‘WE GO GYM’... But For Real
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I love the gym. And I don’t think it’s melodramatic to say that lifting weights has changed my life.
I was a competitive cheerleader growing up, so I was always a fit kid in pretty good shape. I was also significantly underweight for most of my childhood, standing 4’11 and barely ninety-five pounds at age thirteen. Since the beginning of my cheer career, I was the girl they threw up in the air— the flyer. This didn’t change until I changed. Until puberty and the natural weight gain that comes with it. Sophomore year I was too heavy to fly and they took me down. I got to lift the other girls now.
This is when I became what gym culture refers to as a “cardio bunny.” Forcing myself up at five a.m. to run two miles to the local gym and get on the treadmill for an hour or so, all in the name of fitness. I hated it. I understand that for some people this is an ideal workout, but for me it was agonizing. I was doing what I thought I had to do to stay in shape. For the remaining two years of high school, I did what I thought I had to do to “fix” myself, to get back to the size I was, no matter how unrealistic and harmful that goal was. Cardio and abs, cardio and abs. Eat veggies, carbs are evil, and never eat the yolk. It was absurd. I was dangerously uninformed, and I was miserable.
I stopped cheering after high school. “Lift-tok” and #gymgirls were starting to become popular on TikTok, and for the first time, I saw videos of muscular, athletic women lifting weights. This was a form of fitness I had never considered before. These ladies looked strong and capable. They were beautiful in a way that was robust and awe-inspiring, and I wanted to be just like them. My boyfriend at the time was a casual lifter, so I expressed my interest, and he took me to the “iron paradise,” as the Rock calls it. I am forever grateful.
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Here I am almost two years later planning my days around my gym time. Sitting in class and counting down the minutes until I get to put my headphones back on and move some metal. Dancing in between sets. Grinning as I shoulder press more weight than last time. Chugging my water and getting excited to refuel my body with the proteins, carbs, and fats it needs post-workout. I am happier than ever with my exercise now. I crave it. I love it. And I never thought I could feel that way.
The most valuable thing lifting has taught me is confidence. I am now proud of my body for what it can do, not what it looks like. My confidence comes from capability and the internal understanding that I am strong, mentally and physically. Every day that I show up for myself, I build upon that strength. And being a woman in the gym sometimes comes with its own unique challenges, namely the male bodybuilders that gawk and stare as if you don’t have the right to be using their benches and dumbbells. Though rare, this does happen. When they sassily ask “How many sets do you have left?” I’ve learned to look them in the eye and say “all of them.” It’s the little things.
Though this has been my own personal experience, there is a general message to be received and it is this: exercise is important, but it should take the form of what you love doing. Some of my friends truly enjoy cardio, some love to dance, and some find joy in yoga or pilates. Find what gets you excited to move your body, stay committed, be open to learning, and watch it change you.
Strike Out,
Writer: Cameron Oglesby
Editors: Katie Sharp, Natalie Daskal
Notre Dame
