Show Us Real People

Show Us Real People 

If I have to watch one more unrealistic advertisement about exercise equipment I may scream.

The manufacturers of exercise equipment need to take a reality check before having an advertising agency create their ads. The people they use to promote their products on television look like they spend hours a day exercising. Who are these people, and do they go to work every day? They try to make it look like people we know, but I can tell you that in real life that baby would start crying the minute you tried to slip by to exercise.

Let’s face it, the average person must work. In addition to work, they come home and face a multitude of chores before the day is done. Between meals, laundry, cleaning, and helping with homework most fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day.

If we have a full life, we are lucky to fit in perhaps 3-4 twenty minute workouts in a week, and that’s if we can find the time and energy. At this rate we certainly won’t look like the hard bodies shown on television, which can make us feel like a failure.

It would be a breath of fresh air if they would show people who do not have a slim, muscular figure using this equipment. The people I know certainly would not be looking at a screen with some perfect bodied fitness trainer shouting at them to run, walk, or ride up that steep hill faster. We should be trying to find more ways to turn screens off to encourage increased physical activity.

These ads are not the reality in our everyday life. We may try to fit in a brisk walk a few times a week, or perhaps a bit of yoga, but most of us will not be on this equipment. The majority watching cannot afford to purchase the equipment, say nothing about using it excessively.

If we consider purchasing exercise equipment we need to be sure that we will use it. I’m sure there are thousands and thousands of them sitting in basements and garages after the initial enthusiasm wore off. That is apparent by the number of these used items for sale.

If you want reality, take a look at your family, friends and neighbors. We don’t have to look like a fitness trainer to be healthy. If we get some exercise, try to eat healthy foods and limit sugar intake, then our reality is far better than an unhealthy obsession with exercise.