Expectations VS Reality
Previously on Fitness For Thought, we talked about the barriers to getting into fitness and 50 reasons why you should. Now we need to talk about realistic expectations. Social media can be fantastic for inspiration and getting into things, but it can also have a harmful effect on your expectations which can snowball into disappointment and ultimately give up early. So, no B.S. Here are my thoughts on the expectations people have coming into fitness and how they can differ from reality.
The number one expectation I see people have is: I want to look like him or I want to look like her. If this is you cut those thoughts out right away. 99% of you won’t look like the person you are basing your image off and that is NOT A BAD THING. Genetically you differ, your muscles have a different shape, your metabolisms differ, your ability to put on muscle differs, your ability to burn fat differs, and a multitude more factors differ. Instead, take your goal person and say to yourself, “Why do I want to look like this?”. From there you can pinpoint your process. “They have bigger muscles than me and I want bigger muscles”. Great! Now we know you want to build muscle. From there you can set your expectations to by the end of this I should have more muscle than before. That is an achievable expectation and will set you up well without leaving you wondering, why do I not look like XYZ? The other issue with having an expectation to look like someone is that there is a very high chance that the person you want to look like has dedicated their life to fitness and taken whatever steps are necessary and in many cases this includes performance-enhancing substances. Long story short: It is fantastic to use other people for inspiration, but always set your expectations based on yourself, not others.
Secondly, I want to address the expectation of strength. Social media has completely blown the standard of strength out of the water. Huge feats of strength seem to be commonplace, and it puts the question in your mind “Why can’t I do that? I must not be strong or I am doing something wrong”. You are doing nothing wrong, and the only strength that matters is your current strength in comparison to your past strength. Are you stronger than you were before? Then that is a success!
From both of these topics, my take on expectations vs reality can be summarized as follows. In reality, your expectation to look like or perform like someone you see online is most likely not going to happen to a full degree. Shift your expectations to be based upon yourself and the reality of them being true will follow.
Next a negatively connotated expectation.
If I lift weights, I will get bulky. This is one of the biggest misconceptions in fitness and it causes an expectation that stops a lot of people, women especially, from getting into weight training. To get bulky you need to lift weights, eat tons of food and train for a very long time with that as your intention. It will not just happen to you. This is especially true if you are a woman, getting bulky will not occur unless you have a carefully crafted plan with that at the forefront.
What expectations can you have going into a fitness journey that you can make a reality?
You expect to be stronger than you were when you started.
You expect to be able to run further/faster than when you started.
You expect to have more muscle definition.
You expect to feel better in your everyday life.
You expect to lessen your joint/nagging pains.
Come into a fitness journey with an expectation to improve yourself not an expectation to look like, lift as much as, or emulate someone else. Keep fitness about you and you will be more successful in the long run.
