Why don’t you look like a fitness model?
December 26th, 2008 | Published in Inspiration, Reality check | 33 Comments
Some time ago a reader emailed me to ask why I did not look like a fitness model. She proceeded to suggest that perhaps my advice was not good if I did not provide evidence that said advice had worked. I assume that the evidence in question was a shot of me posing awkwardly in high heels and a bikini. She didn’t seem overly interested in evidence which consisted of me lifting large heavy things while dressed in oversize sweatpants and army boots. Amazingly, my video entitled “Sweaty Krista Covered In Chalk and Plate Dirt” just isn’t selling too well. Perhaps I should try the fetish market.
Anyhoo, this question raised some issues for me that I’d like to discuss.
Not all fit women look like fitness models.
Actually, 99% of them don’t. There are all shapes and sizes of fit women and female athletes in the world, from 90 lb. gymnasts, to 150 lb. sprinters, to 200 lb. shotputters, and everything in between. There are female athletes who are mentally or physically disabled but could kick my ass from here till next Tuesday. A great example of an elite athlete who doesn’t resemble a fitness model is Lynne Cox, the world’s best cold water distance swimmer. Cox is so hardcore that she swam to Antarctica without a wetsuit, and has amazed exercise physiologists with her ability to withstand near-freezing water temperatures. Frankly, I find her much more inspiring than the airbrushed cartoon bunnies on the cover of Shape magazine.
Here’s an amazing photomontage that appeared in the unfortunately short-lived Sports Illustrated for Women many years ago. It features a selection of female Olympic athletes from different sports. That’s right — Olympic athletes. You can’t really be in much better shape than this.
I think it speaks for itself. (Clicky on the thumbnails to make ‘em bigger.)
Not all fit women want to look like fitness models.
Some do, some don’t. Most female athletes are more concerned with performance and achievement than aesthetics. There is nothing wrong with trying to look like a fitness model, if it’s a goal that you have set for yourself, and a goal you can achieve safely and sanely. But it’s not the only way to be visibly or actually fit. The goal of a fitness model in competition is perfection: good skin tone, nice physical display (which includes costume, hair, makeup, and a smile), pleasing physique, looking good in exercise wear, a swimsuit, and often evening wear. While a fitness model is certainly an athlete, she is not supposed to show the exertion of her performance. The goal of an athlete is achievement, and that often means getting dirty, getting bruised or cut, competing wearing things like tape, bandages, knee braces, and so forth. The athlete’s attire is often unflattering or baggy, because it’s usually designed to maximize the athlete’s capability of movement, not her aesthetic presentation (Brazilian volleyball player uniforms, erm butt floss, notwithstanding). Athletes can guzzle water or pour it over their head to cool off, spit, throw up at the finish line, jump into the dirt, and do a variety of unattractive things in the course of their endeavours. So, while I do not mean to suggest that fitness models are not athletes (because their training usually necessitates a wide variety of activities), I do mean to suggest that fitness models are not the only ideal for female physical fitness. In fact they are a somewhat poor one for many types of athletes.
We don’t all aspire to the same aesthetic goal.
Some women want big muscles. Some want to be super-lean. Some women with low bodyfat have breast implants; some prefer the sleekness of small breasts. Everyone’s values about physical appearance are different. Moreover, people have different genetic gifts. A small, stocky woman is going to waste her life if she tries forever to look like a female basketball player. A big, muscular woman is likewise going to experience a world of disappointment if she directs all her efforts towards being little and cute. Many, many fit women and female athletes don’t look like fitness models and are very happy with this state of affairs. People who write me to tell me that they find my legs too big are barking up the wrong tree. I want my legs to be bigger dammit!
We’re all individuals.
Given your training parameters and genetic gifts/limitations, you’ll end up with the appearance that is suited to YOU. Human biological variation is incredible and wonderful. Don’t try to look like someone else. Try to look like yourself, only fitter. If you have big muscular legs, use them to squat with. If you have narrow hips, take up running. If you have wide shoulders and big hands and feet, enjoy beating the hell out of everyone else at swimming.
