Casey Johnston (born February 6, 1987)[3] is an American writer, editor, and fitness influencer. She has written the fitness advice column "Ask a Swole Woman" since 2016 and a newsletter about weightlifting, She's a Beast, since 2021.
Casey Johnston | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 6, 1987 Gloversville, New York, U.S. |
| Other names | "Swole Woman" |
| Education | Columbia University (BS) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2009–present |
Instagram information | |
| Page | |
| Years active | 2016–present |
| Followers | 36,277 (July 20, 2023) |
| Website | www |
Early life and education
editJohnston grew up in the city of Gloversville in upstate New York.[4] She played field hockey and lacrosse at the Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, and went to Columbia University in New York City, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in applied physics from the university's engineering school in 2010.[4][5]
Career
editJohnston worked as a writer and editor for Ars Technica after beginning her career there as an intern in June 2009.[6] She was an editor for the product review website Wirecutter from 2014 to 2018.[2] In December 2014, a tweet by Johnston went viral when, after a male follower told her to "read the full article" about a story she had linked, she replied: "I wrote the article".[7][8] While working for the website The Outline in 2018, she wrote an article criticizing the MacBook Pro's new butterfly keyboard design.[9][10]
Johnston became interested in weightlifting after seeing Reddit posts by a beginner female weightlifter.[11][12] She had put on some weight while in college, and begun running and dieting with a focus on her body image, behaviors which increasingly strained her over seven years.[11][12] She began strength training in 2014, using Mark Rippetoe's book Starting Strength, and as she got stronger and felt better she soon "couldn't stop talking about" the virtues of weightlifting.[11][12]
In July 2016, Johnston started writing a fitness advice column, "Ask a Swole Woman", for the website The Hairpin, at the request of Hairpin editor Silvia Killingsworth, one of many people to whom she had enthusiastically talked about weightlifting.[11][12] GQ described her tone as "that of an enthusiastic amateur with an eye for bullshit".[11] After The Hairpin shut down in 2018, the column moved to the magazine Self and then Vice, which dismissed her during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.[11][12] She then launched a weightlifting newsletter, She's a Beast—which "Ask a Swole Woman" became part of—on Substack (later on Ghost).[12][13][14] As of 2023[update], She's a Beast has about 25,000 free or paid subscribers, and Johnston has over 34,000 Instagram followers.[2][11]
An ebook published by Johnston in December 2021, Liftoff: Couch to Barbell, describes a twelve-week regimen for weightlifting beginners.[11][12] It is intended to make weightlifting more accessible for women or men who may not consider themselves typical weightlifters, and those who, in her words, feel that "their body [is] never hot enough, always in too much pain".[5][11] Over 11,000 copies have sold digitally.[14]
References
edit- ^ Johnston, Casey [@swolewoman] (February 7, 2021). "For my birthday yesterday ..." – via Instagram.
- ^ a b c Needelman, Joshua (July 19, 2023). "How a 'Swole Woman' Lifted Her Way to a New Outlook and Online Influence". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Johnston's birthday of February 6,[1] and age of 36 in July 2023,[2] place her year of birth in 1987.
- ^ a b Burke, Ed (September 28, 2011). "Five Questions for Sept. 28, 2011: Casey Johnston". The Record. Troy, New York. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Cohen, Finn; Gazmarian, Anna (March 8, 2023). "Heavy Lifting". The Sun. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ "About". caseyjohnston.website. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
"Casey Johnston, Ars Technica". Wired. Retrieved July 20, 2023. - ^ Roy, Jessica (August 6, 2015). "The Art of Being Underestimated". The Cut. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Esposito, Brad (December 8, 2014). "This May (Or May Not) Be The Greatest Mansplaining Shutdown Ever". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Koebler, Jason (November 13, 2019). "Apple Has Finally Changed the MacBook Pro Keyboard, Which Was Complete Garbage". Vice. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Davis, Wes (March 27, 2023). "Apple's $50 million butterfly keyboard settlement is finally approved". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Cohen, Chris (March 7, 2022). "Why Lifting Weights Is for Everyone". GQ. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g McKinney, Kelsey (December 22, 2021). "Swole Woman Casey Johnston Wants To Teach You What Your Body Is For". Defector. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ Perry, Grace (February 7, 2022). "Meet the Fitness Influencers Shaping Wellness in 2022". Outside. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Gould, Emily (January 19, 2023). "Casey Johnston Turned Bulking Up Into a Business". The Cut. Archived from the original on July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
Further reading
edit- Johnston, Casey (October 17, 2017). "The new MacBook keyboard is ruining my life". The Outline.
- Crowley, Chris (March 30, 2018). "'Swole' Writer Casey Johnston Breaks Up Deadlift Sets With Thin Mints". Grub Street.
- Johnston, Casey (February 2, 2022). "I Didn't Start Weight Lifting Because I Wanted to Be Strong". The Cut.