Natalie Costa

There has been a significant paradigm shift in the way women, young and old, are thinking about their bodies. In part due to the narrative in the media, but also due to a new-found emphasis placed on strength over size. This is an important shift, and it’s catching on so rapidly that legacy methods of measuring bodies are no longer applicable.
One size doesn’t fit all
Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adult men and women.
Today, BMI prov...

If warning women that lifting will make them look bulky is meant to be a cautionary tale, then the question has to be asked, what are we supposed to look like?
The unfortunate connotation of the word “bulky” lends itself to images of overt masculinity and bulging veins.
In fact, a simple search of the hashtag #womenwholift will yield a myriad of results. Most of impressive women doing impressive things, but also chalked full of memes like this.
Here’s the thing about stereotypes, though. When...