six-pack.jpg
Or maybe more accurately, a visible six-pack. And I mean you could work your booty off, eat a real healthy diet, and still never get one. I mean, you might, but again, you might not. Are you mad now? Is that awful to say? However, I really do believe it. It's like trainer blasphemy, but hey, I specialize, yo.
See, I saw this nutritionist yesterday, someone I saw a few times when I was younger, and I love her perspective. She reminded me of some things I knew but was sort of starting to lose sight of. Like that everyone is different, and responds in different ways to different things. And sometimes we spend our lives chasing the impossible, and make our happiness contingent on something that isn't gonna be real for us. And in doing so, we sometimes miss what is right in front of us. Got that Dorothy? You could have gone home at any time, you just had to click your heels. Now, aren't you mad that Glinda didn't tell you that in the first place and instead you had to mess around for a whole movie with wild animals and people made out of tin and flying monkeys?
So I picked the six-pack to deliver this inspiring message for two reasons: One, it is something many, many people express a desire to get, and two, I remembered something I read a while back.
It was a feature on personal trainers, and one of them was a body builder. The interviewer asked what he tells people who want a six-pack. His answer? "I tell them it is exercise and genetics." I remember this so well because hardly anyone in the fitness field admits that genetics plays a huge role in how people look and feel and do with exercise. But it is the same answer I give people when they ask how I got my arms. "Exercise and genes." I mean, I work out, but there's other people who also work out equally hard and see less muscle tone.
Some people could probably have a six-pack but don't do the exercise and nutrition stuff to find out, and hey, that's their right and I got no truck with that. Others could have one but are doing the exercises and eating things that won't yield them results. Others hold fat around their middle primarily, and it's the first to come back and the last to go with any lifestyle changes. And still others might be able to see the pack, but the steps required for them to get that low body fat might be bad for their overall health now. Some had it when they were younger and now it's harder to see. Others have a super low body fat percentage but just don't get very visible tone. Think of some of the skinny people you know who don't have one. Now, you still think it is all just crunches and weight loss?
Hey, we are bleeping snowflakes. we are all different. No one really believes they are going to get taller or change eye color or get a smaller nose without surgery, but we somehow think we could all have one particular kind of body if only we were better/ more disciplined/ liked exercise/ gave up sugar/ help me blah blah blah.
Guess who really has a six-pack? My seven-year-old, who as far as I know, does very few crunches and hardly any Pilates. Which tells us...yes, it's probably in her genes. If she gained weight, it would likely get covered in a layer of fat, as would mine if the same thing happened. But weight loss would probably bring it out again. But that's not fair! Why should some people get certain genes and other people work hard but see less visible muscle to show for it? Click here to read more
