I was reading a blog of a fellow personal trainer the other day. Tory was taking issue with the fitness magazines that were extolling the virtues of their 5 easy exercises that will give you a bikini body. She was feeling particularly venomous because she said that she could never achieve the models’ bodies with the exercises given.
Now we’ve all seen these articles. They can be found in every fitness and/or women’s magazine – and they are particularly plentiful right now because we can see the light of spring at the end of our long winter tunnel. As they eagerly remind us, we’re about to take off our winter layers so it is time to make sure that what is underneath is firm and tone.
I must admit that I chuckled at Tory’s reaction. It was almost as though she just saw – for the first time – the foolishness of articles such as these. And I understand that in her stance against these magazine she is advocating for the end to this ridiculous notion that as women we should all be these tiny, toned little wisps.
But Tory’s rant got me thinking about how I view these types of articles. Well, first off, I’m smart enough and experienced enough to know that the model was born with the perfectly distributed proportions that allow her to don a bikini and look picture perfect. I know that the reality is that if you are a pear you will always have a bottom out of proportion to your shoulders, and if you are an apple you will not have a curvy indented waist without surgery.
And secondly, I’m also smart enough to know that while the body pictured wasn’t achieved using those 5 exercises, those 5 exercises can provide some easy, manageable tools to help the average woman. Ignore the chick who is flogging the benefits of these exercises! Look at the content for what it is – a manageable plan to tackle an area of your body that you might not be so happy with.
You know, the problem with women is that when it comes to health and fitness we either ignore it or throw ourselves in so deep, we can’t help but drown. Follow me here… You decide that you need to loose weight. So you start counting calories with some computer program, you join a gym, change the way you grocery shop, stop eating out, walk more with the kids…you throw yourself in whole heartily. You do all the right things. But OH the work involved! All day long at work you kept opening up the food program to figure out if you can eat something. You take twice as long at the grocery store trying to figure out what to buy. The gym was busy when you got there after work and you had to wait to use some equipment. Supper took longer to cook because it was from scratch. The kids are grumbling because you said you would take them for a walk…and in reality you just need to go to bed to escape the madness of trying to live a healthy lifestyle. IT’S SO MUCH WORK!
Why as women are we so conditioned take we have to take a giant bite of the apple and then have so much in our mouth we can’t chew it or talk?
So that is why I like articles such as this. (Toss aside the misadvertisement – we all know that the chick does not look like that because of these exercises. ) Those 5 simple exercises give you something small and manageable to work with. Five exercises that you can do to tone your shoulders and arms. They will take 10 maybe 15 minutes out of your day. You don’t need a gym or fancy equipment. Doing these exercises won’t sideline your whole day – your whole life. They represent one easy manageable task that you can master for your healthy new lifestyle. You will see the benefits. You will reap the rewards. And once you have mastered this you can tackle some other area of your new healthy lifestyle. Maybe it will be time to learn to drink enough fluids during the day???
So don’t throw out the magazine – and don’t throw yourself in too deep. Tackle one area of your body that you are self-conscious about and take pride in your success…which by the way won’t show up for about 6 weeks, assuming you are following the exercise program three times a week 