The world does not need more pictures of women in bikinis.
People who want to see fitness models can go to the bazillion fitness model sites online. I don’t bother with that shit here because it takes space away from lifting information, and frankly I get enough email from lecherous weirdos already. Furthermore, beginners often get very turned off by images of apparent “perfection” (I use that term advisedly) because it seems so unattainable. It’s much more inspiring for many people to know that fitness is something which anyone and everyone can do to see benefits. Plus, I’m not good enough with Photoshop to airbrush in bigger shoulders and better thigh definition.
Even fitness models don’t look like fitness models.
The fitness industry is about as truthful as the sideshow industry. Let’s break this down.
Low bodyfat. By and large, fitness models are photographed only when they are in “contest shape”, which means that they have dieted down to a low bodyfat for a short period of time. In the “offseason”, most carry a higher bodyfat level because extremely low bodyfat levels are physiologically unmanageable. Many fitness shows hosted by models are filmed only a few weeks out of the year for this reason. And by the way, dieting down to 10-12% bodyfat is much, much less exciting than you would think. You do not feel sexy and attractive. You feel hungry. All you can think about is how crappy you feel, how hard it is to concentrate on anything, and how you would kill your own momma for a bag of Cheetos.
Photographic tricks. Start with the basics of lighting, angles, and posing. Posing in itself is an art. Posers must learn how to present their body so their “flaws” are hidden or camouflaged, and their best features are emphasized. Ever wonder why we don’t see too many “after” shots where the subject is posed slouching and photographed with a cheap flash camera? Things also look different in reality than on film. Davin’s page on bodybuilding photo tricks illustrates this beautifully, as do others such as Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty video, and Bigger Stronger Faster, in which filmmaker Chris Bell fakes his own before-and-after shots. We all know people who are “photogenic”, which means they look good in pictures, and we all know people who are attractive but don’t photograph well. Many photogenic people look too angular or “imperfect” in person, yet their face comes beautifully to life through the camera lens. Add the magic of Photoshop and airbrushing. Hell, a good computer graphic artist could make me look like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (although they probably couldn’t help my little problem of being incapable of sinking a basket).
Extreme dieting. I’ve already mentioned dieting. However I should add that this isn’t your run of the mill eat-celery-sticks-for-a-few-days kind of diet. This is a diet that spans up to 20 weeks at a time, and involves a highly regimented eating pattern. We’re talking food scales and measuring cups which dole out precise amounts of brown rice and chicken breasts. We’re talking Shaolin monk level of spiritual and physical discipline. (Scott Abel refers to fitness models and bodybuilders as “competitive dieters”, and speaks very frankly about the metabolic and psychic damage done by such extreme regimens in his blog.) We’re also talking about mommy’s little helper: drugs.
Drug use. Many fitness models use anabolic steroids, just like female bodybuilders. Other drugs used are thermogenics, diuretics, appetite suppressants, amphetamines, and the plethora of “gray market” bodybuilding supplements.
Wardrobe, hair, tanning, makeup. Pretty standard stuff for a fashion shoot, really. Tanning is crucial because it emphasizes muscle definition, as does applying something shiny like oil or an iridescent powder. Often a topical bronzer is applied over a base tan. In person it sometimes looks like a weird orange colour.
Tricks of the trade. This means stuff like aluminum or painted wood plates so it looks like the person is lifting a ton (I have aluminum and wood plates at my gym; they’re designed to be the height of 45 lb. plates but lighter… I don’t mind people thinking I’m lifting 135 lbs. over my head!). Duct tape or masking tape is a must. Drag queens and models alike know that it helps prop up cleavage and can be used to pull back skin to increase visual definition. Two-way tape or Bikini Bite helps stop the inevitable wedgie or embarrassing exposure which is a risk with tiny bathing suits. Pre-photo dehydration (achieved usually with the help of drugs) is crucial for optimizing definition, flattening tummies, and leaning out faces.
