THE FITNESS INDUSTRY TODAY

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We live in a world where everything we want to know about is easy to find, either on your laptop, tablet or mobile phone, even the things we are not that interested in will pop up on our social media feeds.  This can be a good thing, but it can also be bewildering.

The Fitness industry is massive and you can find any workout, training programme, nutrition advice at the end of your finger tips and whilst this can be very helpful if you know what you are looking for it can be very confusing for some, even a little scary at times.  There are also so many images on social media that can make your goals look really daunting. 

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In my field of work, one of the main things I hear people say is that they want to get a 6 pack!! There are so many chiselled bodies in our social media feeds that it looks like any Tom, Dick or Harry can get a cut physique.  But in reality, it’s a lot of consistency, hard work and education about nutrition.

If you are starting your fitness journey you need to have realistic goals. The reason being that if you do not set yourself something achievable, when you start to falter you’ll feel rubbish about yourself and then give up. What you need is something that you can fit into your current lifestyle. It needs to fit around your job, it needs to fit around your family or other commitments.  You need to set yourself a challenge that will enable you to start small but you can evolve it into bigger things – “Rome wasn’t built in a day”!!!  So for example you could make changes that fit into your day, walk to the shops instead of driving, cycle at the weekend with the kids, join a class that fits in with your diary and make it part of your routine, walk with a friend, then eventually the walks may then turn into runs, you may find yourself looking forward to your exercise.  It also depends on what you like doing, if you need motivation join an exercise group, if you prefer to do things alone just plan it into your week and fit it in, go for a walk/run, visit your local gym.   Find something, enjoy it, stick to it!!

There is no quick fix. No amount of staring and comparing yourself with the toned bodies on social media is going to help. We all look at other physiques and wish we could look like them, but we need to learn to find a balance. It’s a fruitless pursuit otherwise. Unless you are going to spend every day in the gym, train in the right way, get information on how to train, follow plans and eat the right way, then you’ll probably find it hard to reach certain goals. If you want to take this path, then do it, embrace it and go for it, you may realise that it is what you were looking for. But for the person that is slightly exercise shy and self-conscious, which is most of us, it is hard to know where to start.  It is difficult to walk into a gym on your own and see all the cardio machines, the weights, benches, barbells, squat racks etc. I am one of these people. Even though I’m a fitness instructor I’m very scared of the gym, I always feel self-conscious when I go into one. I feel like everyone is looking at me and waiting to see what I do.  This is my insecurity and I need to get over it, but can empathise with anyone else who feels this way.  

But remember we are all different so we need to find ways to exercise and train that make us happy and that fit into our schedules, which is why you should try a different variety of exercises to find out what suits you and what you enjoy.  There is no point enduring an hour long class whilst gritting your teeth and hating every moment of it, or going to the gym but not really knowing what to do, you will just go through the motions and not get results if you are not enjoying it.  Find something that empowers you, that makes you feel good and you will get results, however small.