Do You Train to Get Fit or to Look Fit?

If there is a universal pain for personal trainers worldwide, it is the client that wants to “look fit”.

Those who are trainers I am sure you are at this moment cross armed, cringing and reading this the deepest of empathy. For those that are just fitness junkies, read on and share in our pain.

From our perspective, “looking fit” makes no sense whatsoever. You don’t tell a mechanic you want your car to “look fixed” or ask the doctor to make your vital organs “look healthy”. So why do you pain us?

How can you possibly look fit? Olympic weightlifters have large deposits of adipose tissue and muscle, weighing in at 100kg plus. Hitherto the body of a marathon runner measures in at a mere 50kg, with muscle and fat being a scarcity. And yet, you guessed it, they are both “fit”.

So then we swallow our deep annoyance, bite our bottom lip, put on our customer service face and proceed to ask the client to define their visual concept of fitness. Nonetheless this is like asking a 15 year old if they want an XBOX for Christmas. You know the answer and have the EB Games gift card ready to go.

The next scene usually preserves into “I want a 6 pack”, “I want to look toned”, “I want fit arms”… it goes on. Or the classic: they pull out a picture of Michelle Bridges or Hugh Jackman, demanding “I want his/her body”. Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this! Legions of people partake in aesthetic-based training. It is a great way to build self-confidence, relieve stress, become stronger and build yourself into a better person.

So, in a super energetic and supporting voice, we say: “Awesome, you’re into bodybuilding training! I’m going to put all my effort in to shaping your diet and training program to build you the best body possible!’

And in turn the client responds “Oh no! You got me all wrong! I don’t want to bodybuild/take steroids/bulk up/ insert stupid unrealistic idea here. I just want to be fit like all the people on TV. You know, have big arms and a flat belly.”

It is sad, from the eyes of a trainer, that at this point many people fail to understand their innate desires. People are always looking to quite build their body. They are specifically telling the trainer they want to look good. So, the client is obviously here for aesthetic purposes or in other words, bodybuilding.

Having the motivation to put in the hard work to improve one’s visuals is something little people are bothered to do. It’s what separates people who go to the gym from the rest of lazy society! Telling me that they are scared off training because of negative connatations attached to bodybuilding is frustrating just as it is disappointing.

Nevertheless this is a concept most people are uncomfortable with admitting. They cannot come to terms that the drive to slog behind the treadmill or suffer through pump classes is to look good, not improve fitness. Gyms are filled with people attempting to succumb towards western society’s definition of the ‘ideal body’.

Ever heard someone ask “Dude, why is there no lat pulldown machine?” or “I hope my new gym at least has a treadmill”? But I’m sure you’ve heard many statements like “This gym needs Olympic weight lifting platforms and climbing ropes” something that actually builds bodily fitness opposed to bodily aesthetics. Ever wondered why the modern gym design has little altered since the bodybuilding craze of the 70’s?

People just want to look good. Period. I am sure you have checked yourself out in the mirror. I am also dead certain if your friends started commenting on your “sexy body”, you would feel awesome. Yet this is something that society cannot come to terms with.

The media have done an awesome job in narrowing down the definition of fitness to aesthetics. The photoshopped and steroid pumped bodies of fitness models (yes, they’re called “models” for a reason) are not the only versions of fitness out there.

And as overused as this analogy is, I can’t compare my point with anything else than Marx’s ‘The Communist Manifesto’. Your money spent on amino drinks, fitness consults, diet plans, superfoods, naturopaths, and yes, even us, personal trainers, is why you can’t break free from the chains of capitalism. Our corporate masters love telling us we are become fitter with the help of their product/service. But would we go to our PT’s if our goal became to improve the aerobic pathways for coronary airflow and reduce the accumulation of adipose tissue inside our arteries? Of course not.

Please just accept the fact that you train to look good, and nothing else. The media have done a great job into turning you into a product, and once you accept it, you can fight against it using their own game.

Originally published at fourkicksstyle.com on January 9, 2015.