In recent years, more and more people are jumping on to the competition bandwagon, and it’s easy to feel like an outlier if you’re not in pursuit of tightly sculpted muscles, large delts and a rippling six pack. I can’t tell you how many times I cringe reading someone’s contest diet or training program. Have you ever noticed that heaps of memes of fitness women never involve women actually lifting significant weight? For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to look like I train. I wanted good, shapely quads, capped shoulders and the ‘V’ of a chiselled abdomen. Even when I found out I suffered a couple of health issues and subsequently shifted my focus to become more strength-related in order to put my health first, I kept an aesthetic target in the back of my mind. A little while ago something interesting happened: I stopped wanting ‘my abs out’. I finally just felt completely confident in my own body, and I was content with the thought of never becoming leaner than I am right now. Then something began kind of nagging me. Does not wanting a six pack make me a fraud? Shouldn’t my goal as a personal trainer to be in optimal physical shape? Am I not meant to inspire and simultaneously dazzle my clients with washboard abs, ‘cut’ arms and a leanness like ‘Pink’ or Michelle Bridges??? This all of a sudden became more interesting to me! Fortunately, I know there is more to being a good personal trainer than having a six pack. I have seen hundreds and hundreds of PT’’s or budding PT’s in their cert 3 and 4 pracs and in commercial gyms and can promise you that just because someone has low body fat does not mean they have a clue what they are doing, or know how to get their clients to the same level. Of course, I think it is important to ‘walk the walk’ to a certain extent, but some of the best trainers I know aren’t necessarily in the best physical shape.4 (short note: I actually got in trouble for “failing” 16 out of a class of 23 in a cert 4 course at a certain RTO and got told in no uncertain terms to give these “trainers” a not yet competent, instead of a fail – of which I have several misgivings about. Unfortunately, just because I know this, doesn’t mean other people are not quick to judge. I received criticism on a post recently for apparently not looking fit enough. Here I am, really happy with my strength gains and my improved level of fitness (I have been training under my partner Ji with some power ICE sessions) and have just about caught back up to my life-long PB’s in many of my lifts. I was completely at peace and comfortable in my own skin, and I felt completely free of any food-related issues I’d had in the past. Yet someone recently chose to ignore all of those achievements and instead focus on my body fat percentage. Another decided to challenge my femininity on my Number 1 tip for fat loss video. I won’t lie and say that it didn’t hurt. I again started to doubt myself. Maybe my goal shouldn’t be to get crazy strong and instead I should chase that elusive six pack I haven’t had in over a decade! But do I really want this? The honest answer is no. I love the way I live my life. Training in the gym is a highlight of my day and rarely a burden. Nothing makes me happier than feeling super strong, and if I had to choose between that and a six pack, I know what I’d pick. I am happy at the (healthy) size I am, especially knowing I can eat what I want when I want (within reason. I obviously don’t eat junk food all day long as that would not fuel my body for optimal performance), without counting calories or macronutrients. I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong with wanting to look like a fitness model, but I wish more people knew the truth about what it takes to get there, and the fleetingness of the results. The bodies I admire have changed, although I like to think that I am accepting of all bodies. It’s funny how the more comfortable you feel with your own body, the less you want to judge others. Self-confidence is completely inspiring, and far more impressive to me (and my significant other) than a six pack.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 04:33:20 +0000