is out.

Get comfortable being alone

“In public, I wonder, ‘do I look lonely or do I look lame?’ And then I remember I’m thinking about myself too much. No one else is thinking about me that hard. We’re all moving through the world so fast. We need to put our egos down. The coolest and most aspirational thing to me is to watch people be comfortable alone without letting themselves become reclusive.”

Tip: The best solo date is to see a play. “I’ve made friends sitting next to other women at plays before.”

Practice failing

“I call my mom a lot. She is a type A person and she gave me a lot of confidence when I was a young person. I thought I was a bad bitch even when I was ugly. It came from the fact that my mom always let me try, and she always let me fail, too. I’ve learned to get really comfortable failing because at least I tried. My mom is a super resilient woman who has lived a very difficult life and so I’ve never been afraid to try again, or start all over.”

Tip: Never be afraid to start.”

Peyton Dix’s Hot List

I can’t live without: oil blotting sheets. “I will age beautifully because my skin is oily and my mom is hot, at least that’s what I’ve been told. But until I’m 60 and sexy, my skin looks like a glazed donut in the summer so I always keep my oil control warriors with me. I use Fenty’s Invismatte, or the tried and true sheets from Clean and Clear.”

Peyton’s hot-list. Clockwise from left: Sony wired, over-ear headphones; slogan baseball caps; Comme Si button-down shirt; Knicks T-shirt; tableware from Big Night in Brooklyn for hosting friends; Nike sneakers for walking; Clean & Clear’s Oil Blotting Sheets; a stack of journals.

Restaurants can be overrated: “Cooking for people is a love language. A meal out is wonderful but we got food at home and a bottle of wine for the price of two glasses. Shoes off though, please.”

That’s hot: “Reading a book or, even sexier, recommending someone a book. I’m reading Problems by Jade Sharma, which was recommended to me by my friend Meg, and Lena Dunham recommended it on her Substack. It’s so good. I’m trying to get back into being literate…”

That’s underrated: “Voicemails are romance. I love ramblings and musings and being missed. I have a folder of almost every voicemail my mom has left me, as well as every ex of mine—even the ones where they are mad at me. There is nothing like the sound of somebody I love.”

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Now, we wear tank tops to the gym as well as layered underneath a blazer or an oversized poplin shirt; we also pack multiples in our vacation suitcases. A tank top has also become code for a very particular type of off-duty dressing, often worn by models and paired with with stonewashed jeans.

Today, this ribbed, cotton muscle tank has even more relevance in the era of sculpted physique. Its silhouette is simple but seductive, framing the shoulders and collarbones just so; the eye is automatically drawn to your arms. The role of fashion changes when the body becomes the statement. It’s no longer about the ‘It’ dress, or the ‘It’ bag, but the ‘It’ muscle. The muscle tank is the stage, and your biceps are the star.

In 2026, the bicep is a status muscle, and women are going viral for their arms. Devyn Dalton became an overnight sensation after Matt Damon claimed she had the best arms ever—revisit last week’s issue of The Huddle to read more, and learn our top 10 tips to for building your own. Meanwhile, more women than ever are incorporating upper body days into their workouts. Gym time is no longer just for glutes: women are training their lats, deltoids, and triceps, building muscular specificity as well as strength. We love to see it.

If you want to learn how to train your own arms towards glory, this Danimás workout, created by Danimás founder Dany Garcia with Hollywood personal trainer Dave Rienzi, has you covered. Don’t sleep on it.

This week, writer Osman Ahmed pays tribute to the ultimate bicep muse: Madonna. This woman has a legacy that is as enduringly relevant as the tank top itself, and, in an era when vintage activewear is soaring in fashionability, retro images of her have found their way back onto fashion mood boards. Not only is her fit on trend, but her body has become the ultimate aspiration—together, it’s a powerful combination.

MADONNA IS MY BICEP MUSE

By Osman Ahmed

Like clockwork, it happens every summer. The temperature rises, my collection of tank tops emerges from the back of my wardrobe, and my veins begin their annual migration towards the surface of my arms. It doesn’t help that, at this time of year, I become compulsively addicted to doing triceps dips and hammer curls. You see, I was not genetically blessed with lean arms, and I have broad shoulders that will remain as wide as the Hudson River no matter what workout I do. For me, only one image comes to mind as an achievable goal: Madonna.

I’m not talking about just any pictures of Madonna. It is Madonna leaving the gym in the 2000s, sunglasses on, tank top damp, Tracy Anderson or Gwyneth Paltrow somewhere in her orbit. Madonna on stage with one arm raised above her head, each tricep carved as precisely as the choreography. Madonna in a sleeveless T-shirt, the veins running down her forearms like electrical wiring. There are more glamorous Madonnas, certainly, but this is the one I return to: not draped in diamonds or Gaultier corsetry, but wearing her body as the ultimate status symbol.

Some people have hair muses. Others have eyebrow muses, leg muses, or women whose stomachs they save furtively to a folder marked “summer”. Madonna is my tank-top muse. More specifically, she is my bicep muse.

Her biceps, which she has hewn over decades rather than months, have withstood the test of time because Madonna is a woman who has always followed her own rules and instincts rather than following the latest craze: she has always been relevant, because she has forever deemed passing trends such as “Pilates arms” as not relevant to her. The zeitgeist has finally caught up with her muscular physique.

Madonna has always been a woman who has subverted what is expected of her. She is a person of perennial transformation and, at the age of 67, she is still is still finding new fans. Case in point: she just played the World Cup final in New Jersey, escorted onto the pitch in a 4x4 flanked by Ronaldo and Rolandinho. A couple of weeks prior, she played to a sell-out crowd for her Confessions II album in London. In true Madonna style, guests entered the venue through two giant inflatable legs. This was a woman’s world of unapologetic power, which has arguably never felt so now.

“The Madonna I return to is not draped in diamonds or Gaultier corsetry, but wearing her body as the ultimate status symbol.”

The timing makes sense. More women than ever are weight training, and the language surrounding their bodies has become strikingly specific. “Toned arms”, that vague old euphemism, has given way to more specific vernacular: biceps, triceps, deltoids and lats. Women are no longer waving tiny dumbbells around in pursuit of something long and lean; instead, they are lifting heavy enough to change the architecture of their bodies. For years, female gym culture seemed largely preoccupied with the lower half–with building a bigger bum while keeping everything above the waist discreetly narrow. Now, the weight room is full of women training their backs, shoulders and arms. Nike even offers a workout called “Tank Top Arms”, complete with tricep dips and hammer curls; the Danimás “Arms of Glory“ workout includes simple, highly effective supersplits to truly sculpt your silhouette.

Madonna’s arms have always expressed something essential about her. They are not merely toned, that politely feminine word implying definition without bulk, effort without aggression. They are muscular. They look worked for; they are earned. Madonna’s biceps are less an accessory than a trophy: physical evidence of discipline, diet, and the refusal to become smaller with age. Not only does Madonna look strong, but she looks powerful. Her arms suggest that no one and nothing can stand in the way of this woman taking a firm grip on whatever the hell she wants. To me, there couldn’t be anything more aspirational.

It seems that I am not alone in thinking so. Retro images of Madonna’s athletic body are circulating online with renewed intensity, folded into the current appetite for vintage activewear, body recomposition and women who look visibly strong. One recent Instagram post by writer Liana Statenstein was devoted to her gym-era wardrobe and sculpted physique, attracting around 25,000 likes. In the comments section, women of all ages and demographics swapped workout routines. One remembered wanting “Madonna arms” in the 1990s and christened the look “bridal arms”–a phrase that sounds demure until you realize it describes the kind of triceps that could carry the groom over the threshold. Emma Hope Alwood, a writer who has great arms, indulged her workout in the comments: “shoulder press, Arnold press, tricep pull downs, hammer curls, some classic bicep curls, delt flys on the cable machine… and a crazy fucking nutrition plan.” Women everywhere are up in arms over Madonna again—quite literally. Longevity is in, and Madonna is the very definition of it.

Image courtesy Getty

Madonna is also on new-age moodboards because the status signals of today have shifted. GLP-1 is making thinness—once elusive—more accessible. And so, the hard accessory to get? Arms that have to be built over weeks and months with reps, sets and rests. There are no shortcuts permitted. It’s quicker to lift the latest ‘It bag’ than it is to build muscle, after all.

We have a wealth of status muscle references throughout history to draw from: Grace Jones, oiled-up and jaw-droppingly toned on the cover of Island Life; Anjelica Huston smoking a cigar in tank top and jodhpurs; Michelle Obama at every public outing during her tenure as First Lady; Cameron Diaz being papped leaving the gym; Janet Jackson on stage, her toned physique an embodiment of her talent as a dancer and performer; Sara Jessica Parker with her veiny, sculpted arms, a comfort to those of us (including Madonna) for whom rising temperatures bring inflamed veins.

Image courtesy Alamy

But of all these muses, it is Madonna that’s hitting the spot for women right now. Why, you ask? Madonna understood the muscle tank long before it became a wellness aspiration. Throughout her career, she has used her body not simply as an object to be looked at, but as an instrument: trained, controlled, sexual, confrontational and capable of work. Her arms made visible the labor behind the spectacle. They were also a challenge to the idea that female power should remain metaphorical. Madonna did not merely sing about strength; she developed it physically.

I was at the Madonna concert in London. I watched her, at 67, dance into the early hours. I saw her command a room and bare the body she has spent decades building, and it was hard not to see her arms as more than anatomy. They are the clearest expression of what she has always represented: discipline, defiance and the refusal to make herself smaller for anyone. For younger women, there is something liberating in watching older women such as Madonna allow their veins, sinew and strength to remain visible. They offer a different image of aging—not softened, disguised or apologized for, but inhabited fully.

That is why Madonna is my bicep muse. Naomi Campbell may have the legs, Jennifer Aniston may have the hair and Kate Moss may have the cheekbones, but Madonna’s power has always gathered in her arms. They have carried crosses, microphones, lovers, children, careers, controversies and the weight of being Madonna. And somehow, after all that, they still look ready to lift more.

Today, you can buy anything with one-click pay; the majority of us have dialed friction out of our lives, and online algorithms mean we barely need to think for ourselves any more. Against this, muscle is almost an act of resistance—not only in training, but in life. Muscle shows the refusal to take the easy route. It’s the manifestation of intention, effort, and consistency.

Madonna has hewn her biceps over weeks, months, years, and decades, and the proof is in the pudding: what work you put in today will make your life golden in decades to come. Pick up the dumbbell. Future you will thank you for it.

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It’s been a big week for muscles in the media. Luxury fashion brand Mugler released its first ever handbag with a campaign starring a female bodybuilder, which paid homage to photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and his Eighties archive, featuring the bodybuilder Lisa Lyon; the very same day, Danimás unveiled its new “Punch” bag with a campaign that equally hero-ed women’s muscular physiques.

The Danimás “Punch” bag. Available at danimas.com.

For decades, fashion brands, the media and culture at large have championed one very specific body type: thin, and white. Both of these campaigns disrupted that norm. Excitingly, the cultural conversation that ensued showed there is huge appetite for women’s strength to represent a new normal. We’re moving towards a world where smallness is not the default, but where strength is celebrated instead.

Mugler’s campaign for its Aurora bag. Available in Europe from Farfetch.

A very public backlash to a Nike campaign further hammered the message home. Its latest drop with Skims featured a model with no visible muscles, working out with tiny 1lb dumbbells; another image featured a plunge-front, backless bodysuit that was accompanied by the caption, ‘Built for a life in motion. Styled for everywhere.’ Women took to the comments section, up in arms. “Designed for the male gaze”, wrote one user. “I’m going to need the coordinates to ‘everywhere’, and for everyone to look away while I try to be ‘in motion’ in a bra without straps,” wrote another.

@danygarciacoThe power of instant market research 👀 #Nike #Skims #NikeSkims #stromgwomen #fyp

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The discourse has changed.

Danimás founder Dany Garcia has long-held the belief that muscle is a luxury because of the time, effort and intention it takes to get it; in an era of GLP-1, when thinness is becoming more accessible, muscle is also more scarce. You can’t buy it. You have to build it.

By now, you’re likely well aware that women need to lift weights and get strong if we are to live long. Women are realizing that the narrative that weightlifting makes us “bulky” is a fabrication to keep us small: the physiques of Tatiana Horslaville, the Mugler bodybuilder, and Gia Theodorethe, the professional dancer in the Danimás campaign, to prove the point.

If you’ve been sleeping on building your biceps, you’re not quite sure where to start, or if you are in need of a motivation boost, our 10 handy tips to gaining muscle will set you up for success. It’s never too late to start.

When we decide to gain muscle, we really decide to grow. It’s time to expand ourselves—and horizons.

When gain is your goal: here’s what you need to know

Today, the need for women—especially women over 40—to build muscle has become a mainstream concept. We know that to live long, we have to get strong. But physical strength is just the beginning.

Increased muscle mass has been proven to strengthen bone density, help regulate blood sugar levels, improve cognitive function, and elevate your metabolism. Here’s a secret: Lean muscle burns calories even when we’re on the couch. Feeling empowered in our body is also a serious confidence booster. Not only do our clothes fit better, but we hold our heads higher; that confidence is carried into so many other scenarios. Who needs help with their overhead luggage when they travel? Not us.

For professional athletes, strength has always been synonymous with performance. When downhill skiing legend Lindsey Vonn announced she’d be coming out of retirement to compete in the next Winter Olympics, she predicated the decision on gains: “I need to put on weight, man,” she told a CBS reporter. “I’m about 20 pounds less than when I was racing before.” Meanwhile, British track athlete and 2x Olympian Keely Hodgkinson rebuilt from injury in the gym last year, focusing on gaining muscle across her body, especially in her legs and glutes. She went on to blaze world records.

It’s never too late to become intentional about growing—to buck popular culture’s narrative and build your body, instead of shrinking it. “Women can gain a substantial amount of muscle at any point in their lives,” says Dave Rienzi, a strength & hypertrophy coach and Hollywood trainer. He notes that changes become evident in about three weeks, with visible definition around six to eight weeks. Even better, increased muscle mass can help women live longer. That’s right: Higher testosterone might give men the advantage when it comes to gaining muscle, but a 2023 study found that strength training gives women the edge in defying death.

Strength is not just physical, it’s also mental. The undeniable power and sense of capability that comes with building strength in the gym is an unlock across our life. Women of all ages realize they really can do hard things; that if we commit to ourselves, we can grow. Training is also an act of intentional me-time, which many of us struggle to carve out. That one hour in the gym is a moment’s peace where you can prioritize yourself, and your personal goals. Giving ourselves the permission to do that helps us set healthy boundaries across the rest of our life.

Training is an ultimately personal journey, but women all over the world share in the collective passion and sense of progress. Gyms can be where community is found–an automatic connection to likeminded women who are also of a growth mindset. In a world that can feel obsessed with smallness, there’s something revolutionary about women aiming to gain. By building muscle, we aren’t just changing our bodies. We’re changing the whole conversation. And doing it alongside other women only amplifies the momentum.

10 Essential Tips for Building Muscle:

1. Find a Trainer that Knows Women.
   If you’re new to strength training, Rienzi suggests taking group classes first. Then, hire a trainer to help master form and technique for bigger lifts like squats and deadlifts (and to help prevent injury). To get the most relevant instruction, seek out pros with experience training women; those with niche credentials, such as working with women who are pregnant, postpartum, over 40, or menopausal, are your best bet. If you’ve been lifting for a while and want to level up, ask someone at your gym who is between sets or a floating trainer if they’ll spot you on a heavier set of chest presses.
   

