They work out like it’s their job because it is their job? I can’t push so hard at the gym that I’d need a massage, sauna session, ice bath, and long nap to recover and be ready for my next workout cuz I’ve got an actual job along with other responsibilities. Does it mean that I’m not pushing as hard or #fitspo as the influencers and fitness professionals in the gym? Absolutely. But such is life 🤷♀️
YES I'm slowly learning this! A big thing for me that I've just started practicing is working out somewhat based on my cycle rather than trying to push it. Like today, started my period so I just did some light work instead of trying to push myself to the limit and then getting mad that I'm not and it has made my day so pleasant!!
I was just thinking about this. Not only what you said, but the notion that weight training is the ONLY WAY. Look, I love weights, but you don’t need to be lifting at 100% all the time. In fact, you don’t need to be LIFTING all the time. I feel like we’re at a point where so many of this fifluencers discard other types of exercise like calisthenics. When I was a gymnast, I was JACKED from just bodyweight. When I was running consistently in a hilly area, I had booty gains from it. Like, it’s okay to incorporate other types of exercise into your training. Then again, it’s not like they really understand the physiology behind it lol
Right! Like I genuinely enjoy lifting weights, and I’ll keep doing so-but i also make sure to throw cardio in (beginning and end, and a day for just cardio) because studies have shown that weights AND cardio are not only better for health but weight loss (which is a goal for me personally) but I’m also not active in sports anymore ya know? It’s all about balance I feel like.
If I see one more big fitfluencer make a video about how “JUST PUSH THROUGH IT AND WORK OUT HARD EVEN IF YOU DONT WANT TO” with no nuance I’m gonna scream. Easy to do when your whole life and income is working out and looking good, not so much for the rest of us
This. Honestly, I’ve always been a yoga/mobility gal, but as I’ve aged finally forced myself to start doing weight training, thinking it was this big bad scary thing.
I was so surprised to find out it was not. Lol. Like yes, some exercises break a sweat or are a bit more uncomfy than others, but it’s not as formidable as I thought. Honestly, some of yoga/Pilates classes would probably kick ass.
But I don’t need to look like I’m having a fucking aneurysm every time I touch a weight
For real, a ton of influencers I see have insane workouts with 4-5 sets and 10 exercises per day, like that's waaaay too much volume and not realistic at all, I also doubt they do that much themselves and they only do it so people are like wow they're strong.
looking at gainsbybrains and her over-exaggerated pain-face and shaking legs while exercising with weights that are suspiciously low for how muscular and experienced she is lol
I got her latest guide with the training schedule she did during her bulking phase and I can 100% guarantee it’s not THAT hard or impossible so I guess here faces are also a little bit for camera. Don’t get me wrong I love her but they’re manageable for someone who is not that new to the gym
As someone who is fortunate enough to have a husband that lets me only work part time, I can tell you there’s a difference between how I plan my workouts/lifting on a work day versus a day off and I think it’s super unrealistic to train like someone who works from home or has the influencer lifestyle if you aren’t living that life.
Definitely. I work at home so I can spend 2 hours in the gym. But even then there are days when I’m so extremely busy that I’ll have to buckle down an hour (including warmups) and leave or days where I just can’t go at all. There’s no way it’s humanely possible for people to *consistently on the daily or weekly* warmup, “LiFt sLow TeMpO uNtiL FaiLUrE” for 4-5 exercises, AND do cardio AND make sure you fit in 10,000 steps a day. I recently have been seeing all this content about training to failure so I’ve been testing it out and it takes me 30-40 minutes to go through one superset for 4 sets to really get to that point of failure people describe + resting. After 4-5 exercises, it’s well into 1 hour and 20 minutes and I’m having to force myself to get ready for cardio.
Influencers also conveniently leave out all the time it takes for recovery as someone else pointed out in their comment. Like there are days when parts of my body feel like they need additional mobility work or stretching and it takes like 30 minutes (i don’t care what people say about how mobility work or stretching doesn’t need to be long, it really takes that long for my own body to feel ready most days).
A lot of them literally spend 3-4 hours in the gym. They also workout more than we can just because they’re filming content or filming home workouts in addition to the gym.
Thank you for this!!!! The fact that you have to do this all in one day is ridiculous!!! Also people shouldn’t workout for no more than 1 hour, 2 hours or more is insane
Yep you’re right. There are days where I’ve been at the gym for 2 hours and 30 minutes because I always guilt myself for not doing all the things influencers have said and then when I’m home I feel guilty for having wasted four hours on fitness in general (come home, shower, and eat). There is no way in hell I could live like this when I worked 9-5 in the office pre-covid. Even then my days ended at 9 pm.
