Fighting Bad Body Images at the Gym

Working out is a healthy habit, but not if it is driven by the low self esteem, obsessive exercise and eating disorders that often accompany body image issues, said Robyn Stuhr in a speech delivered at the American College of Sports Medicine conference in Atlanta.  Stuhr is the vice president of the American Council on Exercise in San Diego.  “The media is a pervasive force,” she said, “and it can give us unattainable images of what perfection is.”

Ten percent of women have struggled with an eating disorder said Stuhr, and in a recent Esquire poll, 53 percent of women said that they would rather be hit by a truck than be fat.  These statistics belie a more intense body obsession known as body dysmorphic disorder, where a person obsesses over a perceived flaw so intensely that it changes the body’s normal functioning.    This leads to eating disorders, which in turn can cause problems like disruptions in the menstrual cycle, bone loss, and low energy from poor calorie intake.  It can also lead to a dangerous use of steroids and supplements, said Stuhr.

Gyms are often the places where people go to achieve the perfect body that is out of their reach, so personal trainers and gym staff should offer an environment that is more focused on health and less focused on body image.  For example, by having smaller mirrors in gyms, people have to confront their own bodies less often.  Also, gyms should have staff with a diversity of body types so that one image is not perceived as the best, said Stuhr.  Finally, trainers should be aware of the things that they say to their clients and each other.

“I’ve always been wary of enabling a person in their own perceived shortcomings,” said Rick Martin, a lead personal trainer who works with students and Faculty at Drexel University.  “Sometimes though, I don’t know what to look for, and am even worried that my own language may be pushing them in the wrong direction.”

A personal trainer can help nip body image issues early on simply by the way they interact with a client, said Stuhr.  When a client comes in, saying that they are fat or have serious problems they need to work on, a trainer can focus the conversation on healthy exercise by saying something like, “Let’s make it our goal to reduce your mile time by thirty seconds this month,” or “You have gotten noticeably stronger, let’s keep focusing on your new muscles.”

“By offering consistent positive feedback, a trainer can keep a person focused on their own achievements and not on any anxieties the person might have about being more fit or thin,” said Stuhr.

Personal trainers are not equipped to solve every problem a person may have, and may sometimes encounter a patient with an issue that is beyond their training.  If a client starts to show serious problems and even signs of an eating disorder, trainers should not try to solve the problem themselves, and instead should offer a referral to an appropriate psychologist.

Gyms are still a very healthy place to be, leading people to adopt new healthy habits, said Stuhr.  “We also need to make sure they adopt a healthy self-perception that goes with these habits” she said.