Adverse Advertising

Taking the LRT home one day, I noticed an intriguing advert at the side of the Bangsar LRT station. One of the local gym chains were promoting their personal training services, claiming that you can lose 8 inches of waistline within 8 weeks!! Being exceptionally cynical and skeptical after a long day at work, I decided to dissect this.

First and foremost, I admit that I'm not a big fan of this gym chain. Based on my sources, it is the typical commercialized, soul-less gym chain occupied by personal trainers who are more interested in checking out their own biceps while ignoring their client who's performing a workout movement. In fact, if I recall correctly, my friend overheard the trainer claim that you can actually grow taller from resistance training!! Doesn't that sound fantastic!?! Hmmmm I wonder why are majority of the competitive bodybuilders are shorter than 6'0? Now isn't that baffling?

But I digress, as I could definitely go on and on to debase their various vices and fallacies. Alright, 8 weeks to lose 8 inches on the waistline....hmmmm if that's possible, why aren't there more trim individuals out there? If 8 weeks of training could yield such an amazing result, everybody would look like a freakin' Brad Pitt or Maria Sharapova in no time! Even if this was possible, the methods utilized would definitely be suspect. Personally, one of the things I would like to know is that difference in lean muscle mass over this specific period of time. It would be pretty pointless if you lose so much weight, and a lot of it consisted of lean muscle mass. This would lead to a decrease in metabolism, hindering your future ability to lose bodyfat and possibly gaining more weight than ever before.

Statistically speaking, it would be interesting to know how many people actually attemped this program and succeeded at it. In addition to that, what were the participant's genetic disposition? Were they predominantly ectomorphs, endomorphs, mesomorphs, or a combination of either characteristic? Some people are born with different basal metabolisms, some can gain weight easily while others remain extremely thin despite sporting a dietary habit equivalent to a sumo wrestler. It would be naive to think that a particular training regime would work the same for everybody.

Frankly, I believe that any form of fitness advertising with ridiculous claims such as this, is absolutely bullshit. Not only will it not work, it will lead to high expectations and eventually, disappointment. It is these sort of crap that make people lose interest in working out, assuming that their cause is hopeless and give up, never ever realizing the amazing benefits that resistance training will yield.

Making gains in the gym is a gradual process, and miracles do not happen overnight. To move like an athlete or look like a bodybuilder, requires years of consistent training and strict discipline. Even if that isn't your goal, you still require to hit the weights and treadmill with some semblance of consistency. There really isn't an easy way out, and only hard work and discipline will yield success for this endeavour.