Reflect

Believe it or not, I wasn’t a particularly athletic child. I would play with friends outside when I was really young, but all through school I was never a member of any sports clubs, and more often than not I would try and get out of PE class as opposed to participating. This is not to say I didn’t pick up and try different sports as a young teen - I tried running, dancing, swimming, cycling, but nothing ever really seemed to fit, and like a lot of young girls, I also felt like I didn't fit. My body was always really different from that of my peers. I was taller and always felt much heavier in weight than my friends, which always made me embarrassed of my body. I would always wish I was smaller or skinnier, trying restrictive eating or other methods of weight loss I had found online. I became more obsessed about what my body looked like and did not pay attention to its functionality or what it could do. Exercise was a punishment to make my body smaller, never something I truly enjoyed.

It wasn’t until I was much older (mid-twenties) studying for my PhD that I randomly found myself going to an intro session at a local CrossFit gym and within a short time, I was hooked! Exercise began to be something I actually enjoyed doing. Because CrossFit had a good balance of strength, endurance and gymnastics/technical movements, it kept me always wanting to get better, and mentally, if I wasn’t very good in one area, I could feel better about excelling in another.

In 2021, I signed up for a beginner CrossFit competition being run by a local gym. Prior to the competition, the gym allowed competitors to come into the venue, see where the competition was being run and get a feel for the environment. Whilst there, the gym owner suggested I try some strongwoman lifts, specifically the atlas stones. If you have never seen these before, or even heard of them, these are large balls of concrete that you usually lift from the ground and load them up onto a platform. I managed to lift up to 90kg on my first attempt! At that point, the gym owner told me that he thought I was in the wrong sport and perhaps should consider giving strongwoman a go.

Since starting strongwoman I would never have imagined all the feats of strength my body can and has achieved. I have retained my title as: Scotland's Strongest Natural Woman for two consecutive years (2024 and 2025), and I am also second strongest natural woman in the United Kingdom and Ireland. I have competed at a world level, travelling all over the globe to complete. I am very proud of these achievements, but the larger success for me has been the changing relationship with my body; getting to see all the amazing things it can do, feeling like I belong in a sport which has shown me what I am made of and helped develop my mental and physical resilience.

I say it all the time, that I wish I had found strongwoman, or even just strength training, a lot sooner in my life. This sport has changed how I view strength and how I view my body. Strongwoman and strongman is a sport where all shapes and sizes of body are represented, and personally makes me feel like I (and my body) belong. It has also made me appreciate that strength also comes in all shapes and sizes and doesn’t always relate to the weight you are lifting, but how you carry yourself, how you respond to setbacks, and the mental resilience you bring to the sport.

Motivate

We know from research that body image issues are more prevalent than ever. One UK government report noted a substantial decrease in girls’ happiness in their appearance that occurs between early childhood (ages 7-10 years) and adolescence (11-16 years). A survey done by the Mental Health Foundation found that 46% of girls reported that their body image causes them to worry ‘often’ or ‘always’ compared to 25% of boys, a figure which has been dramatically increasing over recent years. Research attributes this to the rise in social media usage. Young girls are watching influencers, models, singers and actors online and comparing their bodies to these social media stars.

Furthermore, despite the growing visibility of strength sports like strongwoman, weightlifting and powerlifting, participation remains lopsided. According to Sport England’s Active Lives data, only 40% of girls aged 5–16 meet the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendation for physical activity, compared with 52% of boys, and by the time girls hit their teenage years, nearly half drop out of sport altogether. That drop-off isn’t just about interest, it is often about confidence, self-consciousness, or not seeing people who look like them in roles of strength. However, strength sports, especially strongwoman, offer a powerful counter-narrative. They flip the script on what it means to be female and strong - and why that matters.

But isn’t lifting weights not terrible for developing bodies? No, absolutely not. This is a very common myth that has been debunked by a lot of research. Resistance and strength training is incredibly beneficial, improving bone density, muscular strength, mental health and metabolic health. For girls, especially during adolescence, this matters. Puberty can be a tough time; hormones fluctuate, body image concerns spike, and social pressures escalate. But lifting? It offers a different mirror, one that says, “Look what your body can do”.

Young girls who engage in sport, particularly resistance training, aren’t just building muscle, they’re building resilience. They’re learning to struggle, fail, adapt and try again. These are skills for life, not just lifting.

This mental resilience will not only serve them well in sport, but in all other aspects of their developing life. Recent research has found that taking part in sport can strengthen children's ability to cope with stress, enhance their self-confidence and improve their emotional regulation capacity. It can also help develop problem solving skills, encourage teamwork and communication, and boost individual resilience.

On top of developing resilience, strength training also teaches ownership of space and empowerment. A study by Women in Sport found that girls as young as five years old feel that they don’t belong in sport, which is heartbreaking. Encouraging girls from an early age to be strong and powerful is vital. Highlighting their strength, teaching them they belong in a space and focusing on what their bodies can do for them is so important. And when girls learn to carry a heavy weight up and down a field, they learn they can carry themselves through anything.

Support

Firstly, start with your daughters, sisters, friends, nieces and family members. Take them to the gym with you! Sign up for an introductory class together. Learn together how to lift. A number of women who I now compete with got into strongwoman by attending gym classes with their parents in the first instance.

Begin speaking about your body and their body in a positive light that has nothing to do with appearance. We know from Dr Kat Schnedier’s work that “our words have power. Even comments that seem complimentary, or at best harmless, they have power”. Focus your conversation on body functionality, not appearance. And if you hear any mention of appearance such as “My thighs are so big and fat”, change the narrative to, “Your legs are super strong and can help you run really fast/lift that heavy weight”. Encourage body gratitude with your child that you can also practice. What amazing things has your body done for you today? What are you grateful for with your body? What wonderful things can your body do in general?

Look at who your children and young people are following online. Start a family conversation about digital diets and use yourself as an example. Maybe you’ve noticed that someone you follow makes you feel bad about yourself, so you have stopped following them online? Model this for your child. Maybe the two of you, or the whole family, can think about who you follow online and why (for TUE subscribers - this activity can help). Encourage teens to think about the content they see online and if that is representative of people they know. Also, be curious. Ask, is it likely these photos have been edited to make the person look different? This is not how people look in real life.

As a community, we can help motivate, encourage and support young girls to pursue sports, not because they feel like they need to to change their bodies, but because they enjoy it. It empowers them, makes them feel great about themselves and that they can accomplish anything. Strongwoman has done this for me and I want to encourage young women to find the same in a sport that is right for them.