2. Hit Each Muscle Twice a Week.
   “Research shows that training each muscle group twice a week is optimal for hypertrophy [or muscle growth],” says Rienzi. If you’re hitting the gym four days a week, try two upper-body days and two lower-body days. If you have less time, focus on total-body sessions that target all the major muscle groups: chest, shoulders, arms, back, glutes, legs, and abs.
   

3. Push to Failure.
   While it’s true that lifting is about taxing your muscle fibers, going too heavy can backfire. What’s the sweet spot? “Push to failure—or close to it,” says personal trainer Holly Perkins, BS, CSCS, author of the upcoming book Muscle & Bone. “The whole workout is really about that final set that exposes your body to the intensity it needs to adapt and grow.” Try to gradually increase your efforts. In a three-set exercise, do the first set at 75% of your max, the second set at 85%, and the third set at 95 to 100%. The goal is to eke out that final rep without breaking form.
   

4. Up the Ante Every Week.
   Progressive overload is mission-critical for muscle building. Rienzi recommends pushing your intensity each week, whether you’re lifting more weight, doing more reps, or resting for less time between sets. Add more reps before adding more weight. “Once you’ve added three to four reps to your top, or third, set, then it’s time to increase the weight during the next workout,” he says. Be patient and consistent. “Strength gains are not necessarily linear.”
   

5. Increase Time under Tension.
   In strength training, prolonged tension is everything. “Control the weight on the eccentric (or lowering) portion of the exercise, fighting it on the way down, and hold for a couple of seconds,” Rienzi says. For example, in a bicep curl, you’d lower the weights slowly, lift them at a moderate tempo, hold for a couple of counts, then lower again slowly before repeating. This technique helps keep blood in the muscle, which is crucial for growth and muscle protein synthesis , says Rienzi. It also boosts the mind-muscle connection, leading to greater muscle activation and faster gains.
   

6. Go Easy on the Cardio.
   When the goal is more muscle, Perkins says you can deprioritize cardio. Not only can prolonged cardio lead to muscle loss and inhibit the muscle-building process , but aerobic exercise also tires the body, making it harder to go all-out in strength sessions. Rienzi agrees: “Fifteen to 30 minutes of steady-state cardio a day is enough to get the heart health benefits without negating the work you’re doing to put on muscle.”
   

7. Eat Enough Protein.
   “You can do all the weight training in the world, but if your nutrition isn’t on point, you won’t gain muscle,” Rienzi says. Protein is crucial. Aim for a daily 1:1 ratio of grams of protein per pound of bodyweight (so a 145-pound person should aim for 145 grams of protein). He prefers animal sources like lean beef, chicken breast, turkey breast, whole eggs or egg whites, white fish, and salmon because they contain leucine, a key driver of muscle growth, and suggests supplementing with whey protein powder isolate , ideally one that is third-party tested. (Search the NSF for certified brands.) Note to plant-based eaters: Many vegan protein powders also have leucine. Timing tip: Have 15 grams of protein before a strength-training session and 30 to 35 grams afterward to support muscle recovery and growth.
   

8. Eat Enough Carbs, too.
   “You need the right amount of protein and carbs if you want to perform well and build muscle,” says Perkins, noting that low energy, food cravings, and poor brain function could be signs that you need to eat more carbohydrates. Rienzi agrees. “If a woman is eating enough protein and lifting but not seeing muscle gain, that could be a sign to bump up the carbs ,” he says. Like with protein, timing matters. “Consuming carbs before a workout provides muscles with enough glycogen to get the most out of your workout,” he says. Try fast-absorbing carbs like white rice or white potatoes paired with a lean protein. “After the workout, get more carbs in to replenish those glycogen stores. Add a powder like Karbolyn to your protein shake to kickstart recovery.”
   

9. Try Creatine (and Other Muscle-Boosters).
   When it comes to muscle building, creatine monohydrate is it. Studies show it can increase muscle mass, reduce fatigue, and enhance exercise capacity. Perkins recommends three to five grams per day. If you’re already on the creatine bandwagon, consider some of Rienzi’s other go-to supplements: beta alanine (3.2 grams is the recommended dosage) to “help with buffering acid during the workout, enabling you to work out harder” and electrolytes to “help the muscles contract more efficiently.”
   

10. Let Your Muscles Sleep In.

    Sleep is the magical time when muscles repair and rebuild, so trainers generally recommend you get a minimum of seven hours. Tracking devices like Oura Ring and Whoop can give you data on things like recovery and deep sleep, which you can use to help determine your exercise schedule and rest days.

Writer is something of an expert on the complicated and emotional nuance of body image. In this beautiful essay, she writes with depth and humor about being a trans woman in this era of fitnessmaxxing.

WOMAN VERSUS MAXXING CULTURE

By Osman Ahmed

The funny thing about wanting the ‘perfect’ body is that my idea of what that body actually is has been different at various stages of my life. Throughout my teens and twenties, I worked out in the obsessive way that most of the people I knew did in the Skinny BC era (pre-GLP-1 body negativity) which was mainly out of fear. Fear of putting on weight. Fear of not fitting into skinny jeans and narrow sample sizes. Fear of not fitting in, because that was what upwardly mobile people did: expensive workout classes in designer activewear. Fear of people knowing that I did all of this out of fear, because I would recite the party line whenever I was asked about early-morning workouts: “It’s just really great for my mental health!”

I did the obligatory stints at Austrian health clinics. I cut out gluten, dairy and sugar. I would do boxed detoxes that consisted of nut bars and powdered soups and somehow convinced myself that they were tasty. I once got on a flight to Italy of all places with packs of chicken soup for my hotel to serve me as dinner, which in hindsight, I should have been arrested at customs for. I was my thinnest, my most obsessive, my most organized, and my unhappiest. During lockdown, when gyms closed and the world forced me to stay at home, I compulsively did Zoom workouts and took up running, taking it as far as enrolling in the London Marathon in 2021.

In hindsight, there was a reason I managed to cross the finish line in under three hours. I was running from something that I had nestled deep within myself since childhood but perhaps didn’t have the eloquence or courage to confront. I wasn’t just aspiring to a ‘perfect’ body, relentlessly punishing my physical form. I was aspiring to the wrong body.

Spoiler alert: I began a gender transition a couple of years later.

I’ve come to learn that life works in mysterious ways. I don’t know a single woman who has not struggled with her own wavering sense of self-esteem, or has undergone some kind of transformation, big or small. Increasingly, perhaps, because most of us have no real inkling of where the world is going but know that it will only get worse—and because what we’re told by magazines and imagery is so contradictory and confusing—we often turn the impetus onto ourselves to maintain a grip of control amid the chaos of, well, being alive.

A part of my transition, I have undergone enough therapy and soul-searching to recognize my own patterns of behavior and symptoms of dysphoria. And while I could pretend that I am unshackled from the moorings of insecurity, the reality is that I have simply learned to live with these things. I don’t give the demons as many flowers as I used to.

Where things get a little murky is being able to decipher the intention behind my own desires and, quite often, my own pain. Even more often, that is in relation to my body. This is especially confusing. We are living in the age of “maxxing”: looksmaxxing, proteinmaxxing, fertilitymaxxing, maturemaxxing, moneymaxxing. Basically, you can maxx anything as long as it involves optimization towards some kind of increased market value. And chances are there is plenty of content on social media out there to make you feel like you are not maximising enough, or correctly, or for the right things.

This makes sense when you think about how bad the economy is and how apathetic people feel towards wars and genocide and the awful things we see alongside selfies and handbag sponcon. When you cannot afford a house, you can still afford to be gorgeous. When the economy feels like a casino, at least you can control your body fat percentage. The body becomes the last investable asset.

Osman Ahmed modeling in the Conor Ives show in London; at the Chanel Couture show in Paris. Courtesy Osman Ahmed.

There’s also the fact that aspiration has shifted. People don’t really aspire to a comfy middle-class existence anymore because we are presented with the glossy ostentation of the Kardashians’ billion-dollar perfection. Nobody knows how to age naturally anymore, because when you see Kris Jenner’s facelift, you, too, want to outsmart the Grim Reaper in your autumnal years.

The fact is that 99.9 percent of people will never come close to affording those things. Against that backdrop, the comparatively small costs of optimizing your appearance, productivity, diet, emotional balance, skin texture, gut microbiome or nervous system start to feel less like luxuries and more like necessities, a bit like how we never really think about how much we spend on ‘outside coffee’.

We live in an era of optimization, and what I’ve learned is that to be a woman is often to live with pain, the burden of expectation and the panopticon of constant surveillance. For so long, our bodies were the enemy: something to be controlled, reduced and compliant with (literally) narrow ideals of female beauty.

And look, I find myself constantly falling prey to those very anxieties. I am certainly not immune to optimization culture. Can you blame me? I’m transitioning in the Age of Looksmaxxing. I sometimes wonder if I’m Transmaxxing. Womanmaxxing!

I have had Botox injected into my brows for years. I do Pilates most days. I start my morning with lemon in hot water, followed by a fistful of supplements. I use expensive skincare. I have spent money on meditation apps I’ve used twice. Hell, I even get a blow-dry once a week, which frankly should be subsidized by the government because it is basically gender-affirming care.

It took a long time to make peace with my body, even though–in many ways–I have felt that it has failed me; that it is a biological mistake. Ultimately, I got bored by my own insecurities because I realized they were making me an incredibly dull person. I’d rather be Grace Jones, life and soul of the party, than Steven Bartlett, spiralling over a second glass of wine.

I understand that I have been fed lies, that I have been subliminally advertised to since birth. To be feminine is to be smaller; more docile; more nimble. And yet we want to be toned, because that is more a status symbol these days with the advent of GLP-1s, which reduce muscle mass and therefore untoned thinness is associated with ‘cheating’. But not too muscular because that would be masculine. Too powerful; too strong; too much of a threat to male dominance. It is a Sisyphean battle, never to be won.

What I’ve learned is that some days are better than others. Occasionally, I lean into my muscular frame–galvanized by pictures of Madonna leaving the gym in the 2000s, and Grace Jones oiled-up and powerful in her heyday–but other times, I find myself falling down a Reddit rabbit hole of esoteric cosmetic procedures that I convince myself would help quiet my paranoia. When my gynecologist told me that hormone replacement therapy would make me feel like I was going through puberty all over again, I didn’t expect those hoary old chestnuts of self-hatred to crop up again.

And you know what? That’s OK. Perhaps the most important thing is to be self-aware. I take solace in the quiet sense of achievement I feel when my body is being stretched and toned in Reformer sessions. I have immense gratitude for my body functioning healthily, which I take for granted when I’m struck down by intense hormonal stomach cramps. I know that I am not perfect. I know that I would like to be a little bit thinner, and that it’s a precariously slippery slope down to somewhere I tried to claw myself back from.

I know. I sound like I’m in the throes of some kind of nervous breakdown. And trust me, I am constantly trying to figure out whether I am just a navel-gazing narcissist or getting closer in my endless digging to some kind of treasure trove of profound enlightenment. I know that altruism is probably the only real antidote to this, but it is harder to implement into your workout routine.

Most of all, I try. Oh my God, do I try. I try to be better, to be kinder to myself, to recognize how far I’ve come, rather than how much further I think I must go. And though I may not ever reach the Promised Land of body positivity, I know that sometimes just going on the journey–mental, physical or spiritual–to become a better version of myself to myself, and those around me, is what living life to the maxx is all about.

Much has been done in recent years to counter the narrative that women need a “bikini body” to bare all on the beach. But still, it takes work to temper the toxic way we spoke to ourselves in recent decades—no carbs before a beach trip, for example—and it takes even more work to quiet that negative internal dialogue. We all deserve to feel beautiful; it’s inner work that’s worth doing.

Today, women know they can feel better in their 50s and 60s than in their 30s; inner fire has no age limit. Nicole Kidman is currently in Ibiza on a clubbing trip to mark her divorce. While it’s true that Nicole Kidman might not feel relatable to many women, there are lessons for us all here: she is 59, and she stepped off the plane with her rarely-seen natural curls. This is what self-acceptance can look like.

This week, we bring you Laura B. Jones’ story about how rejecting your inner critic can set you free. It’s time to stop hating our bodies and start nourishing our self-talk.

Here’s to a hot, sexy summer at any age.

HOW TO BE MORE BODY CONFIDENT

Want to feel your best self naked? Nourish your body and mind with these easy, everyday rituals.

By Laura B. Jones.

Women have deeply personal relationships with their own bodies. It’s a connection that is not just physical, but mental and spiritual. On good days, we can feel at one with our bodies; in tune, at peace and empowered by everything our living, breathing physiques enable us to do. On not-so-good ones, we can feel distinct from our bodies—as if they are a separate entity over which we have diminishing control. Often, we can experience feelings of both within the same day.

This relationship is complicated. We can be our own best friends, or our own worst enemies when it comes to our own physicality. So much of this profound practice is down to the conditioning within the media that women have, for too long, been subjected to. We can criticize ourselves more than we champion—something we’d never do to our friends.

Much of this dynamic is fed not just by the pressures of femininity, but by our own mental talk. But it is possible to remedy this dysfunction; we don’t have to accept our own body negativity and self-criticism as being a normalized part of womanhood.

How you feel in your mind dictates how you show up in your body. Here, some handy tips and expert advice for learning to love your body, speak towards it with respect, and rewrite the narratives we tell ourselves—with guidance from Danimás founder, Dany Garcia.

Read on to discover how to get fit, stay healthy, reframe what it means to be comfortable in our own skin, and learn how to be body confident for good.

HOW TO REWRITE YOUR INNER NARRATIVE

Intrusive thought: I feel my best when I am at my leanest.
Replace it with: I feel my best when I am moving my body.

Strength comes in different forms. Sometimes it’s literal, and unlocked by using weights in the gym. Sometimes it’s mental. Physicality of all forms brings our minds and bodies a sense of peace, and often, when we are being unkind to ourselves, it’s liberating to do movement that allows us to drop our inhibitions and release a different kind of dopamine. We all know how great it feels to let loose on the dancefloor—so why not undertake a similar kind of attitude here.

Dany has some recommendations for movement that can help us achieve this mood. “I like any activity that utilizes almost everything in your body to actually accomplish,” she says. “So for me I like to do fitness hip hop, fitness dance, and using the ergometer when I do cardio.” Other suggestions include full-body workouts like barre, pilates with weights, and any workouts with movement, stretching, and dancing. “It is that balance of making sure you’re recruiting as many muscles as possible in a movement to keep the fluidity and athleticism,” she says.

These practices require a mind-body connection that can leave us feeling more aligned with ourselves after leaving class than when we walked in.

Photo by Klara Kulikova / Alexandros Giannakakis

Intrusive thought: I just feel … gross.
Replace it with: I will take small steps to nourish and hydrate my body.

Everything from sleep to sweat, travel and our cortisol can wreak havoc on our internal systems. All cause their own kinds of inflammation, which can leave our bodies feeling fatigued, bloated and just a bit off.To rectify this, it’s important to try and mitigate the inflammation overall. Leah Cohen, a registered dietician based in Westchester, NY, says hydrating with 2-3 liters of water a day, and mindfully eating anti-inflammatory foods are a great way to start.

“It’s counterintuitive, but drinking more fluids is key to fighting water retention and puffiness,” she says, as it helps our bodies flush out the build-up of toxins. “Anti-inflammatory foods like ginger, turmeric, berries, fatty fish, leafy greens, and nuts and seeds are essential as well,” she says, as these help to calm our digestive and nervous systems. She also recommends moving your body: “Whether it’s a jog outside, hot yoga, playing sports, or sitting in the sauna, sweating is a great way to reduce inflammation.”

