10/21/2026
Here’s to Rooted’s strong women 👏 The marathon on Sunday got me thinking about what it means to be a woman in the fitness industry and what a privilege it is to be surrounded by strong women changing the narrative.
Women’s track and field wasn’t added to the Olympic Games until 1928. The longest distance women were allowed to run was 800m (1/2 mile). The next Olympic Games, that distance was reduced to 200m or less because people were concerned by the sight of women exerting themselves during the “longer” distances in the previous games. It was not until 1960 that women were able to run up to 800m again, but the women’s marathon did not become an Olympic event until 1984.
All of this was because there was a narrative that women are fragile. That they shouldn’t be doing high intensity exercise. That their bodies are so radically different they can’t handle the same things men can. That it was too manly, unfeminine. And that same f*cking narrative is still just as loud today.
To this day, women are discouraged from lifting heavy, from doing high intensity exercise, from eating enough to fuel the workouts they put in. To this day, there are people on the internet telling women to stay away from the very things that improve our health and longevity for the sake of “looking more feminine.”
All genders can and do come to Rooted, but this is why we will always be cheering particularly loud for strong women. Women who aren’t afraid of getting “bulky” (don’t get me started on that word). Women who aren’t afraid of their own bodies. Women who want bodies that function well and feel good to live in, and recognize that that’s actually the hottest body there is. Women who examine diet culture and call it out. Women who take up space.
This is also why I volunteer with Girls On The Run. It’s why we will always support the Women’s Barbell Classic. It’s why we’ll never shut up about why trans girls belong in girls sports. And it’s why you will always find us cheering so damn loud for other women who are doing the damn thing.
Younger generations are watching, and I hope we’re sending them the right message so they can live big.