Surgery. A nip here, a tuck there, a little fat sucked from here, a little collagen added there. Breast implants and lifts, tummy tucks, calf implants, nose jobs, chin jobs, etc. etc. etc. Nothing wrong with surgery–after all, it makes sense if your face and body is your living–but let’s not pretend that it’s Ma Nature’s handiwork.
Again, this isn’t to denigrate the hard work of women who work as fitness models. But it’s a job like any other. Fitness models don’t crawl out of bed with a hangover and raging PMS and immediately have someone snap their picture with a cheap Instamatic. Their representation is a carefully planned event and construction of an image, which has little to do with them as people.
Frankly, I’m sick of other people telling me what I should look like.
As women we get subjected to lots of commentary on our physical appearances. Male strangers tell us to smile, they ogle our breasts, they scream “Nice ass!” or “Hey fatso!” from passing cars. We’re all well aware that we are judged every day on how our bodies look. I would be lying to you if I said I didn’t care about how I looked. BUT we should look good on our own terms, without other people feeling that they have the right to judge us or tell us how we should look. My ideal for myself is different than many other people’s ideal for me, which is fine as long as they keep it to themselves. Besides, according to the media ideal we’re never good enough anyway, so ya might as well divert all that negative mental energy you waste on worrying about it. In media ideal terms, there’s so much wrong with me that the only thing to be done is burn the whole house down and start again! Hahaha! Oh wait, my teeth are straight. Those can stay.
I am a normal woman. I am not a fitness model. I work out in slobby gym wear with no makeup, and I get dirty and sweaty and messyhaired. My breasts are not lifted and separated; they are mashed onto my chest by my cheapo sports bra. When I forget to shave my legs I don’t really care. I am in there to work hard, to lift some heavy shit, and to forget about how my body looks in favour of thinking about what my body does. After having had a few injuries and illnesses, I am happy that the old girl works at all! Can I get out of bed in the morning without pain and make it to the coffeemaker? If so, then yay body!
That is the point of this site: weight training and fitness in general are for everybody and every body! Yes, you will look better and feel better with weight training. I know that I do. But sorry, you’re not going to see pictures of me stuffed into a bathing suit. Let’s just deal with it and move on.
February 18th, 2009at 1:30 pm(#)
Yeah, big legs rock!
February 18th, 2009at 2:08 pm(#)
Awesome Krista! You should sell “Stumptuous” t-shirts (preferably tight or tanktops to show off my non-Fitness Model physique at the gym). I’d totally advertise!
February 20th, 2009at 2:43 pm(#)
Probably my favorite web article of all time. Thanks so much!!!
February 22nd, 2009at 8:10 pm(#)
Amazing. You say so many things I wish I’d said first! Thank you thank you thank you!!! Keep up the great work, Krista!!
February 23rd, 2009at 12:04 am(#)
Thank you for a fantastic article and for providing such great information/inspiration via your site! I’m a 38yr old nurse and have been weight training for 5 months. I love it and wish I’d started sooner.
February 27th, 2009at 1:20 pm(#)
Hey, I just wanted to thank you for this. I’ve been working out for most of my life, and I’ve never achieved the look I want. Recently I’ve gotten up to running 17 miles at a go, which is something I never thought I’d achieve, and I’ve been going to the gym more regularly than ever before in my life. And yet I’m still not happy? What does this say about my unrealistic expectations?
It’s just good to be reminded that what I see in the magazines isn’t necessarily something I should think is the only definition of success. Thanks again!
March 29th, 2009at 11:03 am(#)
AMEN sista!!!
March 31st, 2009at 9:43 pm(#)
The sexy body is the healthy, strong body. Thank you for helping me remember this.
April 3rd, 2009at 9:52 am(#)
thank you, i want big legs, was telling the guy at the gym today, he said ‘why’! but then he showed me the proper way to do squats so he’s ok!
April 22nd, 2009at 6:03 pm(#)
A woman who lifts heavy things ends up with a body better than a fitness model IMHO.