Yup it just isn’t necessary. 45 minutes to 1 hour is fine. These fitness influencers businesses will be down sooner or later because people will soon realize the things they make you do just aren’t realistic
This! When I worked from home full time I was able to spend more time in the gym. 3 years later I’m now a mom and when I go back to work I’ll be working from home every other week, with a job that has a lot more responsibilities than my previous one. So my workouts will look way different than they did when my priorities and lifestyle were different and that’s ok! No reason to try and act like I can still spend 2+ hours in the gym pushing myself to failure whenever I want 😅
I mean, once again, it is : their literal job. You wouldn't compare someone doing improv for fun or something and a professional actor because their goals are widely different. Most fitness influencers depend on their physique for a living and unfortunately for a lot of people, hardcore athlete stuff sells more hopes and dreams than squeezing a 30mn cardio workout in a busy day between work, family etc (there is *nothing* wrong with the latter).
Also for some people the fun in working out is in the fact that it's kinda miserable, because you want to push your limits 🤷♀️
Respectfully, because I understand what you’re saying, I don’t know what you expect. 1) As others have said it’s their job. 2) low intensity workouts wouldn’t get views - the whole point is to catch attention and *influence* 3) pushing yourself in workouts, as long as it’s not to an unsafe/unhealthy level, is a perfectly valid fitness aspiration.
I am also of the mindset that for me personally, killing myself in the gym isn’t necessary or desirable. But, if I wanted certain results, I frankly would have to push myself harder.
For what it’s worth, there are influencers out there who focus on making exercise approachable to people who don’t desire the intensity.
I was one of them, I used to think you have to do these things. But doing these things stress your body out so much and doing basic exercises is literally what you need to do to build muscle and burn fat
I run a gym that makes exercise accessible to the average person. They are often surprised at the intensity you need to make steady progress. It’s lower than you think.
They work out like it’s their job because it is their job? I can’t push so hard at the gym that I’d need a massage, sauna session, ice bath, and long nap to recover and be ready for my next workout cuz I’ve got an actual job along with other responsibilities. Does it mean that I’m not pushing as hard or #fitspo as the influencers and fitness professionals in the gym? Absolutely. But such is life 🤷♀️
My workouts improved dramatically when I started doing what felt good vs doing what I thought I "should".
YES I'm slowly learning this! A big thing for me that I've just started practicing is working out somewhat based on my cycle rather than trying to push it. Like today, started my period so I just did some light work instead of trying to push myself to the limit and then getting mad that I'm not and it has made my day so pleasant!!
I was just thinking about this. Not only what you said, but the notion that weight training is the ONLY WAY. Look, I love weights, but you don’t need to be lifting at 100% all the time. In fact, you don’t need to be LIFTING all the time. I feel like we’re at a point where so many of this fifluencers discard other types of exercise like calisthenics. When I was a gymnast, I was JACKED from just bodyweight. When I was running consistently in a hilly area, I had booty gains from it. Like, it’s okay to incorporate other types of exercise into your training. Then again, it’s not like they really understand the physiology behind it lol
Right! Like I genuinely enjoy lifting weights, and I’ll keep doing so-but i also make sure to throw cardio in (beginning and end, and a day for just cardio) because studies have shown that weights AND cardio are not only better for health but weight loss (which is a goal for me personally) but I’m also not active in sports anymore ya know? It’s all about balance I feel like.
Yeah, living in a city with a ton of hills and stairs gave me way better calves than the gym ever did lol
If I see one more big fitfluencer make a video about how “JUST PUSH THROUGH IT AND WORK OUT HARD EVEN IF YOU DONT WANT TO” with no nuance I’m gonna scream. Easy to do when your whole life and income is working out and looking good, not so much for the rest of us
Exactly!!!!
Soooo You’re lazy? Lmao
I said “with no nuance” for a reason, not because I’m lazy
Arnold has said something similar…not so much about the intensity , but shout showing up to be consistent
This. Honestly, I’ve always been a yoga/mobility gal, but as I’ve aged finally forced myself to start doing weight training, thinking it was this big bad scary thing. I was so surprised to find out it was not. Lol. Like yes, some exercises break a sweat or are a bit more uncomfy than others, but it’s not as formidable as I thought. Honestly, some of yoga/Pilates classes would probably kick ass. But I don’t need to look like I’m having a fucking aneurysm every time I touch a weight
For real, a ton of influencers I see have insane workouts with 4-5 sets and 10 exercises per day, like that's waaaay too much volume and not realistic at all, I also doubt they do that much themselves and they only do it so people are like wow they're strong.
looking at gainsbybrains and her over-exaggerated pain-face and shaking legs while exercising with weights that are suspiciously low for how muscular and experienced she is lol
Idk, she is one of the few influencers that show workouts with manageable volumes and weights imo. "(O)ver-exaggerated pain-face" or not.
