Have you been getting to the gym every day of the week, lifting more weights than you ever have, and still don't feel like you're getting the results you desire? There could be a reason for this and it has nothing to do with your own personal gains in the weight room. It might have to do with all the perfect bodies that you see in all forms of media. Or it might be the people who are lifting extraordinary weight at the gym while you are struggling to lift half of what they are. Comparing yourself to them, you're setting yourself up to not be as proud of your fitness gains as you should be.
While Hartford is known to be one of the fitter cities in the country, it is impossible to block out all the talk about the obesity rate in the country and how it is growing steadily. Hearing this constantly and adding in all the time you're at the gym, you probably feel as if you should be in the highest percentile for fit people in the country. You get to the gym though and you feel average, if not a little below par.
A few years ago, while at a bar on the beach in the state of Connecticut, a man was telling his wife that he would be a rich man if he got a dollar for every guy at the bar who was on steroids. The guy was middle aged and definitely not in the greatest of shape. He was definitely an outlier when looked at among the other people having fun at the bar on the nice summer day. Almost without exception, everybody at the bar was college-aged and in phenomenal shape. It seemed like the opposite of what you normally hear when news sources tell you that people today just aren't in the shape that they were in past generations and that the younger crowd is really struggling with the battle of the bulge.
Think about today's world versus the world of the 1970's when thinking about fitness. Even compare it to the 1990's mentality and you will see great differences. With much more knowledge about exercise and health, anybody who wants to be in good shape in today's world has more opportunity to fulfill their goals than at any other time in history.
Today, even an average person, with a full time job, a wife and kids, and other commitments, makes going to the gym a priority. Now think about someone who is even moderately interested in lifting and they probably list working out as one of their favorite daily activities. Did this happen in past decades?
A lot of trends among the general populace are started by what celebrities endorse. "Pumping Iron" was a documentary about bodybuilding and after it was released it was shown how the opinion of weightlifting changed because of the great times had among the pro bodybuilders, including Arnold Schwarzenegger. Suddenly, lifting weights and going to the gym and caring about how your body looked were no longer for the weird and crazy. It became more mainstream. Now it has grown even more.
With the huge effect media has on people and the great power of celebrity it is a lethal combination to any regular person. "Pumping Iron" was like a warm up set before the current media infatuation with body image. Even regular actors, who in a previous lifetime had no interest in picking up a weight, run the beach, put themselves through boxing classes, and sweat it out on a bike in the gym.
Musicians are another great example of the fitness craze that the country is currently in. Today you can't just be a good singer. You have to be in shape to make the latest cover of any magazine you can get on, whether it be a music or a fitness magazine. It's all about an image. Today you have to be in shape to garner respect no matter how good your music is. In a previous age musicians would have laughed about working out and lifted another beer or cigarette and kept the party going. A Monday night would consist of going to the Gold Club, not Gold's Gym.
The most important celebrity to the working out obsession of today's fitness warriors are athletes. Put on any baseball game played prior to the 1990s and you'll see a roster filled with guys who look small compared to Derek Jeter. There was a time when baseball players were told to not work out. If that mentality was still around today, there would still be a lot of home run records in tact from the 1970's and prior.
Basketball players today can't just put up 20 points per game and grab 10 rebounds. With everybody in incredible shape there is a huge battle to get the ball. Look at the NCAA basketball tournament in March and you won't see the big name teams running their lower seeded opponents out of the gym anymore. The athletic abilities are comparable between teams. Being a good basketball player today doesn't mean you can just show up and beat your foe. The weight room is an equalizing factor for smaller schools. With the hard work that some teams put in during their workouts they can compete with teams that they don't have the natural basketball skills of .
Football, probably the most physical sport of them all, exemplifies the need to be in great shape. Go to any training camp, grab a seat close to the field, and you'll be fascinated by the incredible size of the 2nd string cornerback. Today, you can't get by just on skill. You have to have the total package. With so many competitive athletes and everybody working hard, you can't just go in with your strengths. Your weaknesses will be attacked by all those who can capitalize on your loss.
It's a tough world today when it comes to becoming the fittest guy around. Set goals for you and don't let other people's gains get you down. As said, great bodies are seen all around, starting with the ones seen on celebrities and all the way down to the guys dominating your gym's weights. Remember those same people looking good at the gym are being influenced by the strength they see exhibited by their idols dominating the covers of all the magazines too.
If you need to compare yourself to other people to feel better head to the grocery store. The obese rates aren't being made up, are they?
Comments
Great article, Daren!
I think a great disservice that occurs in the fitness mainstream and the media in general is the down-playing of the importance of genetics and lifestyle in building those bodies.
I can vividly recall Flex magazine running pics of Ronnie Coleman in his police uniform - working a claimed 80 hours a week of *SHIFT* work in the patrol car - while preparing for the **Olympia.** Or the old Muscle Media 2000 running pictures of "Dan Gwartny, MD" who supposedly did 100+ hours a week in the ER - while maintaining 4% bodyfat and working out 6 days a week "to relieve stress and stay energized." Both of those scenarios are obviously impossible - at the time I didn't know better and some NEVER know better.
I think the frustration of "the guy in the street" is that he thinks he should be able to have those bodies AND do everything else in his life with no problem. This is the image we're sold in the media. So he feels inadequate because he thinks he's falling short.
I think you both would be interested in this link on youtube, called the Photoshop Effect. It shows how easy it is to photoshop images, and how most of the celebrities get this done. I wouldn't at all be suprised if some athletic models also have their images altered. I've heard in the past how only something like 10% of women can achieve the six pack ab look. So many women strive for this look, and for many, it's just not gonna happen. As Adam said, genetics and lifestyle is never mentioned. Great article!
Great comments by both of you. Like you said genetics and lifestyle are huge. A great point Adam on how the average person thinks they should be able to maintain a certain look because the bodybuilder or fitness model does while working a lot of hours while going to school and everything else. It's like they think they're superman. This is also done in another way too. There are commercials or magazines that claim you only need to work out 8 minutes a day to look like a fitness model. Obviously this is not true. Bodybuilders and fitness models put a great effort into building their bodies to perfection. It is their full time job.
Great point too Amanda on the genetics part as you said only about 10 percent of women can get the six pack look. I want you both to look at this in another way though and this shows how big fitness is in today's culture and how it is a big obsession. 10% as you said doesn't sound like a big number. However, think about all the people who could get into Yale or another Ivy League school. Probably well below 10% of the general population. However, do people who know they aren't smart enough to get into Yale or another highly thought of school obsess about it like they do their body image? Both smarts and fitness level are partly influenced by genetics. Obviously if you're not a fitness model there's a reason for it. Only the people with incredible physiques can be. Also, these fitness models put their all into their fitness. It's a lifestyle. What the average person does in the gym and what they eat just does not cut it. If it was good enough, everybody would be a fitness model.
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