It’s natural for our bodies to change when we move.
Even those who spend hours a week in the gym will know that no one has washboard abs all the time. And fitness coach Molly Ava wanted to reinforce this point.
The 23-year-old, from Bournemouth, took to Instagram to show how her figure can change in a matter of seconds. To demonstrate, she wore activewear from Oner Active and struck a pose.
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In the first clips, titled “my body”, Molly pulls up her leggings, maintains good posture and puts her hands on her hips to showcase her impressively toned arms.
But in the second video, captioned “also my body”, she smiles widely, relaxes and rolls her leggings down. You can see the natural folds of her body – and she looks both beautiful and happy.
Molly captioned the post: “Starting the week with good vibes, self love and real bodies.” She also added body positive hashtags including #YouAreEnough and #PositiveEnergy.
Many loved Molly’s empowering message – and her post garnered 6,100 likes and plenty of positive comments on Instagram.
One commenter said: “Me watching this video right before going to the gym. Confidence went from zero to hero.”
Another wrote: “Thank you for making videos like these they help so much.” And a third added: “Beautiful both ways!!”
After graduating university with a geography degree in lockdown, Molly began posing authentic body photos of herself two years ago. She then got her personal training qualifications – and has been working in fitness ever since.
Her aim is for more ‘real’ bodies to be celebrated online, in the mainstream media and on television. It’s important to do so as many of us are used to seeing snaps on our feeds that have been heavily filtered.
Molly told Daily Star: “Everyone has the absolute right to post their favourite photo or look through hundreds and pick one. But for me the line is choosing the photo and then adding filters on to everything.
“You are paying for 10 filter subscriptions a month and use apps to warp the way you look. So I do think there needs to be more authenticity, particularly with the big influencers and celebrities and reality TV stars.
“I am sure they feel pressure to look a certain way too but without sharing that side and vulnerability it puts pressure on people younger or the people who look up to them and I think they should definitely do more. Even if it’s baby steps to try and push your own comfort zone or share a bit of realness in your life.
“There is a lot of social pressure for people. I’ve seen comments like ‘I’m 14 and want to lose weight and I want to look like so and so’ and there is not enough protection out there to help educate.”
