Do you even lift?
It’s a safe assumption that fitness nowadays is more popular than it has
ever been, and that building muscle, even for a female, is at a socially
acceptable all-time high, while continuing to rise. Gone are the days in which
it was frowned upon to be in good shape and have ‘muscles’, and where those who
took care of themselves were labeled as ‘on steroids’, while receiving stares
of envy and jealousy from those who were not, but wish they were. It’s no
longer frowned upon for girls to lift weights, or for men to do yoga. Skinny is
out, and fit is in. This is an exciting time for a fitness enthusiast, that’s
for sure!
More and more people are joining gyms, running, biking, swimming, playing
various sports, doing yoga/pilates or crossfit, competing in physical
competitions like ‘tough mudder’, and just generally becoming more health
conscious with their lifestyle choices. The ‘New Year’s’ crowd is lasting
longer and longer, and in actuality, it doesn’t even appear that there is much
of a New Year’s crowd anymore, as the gym feels as full, or busy, as it has for
the past several months. This either means that most people are already members
of the gym, of there are no ‘new’ enthusiasts anymore. Unfortunately, while the
intent is always positive when one is trying to be more health conscious, the
outcome for most is negative.
There is a mindset generally associated with ‘getting fit’, not sure where
it came from, in which most associate ‘results’ with ‘hard work’, and that the
harder one works, the more results there is to be had. While this may sound
logical in theory (to the uneducated ear), in practice, this simply is not the
case. If it were, all anyone would have to do to get ‘fit’, would be to use
their vacation time and take a week or two off work (depending on their
starting point, and desired end point), workout like a machine non-stop,
transform into the superhuman that they wish to become, and get back to their everyday
life as a ‘new you’.
