Right now, we’re learning more about what it means to be strong than ever before. We’re witnessing people on the frontline put their own lives at risk to save others, dealing with being apart from the loved ones we’d  we usually turn to in tough times and reacting to new, uncomfortable employment situations. While coronavirus has changed so much of our lives for the worse, it has also exposed our individual and collective strengths. 

Of course, ‘strong’ can mean so many different things. It can mean being able to lift your body weight in a deadlift as much as it means speaking out against what you think, what you know, is wrong. It means being able to carry your friends to the finish line of a race as much as it means staying at home to help fight a deadly virus.

Strength can be seen in world leaders, like Jacinda Arden who has recently taken a pay cut to help with the coronavirus fight, but who has also shown resilience in taking a stand against terrorism in New Zealand. We’ve seen it in Serena Williams, who not only fights through every single match, but also perseveres through the barrage of sexist abuse she faces in her industry and from the press. We’ve seen it in Hillary Clinton, who we celebrated as a guest editor, who has continued her fight for women in the years since losing the US presidential election. We’ve seen it in women’s football, not just the English team but worldwide, as women played hard and fought loudly for equality, in a world which only last year began to listen.

But it’s not only women in the media who we want to support in their strength journey. We know that all women show strength every single day. 

Yet, so much of the conversation around women’s ability is focused on what we look like. Exercise is sold to us as a cure for what we’ve eaten or a way to shrink ourselves despite study after study showing that exercise is a way to grow our physical, mental and emotional strength.

That is why, here at Strong Women, we’ve taken things into our own hands. We’re a game-changing wellness brand that delivers fitness through a feminist lens to re-write the fitness playbook.

That means inclusive, no-nonsense, inspiring content right here and on our Instagram @StrongWomenUK. We’ll are demystifying the conflicting advice around exercise and food by answering the questions you really want to know with advice from experts, including Joslyn Thompson-Rule and Laura Thomas PhD. 

We’ve never spoken about diets or weight loss and we won’t start now. Instead, Strong Women celebrates food for making us better, stronger and faster. We’ll are giving you real recommendations on activewear, nutritional supplements and fitness gear that are tried and tested by our Strong Women community. Plus, you can receive daily updates from our Strong Women Ambassadors who discuss proper form and alignment, as well as useful stretches, in order to prevent injury and help muscles recover after exercise.

And no, you don’t have to be a workout aficionado to join us. Our Strong in 10 workout videos make fitness accessible to everyone – they can be done at the gym or at home. Each workout is only ten minutes long, so you can always find time in the day for exercise no matter how slammed your day is, or top off your cardio routine with these strength training moves. We’re here because we want everyone to be understand the benefits of exercise and make fitness fun again. Because it doesn’t take expensive gear and restriction to be strong: it takes consistency, a bit of passion and a lot of enjoyment.

Our mission is to make every woman stronger tomorrow than she is today, so you can take on your squats, your workload, and your personal life all at once.

We are women, and we are always stronger than we think. 

Follow @StrongWomenUK on Instagram for the latest workouts, delicious recipes and motivation from your favourite fitness experts.

Images: Unsplash