Never Settle For Less

I’ve noticed an interesting trend in the fitness world.  When I say the fitness world I mean everyone who’s ever embarked on the journey of building a muscle or losing an ounce of fat.  The fitness world hates bodybuilding.  The mere mention of the word bodybuilding can start an avalanche of misplaced information and opinions.

There are 2 main sources to blame for the world turning its back on bodybuilding

1. TV
2. Word of Mouth Discussions

TV

TV has become a place where anyone with a voice can express their opinions on a topic.  The validity of the information has gone out the window as stations search for ways to fill their time slots. The best information is swept under the rug while pumped up and overhyped “secrets” and “shortcuts” are dished out to the masses.

Every time I see a fitness commercial or advertisement my interest is peaked.  I’ll openly admit to being gullable and thinking that someone will eventually give people all the information they need. Each time I think someone will come clean I’m proven wrong.
The forumula is always the same:

• The Hook –> The hook is always a question that appeals to our inner desire to look like models.  “Are you tired of those love handle obliques?”
• The Promise –> The promise is always a distorted lie about how their product (that targets one bodypart) or their diet (which often alienates an entire food group like fats or carbs) is the key to a total body transformation.
• The Proof –> The proof is always a fitness model (who obviously trains with bodybuilding principles) that has no problem associating with a liar.

I’ve come to accept these products as a part of life.  As long as people want to be fit these products will have their place.  The bigger issue at hand is the word of mouth that travels along with these pseudo-bodybuilding products.

Word of Mouth Conversations

Pseudo-bodybuilding products start the war on bodybuilding.  Word of mouth takes it to another level.  I witnessed one of these conversations just last week.

After a group meeting some of my coworkers fired up a conversation about diets.  I’m always interested in what they have to say so I tuned in. Even though I’m no longer on the diet scene I recognize the “hot” diets.  Just as I thought they all came up one by one:

• Atkins
• Zone
• South Beach
• Master Cleanse
• Low Carb
• High Protein

I sat idly by for about 5minutes as slew of terrible information flew through the air.

• If you drink too much water you’ll die! (you can but highly unlikely)
• Doing over 20 minutes of cardio will start to lose muscle
• Lifting heavy weights will make you big like a bodybuilder
• Never under any circumstances should you eat fat

Eventually, I’d had enough and decided it was time to add some truth to the conversation.

I told the story of how I lost 50 lbs, reduced my bodyfat down from 25% to 13%, and started to build the body I’d always wanted.  They all seemed so disappointed that I didn’t have a diet to evangelize and raise up to the high heavens.

I gave them all pointers and began to make my way towards the door.  Just as I was about to leave one of my co-workers shouted out “not everybody is into bodybuilding like you”.

I’ll never forget the way she said bodybuilding.  She said it like a kid who was cursing for the first time.  I didn’t want to crush her so I decided to handle the situation gently.

“What are your fitness goals?” I asked.

“To lose some fat, go down a few dress sizes, and firm up my body” she answered as if she’d been anticipating the question and was outsmarting me.

“How do you plan on doing that?” I asked with increasing interest.

“By running on the elliptical machine and gradually building weights into my weight loss program” she answered again becoming even more excited.

“That’s nothing more than bodybuilding!” I shot back as she completed her sentence.

That statement sent shockwaves through the room.  My co-workers were mortified that they were using BODYBUILDING techniques on their precious bodies.  As confusion set in I let them know that it was ok.  As I walked out the door I could here them all arguing about how wrong I was.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 11th, 2007 at 10:46 am and is filed under Training, Change, Beliefs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.