Every January the gyms fill up as people start their New Year’s resolution to lose weight and get more fit. But this year there’s a new trend. Started by Arianna Dantone, #gainingweightiscool is taking Instagram’s fitness community by storm.
What is it?
Women from around the world are posting their own “before and after” collages showing their body transformations and muscle gain. Some are sharing some amazing stories too. The posts aren’t all about gaining muscle either – some are stories of overcoming eating disorders, so this is a very wide-reaching topic of discussion that thousands of people are participating in.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPGLpbNAwZ3/?tagged=gainingweightiscool&hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPGKcRbDTAR/?tagged=gainingweightiscool&hl=en
But why is this important?
Well January is the time of year when nearly everyone is looking to lose some weight. They’ve joined the gym, bought some new trainers, and have started hitting the treadmill everyday after work. But 2017 has seen a change in this mentality. People are celebrating weight gain and completely redefining what “healthy” looks like.
The last couple of years have seen an increase in the number of women lifting weights at the gym. This probably all started with squats, the magical exercise almost guaranteed to get you a bum like Kim K. But since then Instagram has seen fitness professionals advertising the fact that we need lift more weights and stop watching the scales.
As you strengthen your muscles, you gain weight because muscle tissue weighs more than fat. So while lifting weights will help you tone your body, it may mean the numbers on the scales go up. But that’s okay! Having more muscle than fat is healthy, weighing a bit more is just a side-effect of this. Essentially, the numbers on the scales are meaningless. More muscle is key, not less weight.
So the body ideal for women is changing. The skinny model-esque bodies are being replaced by toned legs and defined abs. This is great for people trying to get fit, and also those overcoming eating disorders. Instead of focussing on losing weight, girls are being encouraged to gain muscle and tone their bodies, while simultaneously ignoring the scales. This is a big deal. While appearance is still a part of this – focus on the glutes still channels the Kim K dream – there is a much bigger focus on health and overall fitness as a goal.
2017 is already off to a better, much healthier start. This is definitely a social media trend to get on board with. Make this the year of muscle toning and scale ignoring!
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