A personal trainer has come under scrutiny after sharing tips on Instagram about how to achieve “skinny” legs, a video that has since earned nearly 400,000 views.
Riley Jourdan took to Instagram (@rileyjourdanfitness) to argue that achieving “long, lean” model-like legs doesn’t come from deadlifts, hip thrusts, or squats. The clip has ignited debate in the fitness community, with Brooke Sellers, an online fitness coach, warning that such advice could send harmful messages to women.
Newsweek spoke to both women about the viral exchange. Jourdan defended her approach, saying: “Fitness is not one-size-fits-all. Providing nuanced, goal-specific guidance is not dangerous—it’s responsible.”
Sellers, based in Atlanta, said: “The idea that women should purposely lose muscle is not just misinformed; it’s dangerous. Muscle isn’t something to fear. It’s something that protects us. Losing muscle has real long-term consequences.”
On December 4, Sellers stitched the original video with her own response and posted it to her platform @miss_meatless_muscle, where she described Jourdan’s advice as “a dangerous message.”
In her post, Sellers pointed out the risks of prioritizing aesthetics over strength, warning that “skinny model” legs could prevent women from doing essential things such as avoiding injury or protecting themselves.
Strength training is often emphasized in fitness routines, with the familiar advice to never skip leg day. Beyond building physical strength, research shows that strong leg muscles send important signals to the brain, helping generate healthy neural cells that support both the brain and nervous system.
In her response, Sellers emphasized the importance of strength for women, noting that “skinny model legs” won’t:
- lift you off the floor when you are 70
- save you from an attacker
As the founder of Meatless Muscle, LLC, an online training program for vegans, Sellers stressed that women don’t need to look “bulky or muscular,” but they do need muscle to avoid feeling “frail and weak.”
Jourdan’s Defense
Jourdan explained that her video was aimed at a very specific audience, she told Newsweek: “That video was directed at a very specific, clearly defined niche of women whose explicit aesthetic goal is a slimmer, model-style leg—not general fitness, health, or strength.
“The reality is that training style matters when it comes to physique outcomes. For women who are genetically prone to building muscle in their lower body, consistently lifting very heavy with high volume can lead to more muscle mass in the legs, which may move them further away from the aesthetic they’re aiming for. Acknowledging that isn’t dangerous—it’s honest.”
She added that the clip was a one-off, she said: “I consistently encourage strength training for overall health, longevity, bone density, and muscle tone. I am not anti-lifting, nor do I tell women to avoid resistance training altogether.
“I advocate for training that aligns with individual goals, whether those goals are strength, performance, or a slimmer aesthetic.”
The Wider Context: Weight Loss Trends
Jourdan’s video comes at a time when weight loss injectables are reshaping conversations about body image. In 2024, Gallup reported that American use of GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss more than doubled, rising from 5.8 percent in early 2024 to 12.4 percent.
Women remain more likely than men to take these medications, though both groups have seen sharp increases. Public awareness of GLP-1 drugs has also grown, climbing from 80 to 89 percent nationwide.
Sellers linked this trend to shifting beauty standards, she told Newsweek: “We are literally watching some of our favorite celebrities shrink down overnight and suddenly thinness is ‘trendy’ again. Not health. Not strength. Not longevity. Just thin.
“It’s like we’re watching the early 2000s come back in real time, but now with pharmaceuticals involved. And the scary part is how quickly these aesthetics trickle down into everyday women’s expectations of themselves.”
Body Image Pressures
According to another study, between 69 and 84 percent of women in the U.S. report body dissatisfaction, often preferring a smaller figure than their current frame.
Sellers concluded: “We deserve to feel capable, healthy, and strong both physically and mentally. And any message that tells women to deteriorate themselves for an aesthetic is one I’ll always speak out against.”
References
Runfola, Cristin D., et al. “Body Dissatisfaction in Women Across the Lifespan: Results of the UNC-SELF and Gender and Body Image (GABI) Studies.” European Eating Disorders Review : The Journal of the Eating Disorders Association, vol. 21, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 52–59. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1002/erv.2201.
Leg Exercise Is Critical to Brain and Nervous System Health. https://www.frontiersin.org/news/2018/06/07/neuroscience-leg-exercise-brain-nervous-system-health. Accessed 17 Dec. 2025.
