Vain is not a four letter word. ( But we need to start calling it by its name)
Are you working out to achieve a certain look, perhaps mimic a certain celebrity, or wanting to fit into a certain clothing size?
Then congratulations you are working out for the sake of vanity! Be proud of it own it, because while it is not a popular word it describes 90% of the health and fitness industry. Vanity sells ab trainers, supplements, and magazines. Also another 90% of these things become a coat rack, expensive pee, and filler for the recycling bin.
When a client mentions that they want to lose fat, have a body like (insert celeb here), or enlarge specific muscle groups I say that vanity is motivating them and watch them back track immediately. ( and also unnecessarily)
No,no they say I want to lose weight to be healthier. (As a note there is little to no evidence that "fat" really affects "health") But that is another blog post.
You want to work out for vanity, fantastic lets hit that road! You want to look a certain way? Lets hit it hard and drop those pounds, build that muscle, and fit into those clothes. But we aren't going to shy away from the word. We are not going to pretend that we are not putting the icing on the cupcake of your body.
Because I am the bubble popper I am going to lay out three common traps that are going to pop up for you. Because if you are working out for vanity you are going to need to know these.
TIME: Throw out every page and article that promises abs in 7 weeks or killer arms in a month. It is click bait that is almost immediately followed up by a product to buy. If your still reading via magazines they want those subscription dollars. They don't care about you or your results. People looking to achieve immediate gains most likely didn't give themselves enough time to achieve them. Think about if you are trying to fit into a new pair of pants before your high school reunion. Every story you actually hear about is a rush job and usually ends up being ok but not great. Time is your friend not your enemy utilize it properly.
Genetics: These are tricky and you have ( at the moment ) zero control over them. Body type, muscle proportion, pre disposed weight all play a factor in working out with vanity as the motivator. Some of these things you can not change. Muscle insertion and origination points for example, that dictate the shape and form/ function of the muscle and thus its appearance. ( Notice I did not say strength. We aren't talking strength we are taking vanity and shape)
Comparison: While there are other places to get stuck comparison is the big green monster. It is where vanity becomes dangerous as a motivator. Primarily because you don't have all the information. Any article I have read only gives me the first week or two of that celeb/ fitness model/ bodybuilder workout. Primarily because it is pretty hard to begin with and the next eight months of absolute SUCK they endure to look like a spartan is more a nightmare than a dream. So who wants to buy a nightmare? No one ! It is much easier to sell the dream and then have you blame yourself when the dream does not come to fruition. Two if they gave you the whole thing what would you buy next month? In reality they bet that you will move on to the next big thing next month and move on.
Lets give you all the information. Prepare to peek behind the Curtain of the mighty OZ; be prepared to be disappointed.
Time: These individuals make a living off of looking BETTER than everyone else. It is written into a contract that they will Look like ( insert body type) and they will look like it by (insert Date) and they will look like that until (insert date 2) They sign a legally binding contract and turn themselves over to professionals who will make them achieve that goal. The day is set up a certain way, they will eat a certain thing, and they will achieve.
Genetics: These people are usually down this path because of their genetics in the first place. No one wanted to look like Chris Pratt in Parks and Rec. But lets call it what it is he is pretty tall and was attractive to begin with. But, give that man a flattering hair cut and a year of working out to be STAR-LORD and he is on the cover of MENs HEALTH cross armed and showing off his photoshopped biceps and tight shirt. Scarlet Johansson has always looked like Scarlet Johansson without the tight leather of Black Widow. Genetics folks.
Comparisons: People do not look like this all the time. Body Builders, Fitness models, Celebrities you are only seeing snapshots of their fitness levels on days they think they look their best. Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook .. no one posts a photo that they think looks horrible. Professionals getting paid to make people look good edit the heck out out of them to get paid. That is the problem with comparison you only get snapshots of success. Oh and there is a whole other blog on the steroid problem in hollywood and why you should be more than aware of it. Feel free to google images of Hugh Jackman then and now. But for now let's leave that as the last reason you should stop comparing yourself to SO and SO.
