22/09/2025
🔥💪 The only ‘before and after’ I’m interested in🔥💪
As a personal trainer and strength coach, I’ve empowered many people through movement, knowledge and compassion.
However, the overuse of the ‘before and after’ photo as a measure of success has never sat right with me.
At first glance, they appear harmless, even inspiring. But the truth is they tell an incomplete, and often misleading story.
I’ll tell you why:
1. They perpetuate the idea that smaller is better and feed into body shaming culture. Whether we realise it or not, ‘before’ photos suggest a person to be fixed - unmotivated, unworthy, undisciplined - and that only the ‘after’ version is acceptable. This reinforces the idea that our worth is tied to our appearance. It is not. How would past you feel if they knew they were being used as something to be ashamed of?
2. They paint fitness as a destination to be reached and this isn’t conducive to long term success. What happens after the after? I feel a more effective approach is to find enjoyment in the journey and whatever movement you choose.
3. They ignore the more profound off camera wins such as healthy habit formation, gym confidence and one’s relationship with food and exercise. What about the client who went from chronic back pain to none? Or the one who has gained their confidence back through lifting, and now has the strength to lift their grandchildren? They aren’t visible in a photo, but they’re the real, and life changing transformations that matter.
4. They can trigger disordered thinking. One I’ve had my own personal battles with. For many, these images harbour a perfectionist mindset, disordered eating or obsessive exercising. They fuel comparison, and comparison diminishes progress.
The truth?
The number on the barbell tells you so much more about your health than the mirror ever will. And the truest measure of your success is your happiness.
If you’re ready for real, long term and sustainable change, I am here to help you all the way.
Shall we do this?! 🔥
