Michelle Obama Shows off Abs in ‘Self Care’ Fitness Photo

Michelle Obama is showing off her toned muscles. In an Instagram post that gave her nearly 34 million Instagram followers a glimpse at her abs, the former first lady shared a photo of herself in the middle of a working, carrying a medicine ball above her head in the middle of a lunge.

“It doesn’t always feel good in the moment. But after the fact, I’m always glad I hit the gym. How did you all take care of yourself on this #SelfCareSunday?” Obama captioned the post from Sunday.

In the photo, the 55-year-old donned black high-waisted leggings and a black sports bra that showed off just a ribbon of her abs. She completed the look with a black baseball cap and a pair of blue sneakers.

Plenty of her followers took to the comments section of the post to gush over her.

“Wooww,” one Instagram user wrote. “beautiful example First Lady.”

“our queen,” another said.

“she is really out here with abs!” someone said.

“I’m printing this for my inspo. What a babe!” another said.

One of Obama’s major causes during her husband former President Barack Obama‘s two terms in office was leading a campaign to encourage healthy eating and physical activity among America’s youth. Her latest post appears that even in post-White House life she’s trying to spread the word about living a healthy lifestyle.

She explained the importance of women staying healthy in July during a conversation at the Essence Festival in New Orleans. “We [as women] have to own our health. It’s one of those things that no one can take from you,” she said, telling Gayle King at the event that women need to “un-train” each other when it comes to putting their wellness last.

“When it comes to our health as women, we are so busy giving and doing for others that we almost feel guilty to take that time out for ourselves,” she said, getting personal about her own experiences.

“A lot of mothers will understand this, because I found myself looking around after I had my kids, and I didn’t have time for me, but my husband was at the gym every day. And I was like, well, how are you going to the gym? He was like, ‘I make time for the gym.’ I was like, what?” she recalled.

“This was right when we started going to counseling, y’all, so this was one of our issues, you know? But I found myself getting mad at him because he was doing what he needed to do for him. And I think for us as women, many of us, we have a hard time putting ourselves on our own priority list, let alone at the top of it,” she said. “If we don’t have our act together as women, as mothers, as grandmothers, we aren’t going to be able to get our kids on track.”

Sunday’s fitness post comes a few weeks after she and Barack celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary with some heartwarming Instagram messages.

“27 years ago, this guy promised me a life full of adventure. I’d say he’s delivered,” she wrote in an Instagram caption on Oct. 3 alongside a photo of them standing together on a deck overlooking a beach. “Here’s to our next chapter of becoming empty nesters and discovering what’s next—while still feeling the magic that brought us together all those years ago,” she continued. “Happy anniversary, Barack.”

Photo credit: NBC / Contributor / Getty