Lets wrap this up with some caring words here.
There is nothing wrong with working out for vanity. You will get some health benefits and you can achieve some wonderful things. Don't shy away from the word or the concept. Own it and balance it out with a solid foundation of self esteem and feeling good about who you are.
REFIT couldn't exist without our clients. Feel free to check out the rest of the site and if you like what we are about feel free to visit our Facebook Twitter or Instagram for more content. If you think that REFIT might be a good fit for you to train with send us an email or a phone call and we can give you more information on how to get started.
Christopher
REthink REtrain REsults
Experience is Everything
Look, let's be honest here. Anyone can talk to you using the words imbalances, and bio-mechanics, movement etc. It's also been trendy to bring in a doctor in the magical white coat to discuss health concerns. But in the end the doc goes home, you have a piece of information that may or may not apply to you, and you are back to doing the same cookie cutter program you started with.
REFIT has been in the game for going on twenty full time years. Our clients have been 8 years of age up to 85. We have worked with athletes and the weekend warrior from mom's to models service people, nurses, first responders, and more. We have worked with doctors, physical therapists, othopedists, podiatrists orthodontists and dozens of other "ists".
Being a REFIT client is about having a trusted source to go to for your fitness questions.
It is about availability outside your appointment time to ask questions and get feedback while you implementing your individual program at home.
It is about ongoing education and evolving techniques instead of doing the same trendy exercise reccomended because a fitness magazine needed to fill article space.
Our logo the prescription R stands for the pride of our level of training holding the clients needs above everything else and working with them to improve their lives.
Experience the REFIT difference for yourself.
Improve Maintain Recover
You want back on the path to a healthier you. Let us help you get there.
FitPorn : The ongoing fetishization of the health and fitness industry.
I was talking to a web designer the other day about my web page. They were eager to show me their work and asked if they could send me some samples. I had designed my own web page but I am not a professional, if there was a benefit to be had why not explore it? After a few days I get an email with some layouts. I open them up and I am suddenly kind of embarrassed to be looking at them on my laptop in a public space. The images are all larger than life and feature what I am known to refer to as Fitporn. An attractive young woman who is sporting a crop top and low hanging sweat shorts curling 2 lbs weights is the first thing I see. I scroll down and another woman in a provocative "exercise pose" with an ample view of her cleavage. The male photos on the layout are relatively the same. Frosted tips, ab showing, striking topless poses that I have never seen in any gym. Instagram,Tumblr,Facebook are full of men and women with half naked selfie shots in the mirror touting #gunshow #squats #reallifefit and I have to throw the bullshit flag. First off congratulations for getting what I hope you want. It probably took a lot of effort to get there. Second if you are working out for the sake of vanity I have no issue telling you exactly how you can get that look. In fact shoot me an email and I will tell you how to do it absolutely free of charge. However, none of those images actually means health and they certainly don't mean fitness. These are the images that the health and fitness industry bank roll to make you believe that a certain look is the pinnacle of health. They are used to sell products, cleanses, and trainers who tell you that you can look the same as they do or just like (insert movie star here). I work with and want to work with real people. People with real lives to lead and real issues that are keeping them from doing what they want to do with that life. People who are ready to listen to their body and what it has to say. Heath and fitness is a selfie with a blood work test saying A1C down to 6.6 #lessmeds an MRI of a knee with a hashtag #fullrangeofmotion or raising an arm above the head with the hashtag #frozenshoulderisthawed. Unfortunately standing on a staircase with the message avoided hip replacement for another year #fitlife doesn't seem to have the glam or skin that permeates our current culture.
If you liked what you have read give us a like on facebook follow us on twitter, If you are interested in what REFIT can do for you drop us an email and we can chat.
I appreciate your time and as always let me know how I can help.
"Do you think that is air your breathing now?" -Morpheus
My clients are very familiar with this interaction at REFIT
“I am tight in my right knee”
“ Interesting, I reply what did you do?”
“ I have no idea it just hurts.”
“ You know I am going to need more words.”
