Being a person trainer you'd think I'd be all for people showing off their incredible efforts in health and fitness, so perhaps it may come as a surprise to many of you that I find them absolutely offensive.
As you stand there half naked showing off your body in an attempts to stroke your ego and gather followers, sponsors and appreciation, you're stomping all over the self esteem of those wanting to accomplish a change in their body shape or fitness levels.
You are effectively spreading the message that gyms are purely for those fit, toned and capable of incredible lifts, which is absolutely not the case.
There have been countless accounts of people trying to share that the only way to challenge people into change is by telling them they're wrong, however studies now begin to say that this only destroys confidence and pushes people further into their bad habits and away from the change they want to accomplish.
Your gym selfies are part of what is keeping people overweight, obese and far from the gym, also helping to keep the constant abuse of fad diets and metabolic abuse, leading to further unhealthy weight gain.
So please, think twice when you share your body. It only makes others less happy with their own.
This is a ridiculous opinion. Let people show off what they want to show off... I've seen less than toned people take gym selfies too. People work hard for their bodies. There is nothing wrong with sharing progress. You're not responsible for another person's journey, so if you want to take a selfie- heck take a selfie... And then if others want to blame YOU for their self esteem issues... They're idiotic and looking for excuses. You are not responsible for the way another person feels about themselves unless you are actively putting them down. End of.
ReplyDeleteI am all for progress photos, I'm referring to the people who have gone to extremes to compete and show their bodies as a form of gloating, without mentioning all the hard work and health concerns associated with all that they do to get there. If you Google gym selfie you'll see exactly the stereotypical photos of people with perfect bodies I am talking about.
Delete