Over recent times the health and fitness industry has become obsessed with achieving the ultimate physique and 6 pack of abs. This is mainly due to social media and how perceived health professionals use body fat percentage as an indicator of health. Now don’t get me wrong, having a body fat % in excess of 17% for men and 28% for women is not ideal and being obese is definitely not good for your health – and with a recent study suggesting that 38% of all Brits will be obese in less than 10 years, it is very worrying. But, neither is being skinny or underweight! In fact, Hypertension, Hypercholesterolemia and some heart conditions can be found in those who are underweight or perceived as skinny.
I have been in the fitness industry for many years and the biggest concern I have at the minute is the lengths that some individuals will go to in order to achieve that ‘dream physique’. Something we discuss heavily on our Personal Trainer Courses is the balance of health over achieving sometimes an unrealistic physique.
It is clear that weight management and the control of body fat is crucial for health, however this article is more focussed on the pursuit of unrealistic and unsustainable results vs health. In my opinion and that of many other fitness professionals, the majority of young gym users are too keen to look for quick fixes and to take shortcuts in their pursuit of the perfect physique. At FLM Training we deliver a wide range of qualifications, one of which is the Applied Nutrition course where we discuss fad diets and the use of supplements such as fat burners and other illegal substances. I can honestly say I have never prescribed a fat burner or any other illegal supplement to any client, and I have had some amazing results over the years. My concern is this, being overly keen to purchase legal and illegal fat burners along with other supplements in most cases will do more harm than good. Only last year there were several fatalities from purchasing fat burning pills over the internet. You have to question how much social media influenced those individuals to purchase the supplements.
In your pursuit of achieving that dream physique you must ask yourself, is compromising your health worth it? With the correct training and nutrition anyone can achieve the physique they want, but FLM Training and I urge you to adopt a safe, steady and healthy plan to achieve it. Stay away from the hearsay and loud gym members who look like they know what they’re talking about because they are strong and say all the right things, go to a professional who not only wants you to achieve your goal, but also maintain your health at the same time. Don’t forget that with cutting corners you’re almost always putting yourself at risk. Personal training qualifications are designed to maintain and improve health as well as help you improve your performance, get stronger and leaner. After all, what’s the use of achieving a good physique if you don’t have the health to enjoy it!
