Great new video which shows REAL women training!

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  • anadoesit
    anadoesit Posts: 442 Member
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    sawyeram wrote: »
    "Great new video which shows REAL women training!"

    changed to

    "Great new video which shows the stereotypical type of "real" women who are not in the greatest shape but are trying really hard and may only be just beginning and not the stereotypical fitness model who is also a "real" woman but that a lot of people think crowd the gym and will snicker and make fun of the others just beginning even though they wouldn't and understand that it's hard work and everyone has to start somewhere training!"

    there I fixed it ... this is only my opinion on what the OP meant :):D

    Perfect! Do you think it'll fit into that wee box for thread title? :)
  • lacewitch
    lacewitch Posts: 766 Member
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    thanks for posting an inspirational video.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I understand the point of the video, but legitimate question here - Why is average motivating? It's a video of a bunch of overweight women working out. Do other overweight women need to see that video to realize that they can work out, too?

    I get that different people respond to different things, but this is something I've never been able to understand. How is seeing someone just like you motivating? Don't you want to be better than you currently are? So wouldn't someone a little further along in their journey be more inspiring?

    And for those talking about "real" women in this video vs supermodels - do you realize the chasm that exists between those 2 groups??? I can't help but feel a certain degree of self defeatism (how's that for a term, lol) coming from stuff like this. Well, I'll never be a VS model, so I'll just be happy to be average. Screw average.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgo4yBeQSOE
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
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    The use of the word "girl" was one problem I had with the video, given that it depicts women. I guess it was a small enough word to fit in that box? Perhaps the target audience identify with the word "girl"?

    I'm also not sure about the focus on "hot" and "foxy", but again as a woman who is already physically active and aware of feminist issues, I guess I'm not the target audience.

    I think it's a great video for an important issue.
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
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    @jacksonpt‌ I understand what you are saying, but have come across a simliar idea elsewhere. When trying to get girls to choose subjects such as science and engineering careers, using highly attractive role models is not a successful strategy because the girls can't relate.
  • anadoesit
    anadoesit Posts: 442 Member
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    It's a UK video. I think it hits all types of demographics (age, race, all types of difference) and I suppose it has its flaws but I still found it motivating!
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    jacksonpt wrote: »
    I understand the point of the video, but legitimate question here - Why is average motivating? It's a video of a bunch of overweight women working out. Do other overweight women need to see that video to realize that they can work out, too?

    I get that different people respond to different things, but this is something I've never been able to understand. How is seeing someone just like you motivating? Don't you want to be better than you currently are? So wouldn't someone a little further along in their journey be more inspiring?

    And for those talking about "real" women in this video vs supermodels - do you realize the chasm that exists between those 2 groups??? I can't help but feel a certain degree of self defeatism (how's that for a term, lol) coming from stuff like this. Well, I'll never be a VS model, so I'll just be happy to be average. Screw average.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgo4yBeQSOE

    You have some good questions. I myself say that mediocrity is not motivating at all. It can be encouraging to see someone like you workout but not motivating to me. I need someone up in the elite status of athletes to be motivating to workout.

    I am with that too screw average. Maybe that why I like the site t nation because it is about people way above my fitness tells us that you can become elite but it takes work and dedication to get there that I am willing to do.
  • anadoesit
    anadoesit Posts: 442 Member
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    jacksonpt wrote: »
    I understand the point of the video, but legitimate question here - Why is average motivating? It's a video of a bunch of overweight women working out. Do other overweight women need to see that video to realize that they can work out, too?

    I get that different people respond to different things, but this is something I've never been able to understand. How is seeing someone just like you motivating? Don't you want to be better than you currently are? So wouldn't someone a little further along in their journey be more inspiring?

    And for those talking about "real" women in this video vs supermodels - do you realize the chasm that exists between those 2 groups??? I can't help but feel a certain degree of self defeatism (how's that for a term, lol) coming from stuff like this. Well, I'll never be a VS model, so I'll just be happy to be average. Screw average.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgo4yBeQSOE


    People respond to different types of motivation. Others feel defeated by the same images or messages that make others buzz with enthusiasm.

    For me, I like seeing pictures or images of women closer to my own demographic for several reasons which are personal and I don't feel like a flame fest this afternoon.
    Suffice it to say, not all of us aspire to be really super fit and lean and strong and supermodels. There are plenty of avenues for motivation if that's what you're aiming for, but if you're someone who has been sedentary most or all of your life, just seeing a less fit person on the street running wearing just a sports bra and training shorts is inspiring.

