Broad Shoulders in Women: Solutions?

Are you a woman who hates her broad shoulders?

Perhaps you’ve been wondering if there are ways to shrink the size of your broad shoulders.

If you hate your broad shoulders because you’re a woman, then there’s only one thing that I, as a personal trainer, can think of as a solution, and it’s a solution that can actually work:

Embrace your broad shoulders.

That’s all a woman who hates her broad shoulders can do, and here’s why.

I once read a thread in a fitness forum started by a woman who despised her broad shoulders.

She sounded like she was in serious trouble, because although her initial post seemed to be no more than asking fitness enthusiasts if there were exercises to reduce her shoulder size, she made more posts that were increasingly disturbing.

In summary, this woman’s life was bleak and bitter, and she blamed this on her broad shoulders. Does this sound like body dysmorphia to you?

In the thread, none of the fitness enthusiasts, who included personal trainers, offered any exercises that could lessen the dimensions — because none exist.

But there was a recurring theme coming from the men who responded: Broad shoulders on a woman are sexy.

One guy pointed out that it’s a mystery where women get their ideas of what a man would find attractive or not attractive, that they probably get their ideas from other women.

He continued that they should not pay attention to what other women find physically appealing in each other.

Instead, he pointed out that they should pay attention to what MEN find appealing in women.

The one man also posted that it would be ridiculous for him to worry what other MEN thought was appealing on a man’s body, since he was attracted only to the opposite gender.

Likewise, if you’re a woman worried that men might be intimidated or turned off by your broad shoulders, where is this idea coming from — men, or your own gender ??

Your perspective should be based more on what men find inviting, not from what members of your own gender find attractive. Many men simply do not go for the small, petite, “weak” look.

Remember the shoulder pad craze of the ‘80’s?

There was a reason for that. Watch TV shows filmed in the ‘80’s and note how many actresses have shoulder pads.

You might even spot shoulder pads being worn by movie starlets in 1940’s films.

There are no solutions for you if you’re a woman who hates having broad shoulders, other than to accept them — because you cannot change them if they’re natural.

All I can suggest is that you exercise your entire body to make it as fit and strong as possible, to distract you from obsessing about something that you cannot change.

And before you dismiss me as someone who cannot possibly understand your predicament, I’d like to point out that I proudly sport broad shoulders.

Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained clients of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.