Should you sign up for classes from the slim Pilates instructor? Or maybe book a few sessions with the trainer with the awesome calves? The answer may be neither: an instructor’s body type means less than you might think.
Picture: Lin Mei
While some sports or workouts may develop certain muscles more than others, most of what we think of as a person’s body type comes from genetics and other factors that can’t be shaped in mere weeks or months of workouts. Exercise physiologist Mike T. Nelson explains to Women’s Health:
Sure, by working the legs like crazy, indoor-cycling classes are obviously going to grow instructors’ quads, hamstrings, and glutes, he says. But they might have gravitated toward cycling to begin with because they had strong legs. And barre instructors might prefer ballet-inspired workouts because their bodies were born for endurance rather than explosive power. After all, people stick with the exercises at which they excel.
The instructor may not have originally sculpted their body with the same type of exercise they’re doing now. And your own body may not be built the same way as theirs, anyway.
Remember, you’re choosing an instructor based on what they can help you do — not what they look like. If you’re trying to achieve specific changes to your body, you’d be better off choosing a personal trainer based on their expertise and their compatibility with you, and asking them to set you up with a program to meet your goals.
Is It Wise to Choose Your Workout Based on the Instructor’s Body Type? [Women’s Health]
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