18/05/2021
⚡️We want to break the silence about male body positivity and neutrality⚡️
When discussed, there’s less buzz about male body confidence – which is just as important!!
We asked Scott, one of our personal trainers, to open up about his experiences with body image and here is what he shared, (trust us, it's worth the read):
"My first memory of being acutely aware of my body and having a negative reaction was during the summer of grade 6 or 7. I saw a photo of myself at the beach and thought how “chubby” I looked, because I perceived that I had “man boobs”. This started a nightly routine of sit-ups and push-ups until I was in high school.
I have always played competitive sports and growing up in a small northern Ontario town playing hockey, you were expected to have a fitness level of the athletes we watched on TV in the Olympics. Even though I was excelling in my sports, even being rewarded with a scholarship to a university in the USA and then playing semi-professional soccer, I was still always told that I was too heavy or too fat. Whether it was the coaching staff telling me I needed to be a certain weight or coming from teammates making comments about my body type, I have always struggled with how I look to others. I never did hit the target goal weight set out by coaches, and I was able to play at a level that gained me recognition during seasons with individual and team awards.
My experiences growing up in these toxic environments did help prepare me for the world of personal training. From day 1 of becoming a personal trainer I have experienced the expectations from coworkers and members that I must have a 6-pack or I could not be a good trainer. The expectations that every trainer needs to be a stage ready bodybuilder or Zac Efron in Baywatch have grown over the last decade and I believe we need to address the issue. A trainer’s value should not be determined on whether or not they are under 8% body fat but whether they are educated, experienced and able to help others achieve their goals."
Reposted from