Media Watch III: Good News!

In our look at some of the British women who have recently been featured in their local media (see Media Watch I), FMS noted that in a couple of these articles it was reported that "lots more", "record numbers" of women were taking up bodybuilding.

And we didn't have to wait long for some stats on the subject to turn up.



The Daily Mail, that most female-muscle-friendly of British newspapers, confirmed the very good news that there has, indeed, been a huge increase in the number of young women working out multiple times per week. A survey of 2,000+ gym-goers revealed a 62% increase in the number of women working out at least four days in every seven over the last twelve months, and that the average age of these women is just 24.



Furthermore, the survey, carried out by a sports supplements supplier, revealed that "as well as hitting the gym more often, these women are increasingly using supplements such as protein shakes to maximise the effectiveness of their workout" and, as a result, they have been dubbed the "Protein Princesses".



But before you start imagining a generation of young women all wanting to look like Alina Popa, I should point out that the article does say that "unlike men, their main motivations aren't to build muscle". Burning fat and achieving a "toned and lean" look is what they want, and rather than taking inspiration from the magnificent muscular women this blog is devoted to, "health-conscious celebrities such as Miranda Kerr, Kelly Brook, and Kim Kardashian" are their role models, according to the Mail.



However, I suspect this may not be the whole story. The survey did not include a question about motivation. The assertion that the rise is due to "the increase in celebrities posting results of their fitness regimes on social media and the rise of celebrities now spotted with protein shakes in their hand" is purely the opinion of a spokesman for the company that ordered the survey in the first place.



An industry professional also quoted in the article has a quite different explanation. "The number of women who are immersing themselves fully into a health and fitness lifestyle is growing. Mainly because of the greater awareness of the benefits of exercise and how it relates to everything from our social lives, food and fashion," according to the interestingly named Jéan LK, Head Trainer and owner of Timed Fitness.



Surely these theories aren't the whole truth, though. Surely at least some of these Protein Princesses have taken their "fitspiration" from the less famous and more muscular. Thankfully, it's not exclusively celebrities like Lucy Mecklenburgh and Millie Mackintosh (don't ask, I have no idea, they just happened to be mentioned in the article!) who post the results of their hard work on social media, as the majority of today's illustrations testify. And you don't have to go back very far in the FMS archive to find evidence of this. Only a couple of weeks ago we learned and reported that Emily Chorley had been inspired by images of Olya Haidner and Nicole Wilkins (see Emily Chorley: Just a Normal Person?) - surely Emily isn't the only one.



And anyway, even if women are inspired to go to the gym by the less muscular and more famous, and even if they go there with no intention of building muscle, so what? At least, they're going. And as far as I'm aware, there's no better place than the gym to get inspired to build muscle. If only 1 in every 1,000 (or fewer than that even) of the Protein Princesses end up deciding that they want to be more than just "toned and lean", then that's still a lot more female muscle in the UK than ever before.



And that, I think you will agree, is most definitely good news.

Enjoy!