A young woman with a muscular physique has shared how she overcame her insecurities about looking “manly” – now rocking skimpy halterneck tops.
Grace Griswold has transformed her body with weightlifting after she turned her focus to working out during lockdown.
The 22-year-old is now a bikini bodybuilder boasting impressive muscles – but she initially worried about showing them off by wearing more feminine clothes.
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In a TikTok that has gone viral with 740,000 views, Grace showed off her toned physique in a halterneck corset-style top.
She wrote: “I used to never wear halters because I thought they made me look manly. Now I wear them to show off the lats.”
“I didn’t want to train my upper body at first because I was insecure about the size of my back and shoulders,” Grace, a recent college graduate based in Atlanta, US, told What’s The Jam.
“Clothes sometimes didn’t fit me right because of it.
“But once I started, I realized my back was something to be proud of and began to love it.
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“It makes me stand out and now I love to show it off, so I worked on continuing to build my upper body.
“I used to hate halters and anything that accentuated my shoulders and back, but now I love to show off the work I’ve put in.
“I do get some negative comments such as people saying women shouldn’t have this amount of muscle, or saying it’s not attractive.
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“But I feel confident and comfortable now wearing a lot of the clothes I used to avoid when I was younger.”
Grace has always been sporty, training in gymnastics growing up and enjoying cheerleading in high school.
During lockdown, she started to take her fitness more seriously with home workouts focusing on weightlifting.
She said: “I started working out for myself and not for a sport for the first time when Covid hit in 2020.
“I only did bodyweight workouts at home to start out.
“I fell in love with fitness and working out, and decided I wanted to take it to the next level.”
A year-and-a-half ago, Grace started competing in bodybuilding competitions.
She said: “I train five times a week but I’m active every day.
“If I don’t go to the gym, I will go for a walk or walk on the treadmill for some movement.
“I am naturally wider in my back and shoulders due to my genetics and years of gymnastics – which is great for building upper body strength – so my background definitely gave me an advantage.
“My ultimate goal is to step on the Olympia stage one day.”
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