Body Transformation
11 REASONS BODY TRANSFORMATION CHALLENGES DON’T WORK
Advertised everywhere and proven to be massive crowd pullers for Fitness businesses, ‘Transformation challenges’ have been around for years.
Portrayed as the ultimate solution for those not happy with the reflection they see in the mirror, these challenges promise the world to their targeted audience and do so very cleverly…
We’ve all seen the before and after pics yeah? You know the ‘before shot’ where the guy is holding the newspaper beside him. His glasses are a little crooked and his unshaven face can barely hide how miserable and sad he his. His big hairy pot belly showing years and years of neglect.
Then there’s the ‘after shot’.
8 weeks of this life changing training program and all of a sudden old mate has transformed into a Greek God!
There he is staring back at you as you pick apart the differences in both the pics.
Ripped, six pack and muscles glistening by the enhanced lighting this guy has done some serious work! Wow! He looks fit, healthy and really happy – good on him
If you look a bit closer, he’s even miraculously lost the hair on his chest, his teeth are whiter, he’s more tanned and…. where the hell are his glasses?? This guy has somehow got his vision back with the transformation challenge as well.
Please shut up and take my money!
Hopefully by now you can tell I’m being sarcastic…
Anywho on a serious note here’s 11 things you guys need to be aware of whenever a body transformation challenge ad pops up in your feed… probably whilst you’re slumped on the couch at 2am with chip crumbs all over your chest.
1/ 100% fact – gyms and fitness centres alike use body transformation challenges as a marketing tool to generate revenue for their business and ONLY that. They couldn’t care less what kind of results their sign ups get as long as the upfront fee is paid. The more the merrier! They’ll try and cram them in like sheep in a cattle station. It’s purely a quick money spinner for gyms and an easy kill on oblivious participants.
2/ Please understand the allocated amount of time is certainly not enough time to ‘transform’ your body in a healthy way and these organisations know it. It’s irresponsible on behalf of gyms to advertise what they are promoting. The results portrayed are unrealistic, unhealthy and downright deceiving. Do you think after years of physical neglect that your body can all of a sudden turn itself around and become a sculpted piece of art? The six pack, toned legs and bum and rippling muscles are a result of years of dedication to ones health – not 8 weeks. And to be quite frank it’s offensive to the dedicated ones out there.
3/ Unnecessary pressure. My goodness why subject yourself to this extremely short time frame of achieving unrealistic results anyway? It’s a recipe for disaster.
It will create added stress which can trigger the desire to eat more, slow fat metabolism down and make it more difficult to lose weight… Look up contradiction in the dictionary if you’re not catching my drift.
4/ Please let this one sink in….
There is NO SUCH THING AS A QUICK FIX so get over it!
People feel so entitled these days it makes me want to vomit. They want everything yesterday for gods sake Maybe it’s because of advances in technology? You don’t even need to leave your home for much now and can have most of your needs met with the click of a button.
Unfortunately, you can’t associate your own body with these luxuries. No one likes a lazy arse so if you think ‘all I have to do is 8 weeks’ and I’ll turn into a supermodel then you have another thing coming.
5/ You’re setting yourself up for failure – and guess what, yet again the people that already have your money know it!
It’s all good and well to slog it out for a short period of time but ever thought about what to do after the challenge is done? As funny as it sounds the real challenge starts AFTER the 8 weeks when you’re left to fend for yourself. What do I do now? Where’s my support? I thought this was it? What about my six pack? What about my nice tan and new smile? I thought my life was going to be amazing. Cool story. Reality will be hitting any second now…
6/ Duty of care. Not too sure how many ‘Transformation challenges’ promote correct lifting techniques and movement patterns when they sell their program.
Not many is my guess and for a couple of reasons.
A – It’s not sexy enough. People don’t care about how to train correctly, they just want results. Little do they know that it actually takes time to do things properly. 8 weeks? Pfft
B – it’s near impossible for a large group of participants to all have the same amount of knowledge and coordination to train efficiently and effectively. 8 short weeks doesn’t lend itself to helping these people get to a level that’s safe.
Its merely a ‘move at all costs’ program regardless of potential dangers of injury.
7/ Most of the training and eating requirements involved aren’t sustainable and borderline unhealthy. You’ll learn this very quickly and be like the majority of participants that don’t even finish the 8 weeks because it’s too hard to sustain.
But that’s ok coz you’ve paid your up front fee! Yay!
8/ The yo-yo effect. I touched on this before… You’re setting yourself up for huge disappointment if you think your life is somehow magically going to be perfect once the challenge is finished. There may be a little high after you’ve completed the block and you may have seen some good results however I can tell you straight out the high may last the best part of 2 weeks. If you’re lucky!
Then what? Where do you go now? You will have no direction on how to manage what you’ve put your body and mind through because it is unsustainable.
Bills will still come in the mail, the kids will still drive you nuts, peak hour traffic will still be waiting for you come Monday morning and the thought of becoming a full time athlete will soon diminish once the boss slaps a whole heap of work on your desk with deadlines to meet.
Ultimately you’ll drift back into bad habits once again and lose any improvements you’ve seen. The yo-yo process thus starts again.
9/ I alluded to the before and after photos earlier being an extremely clever marketing tool. The enhancements made to improve the visual of the two pictures get people sucked in every single time.
One word – bullshit.
It’s all about what the eyes see and the connection to the brain. It’s an enhanced picture. Nothing more. It doesn’t tell the entire story at all. Nothing to do with mental state and unsustainable sacrifices made.
10/ It promotes nothing but physical change. Another trap to be wary of.
They are designed to get people hooked on a look that they can’t physically or mentally sustain. Humans are so obsessed with aesthetics and while it’s healthy to take pride in your appearance, these challenges take it to the next level. Gyms are simply taking advantage of our vanity and filling up their back pockets in the process.
11/ Longevity. These challenges don’t promote the importance of health and fitness long term and how to incorporate it into your daily life. This is arguably the most important element and it’s missing!
It’s all about stopping everything you’re doing to lose as much weight as you can in a short time. Coz everyone wants everything quick and easy these days
What about the benefits of regular and consistent exercise for your entire life?
Real results aren’t quick and quick results aren’t real!
Come see why IFP is the best gym in Cranbourne
See you in the gym 🙂