Sitting in the hair salon due for my bi-monthly trim, awaiting my turn in the hot seat, I sifted through the various magazines and brochures on offer. The day’s news engaged me for a while, as did the faces and places spread over some of our more popular local magazines.

Hoping to emulate someone fundamentally different is a losing battle. The key to staying motivated is to fight battles you know you can win

Most intriguing of all, however, was the catalogue of models sporting different hairstyles the hairdresser must have presumably been capable of sculpting. Rugged crew cuts, smart side partings and funky wedges all presented compelling cases for selection as I contemplated a new image for a new season.

Provided my hair was of compatible type and length, I could in theory pick any style of my preference, appropriately inform the hairdresser, sit down for anything up to half an hour, and walk out of the salon feeling very much the man about town parading my new stylish off-the-shelf hairstyle.

I couldn’t help but draw some parallels with my own industry. What if we fitness professionals could do the same?

It just so happens we have a few catalogues of our own laying around our place of work. Bodybuilding and fitness magazines tend to find their way into gym relaxation areas everywhere, and when clients pick them up requesting brand new bodies just as they would a trendy hairstyle, things can become very challenging indeed. Do fitness instructors and personal trainers share the same creative powers as their hairdressing counterparts?

People of all shapes and sizes from a diverse array of backgrounds present requests ranging from rehabilitating knees and hips to resizing bellies and thighs. The skilful trainer may exercise a high degree of success assisting and guiding clients towards their goals, however only as long as such goals remain achievable and realistic.

Some men want to look just like Brad Pitt in his prime or Daniel Craig in James Bond. Some women want to look like Pink, Shakira, or any of the more recent pop stars to reveal all on MTV. Are these goals achievable and realistic? Unfortunately, they aren’t, because there are simply too many variables in the way.

Humans exhibit a surprisingly diverse array of skeletal proportions, muscular development capabilities, and fat storage patterns. These are just some of the reasons why two particular people might never look physically identical no matter how hard they try.

Some men have shorter arms which might look stockier or more muscular, or narrower shoulders causing a less athletic appearance. A female might have a larger pelvis, causing a shapelier feminine appearance, or broader shoulders, causing a more masculine appearance.

Some of us tend to store more fat around the abdomen, some around the hips. Some might have more visceral fat stored internally around the organs, while others store it predominantly subcutaneously just beneath the skin.

We come in different heights, widths, and girths, and hoping to emulate someone with fundamentally different physcial characteristics to our own often ends up a losing battle. The key to staying motivated is to fight battles you know you can win.

When it comes to honing physcial aesthetics, try this next approach and get in the ring with a fighting chance.

Let your role models inspire you by all means, but set the holy grail in your mind’s eye as a better shaped you, and not a different person all together. Start by taking your measurements and let this be your baseline.

Measure the circumference of your thighs, hips, waist, chest and upper arms. Also check your bodyweight. All these readings will allow you to charter your progress when repeated periodically along your journey towards your goals, but more importantly, they allow you to set the right goals in the first place.

If you are unhappy with your tummy, set an initial target of removing 5cm from that area. If you want bigger and more muscular arms, set a target of gaining 3cm of girth in the upper arms.

Have such improvements in measurements ever been achieved before by people just like you?

You may need to consult with a more knowledgeable person in answering this question, but if the answer is yes, then you have a workable realistic and achievable goal.

Finally, apply a time limit to your goal and you are ready to go. A time limit adds a sense of urgency, as a goal without a timelimit isn’t really a goal at all, it’s more of an abstract wish. Six-week goals are a good rule of thumb, with measurement periods set every two weeks.

If your waist becomes smaller, then you know you have lost fat, whatever the weighing scales might say. If your arms get bigger and your waist remains the same then you know you have gained muscle without gaining fat.

If your fortnightly measurements reveal you are straying from the path, then you are in time to make modifcations to your programme by ommitting or adding exercises or methods.

When you achieve your initial goals you can enjoy the sweet taste of success, and you are ready to set new ones. Remember that it’s you against you, and nobody else. Let your target image simply be a better you, and not an unattainable picture of apparent perfection.

To put it bluntly, your chances of turning out exactly like your idol are slim at best.

Setting a realistic and achievable goal is perhaps the most challenging part of embarking on a new fitness regimen.

info@noble-gym.com