By Brian Foley from Activate Fitness

Anyone who knows me or has been reading my columns/blogs for any length of time, you already know that I get really upset when I think someone is being taken advantage of, or if I see someone making elitist and misguided judgements against anyone based on their appearance or lifestyle.

That’s why, when someone recently said the following to me I got a little upset:

“The majority of the population don’t get results because they lack the self-discipline and probably could benefit from at least pushing past sitting on the couch every day.”

My argument against most ‘fitness influencers’ and even some supposed fitness professionals in general is that the regimes, typically six to 12 weeks, they take their clients through are punitive and have no lasting value. They don’t teach people anything about their relationship with food and their bodies, and they can be physically and emotionally harmful.

But anyway, I initially didn’t answer the comment that this person made because I don’t tend to argue with people whose minds are already set, and their information is gleaned from David Goggins for psychology and 'Men's/Women's Health Magazine' for physiology, I typically just leave it.
People have the right to disagree with me, and why argue?

Afterwards, someone who overheard this conversation asked me why I didn’t engage.

I didn’t respond to the comment because I don’t agree with what was said about ‘self-discipline’ and ‘sitting on the couch all day,’ which is exceptionally ableist.

Besides the fact that the comment implies that overweight/unfit people do nothing but sit on the couch all day, which makes steam come out of my ears, what they said is very similar to the meaning behind the quote, “we all have the same 24 hours in the day”.

I’ve seen this 24 hours comment a lot, especially in 'Nutrition Challenge' and fitness circles. It drives me absolutely insane.

Here’s just a few quotes I pulled from online:

“No one is too busy in this world. We all have the same 24 hours. It’s all about priorities.”

“People tell me: “I don’t have the time to do this business.”, Lies; We all have the same 24 hours in a day. You make time for what you want. No excuses.”

“We all have the same 24 hours in a day. If someone else seems to be accomplishing more than you, they’re sacrificing more than you.”

When I look at these quotes, all I see is blame and humiliation.

Is it just me?
No excuses?
Is everyone else sacrificing more?
Lack of direction?

These things don’t even enter into the equation for an entire cohort of the population. Posting or saying any of this shows a complete lack of insight into the real-life struggles that others have.
Not only that, it rubs their faces into these struggles.

I’m pretty sure that when someone throws around the ‘same 24 hours in a day’ thing, they’re just trying to make themselves feel good by making other people feel like crap.

And although they’re meant to be ‘inspirational,’ these sayings shame others into feeling as though they aren’t trying hard enough to meet other peoples’ expectations for them.

Needless to say, it’s nobody’s job to meet YOUR expectations of how you think they should be running their life.

There are a lot of reasons why someone might not work out, or be ‘successful’ in meeting their health and fitness goals, but I’m willing to bet that none of these reasons are simple.

People are complex, and to sum them up in a blanket comment doesn’t do them justice, nor is it fair.

Sure, the laws of time apply to everyone. Nobody has 27 hours in a day.

But real life, not ‘excuses,’ can impact a person’s ability to just ‘get off the couch’ and live a life that’s the stuff of an inspirational quote.

No matter how hard some people work, life still challenges them beyond their capabilities.
Yes, there are always outliers, and their stories are the ones that make it into the media.

Someone who was living in abject poverty, with no home and living on Social Welfare and who is now the CEO of some company.

Even some ‘fitness gurus’ have “failure to success” stories.
People love this stuff, and it’s great for marketing and sales.

But the majority of people have lives that won’t turn out that way, and that has nothing to do with their level of motivation or the number of hours in their day.

Next week read Part Two where we look at some research as to why many people are challenged when it comes to fitness due to things that can throw a spanner in the works of even the most persistent of people.