    Diff strokes for diff folks.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    anadoesit wrote: »
    This Girl Can (and the hashtag #thisgirlcan on Twitter) is the name of a campaign set up by Sport England, the government agency for grassroots sport, to boost the number of women doing exercise.
    So many hashtags.

    Here I was wondering if I could find any thai ladyboys. Nope, looked all like "real" women.
  • anadoesit
    anadoesit Posts: 442 Member
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    Remember, this is a public service message to encourage those who are unfamiliar with the benefits of exercise to just start, no matter how slowly or simply. Some people may be too intimidated to go to a gym to lift or run on the street, but the group activities suit them better (the football, volleyball, badminton type) because they're not under pressure.

    Any movement is better than sitting at home eating bikkies on the couch! It's about getting people to move even a bit.
  • Sinistrous
    Sinistrous Posts: 5,589 Member
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    That was beautiful o.o
  • GingerbreadCandy
    GingerbreadCandy Posts: 403 Member
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    I'm in love with this.

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    jacksonpt wrote: »
    I understand the point of the video, but legitimate question here - Why is average motivating? It's a video of a bunch of overweight women working out. Do other overweight women need to see that video to realize that they can work out, too?

    I get that different people respond to different things, but this is something I've never been able to understand. How is seeing someone just like you motivating? Don't you want to be better than you currently are? So wouldn't someone a little further along in their journey be more inspiring?

    And for those talking about "real" women in this video vs supermodels - do you realize the chasm that exists between those 2 groups??? I can't help but feel a certain degree of self defeatism (how's that for a term, lol) coming from stuff like this. Well, I'll never be a VS model, so I'll just be happy to be average. Screw average.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgo4yBeQSOE

    A few things on this:

    1. I'm not sure if many of the posters in this thread are purposely acting blind or what but there are plenty of non-overweight women in this video. Just to be sure I wasn't crazy, I went back and checked and see non-overweight women at 0:05, 0:07/0:08, 0:19, 0:30-0:35, 0:42-0:47, and so on. If you pay attention to everything going on in the video, the proportion of overweight to non-overweight women (and I wish there was a better way to express this as I obviously don't know their weights but am referring to someone who at best guess I would think was in the "healthy weight range" for her height) is fairly close to 50/50.

    2. I think there is a difference between motivating and encouraging, or at least motivating and making feel less self-conscious. In the early months of losing weight, I felt very embarrassed to exercise in public. I routinely ran at dusk so that I could at least feel like people wouldn't see me as much and realize "hey, there's that fat lady from down the street, attempting to run." Now would they have even thought that? Who knows. But the fact is that is how I felt and how many overweight/out of shape people feel. Seeing somebody else who is in similar shape get out there, seem to say "whatever" to the idea of people whispering about him/her can give an overweight/out of shape person a bit of vicarious bravery, enough to get out the door and start exercising too.

    3. This goes along with my second point but there are a lot of people who are so overweight/out of shape that seeing a person "further along in their journey" is the absolute opposite of inspiring. For me, looking at an athlete like, let's say, Venus or Serena Williams, did nothing for me as a fat woman. Screw amazing strength and endurance and an awesome body. I wanted to be able to scratch my own back, to not be too embarrassed to have my picture taken with my daughter, to not be winded walking up a flight of stairs, etc. Great athletes were not relatable and, frankly, they still aren't, to me. I look at them and think "their full time jobs support absolute fitness and their days are built around it. I'm never going to be in that type of situation because it's just not my lifestyle. I'm doing the best with what I am and the life I can realistically live." When somebody asks me whose body I'd like to have, I don't answer with a known athlete or celebrity of any type. My answer is "my body but with a bit less fat around the middle." I don't think that wanting to be a better version of myself is self-defeatism.
  • scraver2003
    scraver2003 Posts: 528 Member
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    jacksonpt wrote: »
    I understand the point of the video, but legitimate question here - Why is average motivating? It's a video of a bunch of overweight women working out. Do other overweight women need to see that video to realize that they can work out, too?

    I get that different people respond to different things, but this is something I've never been able to understand. How is seeing someone just like you motivating? Don't you want to be better than you currently are? So wouldn't someone a little further along in their journey be more inspiring?

    And for those talking about "real" women in this video vs supermodels - do you realize the chasm that exists between those 2 groups??? I can't help but feel a certain degree of self defeatism (how's that for a term, lol) coming from stuff like this. Well, I'll never be a VS model, so I'll just be happy to be average. Screw average.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgo4yBeQSOE

    Ooo!! Good Questions. I think it comes down to self-confidence. A women who is not self-confident and has self-image issues might see a very fit woman and think: "I can never be like her. I cannot do that, I am too ___ (fat, slow, short, etc.). I shouldn't even try b/c I will look stupid."