“ My knee is feeling pain here and it it feels very tight”
“Ok hop up on the table and we will take a look” as I begin to palpate the left hip and right glute.
“You know it is my knee rig…..ohhhhh what the actuall!@$#@ is that ?”
“Most likely the bigger cause of your issue.. i reply Now hop up and walk around”
Clients often come to me with “tightness”. They also know I ask another 30 probative questions about the tissue and immediately palpate the area in both directions.
According to a new study at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine I have good cause to do so
“A conscious experience of feeling stiff does not reflect true biomechanical back stiffness,” explained Greg Kawchuk, professor and back and spine expert in the Department of Physical Therapy. “When we use the same word, stiffness, to describe a feeling and how we measure actual stiffness, we assume these words are describing the same thing. But that is not always the case.”
The study asked participants to describe their sensation and then actually measured the range of movement to determine the level of “stiffness” through movement. “There was no relation between biomechanical stiffness and the reported feeling of stiffness,” he said. “What people describe as stiffness is something different than the measurement of stiffness.”
Tasha Stanton, lead author and senior research fellow of pain neuroscience at the University of South Australia, said that “the feeling of stiffness may be a protective construct that is created by our nervous system.”
“It’s our body’s way of protecting ourselves, possibly from strain, further injury or more pain.”
While in this study focus has remained on the back in general we know that stiffness through the body is pretty universal of a sensation. Clients often come to me with issues in the hips, knees, shoulders, legs all using the same terms to describe often very different issues and even more often from a source other than where they are feeling it.
“Words are important. The words patients use to describe a problem in the clinic may not be the same thing we as clinicians measure in the clinic,” said Kawchuk. “We need to find out what it means exactly when someone says they have a stiff back. We now know it might not mean that their back is mechanically stiff.”
What I chuckle at is what “THEY now know” my clients have been experiencing for over 10 years.
I Like Big Phones and I cannot Lie....
A client came to me the other day and mentioned that they were experiencing pain in their hand. Specifically the pain was in the most distal joint ( fingertip ) of their index finger. They pointed out a small protrusion that had appeared that they had not noticed before. They had been to their physician and the Dr. had prescribed the usual rest and ice and a follow up visit for a few weeks after if the symptoms did not subside and they would be sent to a specialist.
It had been more than a few weeks and their symptoms had lessened but the pain was still there. I suggested that they pull out their cellphone and send a text.
“Send a text? they asked .. to whom? “
“Anyone you like .. I don’t care .. text me for that matter.”
They grumbled a bit and then took out their phone and started to text.
“Now stop, don't move” I said.
They looked up from their phone “Text don’t text what do you want from me?”
“Take a look at your phone and your hand.”
Sure enough their phone was nestled in their palm and their index finger was wrapped around it at a crazy angle. The same angle and in the same place as their mysterious finger pain. You could see the skin actually white knuckled around the joint.
The response was as I have heard before ..
“Omg!” and then “What do I do about it? “
There is no easy response to that question. It can be as simple as shifting your grip to a new one for a while, or as complicated as surgery. I won’t bore you with the long details of the muscles of the Hand and Forearm. But the common advice of stretching, rest and more often than not ice is not practical for everyday use of the hand. SImply stretching can relieve some tension but not address the root cause. The advice of not using your mobile device this day in age is pretty impossible by all accounts so rest is out; and more often than not hand pain can be traced up the arm into the shoulder and neck. As for Ice the jury is still out on if Ice does anything more than numb the pain. The fingers are merely the end point of a long chain of flexing, tension, and torque that the body can no longer support in such a concentrated area. Holding your phone for hours at a time not just in short increments (checking social media, and gaming for example) places an extra strain on the area that it is just not equipped to handle.
I included several hand exercises and techniques for self care into their program and after a few weeks my client was pain free and texting away again. (But holding their phone in a new way with assistance by one of those pop out holders from Target 14.99. I own one myself)
Helping you recognize these everyday issues is what REFIT is all about. Helping you work through them is our business. Give us a call and let us know how we can help you.