… I’d probably go with Adrien Brody. He’s thin in an appealing way and that would seem achievable to me, especially if he had come from a similar place as me.

Now if you look like Brad Pitt and you’re looking to get gain weight … maybe it’s time to sign up with the Rock, because he knows how to get to that next level.

If you’re 300 pounds and not feeling too well, perhaps you sign up with the 250 pounder who’s full of energy and who once weighed 350 and felt even worse, right?

For all you know there are other people out there with jiggly guts thinking “maaaaan I really want to learn how to dance but I’m too out of shape and totally don’t look like your typical dancer” and all of a sudden this Zumba instructor rockin’ a jiggly belly becomes incredibly inspirational, right?

I think you’re taking for granted the incredible ADVANTAGE you have over all these other personal trainers. You’re inspiring in a more relatable way.

If you’re the only trainer there who doesn’t look like they stepped off the cover of a magazine I imagine that, exceptionally fit and aesthetically ambitious clients aside, you’d be the trainer of choice.

(If what you’re even “selling” in the first place is a visual transformation. If that isn’t the case, how physically fearsome you look might not even be a factor at all.)

That’s a really good point!

I’ve never found myself overly inspired by guys who were lightyears ahead of me on the fitness spectrum – guys whose physiques and lifestyles felt totally out of reach. That just felt totally irrelevant to my situation.

There’s a lot to be said for coming from a little further behind someone’s current situation and managing to get a little bit ahead of their goals.

A couple years back at 6’2 and with my all-time heaviest weight being 130 pounds I couldn’t find ANYONE who had been as skinny as me in the fitness industry. Their after photos were all way more extreme than my goals too – I just wanted to not stand out as the skinny dude!

Seeing all these fitness icons go from pretty fit to super jacked wasn’t inspiring to me because it still made my own goals seem totally unachievable – I never got that “if they can do it I can do it” vibe.

I eventually managed to gain 40 pounds and make it up to 170 – still thinner than most BEFORE photos – and posted my modest results on our little graphic design business blog.

All of a sudden I started getting emails from guys who were 140 pounds and hoping to make it to 160. I mean hey, if a 130 pound nerdy graphic designer dude can make it to 170, they sure as hell can make it to 160, right? All of a sudden there was hope ahaha.

And that slowly launched me into coaching guys into how to build muscle.

As weird as it sounds, had I either started off more genetically gifted or only started documenting my progress when I was much further along … none of that would have happened (at least not that organically).

Do you think that most people come to the gym desperate to improve their aesthetics? If so, perhaps personal trainers feel pressured to a) make sure their own aesthetics are bulletproof, i.e., marketable and b) make sure that they’re advertising being able to improve how you look?

Or do you think it’s the other way around? That the industry / trainers themselves are creating the demand?

I mean … is it the industry’s fault or that of the masses that fund it?

Thank you for sharing, so very much.

As a personal trainer for 7 years I’ve worked with people who are exceptionally fit who come in all shapes and sizes.

Many people do not fit the image force fed by the fitness industry. People also suffer from illness, mental health problems and life issues from time to time (even those working in the fitness industry) which affect their training and dietary regime sometimes.

It’s best to understand where someone else (a-la walking a mile in their shoes) before you judge them, just as I try to do with lazy and/or overweight clients who ask for help.

I’m wondering if you buy into what you’re force fed, or if you hold a different opinion?