Strength Training is Body Confidence in Action

How Body Confidence Is a Quiet Superp... Divorcing Exercise from Appearance

Strength Training is Body Confidence in Action

I found strength training while healing from my battle with Anorexia Nervosa, back in the late 1970s. It made me feel safer and stronger in my body. I went to a tennis club my parents belonged to. They had one Universal Machine. That was it. At first, it felt intimidating. But before long, I felt empowered, and I liked the way it made me feel.

But unfortunately, by the time I got to college, aerobic classes were all the rage and aerobics became an answer to the all too familiar feeling of body shame that showed up at college with me. Mirrors everywhere. Leg warmers. Thongs. Headbands. (can you say Jane Fonda?) I was in love.. Aerobics replaced weight training and became the tool to “control my weight”…or so I thought.

Finding my way back.

It wasn’t until much later that I found my way back to the gym, and I am glad I did. Fortunately, I continue now to love how strength training makes me feel. Over the past few years, I’ve shortened my workouts, made them more fun and functional, and realized how lucky I’ve been to have rediscovered them, especially as I get older.

To be honest, I think that strength training became a key part of my body neutrality journey, because it shifted my focus away from what it looked like and towards what my body could do.

Strength and Body Neutrality

When you embrace body neutrality, you shift the question from “How do I look?” to “How do I feel?” And when you pair that with strength training, the benefits run far deeper than the surface.

Strength training is about being able to:

Carry a laundry basket without straining your back.Hoist a suitcase into the car by yourself.Lift your grandchild into your arms or play on the floor with them.Move through your day with less effort, more energy, and greater confidence.

As the Kite sisters (Lindsay and Lexie) say: The body is not an ornament, it is an instrument. The instrument that we use to live our lives in.

What I have realized now that I am in my 60’s, is that strength training can help you; hold onto your independence, improve your function and mobility, reduce your daily stressors and support you in emotionally regulate yourself.

This is the recipe for longevity and improved quality of life, especially as you enter midlife and beyond.

As a side benefit, strength training supports bone density, joint health, mobility, stability and balance.

But…most importantly, it builds a quiet confidence that whispers: I can handle this (whatever this is).

Build Confidence, One Rep at a Time

You’re allowed to want to feel strong without it being about “toning” or “tightening.”
And, you are allowed to move your body not because you dislike it, but because you respect it.

This mindset shift is an act of reclaiming movement for function, power, joy, and vitality.

That’s where true body confidence grows, not from how you look, but from what your body can do and how it supports your life.

Lifting weights feels different. It builds muscle tone and strength, yes…but even more than that, it becomes a way of showing up for yourself. Of taking up space instead of seeking to be invisible.

And doing it one rep at a time.

Strength training can help you feel more confident in your body

And it doesn’t have to be fancy. You can:

Use just your bodyweight (try 10 sit-to-stands)Carry groceries (an old-school farmer’s carry)Mow the lawn or shovel snow (push, pull, lift)Head to the gym or use resistance bands, weights, balls, or machines.

What matters most is the Consistency.

It’s not about chasing a number.It’s about showing up again and again, in the spirit of self-care…not self-control.