Strength on Social Media

Strength on Social Media

Cydney Bushue

It takes a LOT to be strong, especially on social media. Follow along today with Cydney as she dives into her adventures with social media as a female strength athlete!

Social, but Not

Once upon a time I used to sit and obsess over every angle in every photo I took. From the lighting to captions, every uniformed comment left by an ignorant stranger left on my page. I valued their word and desperately craved their attention to validate my worth.

But then there were those that felt obligated to leave comments like “She's too muscular,” “She looks like a dude,” or “I wouldn’t ever date a girl like that.”

When these comments first started it really took a lot out of me emotionally. I mean, how can it not affect you, right? Who wants to be told that they’re unattractive or that they are not desirable. Those are the the reasons I had started going to the gym and getting into shape in the first place.

I started hitting the gym over 4 years ago because my boyfriend at the time had told me I was unattractive to him because of the weight I had put on. I was severely depressed, working a full time job, and failing my rear right out of college. My life was hitting a hard downward spiral of what I felt was failure.

I was in a deep, dark rut and couldn’t get myself out. It had felt even worse when it came from someone I truly admired. That in itself hurt more than anything anyone could have said to me over the internet.

Nevertheless it doesn’t mean that things like rude comments don’t affect me in some way. They do. I still feel a small sting when I think that people can be so cruel as to put someone down for their body types or their looks.

As if somehow the way that they spoke to me and presumably countless other poor souls would stick to my skin and mark me like permanent tattoos. Forever branded by how they felt about my body. In the end I had decided I had enough.

Over the years I have improved my physical health and I’m building a body that I am happy with. It took me so long to realize that at the end of the day, the only opinion that matters about you is your own.

These hopeless folks behind their keyboards are nothing more than faces behind a screen. They hide behind their anonymity and want to feel validated by getting a rise out of you. And if I’m being honest, people like that typically try to destroy your self worth so you’re left feeling as miserable as they are. That’s not the way it should be.

You are who you are. Be a decent person. Be happy with yourself and how you look and feel, because at the end of the day you’re not going to remember their names. You shouldn’t let someone who you’ve never met dictate how you define your self worth.

You are beautiful. You are strong. You are fearless. You are everything and more. Value yourself.

At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

Follow Their Journey

If you are looking to follow and learn from some amazing people and powerlifters follow the links below for some great stories. Or if you are looking for programming, you can find our free programs here or you can reach out to one of our team members to see how to take your training to the next level.


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