Aesthetics: The good, the bad and the ugly
To paraphrase Clint Eastwood, you see, in this world there's two kinds of personal trainers, my friend: those who keep their clothes on, and those who fish for compliments, you fish.
You may think me cynical, but it seems that your ass, abs and an inspiring quote is all that is needed to generate clients as a fitness coach in today’s industry. Yes, it has degenerated. I don’t know when was the fitness communities pinnacle was, but it sure as hell isn’t today.
A quick scroll through Instagrams world of fitness and you will see a mix of bare flesh and unrelated philosophical quotes, rarely even relating to the subject matter of the photo. It’s usually some girl with one of her cheeks perched precariously on her local gym’s bathroom sink and a misplaced Dalai Lama reference.
Now, none of this is suggesting that you should not judge your coach on his or her body. A coach’s body is their first, and arguably most important testimonial. I wouldn’t advise giving a coach your money if they don’t appear to have an above average standard of fitness. But let’s be real here, do you need them to take off their clothes to gauge their standards of fitness? It’s a shame that 6 sculpted abs gets more traction and appreciation on social media than a genuine feat of performance or nugget of information.
Maybe I should just start to advertise my training prices on my abs from now on…
It has always seemed strange to me that those advocating bodily acceptance or discussing the dangers of body dysmorphia, are also the first to whip off their t-shirts at the first sign of a photo opportunity and post it immediately to social media. For anyone who legitimately is suffering with body dysmorphia, I can’t help but feel sorry for the confusing relationship that must be developed with these social media influencers who preach one thing but do the total opposite. Maybe it’s Orwellian double-think and I am outside of the loop and don’t understand the jargon, but posting a photo of yourself with a ridiculous wish to have a happy Friday is simply not necessary and suggests to me the high levels of insecurity that must run rife through these individuals heads.
False Confidence
The constant “physique updates” in the instagram realm of fitness is probably the worst of it though. You know these updates will be coming in hard and fast as we approach summer each year. Has nobody informed these individuals who claim they have confidence in their body, yet desperately fish for compliments and approval from strangers they have never met, that nobody gives a shit how many veins are visible along their waistline. Most fitness accounts have become a soft form of porn at this point with so little useful information actually available.
You can see the disintegration of the integrity of the industry with so many body building coaches moving on to the OnlyFans platform. I suppose ego has no boundaries. If you are gonna post semi nude photos, you might as well get paid for it. I only hope the philosophical quotes would end. Perhaps I am just jealous, after all, their product is superior to mine. For 5.99 a month you can pay them to undress and they will tell you all about their latest booty building program.
I just can’t compete.
I had been naively led to believe that coaches and trainers wanted to help people improve their health and fitness. I may have been wrong, but I will not partake in the constant ego inflation masquerading as useful fitness information and knowledge.
Rant Over & Out.
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