There are a few things that get under my skin: can openers that don’t work properly, someone talking with their mouth full and perky gym attendants.
The energy they generate, should be bottled and studied.
Now, I’ve been a gym rat my whole life, and I am one of those people that generally enjoy the workout, but it’s not the highlight of my day.
As I get older though, I’ve also begun to reevaluate the need and think about the perceived stereotypes and negative body image gyms can create, if their ideals are taken too far.
Just the other day, after a long day putting together the news for our readers, I checked in for my daily workout only to be greeted with “what are you working on today?”
“Nothing,” I replied and I resented the insinuation that I need to work on anything.
“Nothing?” she said, as if I was crazy.
That’s the attitude I hate about the gym atmospheres, that people need to “fix” something about themselves.
That the way you look isn’t good enough, so you hire a trainer to help you look better.
What if I just enjoy it, or I sit all day and don’t get the chance to move around a lot, what if I don’t want to lose weight, or am happy with how I look?
Is that so crazy?
Are we as a society still so focused on the hour-glass figure or pushing our men to build muscles so large in their arms that they have no discernible neck?
Are we still doing this?
Now I understand it was her job and motivating is a lucrative industry but enough already, I go to gym to be healthy to stretch my legs not to fix anything.
I also understand there are people who need motivation and need to exercise in order to reach a healthy weight, but I fear that once it’s achieved it’s hard to stop the pressure.
That creates a dangerous mindset for impressionable youth and adults because there will always be more weight to lose, more muscle to build and faster speeds to run.
At what point in our life do we stop and appreciate our bodies for what they are? No one’s is perfect, even those that train everyday will have some part that they would change.
So what’s the point?
If someone isn’t happy with how they look, perhaps there is more to equation that how one’s reflection appears.
Perhaps, it takes years of soul searching and self appreciation to truly be happy, one of life’s longest and most challenging lessons.
When someone is living a healthy lifestyle, being active in the ways they truly enjoy, rather than slugging it out doing something they don’t, the body becomes what it’s meant to be.
And if that happens to be a size 18 or size four, that’s OK.
I would love to see the exercise industry start to change and evolve into such a place where attendants aren’t pushy, there aren’t “supplements” that don’t work and cost a fortune being sold to teenagers, facilities without mirrors all over to place, hosting classes on healthy eating habits and having owners being wise enough to be aware of the danger of exercising too much.
If we want society to stop judging us on our clothing size or our weight, then it’s time for us to stop allowing it to happen.
