Fitspo Instas vs. The Grown Strong Community

Social media is, in many ways, a bunch of people telling lies about their lives. They put their “insta-worthy” selves forward and hide reality. I think the most in-your-face lies are the vast majority of “fitspo” accounts. Short for “fitness inspiration”, “fitspo” claims its goal is to motivate and challenge people to get fit and subscribe to their definition of healthy. These accounts pump out glamorized photos and videos of people working out with phrases like, “When I exercise, I wear all black because it’s a funeral for my fat.” Okay, that might sound motivating and, on the surface, it can be. Research shows that seeing people move encourages us to move. However, the vast majority of the messaging is that if you skip the gym or have an off day, you’re lazy. If you have a cheat day, you’re failing. If you’re being human, you aren’t good enough. Your best is never enough and you must keep pushing. No pain, no gain.

It really is hard not to get caught up in images of slim, toned women (and men) and think to yourself, “WOW! I wish my abs were that toned.” Then you see more and more of these images. Soon, your once very healthy body image has been corrupted. It’s already really hard to love yourself to begin with. So, seeing pictures of firm glutes and toned quads with the text, “STRONG IS THE NEW SEXY” can leave one feeling… well, more than a little self-conscious.

At 5’3” and 150 pounds, I am technically overweight. My once dancer’s body has gained a few pounds since starting my 9-5. On top of that, I started taking these “fitspo” words to heart. I started feeling bad if I didn’t always have the energy to “work for it”. I started shaming myself for “being lazy”. For wanting to just come home a read after a long day of work. I felt bad if I didn’t have the energy to sweat and then cook a healthy meal. If I wanted to just order take-out one night, I was failure. Seeing photos of these ultra-fit humans started to drain my self-confidence. Over time, my body became not good enough.

So, I purged “fitspo”. I curated my Instragram (I typically stay off of other social media platforms) to be pictures of plants, cats, and healthy recipes. Then COVID happened. I lost access to a gym and felt safer working out from home. I started Googling at-home exercise and the “fitspo” started popping back up. I was getting adds for all sorts of miracle pills, intense diets, and home gym equipment. Then, I found Lauren Fisher.

Lauren is a professional athlete who does CrossFit and Olympic weightlifting. She started at a very young age and became one of the youngest athletes to compete in the CrossFit Games. As of today, she has competed in seven CrossFit games and in 2019 was a part of the 3rd Fittest Team on Earth. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “But, Emily, didn’t you just spend a bunch of time telling us how ultra-athletes makes you feel bad about yourself?” Yes, yes I did. But Lauren is different. You see, I didn’t stumble upon Lauren’s personal account. Instead, I got an add for Grown Strong.

Grown Strong is a company Lauren started to inspire women and to teach them the skills they need to exercise and be confident in the gym. It’s not body shaming. It’s a network of like-minded women supporting each other and helping each other grow. With scalable workouts, Grown Strong offered me the choice to exercise as much, or as little, as I wanted. Knowing a could do a killer work out in just 20 or 30 minutes helped to get me through the “ugh, I don’t want to exercise” days. Then, for days I did have the motivation to go hard, I could do one of the longer workouts.

The best part is that Lauren and the other women are real about their experiences. They share when they have a cheat day or when they just don’t want to work out. They post how-to videos and help set you up for success instead of tear down your self-esteem. Grown Strong re-invigorated my motivation to get healthy and let's me work on my mental health at the same time. Like this blog post about how to take rest days without feeling guilty and why you actually need them.

They say that money can’t buy you happiness but I did subscribe to Grown Strong’s workout plan and I'm pretty happy with it. I added it to my cart and haven’t had a single regret about it. Which is saying something because I impulse buy A LOT.