It might not always be possible to sit in a sauna, but these small, intentional tweaks to the every day can reduce our bodies’ reactions to environments; they encourage accountability in easy to implement ways, and can also form part of an action plan for days when you are feeling the effects.

Intrusive thought: Food is the enemy.
Replace it with: Food is fuel for feeling great.

Food energizes us, powers us through our days, and should be viewed as a friend not a foe when it comes to feeling nourished in our bodies. Cohen shares some essential guidelines for building wholesome, healthy plates.

Balance your plate for optimal blood-sugar control. Half of it should be non-starchy vegetables (broccoli, greens, mushrooms, etc). Then add a protein source and a healthy fat like avocado or nuts/seeds. Carbs should take up 25% of your plate. Choosing higher fiber carbohydrates (whole grains, squash, potato, beans, corn, fruit) will help your blood sugar. Steady blood sugar means steady energy throughout the day.

Aim for three balanced meals with 3 to 5 hours in between for healthy digestion. Pay attention to your hunger levels. If you’re feeling peckish, you may not have gotten adequate calories at your previous meal.

Prioritize protein! Your goal should be 20-30 grams of high quality protein per meal. Animal protein is the best bang for your buck, but great plant-based options include tofu, tempeh, lentils, and beans.

Photo by Madrona Rose / Gustavo Alejandro Espinosa Reyes

Intrusive thought: Everybody looks better than me.
Replace it with: My body and strength are mine to own.

Life is full of ups and downs, and your body is there for all of it. “The body becomes an external presentation of something you’re really grateful for,” says Dany. It’s “something that expresses where you are today, the road you’ve traveled, where you’re going.”

Try to refocus your attitude towards your body, by talking kindly to it every day. Those intentional affirmations can, over time, help to shift your own internal thought process from one of negativity to one of appreciation. We only get one body, and consciously respecting it leads, eventually, to innate self compassion and care. It means that, whenever we achieve a new personal best in the gym or in life, we get to really be present in the win and celebrate the success.

Dany says to “look at your body as art and sculpture,” reminding us of its beautiful malleability: “You can maneuver it, you can change it, you can grow it.”

There’s incredible beauty in our unique, changing forms and so much power in the work and discipline we put into growing stronger. Focusing on the abilities of our bodies, rather than fixating on what we perceive to be our flaws, helps us reframe our thought patterns about our physical forms in a healthy, lasting way.

Intrusive thought: I need a new body STAT.
Replace it with: It’s more sustainable to build a healthy and minfdul lifestyle with care.

It may be tempting to try drastic measures when we are feeling at our lowest—it’s the knock-on effect of Nineties diet culture, when women were taught that shrinking equaled social validation. But crash diets and undereating promote unrealistic and unhealthy eating habits in addition to being harmful to our health.

Instead of zealously tracking calories, instead hone in on the concept of nourishment. “Focus on behaviors that improve your health and sense of well-being,” says Cohen. “Think about what you can add to your plate rather than what you must eliminate.” These healthy additions include things like greens, protein, and healthy fats, for a balanced diet that will keep you satiated.

Overly restricting calories, she reminds us, can do the opposite of their desired effect: “Hunger hormones will ramp up, food thoughts will increase, and you could end up overeating.” It can also impede our ability to build strength and muscle; muscle is the ultimate way to burn calories throughout the day, well beyond a workout. Discover more in our Muscle Manifesto.

Cohen also advises to “prioritize sleep, time with friends, hydration, and stress management and to move in ways that make you feel good.” And that brings us back to where we started: movement. Even something as simple as a walk in the morning can kickstart a new rhythm—it takes 21 days to form a new habit.

Photo by Leyre / Tyrell James

Intrusive thought: Being exposed is terrifying!
Replace it with: Being exposed = living.

Feeling exposed goes well beyond wearing activewear in the gym, or swimwear to the sauna. Dany reminds us that these feelings can occur in everyday life—and why it’s a powerful emotion to tap into. “Showing up vulnerable or exposed is a part of everyday movement,” she says. “Whether you’re in a brand new situation, working on a new project, or in interpersonal relationships, there’s no version of living where you’re not going to feel vulnerable or exposed” if it’s a first-time event.

Hiding from life’s vulnerable situations is impossible. The tact, then, is learning to move with grace in moments of fear—and remembering that there’s valuable lessons to be learned in being out of our comfort zones. Adds Dany: “If you’re not feeling vulnerable or you’re never feeling exposed, you’re most likely not out there and growing, right?”

BONUS THOUGHTS

Intrusive thought: I must banish all cellulite.
Replace it with: Watching Ilona Maher’s legendary TikTok about cellulite on loop—it feeds the soul.

As if being a pro athlete at the top of her game wasn’t enough, Ilona Maher has turned herself into the best friend of women everywhere—she’s the friend calling you out for the way you talk down to yourself. We all need a voice of reason like Ilona in our life.

Intrusive thought: I must pose to appear smaller.
Replace it with: Watching Lauren Chan’s Instagram reel when speaking about being the latest Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover star: “Bigger bodies are artful, too.”

Life is too short, and our uniqueness is too beautiful, for us to not step out of the door each day with confidence. It’s time to quiet that internal voice of criticism and let your inner fire do the talking.

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Except, the narrative remains when it comes to fitness. Online, social media still very clearly puts women into specific boxes: gym girls wear one type of outfit, and Pilates girls wear another. They supposedly have different body types and fitness ambitions, as if building muscle were in opposition to lengthening it. When we compare the example against sport, we see how absurd it is: soccer or basketball versus running, say—as if both of those former sports weren’t made up of running.

Hyrox has helped break the cycle. Runners have a competitive advantage during Hyrox because of the eight one-kilometer runs between the stations; muscle and speed coexist. At Danimás, we’re fierce advocates for exercise diversity and finding joy in all types of fitness.

Sangita Patel, who we interviewed about why she trains and how it helped her through postpartum depression, told us the combination of strength training and Pilates was a game changer for her body.

This week, we bring you Jessica Salter’s story that rejects the Pilates binary. Go forth and squat—and then finish your workout with a ‘swan dive’. Nuance challenges your body and your mind.

MUSCLE MOMMY? PILATES PRINCESS? BE BOTH!

By Jessica Salter

Forget political debates. If you really want to see tribes in action, just open Instagram and try to navigate between fitness influencers keen to grab your attention with shouty captions.

In one corner, it’s the barbell evangelists with their short shorts, creatine, and captions about “progressive overload.” In another, the Pilates purists filmed in immaculate reformer studios with perfect posture and pale pink leggings. The runners might seem like a happy-go-lucky bunch—all smiles with their coffee after getting in their miles—but look at what the others are saying about them: that running ruins your knees, spikes your cortisol, and that five days of cardio is too intense.

Welcome to the age of exercise tribalism, where your workout isn’t just what you do privately. It’s now both something people use to differentiate themselves from others and a way of self-identifying. Influencer culture is fueling the binaries. Their content is aligned with their practice; their kit is in harmony with their sport. Gym girls post pictures of their electrolytes; Pilates girls take cute videos of their matcha. The yoga types prefer reels, where they juice and chat peacefully about their morning pages.

It’s natural that online content and communities developed this way. Fitness has become a modern way for women to make friends, and having a shared interest in a sport (and an aesthetic) can break down initial social boundaries. It can foster a group mentality. But at some point down the line, this way of self-identifying shifted and became something to defend.

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon, author of Forever Strong, took an accidental step into the conversation when she suggested on a podcast that Pilates isn’t the most effective way to build significant muscle mass or strength. Her point—that “Pilates lacks the necessary stimulus for skeletal muscle growth” compared with resistance training—is hardly radical in exercise science circles. But nuance doesn’t go viral.

Ashley Culver, founder of Lift NYC, embraces weight training and Pilates.
Image courtesy of Ashley Culver.

“To get attention online, you almost have to have a strong stance,” says Hollie Nicholson, a certified personal trainer based in Noblesville, Indiana. It means content creators are more likely to feel the pressure to be “this type” of creator rather than “that type”—or worse, if they embrace the grey area, no type at all. “We saw this when CrossFit was super hot—suddenly it [seemed like] the only answer. But saying there’s only one way to train is limiting. Women are not the same—we don’t have the same bodies, goals, time, injuries, or responsibilities. And beyond that, we all move through different seasons of life.”

Ultimately, the stereotypes are limiting women from realizing their full potential. “It’s such a shame,” says Gaby Noble, founder of Exhale Pilates London, a studio that counts Harry Styles, Jennifer Aniston, and Margot Robbie as clients. She also personally weights trains. “We’re living in a world that thrives on polarity, and in the fitness industry, it creates a massive divide between different genres and competition over which one is best. There’s room for all safe forms of exercise. It should come down to taste and accessibility.”

But that message anchored in the middle ground isn’t going to gain followers. Ashley Culver, the founder of Lift NYC, a studio offering both strength training and Pilates on the Upper West Side, believes the problem lies in online overload. “There’s so much information out there, it’s overwhelming, and it can feel simpler to pick a side—this is right, so that must be wrong,” she says. “But that mindset is completely false and ultimately harmful.”

The binaries could make some women decide something is “not for them,” rather than empowering them to give a new workout a try. “It could put some women off from starting in the first place,” says Culver; for others, she cautions, it could stop them from sticking with a regime. “Sure, strength training is the most efficient for building muscle, but that doesn’t matter if you hate it and never show up. If you love Pilates and stay consistent, that’s a win,” she says.

“For Culver, balance looks like three strength sessions a week, plus whatever her body asks for—either Pilates, yoga, or a run.”

The narrative around strength training is currently loud—and it’s necessary. “Women have been taught to shrink, to do more cardio, and fear muscle,” Nicholson says. “So the pendulum swing towards strength training is very needed. The intention—to help women build muscle, boost metabolism, and age well—is good,” she says. “But the message [shouldn’t transition from] strength is essential to strength is the only thing that counts.” The Pilates crowd could also benefit from tempering their messaging that low-impact is crucial. Boosting one’s heart rate with cardio is valuable, as is lifting heavier than 1-2 pounds.

If you strip away the noise, most experts agree that you need a good mix. Strength training keeps bones and metabolism strong. Pilates keeps joints, alignment, and core control intact; it’s also great for stretching and on days when your body needs to recover from lifting heavy. Cardio, meanwhile, is still essential for your heart and mood.

For Culver, achieving balance looks like three strength sessions a week, plus whatever her body asks for—sometimes Pilates, sometimes yoga, sometimes a run. “I love how strong strength training makes me feel mentally and physically. Adding Pilates to my routine has improved my mobility. It’s amazing for building core strength and mind-body connection.”

Nicholson refuses to be pigeonholed. She says she’s a “strength-first girl” and never skips a gym day. But “to keep myself athletic, I also run, play tennis, and bike,” she says. “It’s what I enjoy, and how I have fun, which is also really important when looking at someone’s overall fitness and wellbeing.”

It’s not a soundbite, it’s a philosophy. Exercise is whatever your body and mind need. A treadmill sprint can lift your mood; a heavy deadlift can protect your bones; a reformer class can reconnect you with your breath. You can lengthen and lift. Perhaps the most subversive thing you can do in a binary world is embrace nuance. “It’s not about picking a side,” Davies says. “It’s about building a body that can do things, both now and decades from now.” Be bold. Choose both.

Within this narrative, there’s little space for nuance, especially for the women who have found their lives transformed by this medication, to advocate for its benefits—which by the way, go well beyond weight loss. To add further intricacy, these hardened opinions about GLP-1 use are often offered by people in smaller bodies; people who have never experienced life in a larger body to be able to empathize. The result? GLP-1 use has become stigmatized, and many women who have been prescribed it feel shamed into hiding the fact.

Mikala Jamison is a writer whose work we have admired for a long time. Amid an era of polarized views, the way she writes about the body and body culture with authority, as well as respect and nuance, is a real rarity.

For us, there was only one writer who could tackle a story like this—only one writer who could bring sensitivity, dignity and understanding to such a delicate subject. The fact many of the women she interviewed chose to not disclose their full names speaks volumes about how engrained their experiences of GLP-judgement is.

Why do you think this medication has divided opinion? Have you experienced GLP-1 shame yourself? Let us know in the comments.

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STOP GLP-1 SHAMING ME

By Mikala Jamison

“You’re not using a jab, are you?” So goes the discourse that has become familiar to Elizabeth, a 41-year-old Mounjaro user. She has been using Mounjaro for nine months, and, through a combination of medication and strength training four times a week, she has lost around 45 pounds. The question is usually accompanied by observations, mostly from women, that she’s lost weight.

“I don’t think they were saying this to me because they are concerned for me,” she says. “I think they feel opinionated about this. It grates on them. They are voicing what a lot of ‘hard-working, driven’ thin women like them think—but don’t necessarily say. That is: ‘You are cheating. You didn’t do this the right way.’” Elizabeth is experiencing the all-too-familiar narrative that is emerging in popular culture: that GLP-1 medication is a “sneaky short-cut.”

Perhaps naturally for any woman faced with unsolicited body shaming or body surveillance, this makes Elizabeth feel “defensive.” And she’s not the only one. I’ve seen many GLP-1 users online discuss the criticism and judgement they’ve faced for using these medications, and public-facing women like Serena Williams–who revealed she lost more than 30 pounds on Tirzepatide–face the same on a more significant scale.

As a writer who has built my career writing about body culture and body image, I’ve come to realize that much of the discourse lacks the nuance that conversations around the body naturally demand.

Many conversations around GLP-1 use are offered by people who are not taking the medication. Common arguments I see are that use of these medications is in pursuit of extreme thinness; that medications will decimate muscle mass or bone density; that users will surely become starving skeletons. And there I’ll be, like a broken record, repeating and repeating: That’s not always true. Not necessarily. You’re not considering the entire picture.

Why do I care? I’m not a GLP-1 user myself, I haven’t been, and I also don’t plan to be.

The reason is that I used to live in a much larger body than I do now. I understand the experience of constant “food noise” that GLP-1s are said to quiet. When I was heavier, I was in the throes of a binge eating disorder that made me constantly preoccupied with food regardless of my hunger levels. If GLP-1s had been available to me at that time, I can easily imagine myself taking them to find relief from that torment.

“A”, a 33-year-old GLP-1 user who did not wish to be named, says the judgement is jarring with her personal experiences of the drug. “People see it as the way to get skinny, and [are not interested in] how much this medicine has changed my life.” She’s been on Tirzepatide for 13 months and has lost around 42 pounds. “I no longer engage in binge or restrictive eating, I am confident, and I am not as hyper fixated around food and snacking.”

Still, she is “extremely avoidant” to discuss her GLP-1 use with anyone she knows due to the “stigma.” Her parents asked her directly if she was taking medication and she lied to them. “The discourse on social media”—where people have “such strongly negative opinions”—makes the idea off-putting.

For those that take the medication, the binary view that exists online exacerbates feelings of shame. Negative perceptions of the drug skew the narrative for non-users, and the sheer volume of discussion has empowered those with no experience to weigh in on the conversation. Elizabeth has been offered countless unsolicited opinions or warnings about how she should manage her prescription medication. Where are all the stories about women for whom it has been transformative?

What’s also worth noting is that weight loss and diabetes management might be only the beginning in terms of why people use GLP-1s. There is strong evidence that GLP-1s help calm inflammation, reduce cholesterol, can slow progression of kidney disease and improve liver function, and reduce risk of stroke and cardiovascular death. There is also promising but preliminary evidence that the drugs reduce symptoms of IBS-related disorders and can curb addictive behaviors like drinking or gambling.

“GLP-1 is seen as a way to get skinny; people are not interested in how much this medicine has changed my life.”