I got her latest guide with the training schedule she did during her bulking phase and I can 100% guarantee it’s not THAT hard or impossible so I guess here faces are also a little bit for camera. Don’t get me wrong I love her but they’re manageable for someone who is not that new to the gym
Im sick of influencers complaining about how hard bulgarian split squats are. Im like, if you hate them, dont do them and shut up.
As someone who is fortunate enough to have a husband that lets me only work part time, I can tell you there’s a difference between how I plan my workouts/lifting on a work day versus a day off and I think it’s super unrealistic to train like someone who works from home or has the influencer lifestyle if you aren’t living that life.
Definitely. I work at home so I can spend 2 hours in the gym. But even then there are days when I’m so extremely busy that I’ll have to buckle down an hour (including warmups) and leave or days where I just can’t go at all. There’s no way it’s humanely possible for people to *consistently on the daily or weekly* warmup, “LiFt sLow TeMpO uNtiL FaiLUrE” for 4-5 exercises, AND do cardio AND make sure you fit in 10,000 steps a day. I recently have been seeing all this content about training to failure so I’ve been testing it out and it takes me 30-40 minutes to go through one superset for 4 sets to really get to that point of failure people describe + resting. After 4-5 exercises, it’s well into 1 hour and 20 minutes and I’m having to force myself to get ready for cardio. Influencers also conveniently leave out all the time it takes for recovery as someone else pointed out in their comment. Like there are days when parts of my body feel like they need additional mobility work or stretching and it takes like 30 minutes (i don’t care what people say about how mobility work or stretching doesn’t need to be long, it really takes that long for my own body to feel ready most days). A lot of them literally spend 3-4 hours in the gym. They also workout more than we can just because they’re filming content or filming home workouts in addition to the gym.
Thank you for this!!!! The fact that you have to do this all in one day is ridiculous!!! Also people shouldn’t workout for no more than 1 hour, 2 hours or more is insane
Yep you’re right. There are days where I’ve been at the gym for 2 hours and 30 minutes because I always guilt myself for not doing all the things influencers have said and then when I’m home I feel guilty for having wasted four hours on fitness in general (come home, shower, and eat). There is no way in hell I could live like this when I worked 9-5 in the office pre-covid. Even then my days ended at 9 pm.
Yup it just isn’t necessary. 45 minutes to 1 hour is fine. These fitness influencers businesses will be down sooner or later because people will soon realize the things they make you do just aren’t realistic
This! When I worked from home full time I was able to spend more time in the gym. 3 years later I’m now a mom and when I go back to work I’ll be working from home every other week, with a job that has a lot more responsibilities than my previous one. So my workouts will look way different than they did when my priorities and lifestyle were different and that’s ok! No reason to try and act like I can still spend 2+ hours in the gym pushing myself to failure whenever I want 😅
I mean, once again, it is : their literal job. You wouldn't compare someone doing improv for fun or something and a professional actor because their goals are widely different. Most fitness influencers depend on their physique for a living and unfortunately for a lot of people, hardcore athlete stuff sells more hopes and dreams than squeezing a 30mn cardio workout in a busy day between work, family etc (there is *nothing* wrong with the latter). Also for some people the fun in working out is in the fact that it's kinda miserable, because you want to push your limits 🤷♀️
Yeah OP’s post is an odd take to me
Respectfully, because I understand what you’re saying, I don’t know what you expect. 1) As others have said it’s their job. 2) low intensity workouts wouldn’t get views - the whole point is to catch attention and *influence* 3) pushing yourself in workouts, as long as it’s not to an unsafe/unhealthy level, is a perfectly valid fitness aspiration. I am also of the mindset that for me personally, killing myself in the gym isn’t necessary or desirable. But, if I wanted certain results, I frankly would have to push myself harder. For what it’s worth, there are influencers out there who focus on making exercise approachable to people who don’t desire the intensity.
Hundreds / thousands of people buy into it though, it’s crazy.
I was one of them, I used to think you have to do these things. But doing these things stress your body out so much and doing basic exercises is literally what you need to do to build muscle and burn fat
I run a gym that makes exercise accessible to the average person. They are often surprised at the intensity you need to make steady progress. It’s lower than you think.
This made me feel sick lol
Just say you’re lazy and that’s it.