When Your Strength Progress Surprises Even You

Stories of Three Strong Women

By: Nicole Alrubaiy


If your algorithm looks anything like mine, you’re hearing a lot about muscle lately. Doctors, fitness experts and women’s health specialists keep reminding us that strength matters—particularly for women as we get older.

But most of the ways we measure progress still focus on getting smaller. How many pounds or inches did you lose? Did you drop a clothing size? Do you have a dramatic before-and-after photo?

Those measures may matter, but they don’t tell the whole story. A scale can’t tell you how much stronger you’ve become. Your jeans don’t measure what you can lift, carry or do. And gradual muscle growth can be hard to see when you look at yourself every day.

That’s why I’m encouraged by what I see in our little microcosm at Axistence.
Women are showing up, lifting weights and building stronger bodies. Sometimes the proof appears during a workout: a heavier kettlebell, a first pull-up or a movement that suddenly feels easier. Recently, three women found evidence of their progress in places none of them expected.

When Your Doctor Notices That Things Have Moved

Glaucia went in for a routine full-body skin examination. Her doctor maps her moles and other skin markings to track changes in their size and color over time.
This time, the doctor noticed that familiar moles and tattoos were no longer sitting in quite the same places relative to one another.

Glaucia had built enough muscle during six months of training that the landmarks used to track her skin appeared to have shifted. She was surprised—and proud—to receive such unexpected validation.

Most of us don’t begin a strength program thinking, “One day my dermatologist will notice that my tattoos have moved.” But what memorable proof that her body was changing.

Losing Weight Without Losing Sight of Strength

Leslie, who is 49 years old, has begun using a GLP-1 medication to support her weight-loss goals.

Here’s what makes her story especially meaningful: significant weight loss, including weight loss with GLP-1 medications, can involve losing lean mass along with body fat. A 2025 joint clinical advisory from four major nutrition, lifestyle medicine and obesity organizations recommends resistance training and appropriate nutrition to help preserve muscle and bone mass during GLP-1 treatment.[1]

Leslie didn’t just maintain her muscle while losing weight. She actually gained 3.3 lbs of muscle while losing weight overall. She wasn’t simply pursuing a smaller body; she was building a stronger one at the same time.

Weight alone could never tell that story.

When Your Muscles Show Up on a Mammogram

Then there’s me. I had my annual mammogram a few weeks ago. (Get screened, ladies!)
During the imaging, the technician said she needed to redo an image due to my pectoral muscles being in the way and that they were newly showing up.

At first, I thought she was joking or trying to flatter me. Then she showed me last year’s image, with no visible muscle, beside that day’s scan, with prominent muscle fibers sweeping across it.

Women are not typically encouraged to think about building their chest muscles. Many of us enter a gym without much understanding of what different muscles do—or what developing them might look like.

But there they were: physical evidence of hours spent pressing, pushing, stabilizing and getting stronger. Sometimes someone else sees your progress before you do.

Progress Doesn’t Need a Before-and-After Photo

None of us needs a dramatic transformation picture for this progress to count.

These stories didn’t begin with perfect lighting and end with a carefully posed photo. The evidence appeared during ordinary medical appointments, in conversations we weren’t expecting to have. That is part of what makes them so satisfying.

Sometimes the proof is more casual. Someone says, “Your arms are looking more muscular.” That counts too.

Maybe you lift a suitcase overhead without help. Carrying your child or the load of groceries doesn’t feel as difficult. You move up to the next kettlebell. You realize you no longer spend the whole workout wondering how sore you’ll be tomorrow.

These moments may not be Instagram-worthy. But they are real-life proof that your body is becoming more capable.

You Don’t Have to Be the Strongest Person in the Room

I’m not a coach or trainer, and I don’t have a medical background. I’m writing this as a woman who trains at Axistence and gets to watch other women work toward their goals.
I strength train twice a week and usually add another day of something cardiovascular—our conditioning class, tennis, a hike or whatever fits. I’m not following a rigid schedule. I’m not the fastest person in class, and I’m certainly not the strongest.

But I keep showing up, and I’m seeing changes. I can string together several push-ups now, and I’m getting closer to a real pull-up.

Just as important, I never feel strange about being in the middle of the pack—or at the back. The workout can be adjusted to where I am. I can challenge myself without competing with anyone else. There is room for serious athletes, beginners and those of us simply trying to get a little stronger than we were last month.

You don’t have to turn fitness into your entire personality. You don’t have to work out every day or be the best at anything. You do have to give yourself the chance to make progress by showing up consistently.

Give Your Progress Time to Reveal Itself

Strength is not always immediately visible. It builds through ordinary workouts, week after week, often while you are focused on everything you still can’t do.

Then one day, your doctor notices your body has changed.

A measurement shows that you built muscle while losing weight.

A technician sees muscles that weren’t there before.

A friend comments on your arms.

Or you pick up something heavy and realize it doesn’t feel very heavy anymore.
You don’t have to be the fastest or strongest woman in the gym. You don’t even have to feel especially athletic.

Keep showing up for yourself.

Your strength may be growing before you can see it—and someday, it might surprise you where the proof appears.





[1] Mozaffarian D, et al. “Nutritional Priorities to Support GLP-1 Therapy for Obesity: A Joint Advisory from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, the American Society for Nutrition, the Obesity Medicine Association, and The Obesity Society.” Obesity. 2025;33(8):1475–1503. doi:10.1002/oby.24336.