I am taken aback by a recent conversation with the owner of a gym. She is interested in encouraging the women to come to the gym for the beginner fitness classes and is considering a strategy meeting for its staff and key clients. I asked if I could join and she said that I was specifically a-invited. A little upset, I asked why it was - after all, I am a rehabilitation physician, who devoted my career to move people.
"You are too advanced." She said. "Beginners concern the way in which you are working, we are really more focused on the creation of a less intimidating environment for women.
"You mean, like planet Fitness ads." Those where the athletes are not welcome? "Confused, I asked.
"I do not like these ads, but the idea is the same." Beginners feel deflated by with people who are in much better shape. They not even want their instructor look too good. »
"You're kidding me." Women really would prefer to work with a chubby trainer? »
"Yes." In fact, I have had some women come to the gym room and request not to be matched with some of our personal trainers, precisely because only they look too fit. "They are afraid that they will be invited to work too hard, beyond their comfort zone."
"Then why they come to the gym in the first place?" I asked. "What is motivating their if they do not want hard work or change their body in the direction of the sport for trainers?
"They are just interested in staying the way they have always been." Maybe they started to put on weight after they hit their 40's and 50's and want to just go back to where they were in their Beardmore. They are not interested in running marathons or lift heavier weights in the gym room. They do not want to be pushed too much, and they prefer the trainers who appear healthy but not extreme. »
Medically speaking, there is an extreme effort to be in good health. Many studies have shown that the regular market is sufficient to prevent certain diseases, and loss success stories of weight (described in the National Registry of weight for example) generally result from adherence to a system of restraint caloric and his commitment in moderate exercise.
In a sense, these women who "want that hard work" are - they do not have to perform extreme feats to be in good health. However, I am always fascinated by the preference for the "medium of research" trainers and apparent bias against athletics. This must be a fairly common bias, although because the national channels (such as planet Fitness) gym took on it and is the cornerstone of their marketing strategy. "Any judgment" - unless you have buns of steel, I suppose.
When I choose a trainer that I'm looking for someone who embodies the best of what the exercise can provide. An athlete who has been their trade through years of sweat and effort... because it is my star in the North. Of course, I can never reach the North Star myself, but I would like to achieve. And that is what motivates me.
But for others, having a professional athlete for a trainer can be a bad state of mind. If your aspiration is to be in good health but not sports, then it is logical to find inspiration in those who embody this attitude and style of life. The important thing is that we all meet the minimum requirements for exercise for optimal health. According to the CDC, this means that:
** 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (i.e., walking) every week
and
** muscle - strengthening activities on 2 days or a week that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms).
How you get there, and with which you arrive, belong you. Chubby or steely - with regard to health and fitness is the best mantra, "what works."
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