Now we all know that physical activity or exercise can be broken down into 4 main categories: aerobic, muscle strengthening, bone strengthening, and stretching. But within each category there seems to be an unlimited amount of options available to us, so much to the point that it can either become overwhelming to someone when looking to choose what avenue to take for themselves or heated debates can take place at the drop of a hat over which form of training is “best”. I apologize beforehand because I know I am going to leave a few out and my intent is not to offend anyone or make anyone feel like their preferred training isn’t as important as others, I just want to provide a relative example of how many different choices we have available to us. Many times within a single training facility you will see groups of people taking part in each of these different types of training (and if it’s not available specifically at the place you train, I can guarantee with almost certainty that it’s only a few miles away.)
Like I said, I know I am leaving some out, and this list doesn’t even include any of the outdoor activities that one can take part in to get moving, get the heart rate up, and just burn some calories and build muscles, I wanted to just demonstrate many of the options that I see people using to be active, and when performed with the right intent and intensity level, I believe each one of these can be considered a great option for “training”.
One of the problems I see though and what I really want to address here is that within each one of these groups (some more than others, but it happens with them all), there begins to develop a “cult like” following once someone becomes fully engaged in the lifestyle that the training carries with it. And while yes, being passionate about what you are doing is great, and I think one of the key pillars for success in anything, there is a fine line you have to walk when you passion becomes so aggressive and unappealing that it disregards the beliefs of anyone who isn’t a part of your group or environment. Once you’ve gotten to the point where you have created a negative persona around yourself or your training activity, then I believe you are actually working against what the whole idea of physical exercise, and that’s creating a healthy body and mind.
For a very select few, and probably not the group that is reading this article, their bodies are their business, whether it be a sport, competition, meet, or fight they have to train for, so with them, the options aren’t really there, they have to train in a specific way to stay competitive with their competition. But for the rest of us, training is something we do outside of our work day.
Maybe we use training as a way to let out some steam after a long day at the office (heavy lifting, MMA training, long distance biking, etc). Maybe we’re looking for some “balance” in our life and ourselves (yoga, pilates, jogging). Some people enjoy the social engagement that comes with being part of a fitness community (gym, crossfit, group fitness). And then there’s those that look to stay competitive in physical activities but do it at the amatuer level because they enjoy the discipline of working towards a goal and going against others.
Whatever “group” or “category” you fall into, and it may not be any of the ones listed, I first applaud you for taking your health serious enough to invest your own time into working towards improving it, when you have so many other options available to you with how you can spend your time. I am not here, nor do I believe that anyone has the right to tell another person that one type of training or exercise is better than the other. We all our individuals with our own likes and dislikes, and everyone has different goals.
I myself have taken part in many different types of training in the 17+ years that I have been training, some I enjoyed and have implemented into what I do on a consistent basis, and others I didn’t get as much pleasure out of, but I enjoyed the experience of doing it and learning something new, but know it wasn’t right for me.
So I encourage everyone to start by getting moving first, choose an activity and commit to it, but don’t be so narrow minded to think that there is only one type of training that’s right for you. As you grow and evolve, try out something else, who knows, you may find a new passion for yourself.
But at the end of day, do what you want to do, don’t let anyone else dictate what type of exercise or training is right for you, because it’s YOUR TRAINING DAY!
There have been hundreds of books written on this topic, and it is even something that has started to be taught at Universities throughout the country, so I’m not going to get too deep in the power of social media and how we can use it to benefit ourselves and impact the world, but I do want to focus in on the social media aspect within the fitness community.
You can visit just about any gym or training facility in the world these days and you’ll find people “checking in” while they’re getting ready in the locker room, or “snapping” a story about the current routine and exercises that they’re following at the time, or maybe they’ve even gone as far as carrying a handheld camera around and vlogging the entire experience so that they can later upload it to the “Tube”. Whatever the scenario, this is going on around you, and whether or not you decide to partake in it, it will be a part of our fitness community for awhile.
If you have been in the game long enough and pay enough attention to what’s going on, then you have seen entire companies and empires being built through the power of social media, and while the vast majority of us will never make a nickel off of the content that we publish online, that doesn’t have to deter anyone from having a vision of a message or story they would like to share and possibly having an impact on another person’s life.
And maybe you’re saying to yourself right now, “Dude, I just want post selfies and videos of me lifting heavy shit and have people give it a thumbs up”, or maybe, “I just want to post booty progress pics on gain attention from as many people as possible”, and if that is the case, I am in no way in a position to tell you whether that is right or wrong and I support you in everything you do as long as it makes you happy and in no way has a negative impact on my life, so please, continue to “do you” and post away.
Now this article is for anyone who is making lacking the confidence in putting themselves out there because maybe they’re fearful of being judged by others, or maybe someone who is lost about what to post because they aren’t “famous” and don’t think that what they’re doing matters, or maybe you’re neither of those and just want to share your journey with others. So whatever your story may be, I’m going to share 3 tips that if you follow will have you in no time building a compelling story that you can feel good about and will resonate with others. And that’s the power of Social Media.
#1. Define your “Why”. What is the story you’re trying to tell? Are you on a weight loss journey? Are you overcoming a medical setback? Focused on building muscle? Maybe training for a fitness or bodybuilding competition? Or training for an obstacle race? Whatever it is, this is probably the reason you joined the gym in the first place, and is the motivating factor in why you schedule time out of your busy day each day to make sure you are getting to the gym. So have the message clearly defined, and when developing content to share, talk about it, let it be the focal point of your messaging. There may be another person going through exactly the same journey, and a relationship can be forged through this.
#2. Establish and be consistent with being “You”. Have you ever read a book or watched a movie that was just awful, but you couldn’t pull away because there was just this one character that you connected with? Or remember a time growing up, when you loved a story so much that you wanted to dress up as the main character in it. Every story is built around a “character”, and in your social media story, that character is YOU. So become authentic, and different. Putting a false impression of yourself online is only going to lead to a struggle within yourself in the future. So if it isn’t something you would share with your family, don’t share it with the world.
#3. Be a “human”. Yes, social media is an aspect of our lives that we consume through a tiny device in our pockets, but on both ends of the spectrum lie 2 human beings, with emotions, with heartbeats, with all the characteristics that make us the greatest species on the planet. And every human has ups and downs. So yes, be very excited to share all of your victories, and yell them like you’re screaming from the top of a mounting, but at the same time, don’t shy away from discussing your failures. It is those setbacks that we have in our fitness journeys that ultimately lead us to the greatest achievements, so why wouldn’t we briefly want to discuss these?
Now you’re probably asking yourself, “What gives this guy the ability to speak on a subject such as social media influence in the fitness community” and my answer would be to just go back and reread this article if that’s what you’re left here still asking… I’m just a guy with a keyboard and an opinion trying to share that voice with others and maybe have an impact somewhere along the way.
I hope you choose to do the same!