April 26th, 2009at 11:38 am(#)
Great Article!! Having had an eating disorder an an ongoing struggle with self image I really need to read articles like this at least every other day ( ;
I am not a little person I am 5′10 big boned and big cheasted. I feel conspicous at times and just too damn big. Lifting weights and being a competitive powerlifter helped me tremendously with my self image. I appreciate my body more for what it can do.
May 1st, 2009at 9:16 pm(#)
This website was just suggested to me and I think everything you have to say is amazing and just reestablishes everything I believe. It’s more about giving your body what it needs and deserves (by means of nutrition and fitness) to thank it for taking some of the abuse it tends to incur by ourselves, rather than how you look in your skinny jeans. I am constantly surrounded by people who’s total lack of concern for their health just baffles me. But every now and then my consciousness for nutrition and fitness inspires someone to make a change. And that makes it all worth while.
May 8th, 2009at 1:46 pm(#)
Can I just say “holy crap, thank you so much for this?”
May 16th, 2009at 5:24 pm(#)
What issue of SI for Women was this from? I would like to see if I can find a back copy or original for a more high quality version of the article.
May 17th, 2009at 5:27 am(#)
I believe this would have been Oct 2002. If you can find it, let me know. I actually owned that issue once.
May 19th, 2009at 1:11 pm(#)
I was just referred to your site by Randy, a local RKC who I met on Twitter and then worked with at a kettlebell clinic he held. After checking out your site upon his recommendation, I stumbled across this article…and realized I’ve seen it before! Some of my friends at Turbulence Training had pointed me in your direction in the past. I’m going to have to bookmark your site now! You have a great wit and a ton of amazing insight and excellent advice.
Can’t wait to see what else you have to offer. Would love to hear your personal story as well. Maybe it’s here somewhere?
May 26th, 2009at 11:20 am(#)
Thanks so much for this. I have been researching what it means to reach your full potential with physical capability in a natural way. The explanation and pictures you provided sum it up perfectly. A woman’s perfect body is as varied as a fingerprint.
May 27th, 2009at 2:25 pm(#)
[...] I have to share this website with you. Why Don’t You Look Like a Fitness Model? I have been seriously thinking about what a naturally capable and fit woman’s body should [...]
May 29th, 2009at 6:35 am(#)
I love you for this.
June 1st, 2009at 11:49 am(#)
I would buy a Stumptuous tank top too … maybe you should think about offering some.
July 26th, 2009at 3:37 pm(#)
Boy would I ever shell out to be able to buy posters of those pictures.
Thanks for making important points in the clearest and most accessible way possible.
August 1st, 2009at 6:37 am(#)
I concur. The look is whatever the best capability is. Some of the most impressive humans in your photos are potentially some of the least “sports model”. If I as a heterosexual male was looking for someone to conquer the world with, the sports models would not get a look in – seven days without food and they would be useless. Thanks for a look at real performance athletes of all kinds.
September 5th, 2009at 11:03 pm(#)
hells yeah!!!!! love this article!
and i second the idea of stumptuous t-shirts. i would proudly rock a few of those around town!
September 30th, 2009at 5:57 am(#)
I enjoyed reading your article and would like to add my own thoughts on women and body-image. While there is no need for every woman to look like a fitness model. In fact, most men are not attracted to the overly muscular, angular physiqued female figure so common among fitness models. That said, I think there is no reason for women to look like a slough either. Physically activity can be as simple and easy as walking 1 hour a day or choosing to use the stairs instead of the elevator. The way a woman dresses also affects the way she carries herself. There is a wide range of clothing specifically designed for fitness activities even for those for whom skin-tight lycra spandex strikes terror in their heart. And let’s face it… We want men to look at us, though leering is not appreciated, when we go about our daily lives. Admit it… You check out the cute guy seated beside you on the bus or walking down the sidewalk.
September 30th, 2009at 6:07 am(#)
Tiffany, you’ve hit on an important point: all or nothing thinking. We often feel as though if we can’t be “perfect” (again, whatever THAT is), we are awful. There’s no in-between. But what if we aimed for “as good as we can be”; “pretty good” or even simply “healthy”?
