Buff beauties

There's nothing wrong with wanting to shed a few kilos and looking your best. But that's not the only reason why so many women take up high-intensity training. There's so much more to it than just that. This week, three women tell us what motivates them to work out and where they derive their strength from in life. 24-year-old Nayena works out to build strength. “It also gives me psychological peace of mind,” she says. But what got her started? “It's been almost two and a half years that I have joined my gym and started working out. Before, I used to be constantly sick. Either coming down with a fever, or feeling extremely weak--it was always one thing or another. All that changed ever since I started working out,” she says. Nayena was surprised at how intensely fit she got and disciplined her life became ever since she started training. And that boost of confidence didn't hurt either. “I am so much stronger now.” When asked about what strength meant to her, Nayena says: “Strength doesn't always necessarily have to be physical—it is psychological, for the most part.” She explains how we live in a male-dominated society, where men lift the heavier load. “But now, I get a chance to defy the odds, and prove that I can do what any man can. To me, strength is setting a goal for myself and being able to fulfill it.” Sunehra, 23, has been training at the gym for one and a half years. It helps keep her life within a routine. “If I don't wake up and work out in the morning, I feel like nothing afterwards in the day, including my diet, is on point. Another reason for me to work out is to grow bigger. I have always been a small girl, and I wanted to grow muscles.” Growing up in London, with a zeal for playing sports, Sunehra was very much into volleyball. “I can't play sports anymore ever since I moved to Bangladesh. So all the more reason for me to train harder.” “When I see visible changes in my body and achieve whatever it is that I was trying to achieve by working out, it immensely motivates me,” she says. Strength to Sunehra is being able to do what is best for her, without being held back by other people. Faria, 30, only recently started hitting the gym. She believes most people, no matter what they may say or do, exercise for superficial reasons. “In all honesty, I work out to make other people happy and that include my mother and my boyfriend.” She also believes that people want to feel accepted and fit into societal norms—of which having a slender physique is one. “Looking and feeling good is also part of it, and being physically fit is an added bonus. But there's no denying that we all want to fit into that typical, social perception of 'beauty,'” she says. To Faria, strength is standing up for oneself. Photo: Mirza Sabbir Husain Model: Tanzina Rahman