Every new years there’s a surge in gyms and people hiring personal trainers to help them with weight-loss, strength training, or whatever fitness goal. This also brings out the snake oil salesman and sleazy fitness gyms pumping in LOTS of money into marketing and advertising to lure their business with lines like:
“lose 5lbs in 3 weeks with this scientifically proven method”
“Join the 30 days challenge and lose 10lbs” followed with some unrealistic and more than likely altered before and after pictures, you know to get your ‘buy-in’.
“Guaranteed results” with small fine print that defines what’s guaranteed…
…and a ton more sleazy sales and advertising pitches to grab your attention. These personal trainers, nutritionists, “strength coaches” will say whatever it is that you want to gain your business.
This is the thing there are NO magic pills, potions, programs, short cuts or whatever semantics you want to use that will get you stronger, leaner, faster, and so on…
As the new year approaches, I think it’s important to remind everyone that a lot of drastic before and after pictures are manipulated, taken from elite athletes- the select few, or athletes using PED’s.
Your Path
Despite what’s being pushed in mainstream marketing, you have to follow your OWN path, and in due time results will come. As a personal trainer and strength and conditioning coach that has worked with ALL types of clientele, I can undoubtedly say to NEVER compare yourself to another person.
I want you to seriously analyze this before and after picture.
Do you see a significant difference? How much do you think she’s lost and over how long?
Seriously think about it before you scroll down….
……
……
The above picture, from Sam Lower- Olympic weightlifting athlete, to me is probably one of the best before and after pictures I’ve seen on Instagram for many reasons. Most people are so out of touch with what REAL before and after pictures look like that they expect a crazy aesthetic difference. The thing is Sam dropped down from the 58k weight class to the 53k weight class, that’s an 11lbs difference over 5months. No small feat while maintaining your strength and training/competing at a high level.
The other reason I love this is because Sam was confident enough to show the truth, she didn’t show “false dehydrated abs”, she purposely showed the world what she looks on a regular basis and what most people actually look like after losing weight- not physique models, bodybuilders, or any extreme dieting. She showed what REALLY happens, not her under the best circumstances, angles, tan, dehydrated, and so on.
Conclusion
I wrote this post to inform people that a lot of the posts you see are extremes, what REALLY happens vs. what happens to the small percentage of the population is a much different story. I’m not saying that you can’t make drastic changes but I am saying is that no one, even people juiced, can look like a super hero 24/7, it’s just not sustainable especially for the average joe and drug free.
So if you’re making a new years fitness resolution, AWESOME! Just make sure to stay consistent, be patient, accept that it’ll take time, and last but not least don’t believe in marketing and social media hype.
Stay strong,
Team Fusion Trained