Do you choose workouts/systems based on how the instructor LOOKS??

[SharonNYC]

Originally Posted by Kimberly33

--> Was it Lotte Berk's studios who hires people who already look a certain way and then trains them to do the workouts? (It was one of the barre-type workouts with studios in NYC).

I think it was Lotte Berk. I've heard the same thing about other studios specializing in this type of exercise as well. (ETA: As I remember it was a New York Times article that mentioned this -- can't find it with a search though.)

[Sue B]

Jeri, you don't need to apologize or be chastened. When people disagree with you, they're not bashing or suppressing or trying to chase you out of here, they're just giving their point of view and that's what makes a conversation. I find this conversation very fascinating; thanks for starting it. (And I'm sorry about your dad.)

Different videos are made for different audiences looking for different things. I admit that if I saw a Firm video led by someone with an Oprah sort of figure, it would be a little off-putting because they've built their brand up with a certain chiseled-and-sculpted look, and their instructors openly talk about achieving that look with a combo of exercise, diet and surgery. Leslie seems more about health, energy and getting into an exercise habit than sculpting the perfect body.

[snapfish45]

Originally Posted by Kimberly33

!)



Personally, my inspiration comes from the over-50 crowd competing at triathlons and the 70-somethings riding long distances on their bikes. THAT's who I want to be when I grow up.

Right on sister!

Jeri, I don't think you need to apologize. We are all different and we all have different goals. Personally, I am tall, big boned, and build muscle easily. With that in mind, I tend to gravitate toward barre, classical stretch, cardio and yoga. I don't want bulky muscles, they don't do anything for me; although if I were a different body shape to begin with I might feel differently. That is the beauty of this forum and having so many dvd's to choose from. There is something for everyone.

[msladybug]

Originally Posted by dickensgirl

OP here!!
Hi everyone~
First of all, let me say that my original query was worded INCREDIBLY BADLY, even stupidly!!!! Definitely
thoughtlessly.... To those of you (wrongly, but understandably) inferred something hurtful or judgmental in my intent, I apologize . Perhaps you will allow me some forbearance- my father has recently been diagnosed with vascular dementia, & I've been in a sort of 24/7 freakout.
Some of you understood where I was actually coming from, which was more about representations & implicit "results modelling", as it were, by certain instructors/ systems. Others also picked up on the issue of motivation, which is HIGHLY individual. It really isn't so different from things many do comment on, such as voice or manner. But obviously it's much more PERSONAL & pushes different buttons, & Ill be the 1st to admit to having a LOT of those buttons!!!!!
As for the lady I idiotically put at the center of this "debate": can I just say that I had nearly ALL of the WATP's on VHS & many others (remember the one supposedly set in her living room where the male exerciser had to move the coffee table before the 2nd segment?!), & have a bunch of the newer ones with sand-filled balls, boosted walking, the biker-looking guy in the bandanna thingie, the walkbelt, pink weights, etc. etc. etc So if I AM a critic, I'm a loyal one!!!
Furthermore, I AGREE with msladybug about how really wonderful those w/o's are for so many, but especially beginners just "getting up off the couch" !!
So thank you ALL : I've been a little chastened, but mostly edified. And as Red Panda put it: CARRY ON !!!

Jeri

Wishing you since condolences about your father. I know it is difficult, my own father is deceased, but I lost him to altiemers before he he died.

No one is going to look at everything the same as anyone else. All and all, there is much we do agree on. My opinions have as much to do with experience with other threads of this type that have "gone south" and not about you for starting the thread. I'm sorry if you felt personally attacked. I do agree, this has been an interesting thread.

[dickensgirl]

[QUOTE=Sue B;1541680]Jeri, you don't need to apologize or be chastened. When people disagree with you, they're not bashing or suppressing or trying to chase you out of here, they're just giving their point of view and that's what makes a conversation. I find this conversation very fascinating; thanks for starting it. (And I'm sorry about your dad.Thank you for the kind words, Sue!! This really HAS been interesting, hasn't it!!
Kimberly & snapfish: ITA about wanting to be a tough, wise, kickin' old bird & that's my goal!!!

Jeri

[Sarah-lara]

I have said before the best fitness instructor I've ever had was a self-proclaimed 30-40 pounds overweight. She is phenomenally fit and energetic and a real inspiration. She never stops moving and can do just about any sport. Plus it was fun to watch people come to her spin class and get wiped out while she sang the songs and barely broke a sweat.

I'd love to look like Leslie or Squeeze-era Tracy!

But I probably have to answer yes to the OP. I have ejected a Netflix (or should I say Regretflix?) before the workout ended because an instructor was very underweight. I think I wouldn't have minded too much about that except that the title of the workout included the phrase "...for weight loss," so they clearly wanted to promote this instructor as the ideal physique. I was that thin once when I was sick and it was not a good experience.

[Nuggie's Auntie]

Originally Posted by Kimberly33

--> Was it Lotte Berk's studios who hires people who already look a certain way and then trains them to do the workouts? (It was one of the barre-type workouts with studios in NYC).

That strikes me as really bizarre. Wouldn't you want people to see how your exercise method makes every body type look??

[SharonNYC]

Originally Posted by Nuggie's Auntie

That strikes me as really bizarre. Wouldn't you want people to see how your exercise method makes every body type look??

I think the idea is to link your business with a certain signature look. The instructors at the Lotte Berk studio definitely had a similar body type. It's like trademarking.

[ddj]

Originally Posted by Kimberly33

A few examples off the top of my head:
--> Numerous instructors talking about their actual workouts--often bearing little resemblence to the ones they publish
--> Firm leads talking about going on unsustainable diets before filming
--> A few different (very thin) instructors talking about their very restrictive diets
--> Didn't Cathe add in a ton of running to lean out before one of her video shoots?
--> Was it Lotte Berk's studios who hires people who already look a certain way and then trains them to do the workouts? (It was one of the barre-type workouts with studios in NYC).

And I think we rarely see unretouched photos on DVD/VHS boxes. The bodies we see in print are frequently looks that are either rarely found in nature or are not ones found in nature.

Personally, my inspiration comes from the over-50 crowd competing at triathlons and the 70-somethings riding long distances on their bikes. THAT's who I want to be when I grow up.

I believe Cathe has admitted to dieting for a shoot. And lying in a tanning bed. And I don't know if she added tons of running to lean out for a shoot, but I do believe she has said that she runs. But I guess that could be hard to put on video.

I agree with that last paragraph especially. And really I admire anyone, regardless of age, who's more interested in what their bodies can do rather than how they look. Now if I could just get there myself. Do I have to be over 50? Oh well, just a couple more years.

[~^~RedFlame~^~]

Of COURSE! I think that is only natural. Though I have not read the rest of the posts and may find that I am all wrong in this. As a trainer I always try to maintain a physique that I feel is a 'tool' for selling my services, because I would 'think' that one would hesitate to use a trainer for whom the work seemed to do nothing.

That said, however, I also realize that this is misleading if you are judging the METHOD by the trainer's physique, because any GOOD trainer mixes it up, so it really usually is not any ONE technique that gets them their body. You could have a trainer who does a lot of weight work, put out a Pilates DVD and one would be wrong in assuming that Pilates gave her those muscles. BUT, if they are not SOME kind of fit, whether it is muscular, toned, strong, something, why would I waste my time and money on the DVD? I WOULD assume that THEIR way of working out must not be very good, more-so than the form itself, I would doubt the trainer. So, my answer to your question for me would be that the trainer's physique matters, but only so far as I have faith in THEM, not for the method they happen to be doing in the DVD.