Joe and I went to the gym together this morning to lift and I saw the most amazing pair of arms in the locker room. They were attached to a woman 10 or 12 years older than me, who was washing her hands at the same time I was. I mean, if I had a picture of these arms, the only possible caption for it would be "GOALS."
I wanted to say something along the lines of "you have clearly put in a lot of work in the weight room over a long time," but I was tongue-tied. I have pretty much given up commenting on people's bodies-- I'm not going to mention weight loss approvingly any more and I was never one to comment on weight gain. But this felt a little different, because I wanted to compliment the dedication and not the aesthetics, and I didn't know how to do it.
If we were both guys I could just say "lookin' big, bro," and it wouldn't even be weird. Women do not, however, tell each other that they are lookin' big. Casey Johnston is in the NYT today (in an article that defines "swole," as if to say "Yes! We are your grandma's newspaper!") and I bet she would have a better response. Do female lifters tell each other "lookin' swole, ma'am"? I would like a phrase that conveys warm good wishes on the continued enhancement of those killer delts, which is not a flavor of girl talk I have needed heretofore.
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