GYM Powerment Empower ment and feminism can sometimes be a hot topic, especially in the fitness industr y. However, one women is fighting the stigma and showing the world just how powerful women can be…
Siobhan Porter is a 29 year old feminist fitness fanatic and is using her social media to pave the way for many other women. We spoke to here to find out what she thinks about the stigma behind women lifting weights and how she got into fitness herself... So Siobhan, when did you start your fitness journey? “I guess my fitness journey started when I was about 25, although I’d say I’ve been committed to making fitness a lifestyle for about 3 years.” What made you fall in love with weight training? “I used to loath the gym and like many people, I thought that reaching my goals required endless hours of cardio on various machines. A friend of mine recommended going to Kettlebell classes and I tagged along. I soon realised that I loved this form of training and as a result, I started experimenting with lifting weights. I just love the way lifting weights makes you feel – I feel strong
and empowered. I love seeing changes in my body that I’ve worked hard to achieve.” Do you think there is a stigma behind women lifting weights & growing muscle? “Unfortunately yes. I all too often hear women say they want to train but they don’t want to become muscular. This is usually accompanied with a comment about wanting to become ‘toned’, which essentially is the process of growing muscle and losing body fat. There’s definitely still a fear of becoming ‘bulky’ or ‘manly’, however I think slowly women are becoming more educated as a result of access to information on the internet.” Do you think it is important that young females are educated on weight training to remove this stigma and create a more equal environment in the gym? “Absolutely! Weight training has so many health benefits, both physical and mental. It works for so many women out there so it’s a shame that some women are reluctant to experiment. I train in the
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