Why Strong is the New Skinny is still the wrong message.

Drop those Special K Bars! Strong is the New Skinny!

I follow a lot of fitness and health accounts on Instagram. It seems like whenever I open up Instagram, one of the first few posts looks like these:

via @censkiii

via @stylerunner

I was intrigued when I started seeing the Strong is the New Skinny movement on social media. As someone who will never be able to have the thirteen-year-old-boy or string bean body, I was excited that body ideals were moving in a positive direction.

I stumbled across this article (“Strong is the New Skinny out in the Social Media World”) a few weeks ago and it made me rethink the underlying message of Strong is the New Skinny.

First of all, I want to clarify that I don’t think lifting weights or working out is bad. I think that females, and guys too, could benefit from adding some weights into a cardio-only gym routine. I find it intimidating being in the weight section at the gym, which is a feeling that I want to overcome.

Not everyone can be a bean pole; not everyone can look like a fitness model. Skinny to me implies a restrictive diet, or being born with the bean pole DNA. Strong implies the parallel notion as the Skinny ideal; lift weights like mad or have rapid muscle-building DNA.

Striving to be muscular with a low body-fat percentage has the same inherent dangers as trying to be skinny at all costs. Strong and Skinny are both body ideals that are not physically possible for everyone.

Which leads to my main problem with Strong is the New Skinny… Strong is still an idealized body. It implies what is or isn’t a healthy and/or attractive physique. Physical appearance is not necessarily a sign of health and well-being. Plus, 99% of the images I have come across for Strong is the new Skinny, the model/female in the picture still looks very slender to me.

I have watched girls I know throughout their training for fitness or bikini modelling competitions. In order to get ready to walk the stage, they spend hours at the gym everyday and stick to a very bland, restrictive diet. I understand the ultimate goal of their hard work. However, I don’t agree that it’s worth it. Over-training often leads to injury and prevents future training. Restrictive dieting can have awful effects. For example, once your body is accustomed to a high-protein diet of egg whites, chicken breast, and protein shakes, reintroducing carbs can have adverse effects on your digestive system.

“Rather than strong is the new skinny, what about healthy is the new skinny?” This summarizes my viewpoint on Strong vs. Skinny. Health should be everyone’s number one priority. Body ideals are unrealistic and can be seriously damaging physically and emotionally. It’s okay to work hard to get/stay fit but there is a boundary between working out and over-training. Allow yourself rest when you need it!