But when it comes to using GLP-1s for weight change, they have exposed how misogyny continues to show up in our culture, and within womanhood. Women criticize or shame other women for their choices, perhaps because women have been raised to believe that our self worth is inextricably linked with our bodies: that her smaller body says something negative about someone else’s bigger body. Meanwhile, bigger bodies are subjected to social shaming simply for existing.

A. Janet Tomiyama, the director of UCLA’s Diet, Stigma, and Health lab, told me that people who lose weight through GLP-1s experience social stigma even more than people who haven’t tried to lose weight at all–this speaks to the notion that for many people, perhaps especially women, it feels like there’s no winning when it comes to weight.

“Women’s bodies have always been up for discussion,” says Elizabeth. “There’s a constant need [for women] to comment, control, educate, share, to make sure people are doing what you would do,” she says. “It’s probably because people have been commenting and trying to control their bodies.” Under this guise, bodily commentary effectively becomes an emotional projection—women often don’t (or can’t) separate themselves from another woman’s physique. “It reeks of the way we have always treated fat people—giving unsolicited health and nutrition advice.”

When I was bigger, I encountered mistreatment from other people daily. Simply put, being in a fatter body made my life difficult. This is the reality for so many people, and this is why the body acceptance movements exist, after all. I wanted to lose weight because my size contributed to health issues I was experiencing—which, by the way, is not the case for everyone in a larger body.

I did lose weight, and not through GLP-1s. I went to therapy to recover from my binge eating disorder, and I also took up strength training. But I had easy access to those things, and not everyone does. GLP-1s might be the best option for some people to feel better in and about their bodies. We need to allow more room for people to feel better in and about their bodies in whatever ways work best for their lifestyles and personal values. We should also understand that some people start GLP-1s with only weight loss in mind, but realize other, more nuanced benefits.

Like Sasha Pallari, a British podcaster and body positivity advocate with 140,000 followers on Instagram. She spoke openly about her GLP-1 use, and experienced a lot of criticism. In an episode of her podcast, Spill, she spoke candidly about her experiences, from getting trolled by strangers to the positive domino effect of taking the medication.

“People who lose weight through GLP-1s experience social stigma even more than people who haven’t tried to lose weight at all.”

Not only is Sasha now consistent with nutrition and exercise, but she has also started journaling, reading more (and thus has expanded her vocabulary), and she even found the confidence to travel to Japan solo. She’s also gotten her PCOS in check. Talking to her co-host Billie Bhatia on Spill, Sasha noted that her body might be smaller, but taking GLP-1 medication has “unlocked self care” for her.

For Sarah S., a 30-year-old who has been strength training three to five times per week for the last eight years, GLP-1 use enabled her to see the results of her efforts in the gym. In the past 18 months, she has lost around 55 pounds. Her story highlights one narrative that is vastly missing from the discourse: that women who train regularly can still struggle to lose weight, or have complicated relationships with food.

“As a person in a bigger body, there’s the narrative that you are lazy and undisciplined—that if you just eat less and workout more you wouldn’t be so large,” she says. “And think it’s also being presented that if you are larger, but take a GLP-1, it’s because you are still so lazy and undisciplined that you need a drug to make it easier for you,” she continued. “That’s just not what it is about.”

Like A., Sarah hasn’t told anyone that she’s on a GLP-1 because she’s “scared” of being judged. She thinks the majority of GLP-1 users are people like her who have struggled with binging and restricting eating disorders. People, she says, who “have spent the majority of every waking moment of their days thinking about food and their bodies.” GLP-1s have provided a way to “eliminate that, and allow me to build healthier, long-lasting habits.”

The medication has also helped heal her relationship with exercise. “Before I was on a GLP-1 [it] could be a form of punishment—’you ate too much so you need to work out to burn it all off.’” Now, she said, “I’ve never been more consistent in going to the gym because it is just about the enjoyment, not the in vs. out metric.”

I know there are some people using GLP-1s who aren’t seeking extreme thinness. Like me some years ago, they’re just seeking the potential greater ease in their bodies that can come from a modest reduction in body fat. Perhaps they want to be able to exercise more comfortably. Maybe they need to qualify for a surgery.

“If people haven’t seriously struggled with their weight, I don’t think they can really understand how much mental and physical effort goes into losing weight or maintaining a healthy body weight,” says Marianne Martinez, 39, who has been on Zepbound for two months and has lost 15 pounds. She lifts weights three to four times a week in her home gym. “When I lost weight ‘the right way’ without medication, I basically had to treat it like a part-time job. My family needs me to be able to devote those hours and that mental energy to them.”

Being on Zepbound, Martinez said, is “incredibly freeing.”

Ultimately, we should care about uplifting the positive experiences some people are having on GLP-1s—and about how these medications can be a tool, among other things, for truly better health. I hope women can feel how Martinez and the other women I spoke to feel: freer in their bodies. That’s what I eventually came to feel when I recovered from binge eating disorder and got into strength training. This saved my body image, my health, and I think my life. We shouldn’t gatekeep that feeling from anyone, no matter how they achieve it.

Why I Train is our series that pays homage to the daily commitments we make to our strength, and to ourselves. It’s where we give flowers to women like you and I; to the women interviewed in this week’s letter—Mikala Jamison, Liz Plosser, Anne Marie Chaker, Nadia Tuma Weldon, Lee Glandorf—all writers whose words we love and whose strength we respect.

These are women whose lives are nourished by lifting a weight, going for a walk, or running a few miles. What’s clear is that, in a world filled with inconsistency, being consistent with our routine enables us when life throws us a curveball.

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This week, those women—some of our favorite writers on Substack—share their training stories with us.

Strength training makes us feel as joyful as this.

, author of Body Type

“To be a woman who trains is to be a woman who considers herself worthy of the utmost care. In another life, my identity revolved around lack—I did not care for myself because I lacked the sense that I deserved care. I lacked self-respect, I lacked self-esteem, I lacked connection to and consideration of my physical self.

More than a decade ago, I was profoundly disconnected from my body and personal identity, which drove my disordered eating. Strength training (along with therapy) helped me connect with my sense of self again. I taught myself how to lift weights with books, Reddit threads, YouTube videos, and the help of generous friends. It shifted my identity from a woman who lacks to a woman who creates abundance for and within herself.

The resilience I have built has helped me muscle through periods of difficulty and uncertainty, like experiencing infertility, my father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, rocky career transitions, and other health issues. Training taught me that I can tolerate stress, tension, discomfort, and frustration and be OK on the other side.

The most memorable training session I’ve ever done was a joyful one. I pulled the heaviest deadlift of my life in a sweaty CrossFit box surrounded by gym friends who cheered for me at the top of their lungs. Only days before, I couldn’t get it off the floor.

Training has taught me that the support of others can make you not just emotionally stronger, but physically, too.”

, author of Best Case Scenario

“I’ve trained five days a week for about as long as I can remember, but for most of my adult life, it was all about cardio. Marathons in my twenties, triathlons and a Half-Ironman in my thirties, boutique fitness and 10Ks before work in NYC in my early forties. My brain was hardwired to believe that if I hadn’t run five miles, it wasn’t a real workout. Strength training was always there in the background, but haphazardly not strategically, and definitely not heavy.

Liz, who recently competed in her first Hyrox.

Then I broke my sacrum skiing and couldn’t run for six months. At the time, it felt like a catastrophe. It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to my training. (And my mental and emotional health.) With running off the table, I finally learned to lift like I meant it—weight that pushed me out of my comfort zone, with real intention instead of vibes. And it clicked. I found the high I’d chased on the road for two decades, except now my body responded with energy, power, and confidence.

At 43, after three kids, I saw my ab muscles for the first time in my life. I taught myself kettlebells, pull-ups and deadlifts—they’re all still my favorite things on earth. I’m not a big person, but I can pull 280 pounds off the floor, and I am not above flexing in the mirror about it.

But the real reason I train is that everything I learn at the gym applies to life: consistency, eking out one more rep when I don’t think I can, knowing when to pull back. Those are the same muscles that power me as a writer, a mom, a leader. I train early so that by the time the day’s twists and turns hit, I’ve already reminded myself I can do hard things—with my two sons and my daughter watching their mom get stronger inside and out. I love that I’m showing them that a woman can be both nurturing and gritty.”

, author of Lift

What does it mean to you to be a woman who trains?

To me, training is an act of self-respect. It’s one of the few places in life where effort and honesty matter more than appearance or achievement.

How has strength training altered your sense of identity?

For much of my life, I identified with what I did. I was a Wall Street Journal reporter for nearly three decades. My identity was rooted in professional achievement. Training shifted that. It gave me an identity that no job title could. I now think of myself as someone who does hard things. I don’t think of myself as someone who lifts weights.

That mindset has spilled into every corner of my life, from leaving a career I’d built over 27 years to writing a book, starting a company, hosting a radio show, and stepping onto a bodybuilding stage in my 50s. Muscle became proof that we’re never finished becoming ourselves.

Anne Marie, training in the famous Gold’s Gym in LA.

How did it come to be such a fundamental part of your life?

It became central in my 40s, after the birth of my daughters, a difficult divorce, postpartum depression, and the sudden death of my father. I walked into a gym looking for a workout. I found a way back to myself.

Today, training is non-negotiable. I lift four to five days a week and train for bodybuilding competitions because I love having a goal that demands discipline rather than perfection. I also walk almost every day. Those walks have become moving meditation—a place where I think, solve problems, and often find the ideas that become essays, interviews, articles or books. Training isn’t separate from my work. It’s where much of my work begins.

In what ways does training encourage you to champion yourself?

Strength training has completely changed my relationship with discomfort. You don’t become stronger by avoiding difficult things—you become stronger by meeting them, repeatedly. That lesson has made me a better journalist, a better entrepreneur, a better interviewer, and, I hope, a better mother. It gave me the courage to leave a career I’d loved, build something of my own, ask for what I’m worth, and say yes to opportunities that once felt intimidating. Every heavy lift is a reminder that I can probably carry more than I think.

, author of The Sweat Lookbook

“I think it was my college rowing coach who introduced me to the idea that there was a significant difference between training and working out. Training means you’re working towards a specific goal and ideally following a plan that supports achieving it. Working out keeps you fit.

Ultimately, the mindset never leaves you. It’s about committing to the journey of getting better—in the boat, on the roads, or in the gym—and engaging in the discipline of the process. As a woman, I suppose I’ve always been proud about taking up space while training, whether that’s in the gym or on the running track, and especially when I was pregnant. I definitely delight in surprising a man with my speed or strength.

Lee, pregnant and enjoying a post-run cool down.

My biggest claim to fame is that I’m consistent. I hate having to get back into shape, so I try to keep myself at a baseline where I can run a 22-minute 5K or a 10K without stressing about it. Sometimes that competitive fire comes roaring back to life in strange ways, like when I ran a sub-8 minute mile at 39 weeks pregnant.

While I was training for the Boston Marathon, I was also trying to get pregnant, which was harder than expected. I remember doing a 10K time trial where I felt so strong. But I cried when it was over, because I was disappointed to have just gotten my period. It was hard to reconcile my body being able to do amazing things in training, but not the one thing I really wanted it to do.

I was able to get pregnant with IVF, and the delivery felt very manageable to me. 1) because I was lucky, and 2) because I could treat it like a race! I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew when push came to shove I could tap into that race day mindset to get through it. And I did!”

Tuma-Weldon, author of Nouri Paris

“I don’t train for today. I train for the woman I intend to be at age 80.

I have a very clear picture of what she looks like, because I grew up watching her. My mother started lifting weights in Beirut at fifteen and never stopped. Today, at age eighty, she plays tennis daily, lifts weights, runs, and is currently converting her garage in the Loire Valley into a gym. She is not fading, nor frail. She is formidable.

For most of my own life, my relationship with my body was entirely short-term. How much do I weigh this week? How much will I work out today? What will I eat for my next meal? Lifting weights, which I came to later, at 43, helped me reframe those questions entirely. Now I ask: what am I building, and what will it be worth in ten, twenty, thirty years?

What I discovered when I finally started lifting and seeing new tissue being built is that strength training is a longevity practice. Every session is a deposit into a future I am deliberately constructing. Because my sixties, seventies, eighties and beyond will not be decades where I am managing a slow and painful decline.

I’ve always been inspired by the Henri Matisse quote, “I hope that however old we live to be, we will die young.” I train to build up a life that is as thriving, creative and youthful for as long as possible.”

What has been the most surprising side effect of strength training for you? Let us know in the comments.

Women have long-been conditioned that cardio is the socially acceptable way to stay fit, but many are now rejecting that narrative. We’ve realized what cardio culture really sells us: intense strain, where calories burnt are the primary metric. Cardio culture is a house built atop land with no foundations. Women are realizing that the bedrock of the body is muscle mass.

Nadia Tuma-Weldon is one such woman. A year ago, she was frustrated that her diet and exercise no longer seemed to be working for her. She found herself in the gym. It has transformed her life, her approach to her own wellbeing, and her physicality. She launched a newsletter, Nouri Paris, which has fast-grown into a community of likeminded women each seeking nourishment—both of body, and of mind.

At Danimás, we believe that when women discover strength training, they unlock their their confidence, their sense of capability, and their life. Nadia’s story is the perfect example of our philosophy in practice. This week, she shares her story with us. We hope you enjoy it.

AT 43, SHE PICKED UP A DUMBBELL

After decades of cardio, yoga and restrictive diet culture, her body stopped responding to her workouts. She chose to get strong, and she’s never looked back.

By Tuma-Weldon

Forget everything you’ve been conditioned to think about shrinking or restricting. The most radical thing a woman can do for herself is build a strong, capable body. It took me decades to figure this out.

At the age of 43, I found myself in the gym, picking up a dumbbell. I walked in there without much of a plan, and truthfully, I didn’t really know what I was doing. My journey to lifting was more like a 30-year detour through various trends. I ran, though I hated it. I did spin classes, the elliptical, and the Stairmaster. I tried yoga and HIIT before landing on Pilates at the age of 40. Movement was never the problem. I always moved. I just never built anything.

As a former dancer still very much in a restrictive mindset, Pilates felt safe: my physique is petite, and it gave me the burn without making me too hungry. It was low-impact enough to practice every day, and it delivered results quickly…at first. But after several years, something felt off. I needed to do more to get the same effects, and the sessions felt easier despite adding weight. My body had adapted.

Then, I came across a podcast called MindPump, by three old-school trainer bros making a clear case for building muscle. Something about their straightforward, science-backed approach intrigued me, and I started to explore old-school bodybuilding culture. I listened to hours of episodes, including live coaching calls where women with similar experiences—former cardio devotees with a restrictive diet, afraid to build—called in. They were gently and methodically guided toward lifting, eating enough, and practising rest. From there, I discovered the work of bodybuilders Lisa Lyon, Pudgy Stockton and Rachel McLish, who proved that muscle and strength are sexy and feminine. I decided to go all in and trust the process.

That first session wasn’t cool or glamorous. Because of my intense work schedule, I decided to go DIY. I ordered a starter set of dumbbells on Amazon (6, 8 and 10kg), and put together a simple 3-4 day training plan with the help of ChatGPT. I learned about targeting push, pull, hinge and squat patterns across the week. It was Spartan but appropriate for a newbie; I watched YouTube videos to gain a rough sense of the movements. The experience felt thrilling, dangerous, ridiculous and foreign all at once. But something in my gut recognised what my mind hadn’t yet articulated: building muscle is what women truly need.

“At 44, I feel stronger, sexier and more confident than I did at 24.”