    I love seeing fit women and being inspired, but my self-confidence, when it comes to my body, is awesome. But I also find it inspiring to see a woman who is as over weight as I, being able to do pull ups and pushups and the things that I am trying to learn to do. Seeing that has made me realize that I do not need to "wait until I drop 30 lbs" to be able to work at doing pull ups. I can train to do pull ups NOW - at my current weight.

    You asked this: "Do other overweight women need to see that video to realize that they can work out, too?" And the answer is - yes... some women DO need to see that. Some women need to work UP to "average" first.
  • lili61
    lili61 Posts: 231 Member
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    This video has brought up some interesting questions. Ultimately I'm not a fan of the "real" women talk that I see so often, as all women are real women, in many different ways.

    I do think that this could be motivating for women who don't think they can exercise, or don't feel comfortable exercising because of their weight/image/whatever. Showing women who don't fit into the fitness model mold is good. For people who are motivated by the look of a fitness model--there is plenty of that out there elsewhere. Ultimately this is promoting health and I'm not going to nitpick that too much.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    There's one major issue with the "real" women bs.

    It is not inclusive at all. It rejects people who have differing bodies from the median, and it directly excludes people who are in the process or have transitioned to being female.

    It also excludes people who identify as female in their day to day lives, even if not anatomically so.

    We should really focus on being inclusive.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    anadoesit wrote: »
    Remember, this is a public service message to encourage those who are unfamiliar with the benefits of exercise to just start, no matter how slowly or simply. Some people may be too intimidated to go to a gym to lift or run on the street, but the group activities suit them better (the football, volleyball, badminton type) because they're not under pressure.

    Any movement is better than sitting at home eating bikkies on the couch! It's about getting people to move even a bit.

    If these people can see this- odds are they have the internet and other sources of information at their hands- hell even a public library.

    There is no secret club. None of us are in a club- we chose to do something and we are going to go do it. we are DOING it.

    You don't need an invitation- I personally dislike the idea of government motivation because how sad are you that you need your government to tell you that sitting on your couch for 24 hrs a day isn't healthy and that going out to do something physically active is better for you.

    Go.Do.A.Thing.

    no matter what shape or size- anything. just go do A. thing. If you cant' figure out how to go for a walk on your own- this video isn't going to do anything for you.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    JoRocka wrote: »
    anadoesit wrote: »
    Remember, this is a public service message to encourage those who are unfamiliar with the benefits of exercise to just start, no matter how slowly or simply. Some people may be too intimidated to go to a gym to lift or run on the street, but the group activities suit them better (the football, volleyball, badminton type) because they're not under pressure.

    Any movement is better than sitting at home eating bikkies on the couch! It's about getting people to move even a bit.

    If these people can see this- odds are they have the internet and other sources of information at their hands- hell even a public library.

    There is no secret club. None of us are in a club- we chose to do something and we are going to go do it. we are DOING it.

    You don't need an invitation- I personally dislike the idea of government motivation because how sad are you that you need your government to tell you that sitting on your couch for 24 hrs a day isn't healthy and that going out to do something physically active is better for you.

    Go.Do.A.Thing.

    no matter what shape or size- anything. just go do A. thing. If you cant' figure out how to go for a walk on your own- this video isn't going to do anything for you.

    Well we all know that the average person in this country does no exercise. I find that to be really sad.

    I remember reading a mens health mag before and seeing that the average male who weights 175 cannot bench press 135. Like what. Wow that low.

  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
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    people in general make me sad.
  • anadoesit
    anadoesit Posts: 442 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I often wonder if I walked up to someone who maybe hadn't had a good experience in their academic life and had not really developed their intellectual capacities and I said. ..."Why are you not motivated when watching this video promoting getting a PhD in Atmospheric Physics? Just do it! You'll never get there if you don't start NOW. Start with night classes in basic maths and then work your way up! Are you lazy? "

    Ya see, for some of us, some things are more challenging than for others. You're very fortunate that your body is amenable to exercise and you are strong and fit. Combination of your hard work, dedication and genes. I applaud you.

    I wish I had that natural physical confidence. I don't and I never will but I still try my best.
    On the other hand, I'm extremely confident and relaxed in advanced education and academia. Nothing about it makes me anxious or uptight.

    Think about it.