PETALING JAYA, June 17 — Being a female weightlifter in Malaysia is far from easy.
Just ask Nur Amira Roslin.
The fitness trainer recently spoke up to bust myths about women weightlifters after a video of her lifting an empty gas tank garnered mixed reactions online.
Nur Amira, also known as Mira, had posted an Instagram clip earlier this month showing her weightlifting routine along with a detailed guide of dos and don’ts in the caption.
Some commenters were impressed by Mira’s strength and commended her for inspiring them to pick up weights as well.
Others were not so kind and claimed that the Johor lass was risking her fertility by lifting heavyweights.
“That’s dangerous, you can become less fertile this way. There are sports equipment suitable for women, a gas tank is not one of them,” said one Instagram user.
“That’s crazy sis, do you want to tear up your uterus?” wrote another.
Mira decided to clap back at critics after a woman reposted her workout video without permission on Instagram and publicly shamed her for “wanting a muscular and manly body.”
The woman, who has since deleted her posts, also told Mira to exercise in a “womanly manner” and listed activities such as sweeping rubbish, gardening, and jogging while also claiming that lifting a gas tank would cause marital problems.
Mira then took to Twitter to share screenshots of her private conversations with the woman and called her out for “spreading hate and negativity to women who do fitness.”
She proceeded to debunk the negative claims she had received and emphasised that weightlifting is safe for women as long as the right safety precautions are taken.
“Weight training brings more good than harm. You should not be afraid to lift if you do it with the right technique, posture, and form,” Mira wrote.
In a follow-up video posted to her Twitter thread, Mira said it was possible for uterine prolapse to occur due to incorrect heavy lifting but emphasised that it can be avoided by adopting the right posture when exercising.
She also encouraged people to do their research before making ludicrous claims on social media.
The fitness buff currently has 10,000 followers across her Twitter and Instagram accounts and has been gaining support for her knowledge-based approach when responding to critics.
After the movement control order (MCO) was implemented in March, Mira began holding personal training sessions online and used her social media to share home workouts that Malaysians can do to build up their strength.
mStar reported that Mira began training in 2018 after getting teased by friends over her weight, but she knows now that it’s a waste of time to care too much about what other people have to say about her figure.
“I used to weigh 60kg and I went down to 45kg. I weigh 65kg now after I started doing weight training.
“When I was thin, people used to call me ‘papan (board)’, and when I did weight training, people said I would end up having a man’s body.
“Comments like this are never-ending, so I just ignore what people have to say. In reality, we can’t please everyone,” said Mira.