I had ample inspiration. I grew up watching my exquisite mother exercise every morning. Light years ahead of her time, she began lifting weights in Beirut, aged 15. And yet, despite her setting a gold standard example for me, I spent the next three decades doing what the culture told me to do instead, all before I reached the age of 10. In the Nineties, I grew up surrounded by fat-free everything and adverts with waif-like models. As a ballet dancer, I was susceptible and impressionable to the narrative. The message was always ‘be smaller’.

Generations of women have been deeply conditioned by diet culture. The Sixties were an era when thinness equated to fashion. Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s; Edie Sedgwick; Twiggy. Later, celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna popularized yoga and plant-based diets. “Fifteen years ago, I wanted to be thin, so I ate less and less,” says Brie-Anna Stanton, a 44-year-old health store employee in New South Wales, Australia. “I started lifting at age 18 and continued through my early 30s, but I went vegan at 32, and my strength (naturally) started to decline. I switched to yoga, but eventually even that exhausted me.” She now lifts regularly and has seen her energy and her health return.

Entering our 40s is often a tremendous period of transition for women. For many of us, it is perimenopause that delivers the final wake-up call; it manifests in disrupted sleep, mood swings, hot flashes, and brain fog. At a time when women are often at the peak of their careers, relationships, and creative lives, perimenopause can make it feel impossible to function and show up fully. It is, quite frankly, brutal. Previously, women suffered in silence, but influential voices such as Dr Stacy Sims, a New York Times bestselling author and Stanford professor, are now linking strength training directly to hormonal health.

The conversation is finally entering the mainstream. Tech firms such as Oura and Midi have launched menopausal tracking. The French government recently sent an email to every woman over 40 in the country, giving guidance around this period of transition.

Starting weightlifting in your forties is radical. But many of us are doing just that. Cecile Boutelet, a 43-year-old journalist and mother of three based in Berlin, says her sleep cycle and hormones improved almost immediately. “My luteal phase is amazing now,” she says. “I have no more depression.” Brie-Anna Stanton, a 44-year-old health store employee in Australia, says weightlifting has improved her joints and helped her reverse insulin resistance. She’s also seeing muscle grow. Romina Bocahut, a Paris-based 44-year-old mother of two, says starting strength training after her second pregnancy “allowed me to feel like myself again.” My own debilitating hot flashes and moodiness disappeared after I began lifting.

These women, like myself, are proof that it is never too late to take ownership of your journey. It’s never too late to transform both your experience of, and your relationship with, your body.

Something that is important to note: it’s not an overnight transformation. There are both mental and physical roadblocks that define a very real period of transition. While Pilates changed my body nearly overnight, weight lifting takes time. You are quite literally growing a body, and when you have spent decades trying to shrink, the experience of feeling fuller goes against every conditioned instinct we as women have. I have stopped more than once and crept back towards Pilates, where, in my mind at least, I was in control because I felt lean. It takes a lot of effort to counter our own conditioning.

Whenever I felt that panic creep in, I’d defer back to those MindPump podcasts. The mindset I adopted was to measure progress in one way and one way only. Not the mirror, not the scale, but asking myself the simple question: am I getting stronger? It took about three months of consistent lifting before the mirror finally reflected a new kind of femininity. It was one that I didn’t know I could love so much. My arms had definition, and my jeans were tight because my butt had grown. Instead of punishing myself, I felt empowered.

At 44, I feel stronger, sexier and more confident than I did at 24. I love my body in a way that has less to do with how it looks and everything to do with how it works and how it feels. My message to women in their 20s and 30s: start now. Don’t wait for the hormonal shift, the wake-up call, or the moment of crisis. Build a body with the intention that it will carry you through everything that life throws your way.

About the writer:

Nadia Tuma-Weldon is a New Yorker, leading strategy for luxury and beauty brands at a creative agency in Paris. Her weekly newsletter, Nouri Paris, dives into the philosophy of weight training.

Our series, Why I Train, celebrates those journeys. Each woman’s training why no doubt evolves from those earliest moments, but that’s the beauty and the power of it; training allows women to grow and realize their full potential. The one fundamental truth that connects all the women we interview is just how how transformative training has been in their life.

Sangita Patel is no exception. The Canadian TV presenter-turned-fitness personality found CrossFit during a period of post-natal depression. It proved to be a lifeline—an hour’s worth of me-time that offered an emotional release, a sense of control and, through it, it gave her back her sense of self. Her moving story is one that will resonate with many women, and it might just give hope to others.

WHY I TRAIN: SANGITA PATEL

Sangita Patel, photographed in her home gym by Katharine Holland for Danimás.

Training today is like brushing my teeth. It’s something I have to do. I’ve been lifting weights consistently for 16 years, since having my second child, but in the last 12 years in particular, it has really transformed my world. It has become therapy, and it helps me feel like myself. It helps me show up.

The origins of my journey are profound. After I had my first baby, I experienced some post-natal depression, and I had a bit of a breakdown. With my second child, I knew I didn’t want to go into that space. I had these internal instincts that were coming up, and I was like, You know what? I just need to leave the house for a bit. My husband took care of the baby, and I went to McDonalds, and got myself some fries and a milkshake, and sat in the car in a parking lot, just having a moment. I saw a sign that said CrossFit. It called to me.

I had been in a bad place the first time around. It was very difficult for me. I remember one day, I was with my child on my own, and we were doing feed training; they’re supposed to eat and sleep at a certain time. I remember this one day, she woke up, and was crying, and I was trying to put her back to bed. My husband found me sitting in the closet in the dark, trying to rock her to sleep; I was trying to stick to the schedule. I realized I was falling apart because I was putting too many rules on myself. New mothers don’t know how to step into that space mentally. No one prepares you for that feeling of losing yourself. Everything changes, including your relationship with your husband, your priorities, and your career. It can be hard to adjust.

The second time around, I knew I had to find a mechanism. So I walked into that CrossFit gym, and the person who worked there at the time said to me, ‘You need something.’ She knew. She showed me the place, and she said, just pick up this bar. Then she said, ‘Okay, come back tomorrow.’ That’s how it all started for me. Knowing and giving myself the permission to dedicate an hour to myself to get physically strong was really a mental thing for me. For that one hour, nothing else mattered. It was just me trying to get that bar up.

“Building strength keeps me going. I try things in the gym, and as a knock-on effect of that, I try things in life.”

It felt less intimidating than a normal gym. There were actually a lot of women and new mothers in there; the week after I joined, another woman showed up, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘She was me last week.’ She joined the gym too, and we became really good friends. She’s a badass now. Knowing that my journey has happened to so many women is very powerful; working out and weightlifting really helps you be mentally okay with yourself on this new journey as a mother.

In the real world, we’re afraid to fail, but when you are weight training, you allow yourself to fail. Sometimes you can’t complete a rep, and that’s okay. That mentality of letting yourself go in that space can lead to so many successes in life. I am very ambitious, and building strength keeps me going. I try things in the gym, and as a knock-on effect of that, I try things in life. It fuels the rest of my life. I don’t give up.

I loved every minute of motherhood with my second child, because I had been able to create that space for myself to enjoy motherhood while also preserving myself. It’s hard for mothers to find that adjustment, because in the old days, you’d have a village. Whereas now, women are largely on their own. It’s a very different way of bringing up a child, and it’s very difficult to acknowledge.

For the past 12 years, I’ve been sharing fitness content on Instagram. I wanted to make women see that it was okay to make themselves a priority. I started a hashtag, #fitnesstuesday, showing me doing little things like skipping; I’m moving my body, basically. I got such a huge response from women. I remember this one particular woman who would DM me, and send me updates of the things she was doing—a walk, or lifting two pounds, and that she had worked out. This one particular person motivated me to continue doing it; knowing the impact really fuels me.

Women don’t understand the impact of making space for themselves until they actually do it. We are not taught to take care of ourselves as mothers. We are people. It’s okay to make ourselves a priority alongside our children. Strength training has given me the confidence to be myself. It took me a long time to work out in a bra without a T-shirt. I used to be embarrassed about showing off areas of my body or wearing certain clothes, but now, I think, ‘Fuck it.’ Life is so precious, and it’s so short.

The last four years have been the hardest of my life. I lost my dream job because our show ended, and three months after, I was diagnosed with an invasive cancer that spread to my blood. Having to face the word death for the first time—the idea that something could happen to me—I didn’t know how to handle it. I had to have surgery, and then radiation. It was such a rollercoaster. Strength training across the years helped me access the mental and emotional resilience and physical strength I needed.

I wasn’t able to train during that time, so again, I felt a bit lost. But I rebuilt differently. I think you have to listen to your body. I knew I wasn’t as strong and I couldn’t do as much weightlifting as I could before my surgery, but I wanted to feel great within my body, so I incorporated a bit of Pilates. I’m not as aggressive as I used to be. Especially in my 40s, I think I know what my body is capable of, and I’m protecting my foundation now.

“No one prepares you for that feeling of losing yourself as a new mother.”

Weight training and Pilates together are a lethal weapon. It’s hard! I thought I was looking good before that, but combining those two types of movement makes your body pop. I curse through the whole thing. I now feel this incredible strength that I didn’t know I had within me. I sit up straight. I can sit in a crossed-leg position. I highly recommend doing Pilates with weight training. Cardio pisses me off. I hate it. But I love Pilates.

Training helped me rediscover my joy. I feel joy when I am doing it. I feel great afterwards. My kids are working out, and they understand the importance of taking care of their bodies. But I think the real joy came from helping others find their place, knowing they are allowed to be who they want to be. Being able to share my experience and impact other people gives me purpose. I think my personal brand has become ‘joy’. I share everything that I love, from fitness to cooking healthy meals. I do fun fitness challenges. If you find that thing that brings you joy, it amplifies. It brings happiness.

Hyrox is making history for other reasons, too. Where most sports are unequally weighted towards male participation, Hyrox is the first to create a 50/50 split. Liz Plosser, the writer of this week’s incredible story, took part last weekend. Her verdict? “The run was rough… but I loved it,” she said, on Instagram.

Liz raced with her friend Jessa. Both first timers, they pushed their limits together. The following morning, she got a text from Jessa, acknowledging the race had been a bonding event like no other. Liz replied: “My frequency is sky high right now.” This, dear reader, is the definition of a huddle. It is women bonded by movement; it’s a shared understanding of the growth that comes with doing hard things. It’s the power that comes when we undertake them together.

Liz was the perfect writer for this story. As a respected journalist, editor, and founder of , Liz has seen the industry evolve over decades and she has witnessed Hyrox’s monumental growth—and its subsequent transformation of the sector.

And, as a hobby athlete now in her forties, she is more aware than ever of the positive impact strength training and wellbeing can have on her health, and how social sport can super boost her life.

We hope you enjoy the story.

HYROX IS A GIFT TO WOMEN

From building strength to socializing and female solidarity, Hyrox has redefined a lot of women’s relationships with fitness—and with each other.

By Liz Plosser

Pushing a sled across the turf at my friend Jessa Zinn’s CrossFit gym in Brooklyn, two weeks before Hyrox arrives in New York City, I feel competitive in a way I haven’t in years. Not “marathon competitive”, which I ran in my 20s and 30s and, for me, was always internal and anchored by personal pacing goals during solo long runs. This is different…fiercer and louder. My training partner—a close friend in her 50s—finishes her 250 meters on the ski erg faster than I do, and we both smirk while we high-five. I immediately want another round to best her.

I’m 47 years old with three kids and a career that requires a lot of travel, and somewhere in my 40s fitness became a practical thing: stress relief, physical health, staying strong enough for work and motherhood and the rest of my big, chaotic life. Hyrox—a global fitness race that features running segments in between functional fitness stations like sled pushes, ski ergs, rowing, lunges, and wall balls—made me feel competitive again. I’m not very good at any of those activities. I want to learn how to dominate them anyway. Stronger sled pushes. Longer burpee broad jumps. Fewer breaks at the wall balls. I want to kick some ass.

It is not an unusual desire among women my age. Hyrox has grown from a 650-person event in Hamburg in 2017 into a global fixture with more than half a million competitors across 80-plus races worldwide. Women now make up half of participants, up from 24 percent in 2020, according to the company, and one of the fastest-growing demographics is women in their 40s and 50s.

Part of the appeal is structural. Competing in a Hyrox does not require childhood specialization, elite technical skill, or years of experience. The movements are difficult but learnable. Almost anyone can improve. And unlike most endurance events, Hyrox is built around multiple ways of competing: solo, doubles, and four-person teams. You can chase a personal best alone or gut it out with somebody else.

Endurance runners might train with a friend and finish every mile side by side on marathon day, but it is still two separate races. At mile 20, when one of you hits the wall, the other cannot run the final miles for you. Hyrox “doubles” produces one result from two people. If your partner’s grip gives out on the farmer’s carries, you step in for the kettlebells. If your legs are fried during sandbag lunges, she takes over. The final finish time belongs to both of you.

For women who stopped playing sports decades ago, or never felt athletic enough to start, it can feel less like taking something up than getting something back. That’s true for Caroline Chow, who found the sport during the hardest chapter of her life. In 2024, the 49-year-old merchandising and planning consultant was diagnosed with breast cancer.

During treatment, her teenage daughter sent her an article about Hyrox. Chow remembers her saying, “you need something to focus on.” Training became a bright spot in a period otherwise defined by fear and waiting. She did her first Hyrox with her daughter last spring, and is now preparing for her fourth. At this year’s Hyrox NYC, she will compete in multiple divisions: a relay with friends and doubles with her trainer. Her husband and children are already signed up for a race in Boston.

Courtesy of Jordyn Taylor (left) and Caroline Chow (right).

Hyrox has become a way for them each to bond. In an era when it’s so easy for family dinners and evenings at home to descend into smartphone scrolling, training and competing has become a way for people to spend time together where they have to be truly present; each person’s energy and engagement on the day has a direct impact on others.

At 49, Chow treats age as fuel rather than liability, and she is not apologizing for her ambitious goals. Neither is Jordyn Taylor, 34, a queer bestselling young adult novelist who has completed four Hyrox races, including the women’s doubles pro division. Taylor grew up lifting weights alongside her mother, a personal trainer, but never considered herself athletic. “Because of the way physical education is when you’re in school, your concept of what makes a good athlete is whether you’re good at soccer and basketball and the sports you play at school,” she says. “And I was never good at those things.”

Even after years of strength training, she still believed athleticism belonged to other people: the naturally coordinated kids, the varsity stars, the kids picked first at recess. Hyrox changed that. “I’m never going to be the best marathon runner,” she says. “And I’m also never going to be a champion powerlifter. But I’m pretty good at a lot of different things.”

The format rewards that well-rounded fitness, and for Taylor it unlocked a competitiveness she hadn’t known she was missing. She’s addicted to that feeling—and to the camaraderie she’s built with her training partners. When she recently moved to Miami, she chose her apartment partly for its proximity to a Hyrox gym. The people she trains with there have become her people. “Hyrox gave me an opportunity to feel like I really had potential,” she says. “As somebody who, growing up, never saw themselves as an athlete, then to have this platform to feel competitive—there’s an amazing sense of accomplishment there.”

She sees a parallel to her career. As the former executive digital director of Men’s Health, she spent years leading one of the most historically male brands in media. “People don’t expect women to do things like that,” she says. “There’s something that feels so empowering about defying people’s expectations about what women can do.”

In Hyrox, women do not have to pretend they are there just for the vibes. And, to buck corporate culture that taught women that there was only ever one seat at the table—and that they had to compete with each other to get it—also reverses the narrative. In Hyrox, women succeed together.

There are sound physiological reasons women in midlife benefit from strength training: muscle mass supports bone density, metabolic health, mobility, and longevity. Elizabeth Comen, MD, a 47-year-old medical oncologist at NYU Langone Health is direct about it. Muscle, she says, matters “for decreasing osteoporosis and risk-reducing so many other diseases we don’t want.”

