Making A Bikini Body
I have a client, who is also a friend. She started coming to classes more than three years ago. Her first day in the garage to workout, and I think one of her first days working out ever, she says “I am doing this so I can wear a bikini on my fiftieth birthday.” First I asked how long she had (she was 47). Then I was like “Bring it on. We got this.” This is my kind of goal, an accomplishment to last a lifetime.
Holy Shit did we get this. I only say “we” because I have been along for the ride. We have literally been counting down the years/months/weeks since that spring three years ago. But I never lifted a weight or finished a workout for her. Every success she has had in the studio, she has earned.
-And just to clarify, this was before the whole “love your body in any shape or size” took over the media. I don’t mean to say that she was the first, but she didn’t join any band wagons. She was the for real deal-
This has been a crazy road to the final countdown. We have three weeks left until the birthday. And the big question is, does she have the perfect bikini body? FUCK YEA she does. And the next question, Is she going to wear a tankini? FUCK NO!!! She is wearing a legitimate bikini, not meant for coverage but meant for flaunting. And thankfully it should be warm here in the NorthWest, it has been known to snow in June.
I can’t help but think what makes a bikini body. I mean when you open a magazine is that really what we are comparing ourselves to? How many of us even want to live the life that goes with those bodies. Or what about when someone complains about being a size 6 or an 8, is that somehow a cutoff to acceptable. Does the size of your clothes have anything to do with your strengths or your personality. I personally love the diversity in people. I love that I don’t work with one type of person. And the women I work with are beautiful. They each differ in shape and size. They differ in strengths and weaknesses. They differ in lifestyles and parenting. But each one, each person, brings a piece of themselves that rises above everyone else. I find that this is where beauty is found. It might not be captured in a magazine or a clothing size but it sure as hell could be captured in their confidence dancing their birthday away in a bikini.
It’s easier said than done.
So often we base our happiness on a number on a scale, a number we may never reach, a number unrealistic for us to maintain. Other times we base it on a pair of jeans we squeezed into for a moment in time. We hold onto those jeans, pulling them out every so often only to put them back feeling worse about ourselves. Most of us fall victim at some point in time to the idea that because we don’t look a certain way or wear a certain size that we are somehow less of a person. When in reality most of the time that “certain way” fades away like parachute pants or the side ponytail.
This goal encompasses so much more than a bikini body, it is easy to say you are going to do something but to put in three years of hard work to strap into a bikini is a feat she is about to burst through, and probably with a huge smile on her face. Once it’s on and she’s booty shaking around the neighborhood, she will probably realize she should have been wearing a bikini every year.
Here’s the real story behind my friend. In the past three years, I have seen a transformation in a person more than a body. I have seen her set many PR’s (numbers that men and women in their 20’s and 30’s would be proud to lift). I have seen her grind through a squat and a deadlift to finish it off. I have seen her not give up when she had reasons to. I have seen her take the time to do it right and get fucking strong in the process. I have seen her encourage other people with the same focus she puts into her own workouts.
And then I have seen her fail. I have seen injuries slow her down, rehab and rest keeping her from her workouts. I have seen weekends of “socializing” take longer to recover from. I have seen her cry out of pure frustration. But most importantly I have seen her come back to laugh. And because of that I have seen her jump for joy (literally) and high five and scream because words can’t always express how happy she is.
So as she ventures out into accomplishing the biggest goal she wanted to achieve I see success. I see someone who showed up everyday. I noticed her pushing yourself when shedidn’t want to. I even noticed the smile she gives herself when she knows she did something amazing. That is what makes a bikini body. So put away all the imagines in magazines or the women who you think have the perfect body. Because frankly, you’ve got one body and if you don’t love it now, when are you going to. But for us Washingtonians, a little spray tan might not hurt and sunscreen is a must.