Photo: TikTok
This is impressive, but shouldn't say anything about everyone else.
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Mar 05, 2023
A woman named Destany Martin had been keeping up with her workouts as her regular routine — even while pregnant — and posted about it online to her various social media accounts.
While most people would look at her videos, be impressed, maybe leave a comment of awe, inspiration, or praise and continue scrolling, one man decided to take one of her videos out of context in order to further his own narrative — that everyone should be going to the gym.
A man on Twitter said that ‘humans’ have ‘zero excuses’ to not get in the gym and work out.
Claiming he’s just “keeping it real,” Ahmad Lathan co-opted Martin’s video from TikTok, posted it on his personal Twitter account, and wrote “POV of a human having zero excuses.”
Martin’s video, which was posted six days ago on February 24, 2023, had absolutely nothing to do with telling people to go the gym and was simply a video of her working out.
“39 weeks pregnant,” she wrote in the caption of the video. “My water broke 5hrs after this workout & I gave birth the next day.”
In the video, Martin can be seen doing a very impressive HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) workout that consists of her running treadmill sprints, jump squats, alternating lunges, and other exercises with a remarkable amount of mobility.
“Baby [going to] come out with muscles running sprints drinking protein talking [about] no days off,” one user joked in her comments, as another said, “If she can do this pregnant I can do it because both our stomachs look the same right now.”
The truth is, not all pregnant women should be working out like this.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, women should “discuss exercise with your obstetrician–gynecologist (ob-gyn) during your early prenatal visits.”
After, if your ob-gyn gives you the OK, then you should still discuss what kinds of exercises are safe to perform while pregnant.
It’s possible that Martin discussed what she was able to do with her ob-gyn, but other women in the replies to Lathan’s tweet claimed that not all women’s stories are the same.
“This really is only okay if a woman has been working out like this prior to getting pregnant,” one woman wrote. “Starting up an intense routine when you’re pregnant can cause too much stress for mom and baby.”
Pregnant women should always consult their doctors before partaking in an activity that could potentially pose a risk for their pregnancies, but Lathan says his tweet wasn’t about that to begin with.
Instead, Lathan took this as an opportunity to shame others for not going to the gym.
Directly under his post on Twitter, he quote tweeted someone else’s reply that read “Crazy thing is the caption wasn’t actually directed at pregnant women.”
“It’s the rest of you with every excuse in the book for why you can’t even attempt to walk at least one lap on your local park’s track, meanwhile [there are] pregnant women running on treadmills.”
Lathan’s attitude screams condescension against those who may not be in the gym 24/7, saying things like “Y’all just be saying stuff with no research done” and the people angry with him “don’t associate with the gym AT ALL.”
Going to the gym, working out, or exercising in any way is healthy and promotes a healthy lifestyle, however, shaming others for not following that lifestyle that you’re accustomed to is a bridge too far.
Gyms can be expensive, traveling to a local park may not be the simplest of tasks or any other surplus of reasons that someone may not be able to work out is acceptable, and no one deserves to be shamed for it.
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.