Comen is preparing for her first Hyrox this year, solo. Comen spends her workdays focused on what goes wrong with women’s bodies over time; she wrote a book, titled All in Her Head, about how medicine has failed them. Training for Hyrox is the same expertise pointed the other way—she is training to be hard to break, where her patients can see it done.

With the race close, she is thinking about what she’ll wear—raspberry biker shorts with a matching sports bra, maybe, or hot pink to match her shoes. “The race-day outfit is not everything,” said the divorced mom of three, who grew up dancing. “But it’s almost everything.”

Courtesy Hyrox

As a longtime health editor at legacy media brands, I’ve watched the fitness space for decades. For so many years, women’s fitness culture revolved around shrinking ourselves: smaller waistlines, flatter stomachs, lower numbers on scales. Even the language emphasized deprivation. Hyrox is the opposite. Women talk about adding weight to the sled. Improving splits. Building strength. The goal is not to become smaller. It is to become even more capable.

Girls leave sport at roughly twice the rate of boys by age 14, the Women’s Sports Foundation has found, and Hyrox hands back what the team once gave—the connection, the competitiveness, the strength. Even those who didn’t grow up playing sports can tap into those benefits later in life: a 2023 systematic review found that adults who play team sports report better well-being and lower rates of anxiety, depression, and stress than those who train alone.

At many races, doubles partners arrive in matching kits. The sameness is the point: after months of shared workouts, early alarms, and text check-ins, the race is where you publicly claim another woman as your team. It’s a refreshing shift from the “who wore it best” narratives that dominated media headlines in the early Aughts and 2010s, when celebrities were pitted against each other and turning up to an event wearing the same outfit as another woman became something to be embarrassed by. At Hyrox, it’s a public declaration of togetherness.

Jessa and I have been so busy this year that before our Hyrox adventure began this spring, we had fallen into a pattern of mostly trading texts. Now we train together two or three times a week, catching up on the big stuff and the tiny stuff between sled pushes and rowing intervals.

Train with someone long enough and you learn who gets anxious before a hard effort, who talks trash during sled pushes, who panics, who powers through, who cracks jokes when everyone else is cooked. You spend a lot of time cheering for other women.

At Hyrox NYC, I do not expect to finish fast. I do expect to feel like a badass. So will every woman who decides to show up. We already made the team.

About the author

Liz Baker Plosser is a health and fitness journalist. Formerly editor-in-chief of Women’s Health magazine, today she’s the founder of Best Case Scenario, a media platform where she aims to “help you feel a little bit better today than you did yesterday.” She covers topics ranging from wellbeing news to sleep and recovery.

Graham’s curvy physique became shorthand for designers wanting to prove they were embracing “normal” bodies. In fashion terms, however, Graham’s body—beautiful; voluptuous; natural—wasn’t considered normal. Graham was labelled as plus-size—a category that has not, unfortunately, stuck around. Body positivity was not a movement. It was a fad.

In 2026, against the backdrop of super small bodies, models are facing a different kind of criticism and scrutiny on their physiques: some, like Emma Henderson, are being told they are too muscly.

Henderson, a 22-year old model-turned-professional bodybuilder, embodies all the strength and grace one would expect to find in a woman who dedicates herself and her life to training. And yet, when she started to get strong, she got dropped from her agency.

She is the perfect example of a woman who transforms a shut door into an opportunity; instead of shrinking, she leaned into her growth and turned it into a career. This weekend’s letter is a testament to her determination, ambition, and courage to forge a new path.

We hope you enjoy it.

The fashion industry is scared of muscle

By Emma Henderson.

Last year, aged 22, I chose to grow. I hired a trainer in February and started working out with a strategy. I had been doing lightweight workouts and Pilates, bopping around in the gym without really knowing what I was doing. My coach put me on a strength-training program and changed my nutrition to six meals a day with more carbs. Within weeks, my body had transformed. I grew muscle, and I was leaner than ever. I looked and felt amazing. Shortly after, my agency dropped me. Muscles weren’t what they were looking for.

I was a professional model, signed with a talent agency in California. I was a regular with beauty brands like Sephora and TooFaced; I was getting castings and auditions for tons of other cosmetics brands, from Haus Labs to L’Oréal. I put my heart and soul into modelling, but I often felt like it was me against my agency. I am only 5’3”, but the fashion industry favors those who are much taller. I would drive two to three hours to a casting, only to be told, ‘You’re perfect, but you’re too short. Bye.’ It was challenging to deal with. I constantly felt like I wasn’t good enough. There was a lot of rejection.

I had been looking to change things up when I met my trainer. Work had been quiet; I got the feeling my agency hadn’t been putting me forward. I realized there was a lot of opportunity for modelling within the fitness and swim categories for someone like me. Those sectors are more forgiving because you don’t have to be super tall. I wanted to give my agency a reason to champion me—to choose me. I wanted to find a way for them to put me in front of more faces and more brands. If I make money, they make money; I am entrepreneurial at heart. I wanted to create my own opportunities, but it was an opportunity for them, too.

So I started training. I had been skinny before, owing to my dancer’s physique. Almost overnight, I looked different. More than that, I had more energy. I was healthy. I felt powerful. It created a halo effect and bled into other areas of my life; my mindset altered along with my muscles. I didn’t see any other models training like this, especially within my agency. I felt like I had something that made me unique, beyond my height. I wanted them to see that I was willing to put in the work. By May, I decided to shoot another portfolio; I thought it would show them that there was a whole new market they could tap into with me. I stood out. But still, they didn’t want to put me forward. They didn’t even want to put any of my new images up on the website. I think they were scared of muscle. They don’t know what to do with it, or with the feeling of power that strength training affords young women.

My agency eventually told me that if I wanted to become a swim model, I’d need to get plastic surgery because I have a small chest. That was shocking and upsetting. I was on social media, looking at other girls modelling for brands who also had small chests. I was confused. My back was against the wall, and I felt pretty defeated. Around that time, a conversation with my dad changed everything. We were on a boat in Newport, talking about the new bodybuilding division launching—the fit model. Our family business, Wolfpak, is in this world, so I grew up around it. Right there, on the water, my dad said to me, ‘Why don’t you make the jump and try it out?’ We decided to call two professional athletes we knew, Mark Anthony and Jennifer Dory, for guidance.

I soon realized that no one was the face of this fit model category because it was brand new. There was an opportunity. Soon, I was pitching to Jennifer and Mark, ‘What if we make that me? What if that becomes the goal?’ I told myself, I have the face, the body, the presence—the fit model is the whole package. Here, I felt confident to back myself in spite of my experiences with my agency.

Deciding I would build strength to compete to become a fit model felt like liberation. My confidence went through the roof. I was the happiest girl in the world, and I get emotional even thinking about that moment. With the modelling industry, I constantly felt like I wasn’t good enough. I worked so hard, and every rejection felt so personal. For the first time, I felt accepted and supported by those around me. They wanted me to succeed.

I went into prep, working with Jennifer and Mark to build my strength and condition my body. I competed for the first time in Texas last August and did well. I won all five categories, taking home every medal in fit modelling. When my plane landed back home following the competition, I got an email from my agency saying we were going our separate ways. It wasn’t a conversation. They just dropped me. I knew it was because I had put on muscle, and I was fit. And to them, that was a problem.

It was disappointing, but timing showed me that when one door closes, another one opens. The universe has lined up for me. Getting dropped turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me. In my second competition, I earned my ‘Pro’ card, which I am told is rare. I’ve moved from model to professional athlete. I haven’t told many people this, but I feel like it was meant to be. As scary as it was to take a leap of faith into the unknown, I knew I had to seize the moment. I had on-camera training from the 10+ years I had trained in dance, which would help me compete, as there are many cameras at competitions, and lots of bodybuilding is about poses. Bodybuilding takes everything I have learned so far and combines it.

I don’t think the modelling industry has ever really known what it’s like for women to be strong. To stay fit while still being feminine. To be elegant but disciplined. My first coach had a similar experience to mine; she was a model who got dropped for gaining muscle. The industry’s problems are widespread. They think of muscle and immediately assume it’s big. They are scared because it’s unfamiliar. But in reality, many strong women are still very small. There is no reason strong women shouldn’t be represented. You want and need to see yourself reflected as a young girl. It’s important to me as a pro athlete to be a role model for girls and other young women like me.

I am proof that if you nourish yourself and combine effort with discipline, you can change your life in just a few months. People think I have been training for years, but this happened to me almost overnight. It wasn’t luck that brought me here. I put in the work, and I show up for myself. I want to show other young women that they can build an identity rooted in consistency, discipline, self-respect, and attention. I want to show other young women what is possible when you truly choose yourself.

As told to Grace Cook.

This year’s event is centred around the body. Not that you’d know it, owing to the vagueness of the theme: “costume art”. The exhibit is “celebrating the intersection of fashion, the body, and artistic expression.” Works in the exhibition heavily centre on the body. So why isn’t the Met Gala and the Costume Institute making this obvious? Why is the exhibit not called “the body is art”?

It’s a complicated and a noisy time to be a body today. This year’s Met Gala is drawing a lot of attention for its Bezos sponsorship; were The Met Gala and the Costume Institute too fearful to draw attention to the body in this era of GLP1? What does it mean that the theme—the body—is concealed?

When it came to commissioning our story about the Met Gala, we knew we wanted to take this angle–and we knew there was only one writer we wanted to write it. Mikala Jamison of . Mikala has cultivated a true journalistic niche in the nuance of body-related conversations. In her writing, she combines intellect and sharp cultural criticism with feelings-based reporting that is rare.

We’ll be glued to our TV screens watching the drama unfold this evening. We’re curious to see how designers interpret the body; which athletes have been invited, and whether muscle is celebrated—both via the athletic physiques in attendance, and as an art piece.

At Danimás, we believe strength is supreme, and that muscle is luxury, but crucially that all bodies and body types deserve love and respect. Strength doesn’t take one form, and we are curious about how the fashion industry will interpret that reality tonight.

Until next week. We hope you enjoy Mikala’s reporting.

THE BODY IS THE THEME

From GLP-1 to the boom in women who are building muscle, it’s a divisive time to be a body. Amid this, The Costume Institute puts the body on display.

By Mikala Jamison

The Met Gala, occurring on the first Monday in May and linked to the opening of the Costume Institute’s blockbuster exhibition, ‘Costume Art’, is a spectacle—for the fashion, for the celebrities, and, in particular, for the dress code. This year, the tension between these will likely be louder than ever, given the code is centred around concepts of the body.

Designers, then, have a delicate task if they choose to lean into the focus on physique: dressing celebrity bodies that are currently the subject of more media attention than ever. Some celebrities, women in particular, have appeared in public lately having lost significant amounts of weight. What does it mean if, in 2026, designers such as Thom Browne embellish muscle and connective tissue onto gowns—as he did for his couture collection in 2024—when the body is an especially contentious topic in culture right now? It would not be surprising if this becomes the story of the evening.

Why? Right now, there’s enormous tension in the cultural conversation around bodies and weight loss. American women are living through a time when strength training is more popular in the mainstream than ever before—many women are building muscle and turning away from the idea that they should strive to be as small as possible—but GLP-1 medications for weight loss are rising in popularity. These realities aren’t necessarily in conflict—some people have used GLP-1s for moderate weight loss that enabled them to start a gym routine, and GLP-1 users are advised to strength train to prevent muscle loss.

Courtesy The Costume Institute/Vogue

But as a writer with a newsletter called Body Type, and a forthcoming book (The Forever Project: How Exercise Strengthened Me Inside and Out for the Long Haul), I’ve observed online that many people fear we’re in the midst of a so-called “skinny apocalypse.” The data about non-celebrity people doesn’t currently bear this out. When body fat distribution, not just BMI, is accounted for, about 70 per cent of Americans have obesity—and anecdotally, when I walk around and live my life in the major city I live in, I see people of various body types, same as ever. But things do seem different among the celebrity set; a not-insignificant number of famous women (and men) are thinner than ever.

The red carpet will be in direct contrast to the Costume Institute exhibition that the Met Gala will be fundraising for. Within the exhibit, viewers will see pregnant bodies, aging bodies, disabled bodies, and fat bodies represented in the artworks. Nine people, including French singer-songwriter Yseult (who is a plus-sized Black woman) and disability activist Sinéad Burke (who has achondroplasia, a genetic disorder whose primary feature is dwarfism), had their bodies digitally scanned for the mannequins that represent these body types. Aimee Mullins, who wears prosthetic legs, and Aariana Rose Philip, who uses a wheelchair, are also present and accounted for.

The mannequins feature a mirrored surface on their heads, so viewers can quite literally see themselves in these body types. The exhibition seems deliberately representative of the truth of the human body, the art inspired by it, and the concept of art more broadly: There is not only one shape or look it takes, or must take.

If the history of the red carpet or fashion runways is any indication, it’s unlikely that such a broad diversity of bodies will be visible at the gala. A recent Vogue Business Size Inclusivity Report showed a decline in plus sizes on the runways of Fashion Week presentations in four major cities, and only six per cent of models on the runway were Black in 2017, according to CUNY Academic Works. How fashion designers end up interpreting the theme should be examined afterwards with rigor.

Designers will interpret the body as both architecture, sculpture, and anatomy. Strength will equate to form; silhouette will become volume; musculature and bones could become embellishments; the body will be a canvas upon which designers will paint their own interpretations of physique. Some will offer skin-tight, figure-hugging styles. Others are likely to enlarge the body’s proportions into an art form. I imagine that many of the looks will reflect what Vanessa Friedman wrote in The New York Times in January: “Fashion has begun exaggerating, or distorting, the female form like never before.”

Courtesy The Costume Institute/Vogue/Getty

That’s not unusual in the history of art. Scholars believe that the Venus of Willendorf figurine, with its emphasized breasts and hips, relates to or represents a fertility deity. “Madonna with the Long Neck,” a painting by Parmigianino, gives the Virgin Mary an impossibly long neck and fingers, and a disproportionally large lower body, to suggest her otherworldliness. The painter Peter Paul Rubens depicted women who were extraordinarily voluptuous, curvaceous, and muscular—a fuller figure was a beauty standard of the era that suggested a woman’s wealth and health. Clothing such as corsets and hoop skirts once exaggerated women’s bodies, too.

In 2026, though, the tools to reconstruct and alter that canvas exist in a way they didn’t in the times of the Pre-Raphaelites or the Classical Greek sculptors. Think: Plastic surgery, other cosmetic procedures, weight-change medications, a laser-focused diet and exercise regimens. Some women have access to these things—not just clothing—that can also render the appearance of their body a little surreal. Custom gowns can create an illusion. If the canvas of the body has been surgically altered, shrunken, reshaped, rebuilt, restyled, and filtered, I have to wonder if this is an instance of putting a hat on a hat.

It’s easy to forget that the gala is functionally about and for art, rather than a spectacle of wealth and celebrity imagecraft. Often, the red carpet spectacle tells a distinct story of the body: It is thin, white, wealthy, not aging, not disabled. I think the place where you’re more likely to see the true artistry and diversity of the human body will be on display within the exhibition inside the Costume Institute, where, on the mannequins inside, you can look at the reflection of yourself.

If the Met’s theme teaches us anything, it’s that there is no one way for a body to show up in society and in culture today—just like no artwork or canvas is ever the same. People (especially women) can and should take it upon themselves to revel in their unique body types. I do this through strength training, which more women are doing than ever. So even if I don’t see muscle-bound women on the red carpet, I have the ability to “shape my own canvas” how I like, and recognize the resultant sense of embodiment for myself.

