Lifting & having muscles does not make the man

Author: Minun

You don’t even NEED to lift.

These days it seems like we are so focused on our body shape and how we look. There’s a gold standard for body image and a lot of us aren’t reaching it. If you’re a guy you need abs and muscles, and if you’re a girl you need a flat stomach, some boobs and a butt. We think these things are so important and feel bad about not having the right body.

The thing is… we rarely stop to think of how ridiculous these standards are. We look at models and celebrities who just look perfect all the time, forgetting that they have personal trainers and the resources to workout whenever they want. They can afford the healthiest foods and are able to be as active as they want.

The same goes double for professional athletes, they train for a living to perform at a high level. We forget that these people aren’t young students who have to spend 6 hours at school and a few hours at night doing homework.

We forget that our lives are completely different than those who we idolize for having good bodies.

We shouldn’t be feeling ashamed at how our bodies look, we’re teenagers and we like food. I don’t think we should feel bad at all for not having muscles or having a bit of a belly. We think that we need all these things but I don’t think we should fixate on our imperfections. We can work out and be more active if we want, but if it’s something that we don’t really like to do or want to we shouldn’t guilt ourselves for it.

Now, to be clear, I think we should be healthy and should do what’s best for our health in general. But health does not mean looking like a supermodel. It means doing things that we enjoy. Being healthy means that we feel good about ourselves mentally and emotionally. I’m not saying it’s bad to workout and having goals of getting a fit body, what I’m saying is that we shouldn’t feel bad for not having those goals or reaching those goals.

Being active can mean a lot of things as well. You don’t need to spend hours every day at the gym, lifting weights or running on a treadmill. Find a sport or activity you enjoy and do it frequently. Or just put some effort into Phys-Ed or Outdoor-Ed.

It takes months to years of consistent working out to see the kind of extreme results we see frequently in the media. Your body won’t change overnight. So let’s stop thinking badly about ourselves!