I once heard an IFBB pro give this advice to a newbie: “Don’t worry about all the other stuff when you’re starting out. Just get into really good shape.” Probably one of the best, most practical pieces of advice ever. Just get as fit as you can. Take the best care of yourself that you can. Let the rest sort itself out.
September 30th, 2009at 11:19 pm(#)
Thank you so much. I am a professional actor and I feel that the same applies for actors. We are all different, and beautiful. I will never be a size two and 110 lbs; my body just doesn’t work that way. Rather, I could be a size 2 and 110 lbs, but it certainly wouldn’t be anything to look at. I like being strong and looking strong. I have thick legs, too. I so appreciate your words and insight and am so happy I happened upon this as it just made my day. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
November 22nd, 2009at 12:48 pm(#)
Loved reading this. I’m a short-waisted, big-chested, hyper-curvy bellydancer and new Crossfit convert and I love being strong and muscular like my Eastern European ancestors. I struggled against my own body for so long, wishing for a long waist and a small chest, but finally realized that I love my broad shoulders, tiny waist, and huge honkin’ leg muscles. My entire build makes me a very good Modern Egyptian style dancer (you need serious glutes, not a pansy butt, to power some of those moves, and big hips make great hip isolations). And having big, strong legs only means that I catch that train I’m sprinting for (I once successfully ran for a bus that was blocks away while wearing ridiculous platform heels and carrying a hot cup of coffee, thanks to these quads…I like to think).
I’d totally wear a Stumptuous tank, too! I love this site and all the inspiring words and images here. Strong women are so much more interesting to look at than starved waifs in pastel velour track suits! Thanks for all the great information and inspiration. I’m currently 9 months pregnant and have been reading through the archives in happy anticipation of returning to working out full-steam!
December 7th, 2009at 6:27 am(#)
I love the photo of all those women and their different shapes. To me, they all look like fitness models — all beautiful, strong, and healthy. However, your point was not lost on me. It made me feel good to realize that my vision of “physical awesome” isn’t completely dependent on the latest Jennifer Nicole Lee cover photo. Great article!
December 30th, 2009at 7:20 pm(#)
Thanks for this article. This is the kind of encouragement women need in their lives – permission to be themselves and not to strive for a cookie cutter look. I have three young daughters and want them to be exposed to more of this healthy thinking and less of the crap women are bombarded by daily. Like Lena, I too enjoyed the pictures of the female Olympic athletes. It is so good to make visible and celebrate the variations of healthy strong female bodies rather than hide them away because they don’t fit the male ideal. Thanks again, you rock!
January 11th, 2010at 11:56 am(#)
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January 12th, 2010at 7:07 am(#)
Thank you so much for this. I knew this already, about models being airbrushed and so , but for some reason did not think that this also applied to fitness models.
Thank you very much this frank and in depth talk and the pictues are pricless. I will look at these when I am next feeling useless aboy not being able to train enough and also.
Als, its true athletes are more concerned with acheivement than with aesthetics and that should be the focus.
Thank you and thanks again.
January 22nd, 2010at 4:39 pm(#)
Hell ya huge quads!
I enjoy your articles. I find them to be thoroughly educative and humorous. Frankly I think there are far too many people out there who want results without all the work. I’ve had my relatives ask me how I encountered this miraculous weight loss transformation and then whine about how too hard it is, after I tell them that I run and lift heavy weights to burn it off and keep it off. It’s unfortunate because I come from a Asian family where the common desired aesthetic is to be unrealistically thin without any hint of muscle. Regardless, I’ve come to the conclusion that as long as I can dead lift more than my body weight and run for miles I’m doing myself in the favor in the long run. Sometimes I forget this and I want to thank you for being a constant reminder that you should see yourself as how you want to see yourself, regardless of others.
February 6th, 2010at 4:52 pm(#)
Fantastic article, a very refreshing read. I’m sick of people try to dictate to me how I should look in order to be fit according to their definition of the word.