Caroline Chow is one of those women. As a fashion consultant, a mother, and a wife, she has always been someone for whom staying fit is not just a lifestyle, but a passion. That relationship with her training and her body deepened after her cancer diagnosis. Aged 49, she endured treatment for breast cancer, and her world temporarily upended. On top of dealing with the scary reality of cancer, she wasn’t allowed to train.

Caroline made efforts to stay connected to her training community, and found other women in her circle who had also experienced breast cancer. There was a comfort, but also a sadness: why were women dealing with this in silence? It motivated her to speak out and share her story, and her journey is testament not only to her own personal resilience, but of the profound impact of training and the power of surrounding ourselves with likeminded people who truly see and understand us.

At Danimás, we believe strength and softness coexist. During this most difficult time in her life, Caroline discovered Hyrox, and competed with her daughter shortly after surgery. The power of having a fitness goal can be transformative during times of emotional upheaval.

We were moved by Caroline’s story, and remain grateful to her for sharing her story with such honesty. We were also so impressed by her talents and work ethic that Caroline is now part of our team. She is, of course, training for her next Hyrox.

Our community inspires us on a daily basis. If you have a training story you’d like to share with us, please do get in touch.

Hyrox, breast cancer, and me

By Caroline Chow. As told to Grace Cook.

“It was my 18-year-old daughter who first put Hyrox on my radar, shortly after my breast cancer diagnosis last November. She suggested we participate in Hyrox as a mother/daughter team. I said yes instantly. I have always been active, and once the initial shock and fear of the ‘C’ word had subsided, I knew I needed to maintain my positivity. I needed something to look forward to. We signed up to the New York competition this past June.

It was a bonding experience for us to compete side by side. It was also humbling. I’ve completed half-marathons, Spartan Races, and Tough Mudders, but Hyrox is different. It demands both strength and endurance. Afterwards, we were both thinking about what we’d do differently next time. The atmosphere at Hyrox is incredible. I felt revitalized. Soon after, I signed up to Hyrox in Boston with my friend from the gym, who is 27. We competed in September, and I got a 14-minute personal best. It was an awesome weekend.

Receiving my diagnosis last winter was difficult. I kept it private, besides telling some close friends and some other breast cancer survivors in the gym. I think I was ashamed to say the word “cancer” out loud. I didn’t want to taint the image of being the “fit mom” or the “strong woman” in the gym; I wanted to avoid questions or pity. I cried. I felt really defeated at times. But I wasn’t going to let cancer beat me. I underwent surgery in April, followed by 20 radiation sessions. My kids fist bumped me, and told me I was going to be fine.

“Hyrox has been part of my own recovery… I didn’t want cancer to define me.”

To be honest, that made me feel worse for a short time. I was like, ‘Wait, nobody’s sympathizing with me?’ But my really good friend told me it was because my kids knew that I was strong, and that this wasn’t going to take me down. She told me I’d bounce back, and that my kids were being strong for me. I knew she was right.

Competing in Hyrox with my daughter was the first part of my own recovery, in a way. It was me reclaiming myself. I didn’t want cancer to define me. As a mom, and a wife, and a former fashion executive with an Ivy League education, I had previously placed a lot of my identity on those things. As an Asian American woman, there aren’t a lot of women like me in the gym; my mom was born and raised in Taiwan and China, and her philosophy was that girls can’t play sports. But the gym has been where I have discovered myself. Fitness has helped me find my confidence.

One of the hardest parts of discovering that I had breast cancer was being told I couldn’t work out for six weeks. For the last 30 years, I was that woman who packed her workout clothes before her dresses when going on vacation; my husband and I climbed the highest peak in Japan recently. I wasn’t born with a fast metabolism or an athletic frame. The way I look is the result of years of hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. Those six weeks were the longest of my life.

Caroline and her daughter competing at Hyrox NYC in June 2025; Sportgraf

My diagnosis gave me a new perspective, but Hyrox has completely transformed my vision of what being healthy is. The workouts are dynamic, and fun, but it’s made me realise that training smart does not always mean training hard. I’ve stopped overtraining, and stopped following a program just because it’s written on paper. I’ve made time for rest and recovery, which I always neglected because I was just ‘go, go, go.’ One of the biggest lessons Hyrox has taught me is the importance of listening to my body. Cancer taught me that too.

Since June, I’ve been sticking to two Hyrox-focused workouts a week, totaling 60-90 minutes each. I do wall balls and the SkiErg. I’ve cut my long runs back to once a week. On other days, I lift heavy, though I’m not as disciplined as my kids. They plan their workouts by muscle group! I get tempted by too many group classes, which makes it harder to stay on track, but social exercising and community are so valuable for me.

“There aren’t a lot of women who look like me in the gym.”

There are moments of doubt. Sometimes I think to myself that I am never going to get back to where I was before. But Hyrox has taught me that success isn’t about perfection. It’s about consistency, sustainability, and showing up for yourself. I’m still setting big goals. I’m still lifting heavy and chasing better times. But I’m coming at it from a place of strength, not self-imposed pressure. I want to grow, build my courage and prove to myself that I can do hard things. Even at my age.

My body has changed. My cancer medication has put me into perimenopause. My scar tissue hasn’t quite healed. Sometimes I get sizzling pains inside my breast when I lift. I’ve realized over time that I want to speak out about it. The amount of women I know with breast cancer is alarming. One in seven of us will be diagnosed. It doesn’t matter how fit you are, how well you eat or how perfectly you plan your workouts. I see my purpose as being an advocate, not just for fitness but for awareness, early detection, and self-compassion. I hope my story can encourage even one person to get that mammogram.

Nothing will beat crossing the finish line with my daughter, hand in hand. I was so proud of us; we were aiming to finish our race in around 90 minutes, but we crossed the line in just over 88. I want to carry on inspiring my daughters. I want to instill in them a sense of resilience, showing them when life knocks them down, they can get back up and stand tall. I want to be strong for them. I want to be an example, to prove that a woman can have kids, a family, a job, but that they can have muscles, too.

Now, almost six months out, I see how far I’ve come. Friends tell me I don’t look a day over 40. I feel stronger than ever. I smile whenever I hear that, because I know that strength isn’t just physical. It was born from showing up for myself, for my family, and for my future.

I gave birth to strength and it saved my life.

The conversation around diet is louder than ever. GLP-1 has put focus on proteinmaxxing, macros are no longer reserved for bodybuilders, and marathoners hyperfixate on carbs. Today, food tracking apps are aplenty, while wearables can tell you your daily caloric expenditure, and there’s a wealth of nutritionists and content creators on Instagram offering recipes, instructions and guidance. It’s not just what to eat, but how to eat, that’s trending.

All this is a far cry from the diet culture of the Nineties and early Aughts, where women were sold fat-free diets, cereal diets and juice cleanses. Weight Watchers labelled certain foods as ‘syns’, implying eating was sinful. Slim Fast offered low-calorie milkshakes as meal replacements. Back then, the narrative around food was problematic.

As a culture, we’ve largely moved on. Avocado became a viral food that single-handedly changed the perception of fats. Suddenly, there were good fats and bad fats. Good fats became desirable.

So why is it that so many women still skip breakfast? When the Miami-based nutritionist Ashley Damaj, founder of Mothership Wellness, first spoke to us about this, we knew we had to commission her to write this story. In her practice, she helps women break free from this negative food loop.

The fact is this: Fueling on two meals a day simply is not enough.

Stay nourished.

DTS Studio. Image rights courtesy Danimás.

SKIPPING BREAKFAST IS RUINING YOUR GAINS

By Ashley Damaj

In 1850s England, fainting rooms were the height of vogue for the Victorians, who laced women so tightly into corsets that they struggled to breathe—and eat. Their restricted blood flow and lack of fuel caused dizziness and actual fainting. The fairytale goes that women are weak and in need of rescue; the reality is that fragility, starvation, and deprivation have been masquerading as femininity and status for centuries. Atkins and the Skinny Bitch era of the aughts rendered it anew.

In 2025, the ripple effects are real. The idea that women eat less is now mainstream. Decades of fad diets, fat-free marketing, and dystopian attitudes have normalized skipping breakfast. For many young women, it falls off the agenda as early as high school, and it remains the most common strategy to reduce overall caloric intake. As adults, breakfast is a relatively low stakes meal to skip because we can coast on caffeine until our body responds to its need for fuel with jittering fervor.

Women who workout know that they need to fuel their bodies. They know you get out what you put in: Keep progressive overloading, and you’ll lift a heavier dumbbell. Keep doing sprints on the treadmill, and your heart rate will lower. But breakfast is the apple that still falls far from the tree. It’s a part of toxic diet culture that many women still need to overcome.

As a certified nutritionist, personal trainer, behavioral therapist, and the founder of Mothership Wellness, a holistic coaching service based in Newport Beach, California, I hear women dress up skipping breakfast by calling it intermittent fasting. Others say they simply aren’t hungry in the morning. That’s usually a sign of one of three things: a poor metabolism, medication (to treat ADD or a GLP-1), or inadequate muscle mass. A well-muscled woman who doesn’t binge at night is always hungry after sleeping. So I am here to tell you this: Women, stop skipping breakfast. It’s ruining your gains.

Think of it this way. Cardio is like earning hourly wages: effort in, results out. Strength training is like earning a salary: Your muscles keep paying long after you’ve clocked out for the day. Breakfast is not an end-of-year bonus. Breakfast is gasoline. It’s the thing that keeps your car engine running to get you to work; the power that keeps your office and your home’s lights and heating on.

“Your glutes won’t grow themselves. You have to feed them.”

Fasted workouts are damaging for a number of reasons. For women, it causes your hormones to go haywire. When we are underfed, our blood sugar tanks. Low blood sugar spikes cortisol and adrenaline. Yes, those same stress hormones that make you snappy, impatient, irrational, dizzy, and faint, much like the Victorians. I suffer similar symptoms when I am prepping for bodybuilding competitions—a reality my husband and children are all too aware of. The verdict is this: The human body doesn’t like to be underfueled, and when it is, consequences occur. Poor sleep and other peri/menopausal realities compound the symptoms. “Hangry” is, in fact, clinical.

If you train without food, your body is working overtime to perform simple exercises and the lifts it is more than capable of doing. If your energy stores are depleted, your body fatigues quicker, which restricts the intensity of your workout because you’re running on low. If gains are your goal, you’re at risk of impairing your build as your body turns to lean muscle for energy, instead of fat. It impacts your recovery. And the cycle begins again the next day.

Eating less sabotages us aesthetically the older we get. After 40, skipping breakfast is a gateway to a flat butt. Those glutes won’t grow themselves; you have to feed them. My favorite epiphany, and the one I love to hear from my clients is this: “I never knew I could eat this much and get my body to look like this.”

Starting your day with protein to feed your muscles is key. It sets you up for stable blood sugar, steady energy, and wards off irritability. If you want to still fast, eat dinner by 7 pm and eat breakfast at 7 am. If your brain no longer sends you hunger cues in the morning, we need to start rebuilding your metabolism. Think: light but intentional. Fruit is not breakfast by itself.

If it truly makes you nauseous to think about fueling pre workout, eat a half banana or a date with a scoop of essential amino acids mixed into water or coffee—this can help blunt the cortisol response, stabilize blood sugar, and preserve muscle by stimulating muscle protein synthesis even in the absence of a full meal. Alternatively, mix up a protein shake with coconut milk; to add carbs, include a cup of oats or a banana. It doesn’t need to be complicated.

After your workout, I load up with a large post-workout meal of about 40 grams protein and 40 grams carbs. I like a non-fat Greek yogurt, and add ground flax seed, blueberries, and a sprinkle of dried goji berries, finished with Maldon sea salt. On rest days, or if you’re working out later in the day, I’d suggest having overnight oats with a double serving of protein and cardamom to season, plus lots of nuts, seeds, and berries for healthy fats and antioxidants.

Mastering the art of eating first thing in the morning can be challenging. But it has the benefit of keeping your eating on track for the rest of the day. So many women accidentally overeat or under eat. Busy working mom life can cause food to get backloaded to the end of the day and make it easier to justify 5 pm wine and suboptimal macros for dinner. This also affects your gains. Having a routine and sticking to it will give you more time, more energy, and more control.

We’re meant to be strong, well-fed, and fully awake in our own power. The era of glorified fragility is over, and it’s time to eat and train like we run the world: because we do.

The gym remains, for many women, an environment learned through exposure rather than designed with us in mind. Even experienced lifters can feel intimidated—the friction of unfamiliar equipment, the subtle hesitation around taking up space, or trying to find composure under harsh lighting and ill-fitting gear. Plus, everyone else always looks like they know what they’re doing… right?

We put our flag in the ground with a story that nurtures. It’s pre-reading material for beginners—but equally relevant to women who have been in the gym for years. After all, we don’t always realize the weight of small intentions—to move more, to commit to something new—and suddenly, we find ourselves years into a practice without ever having read a manual.

This story, reported by journalists Jessica Salter and , with guidance from former professional athlete Dany Garcia, aims to be just that.

Let’s begin.

Image rights courtesy Danimás; Nick Fancher/Death to Stock

HOW TO START STRENGTH TRAINING

For women who want to start strength training to build muscle or to get strong, there is no shortage of ‘manuals’ online. From TikTok and YouTube, we are bombarded with information about the benefits of weightlifting. The hashtag #strengthtraining has more than 17 million posts on Instagram alone. This content creates buzz but lacks essential guidance. For starters, it assumes a level of knowledge and comfort within the training space that we know most beginners do not have.

The Danimás guide to strength training for beginners is different. We know that women like a strategy. We know that women do our pre-read homework. We know that knowledge is power—and power counts for everything when you’re stepping into a new space for the very first time. We’re here to have the need-to-know conversations. This is an introduction to weightlifting that’s been created by women, for women. We’re here to set you up for success.

THE WHY

When a woman discovers her strength through weightlifting, a transformative shift happens in her life. Strength training is the key to not just being stronger, but living longer. Weightlifting boosts our memory and brain function; it’s proven to have positive effects on our hormones during peri-menopause and post-menopause. You can feel sexier in your 50s and 60s than you did in your 30s; you can discover confidence, and a butt you didn’t know you could have. “Resistance training is going to make your life golden,” says Dany Garcia, founder of Danimás and a former professional athlete.

This guide to strength training is truly catered to your needs as a newbie. We understand you, your mindset, and how significant this moment is. Here’s everything that you need to know before you start training.

FIRST, CREATE THE SPACE

Before you even enter the gym, acknowledge that strength training will alter your life and your schedule. We need you to know that when you start weight lifting, you will need to stop doing something else to make space for it in your life. Women are accustomed to adding to our personal loads without subtracting anything, but that’s not going to work here.

Let’s use your closet as a metaphor. If you were to buy yourself a whole new wardrobe, you’d need to remove items from your existing closet to make room for the new clothes. Otherwise, your garment rail would buckle under the pressure. Your calendar and your body are no different. Give yourself the permission to be realistic so you can fully embrace the process.

IT’S HARD

Training is exhilarating, but it is also unquestionably fatiguing on your body and your energy levels. No one really acknowledges this, but training as a non-professional athlete is more challenging than training as an athlete, because athletes are supported by entire teams of people who are on hand to provide care and advice. Women’s hormones make it harder still. Know that you’re not doing it wrong. No one finds this easy. You will adapt, but you will be tired, especially at first. That’s okay. Training is hard.

YOU HAVE TO EAT MORE

Revisit our stories about why you should never skip breakfast and how to fuel your workouts. Also, make sure to stay hydrated, hit your protein goals (try adding a shake a day for starters), and take creatine, which aids recovery and muscle growth.

