This past weekend, 30-year-old Eric Pratt attended a New York City event in which he was the only man among the 4,000 in attendance.
The event? A Bikini Body Guide (BBG) meet-up hosted by Instagram fitness star, Kayla Itsines, who is known for her female-audience-geared fitness program.
Eric wasn’t there to meet women. He was there to genuinely work out among a community of like-minded, fitness-oriented individuals.
Eric originally discovered Kayla’s BBG workouts when he was looking to build more muscle, become healthier, and develop a sustainable strength-training routine. Although he knew Kayla’s workouts were catered toward women, he found most other male-oriented workout programs to be too aggressive and impersonal. Kayla’s message is always about positivity, which is what Eric latched onto.
After struggling through his college years, Eric was determined to change his life for the better, both mentally and physically. He found the motivation behind Kayla’s workouts – positivity, determination, and self-improvement – to be hugely beneficial to his mental state. Workouts were no longer a space to release anger and frustration; they were a time to improve and better himself.
It took Eric a while to muster up the courage to begin attending the all-women BBG events in his region. He knew the women there would be wary of his presence, thinking of him as a “random dude,” so he even brushed up on Kayla trivia – in case he had to prove himself as a fan.
All of this nervousness quickly dissipated, particularly once Eric began attending more and more local meet ups. He made many friends from these events – including his current significant other – and he began to feel as if he was truly part of a larger community.
Choosing to attend the much larger, New York-based meet up this past weekend was a goal Eric knew he wanted to accomplish, even though he lived a little while away in Boston.
Of course, Eric was successful in purchasing a ticket and attending the event – being the only man (aside from Kayla’s boyfriend) among over 4,000 women. He was conscious of the fact that he got some strange looks from some of the women there, but he thinks that it’s important not only for women to support each other in this fitness movement, but also for men to support, cheer on, and even join the women in their movement.
He’s personally very proud to be a part of it.
