'19 Kids and Counting': Duggar family's Joy-Ann lifts 145 pounds in new clip

Who says a Duggar girl cannot be as tough as nails?

17-year-old Joy-Anna Duggar proved that despite her family's strictly conservative upbringing, she can still beat a majority of grown up men by lifting weights at a whopping 145 pounds, which she exhibited during one of the gym sessions she spent with the family. 

Big sister Jessa managed to capture her younger sister carrying a set of heavy weights during their gym time, and posted it on Instagram with the caption, "Joy was tearin' it up in the workout room today! She beat her previous record by parallel squatting 145 lbs!! Keep it up, little sis!" 

But since she is born a Duggar, Joy is expected to wear something unusually conversative during gym time — a long skirt, a cardigan, as well as matching tight pants complete her workout clothes. Her mother Michelle explained why the kind of clothes her children wear have to be restricted.

She said: "We felt like we needed to be covered from our neck to below our knees mainly because God talks about the thigh being uncovered, and how that's nakedness and shame. And so in our dress — whether we're doing activities that require us to climb, ride a horse, bike, swim, whatever — we just want to keep the thighs and torso covered; we don't want to play peekaboo so that there's a visual element that might defraud someone." 

Meanwhile, her new son-in-law discussed how the family spend gym time, saying, "We do a lot of weight lifting and cardio together, trying to stay fit. Some of the other kids, like Joy and Jason, sometimes join in. We have a little workout club going." 

Joy-Anna and Jessa belong to the large and popular Duggar family that stars in the hit reality show titled "19 Kids and Counting," which airs Mondays on TLC.

News
Christian teacher challenges dismissal after sharing pro-life views in class
Christian teacher challenges dismissal after sharing pro-life views in class

A Christian teacher is bringing a discrimination claim against a secondary school in Sunderland, alleging that she was dismissed after answering pupils’ questions about her pro-life beliefs and other personal views in class.

Who was the Ethiopian eunuch and what can we learn from him?
Who was the Ethiopian eunuch and what can we learn from him?

When we think about the history of Christianity in Africa, we may immediately think of European missionaries who travelled to the continent to spread the gospel. Yet Africa’s connection to Christianity stretches much further back, to the earliest days of the Church itself.

Christian campaign asks shoppers to reduce reliance on retail giant Amazon
Christian campaign asks shoppers to reduce reliance on retail giant Amazon

The Challenge Amazon campaign is encouraging Christians to support local businesses instead.

Fewer than half of Americans believe in virgin birth, study finds
Fewer than half of Americans believe in virgin birth, study finds

This is the first time a major national survey has recorded belief in the virgin birth dropping below 50%.