A pre-workout drink mix will give you a boost when taken 30-60 minutes before you train. Designed to increase your athletic performance, it enhances energy and improves focus. It also includes amino acids, which increase blood flow to deliver nutrients to your muscles, and beta-alanine, which delays the onset of physical fatigue.

OK, we’ve covered some essential post-it notes. Now, let’s talk about the gym.

SHOULD YOU HIRE A PERSONAL TRAINER?

Try to get clear on this before you do anything, as the answer will change the entire trajectory of your training. If you hire a trainer, they’ll programme your workouts, set you up in the gym, ensure your form is correct and keep tabs on your progress.

If you have the means, Danimás encourages you to hire a personal trainer. Dave Rienzi, a strength and hypertrophy coach, advises you to choose a trainer with “an education, experience, and who practices what they preach.” Credentials to look out for include a college degree in Kinesiology or exercise science, plus certifications such as NSCA, ACSM, and NASM, he says.

The gold standard would be finding a coach who is a woman or who has expertise in training women. Women are not small men, and your trainer must understand how women’s bodies respond to training. “It’s especially relevant when it comes to the hormonal changes women experience,” says Rienzi.

If you are going to hire a trainer, you can skip the following two sections and go straight to the GYM OUTFIT section.

IF YOU DON’T GET A TRAINER, DO GET A TRAINING PROGRAM

Not everyone has the financial means to hire a trainer, while others might prefer to test the waters and fly solo. Rather than DIY-ing each session, we recommend using a training program, which could be delivered via an app.

Programs will ensure you get the most out of each workout. It will build confidence by empowering you to go into the gym each time with a plan, preventing that feeling of uncertainty that comes from not knowing what to do in a new environment. Set yourself up for success by taking the guesswork out of each session.

Books can also be a valuable resource for your self-guided journey. We recommend reading Lift by Danimás contributor —it has a section on building your own routine, which is helpful for beginners.

YOUR FIRST WORKOUT IS NOT A WORKOUT

We get it. You’ve committed. You’ve bought a membership, you’ve found your program, and you’re in the gym. The inclination to actually do a workout is instinctive. Don’t. Launching straight into a workout without doing your homework is like going to an exam and writing a literature essay without having read the novel beforehand. Right now, you have the luxury of time to learn the ropes truly. Don’t rush through your early sessions to short-change yourself later.

Your first workout is learning the equipment. Spend time getting acquainted with the gym’s layout—better still, book a tour with one of the trainers. They’ll show you where the stretching area is; you can ask questions about the best spots for your free weights workout. They’ll teach you how to use the machines and can give guidance on how to flow your workout based on the machine geography. Record a video on your phone so that you can play it back later.

This sense of place can help you mentally visualize each workout and prevent that feeling of walking around, not knowing where to start. If you need to test out a few mat placements, try doing some foam rolling instead of a workout. You’ll soon find the spot you feel calmest. Set yourself up to win by allowing yourself the time to be comfortable.

A GYM OUTFIT IS IMPORTANT

Feeling self-assured is a positive side effect of feeling good in oneself. That’s why a great gym outfit is essential. It might not be something a personal trainer regularly prescribes, but we promise you, finding gear that fits well and that you want to wear is a boost that gets you in the headspace to start training. Look good, feel good, perform your best.

Your gym wardrobe needs to work hard for you. Invest in a quality, medium-support sports bra that fits, feels comfortable, and gives you a full range of motion. On arm days, wear tops that show your biceps, triceps, and shoulders; on back days, a racerback top or bra gives you visibility of your back muscles and lets you better check form and posture. Leg day requires bottoms that are secure at the waist and won’t ride up or down. Equally, ensure leggings or fitted shorts are opaque enough to pass the squat test before wearing them to the gym; try setting up a self-timer photo on your phone and squatting in front of it to check.

Leave your running shoes at home. For footwear, opt for flat-soled trainers rather than super springy ones, as they’re better for stability. You might find weightlifting gloves helpful for protecting your hands, enhancing your grip—and showing off your manicure. Other essentials include a hydration bottle, a small towel, your headphones, and, as a nice-to-have, a dedicated gym bag.

Next, you’ll want a great playlist to amp you up. May we suggest “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys to make sure you’re really feeling yourself. Alternatively, check out Danimás’ curated workout playlist on Spotify, filled with mood boosters.

WHY YOU SHOULD RECORD YOURSELF IN THE GYM

Filming isn’t reserved for Instagram influencers. Recording yourself while training might feel awkward at first, but it empowers you by letting you perfect your form and technique and track your progress. This homework will change your life. We repeat—a gym fit is important. You’ll want to feel encouraged when you rewatch your videos, and feeling great in your gear can help.

Filming is beneficial for beginners, especially if you aren’t working out with a trainer who can correct your form in real time. If you feel self-conscious about recording, do it discreetly by balancing your phone against your water bottle. For something a little slicker, there are lots of magnetic phone holders online that let you stick your phone to gym equipment, press record, and forget it’s there.

Image rights courtesy Danimás; Eduardo Ramos/Unsplash

DON’T NEGOTIATE YOUR WARM-UPS AND COOL DOWNS

Properly preparing your body with a warm-up and a cool-down is essential for weightlifting. It might be tempting for the time-poor to shave vital minutes by skipping these segments, but it pays off in ample recovery. Have discipline to stay a few more minutes on either side of your workout to prepare and protect your body properly.

Need an easy routine to remember? The Danimás warm-up is designed as your go-to for every session.

“A cool down gradually brings your heart rate back to normal and brings fresh blood into the muscle to flush out lactic acid,” says Lindsay. She recommends a few minutes of easy cardio, like walking. Then, use the foam roller, which a controlled study found “substantially” eased muscle soreness.

LEARN PROPER WEIGHT TRAINING FORM

Check that your feet are planted and stable; that your knees track in line with your toes, rather than collapsing in. Keep the spine neutral; keep shoulders away from the ears; keep the core gently braced, mimicking the feeling before a cough.

Olympian speed skater Sarah Lindsay, the founder of Club Roar, an online personal training platform with three physical locations, recommends watching form videos on YouTube to supplement your research. “You can watch videos of the exercises, and practice them at home without holding any weights so you can get used to the mechanics of the movement,” she says.

Give yourself the grace to take this slowly and learn as you go. “If you have 30 minutes and you’ve never worked out before, spend time working on form and practice only two exercises,” advises Garcia. “Record your form, and check it in between sets.” The purpose is to duplicate what a trainer would give you and ensure you can tweak your posture and position as you go to perfect it.

KEY TRAINING TERMS TO KNOW

Weight training has its own language, and becoming versed now will empower you and amplify your learning moving forward.

Phrases you might regularly come across include ‘time under tension’, ‘two-second hold’, ‘eccentric’, ‘concentric’, and ‘reps and sets’. Here’s what they mean.

Eccentric. This is the descend motion. An example: a bicep curl. With an eccentric curl, the tension and focus should be moving the forearm down, as opposed to curling up. Start by holding dumbbells at the shoulders, and slowly lower over 3-5 seconds, with a 1-second concentric contraction to return to the starting position.

Concentric. This is the ascent motion. As above, in reverse.

Time under tension (TUT). This technique measures how long a muscle is under strain during a set, typically 30-70 seconds. It focuses on the duration of muscle fatigue rather than on the number of completed reps. A TUT rep might look like: a 3-second lowering phase, a 1-second pause, and a 1-second lift.

Two-second hold. This is an isometric technique in which you pause for 2 seconds at the point of lift or tension. It works by making your muscles work harder to maintain the position. A two-second hold could look like a 2-2-2 push-up. This involves 2 seconds to descend (eccentric), a 2-second hold at the bottom, and 2 seconds to push up (concentric).

For reps and sets, see below.

HOW MANY REPS AND SETS SHOULD I DO?

Sets and reps are the Holy Grail of training. Your program will dictate this, but as a rough guide, start with two to three sets of eight repetitions (reps), then build up to 12 reps.

To break it down, this means:

3 sets—completing the move three separate times with a rest in between sets. Rests are typically 2-3 minutes.

8-12 reps—completing the exercise 8-12 consecutive times without stopping. If it’s a single-arm/leg movement, complete the specified reps and sets on each side.

LEARN HOW TO BREATHE PROPERLY WHEN LIFTING WEIGHTS

Now, we know what you’re thinking: Breathing is automatic. But for workouts like Pilates and strength training, learning a proper breath pattern is essential. Inhale during the lowering (eccentric) phase of a movement, and exhale deep into your belly during the lifting (concentric) phase. Practice makes perfect.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I WEIGHT TRAIN?

For most beginners, two to three full‑body sessions per week is plenty to see progress, especially in the first three to six months, according to Dr Estima.

HOW DO I PROGRESS MY WEIGHT TRAINING?

Think of progressive overloading as upping the ante a little every week. Basically, you’re “gradually asking your body to do more so it has a reason to adapt,” says Dr Stephanie Estima, a certified chiropractor who now specializes in women’s hormone health. That could be more reps and sets, or more weight. The time to do it? When your exercise feels too easy–but not before your form is solid.

She counsels: When 3 x 8 reps feels like a 6-7/10 effort, work up to 3 ×10-12 reps. When you can hit the top of your rep range for two sessions in a row with good form, and it still feels like a 7/10 effort, you can then add a small amount of weight—say 1kg onto a 20kg squat.

DON’T NEGLECT YOUR REST AND RECOVERY.

All trainers emphasize the importance of R&R. “You don’t get stronger while you’re lifting, you get stronger when you recover from lifting,” says Dr Estima. Most evidence-based guidelines suggest training each major muscle group two to three times per week, with one to two days dedicated to rest.

As you train, you create tiny amounts of stress and micro‑damage in the muscles and connective tissue. “Your body then uses the next 48-72 hours to repair and rebuild that tissue, which is slightly stronger than before.”

Many type-A women struggle with the concept of rest. To that, Dr Estima advises “lower intensity, lower stress, so your body can cash the check written by your last workout.”

She’s right: We should be treating our weightlifting journey as seriously as our finances. Each session is an investment in your future. Welcome to your new bank of wealth.

Have you heard? Women’s muscles are making headlines. Women everywhere now understand that they need to be strong to live well and live long. The origin of this particular manifesto was born from a conversation during our team offsite in LA, where we reflected on the fact that we needed a new way to define the meaning of muscle in a world where women have been taught to shrink.

Strength is power; we all know that. But entering the gym and realizing our power—this is an unlock that positively impacts all avenues of life. This is the evolution of a woman’s strength. It affects not only how we carry ourselves through life, but also how we treat and how we show up for ourselves. It deepens our personal respect.

Building muscle also takes time. Muscles are also crafted by your own two hands. What does this mean? In a world where everyone is looking for a quick fix or an overnight success, muscle is one of the few things that cannot be bought; muscles cannot be ordered on Amazon.

And then, the definition came to us. Muscle is a luxury. You are the luxury. This is the Danimás ethos.

MUSCLE IS LUXURY: A PHILOSOPHY

In February, Teyana Taylor stepped out at the Grammys in a sculptural Tom Ford dress and almost broke the Internet. Onlookers paused their scrolling in awe of her physique. Her sculpted biceps and shoulders, her clearly defined abs, the sweep of her lats cascading either side of her spine. In this moment of absolute glamour and grace, her physique transcended this fashion moment to reflect the level of transcendence she is having in this awards season moment.

Attending as a first-time nominee for her 2025 album, Escape Room, this was Taylor’s moment. And her body—the architecture which carried her through this moment of achievement and recognition—communicated to onlookers that she had arrived.

Muscles are making headlines. As a society, we have reconciled the fact that women need to get swole to live long; GLP-1 users need to weight lift, too. Muscles are not only primed to carry us through life, but also to enable our accomplishments. Take Lindsey Vonn, who came out of retirement following knee surgery to participate in the Winter Olympics with a torn ACL. Her unwavering commitment to strength training enabled it. Culturally, in 2026, we recognize that a woman’s strength is paramount—and that it’s worthy of celebrating.

Taylor evolved the muscle conversation further. On the red carpet, her physique exuded status, regality, and opulence—language typically associated with luxury gowns, not glutes. This reframes the narrative. Her physique said: I take care of myself. I am worth my time and attention. My body is worth my craftsmanship. The external message? I am luxury.

Conventional wisdom defines luxury as something that is, in the simplest terms, the best. Luxury symbolizes the gold standard of quality, exclusivity, attention, and experience. It’s also code for rarity, craftsmanship, and intention. Luxury overall reflects the pursuit of betterment, intentionality, and constant refinement.

What if luxury became a term we used to talk about how we treat ourselves–an embodiment of our own hospitality towards our bodies and our minds? Given that your physique is the most exclusive entity on earth, you too are a luxury.

Muscle is luxury. We’ve said this once, and we’ll say it again: your muscle is the physical manifestation of your time, attention, and intention. Your muscles are built through quality nutrition, effort, and consistency—they are hand-crafted and sculpted over weeks, months, and years, through that mindset of refinement. Your muscles are the tangible proof of your commitment to becoming the best version of yourself. They symbolize not only your health and well-being, but the commitment to delayed gratification—knowing that the best things in life are the ones that we can’t acquire instantly. Muscles are earned, not bought. And truthfully, they are expensive and time-intensive to maintain.

Muscles are not only a luxury, but they are couture; each is one of a kind. You are the owner of over 600 individual muscles that enable you to live, breathe, and experience the world. Your muscles are the scaffolding for all your hopes, dreams, and desires. They signal ambition and an end goal.

Muscles are malleable, and our mind is a muscle. Connecting with our physical self on a deeper level enables us to evolve our thinking. Muscles constantly refine in line with you. They nurture your growth mindset; they’re the beneficiaries of efforts to be one percent better every day. Muscles also allow for personal discovery—you learn a lot about yourself when training to failure. Those last two reps will challenge you, but when you manage to complete the set… anything feels possible.

The gym is a portal through which your life can transform; your muscles are a daily reminder that you can create more than you ever thought possible.

Building muscle is not only a physical practice. It’s a philosophy. We believe that when we start to think of ourselves and our physiques as luxury, we access a mindset that unlocks the rest of our lives.

Invest in yourself.

There are many places on the internet to find content about strength training. There are fewer opportunities to discover real conversation and cultural commentary about it. This is among the founding principles of The Huddle.

The Huddle is a weekly newsletter for women who train. It’s for those who, like us, believe that the gym door is a portal to strength and self-discovery—it unlocks the rest of your life.

Founded in 2025, Danimás is a media company and a brand. In tandem, we are building the world’s first luxury strength training brand, alongside a platform for deep, original storytelling.

On The Huddle, you’ll find unique workouts, style stories, smart cultural commentary, impactful interviews, and philosophy-led pieces on living and leading with intention. Our features are written by journalists as well as experts in their fields, from personal trainers to nutritionists and Olympic athletes.

The Huddle takes its name from the fact we as women come together in the gym. No matter our backgrounds and locations, we are united in a lifestyle. The gym is our shared universe; training is our common language; a growth mindset is our mutual practice.

Strength through our lens is an intimate, intellectual power. We believe that muscle is a luxury.

Danimás was founded by Dany Garcia, a former professional athlete who earned her IFBB Pro card in bodybuilding aged 43; she personally designs and tests every Danimás workout. Dany is also a Hollywood producer, chairwoman, sports league owner and multi-hyphenate entrepreneur. Dany wants women to realize their power and potential through training.

The Huddle is led by Danimás’ editorial director Grace Cook. Published every Sunday, The Huddle is a space for people who want more—more conversation, more culture, and more growth.

Strength is style. Exercise is empowerment. Conversation is our culture.

Come join us.

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