# Arsehole fitness instructors **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 3, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938 "2005-12-03T20:48:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/1 "2005-12-03T20:48:54Z")
Okay I know I shouldn’t get worked up about a tv show…but I have now watched more than one version of ‘fatties go on diet and fitness programme with nutritionist and fitness instructor’ type reality shows. I get so pissed off with the fitness instrutors - they are fucking clueless. Big people are often big because they have motivational and/or metabolism issues with exercise - and here are the instrutors making them work out until they are faint, feeling sick and collapsing. Do these people have no clue about negative reinforcement? Any exercise programme that makes me feel sick every time I do it is not going to have me sticking to it. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/2 "2005-12-03T20:59:38Z")
For a lot of people (myself included), pretty much any form of exercise for exercise’s sake is excruciatingly boring, which makes it feel ten times as hard as it is. The trick is to find something that’s fun enough in itself to be worth the physical suffering, like a fun sport. In my case that’s hiking and SCA fighting. I’ve rarely seen an enthusiastic fitness instructor on tv whom I didn’t want to beat up. I could do it, too; they’re in good shape, but beating them up would be an example of something fun enough to motivate me to stick with it until the job’s done. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/3 "2005-12-03T23:01:34Z")
Do you need a certification to be an instruction of arsehole fitness? What kind of excercises do you do to make sure your arsehole is fit? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/4 "2005-12-03T23:35:18Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > Do you need a certification to be an instruction of arsehole fitness? What kind of excercises do you do to make sure your arsehole is fit? Kegels. \Ooh! I just did one!\ ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/5 "2005-12-04T04:07:44Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Kegels. Y’know, I’ve always thought it would be a blast to have a Kegel event added to those “World’s Strongest Man” competitions that come on TV after World’s Wildest Police Videos. It’d be worth it to see some two-hundred-kilo goat farmer from Estonia sitting there with a really intent look on his face, then screaming “Hurrrrraaaghhh!” and toppling over into fetal position. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/6 "2005-12-04T04:51:06Z")
> [@JeffB](#): > > Do you need a certification to be an instruction of arsehole fitness? What kind of excercises do you do to make sure your arsehole is fit? Well, Arsehole fitness instructors certainly could help certain people shoot poo up on the ceiling and get it all over. ---
**Author:** ![sjk2006](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@sjk2006](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjk2006)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/7 "2005-12-04T04:54:28Z")
There are people like me in the world that _hate_ to exercise. Can’t stand it. It doesn’t feel good, I don’t feel like I’m “missing” something when I have to skip a workout and as far as I’m concerned exercising just plain sucks. But I do it anyway. 6 days a week up at 4:30 to hit the gym or go running. Sometimes people need to learn that the only way to achieve your goals is to work hard. Sometimes people need to see that working through that pain and sweat will have beneficial results _if_ you do it right and not shortchange the exercise. Yeah, for some it will mean the deathknoll for future exercising. For others, it will finally mean they realize that there are no “quick fixes” or magic pills or ways to have the pounds just melt away. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/8 "2005-12-04T05:39:02Z")
> [@sjk2006](#): > > There are people like me in the world that _hate_ to exercise. Can’t stand it. It doesn’t feel good, I don’t feel like I’m “missing” something when I have to skip a workout and as far as I’m concerned exercising just plain sucks. But I do it anyway. 6 days a week up at 4:30 to hit the gym or go running. > > Sometimes people need to learn that the only way to achieve your goals is to work hard. Sometimes people need to see that working through that pain and sweat will have beneficial results _if_ you do it right and not shortchange the exercise. > > Yeah, for some it will mean the deathknoll for future exercising. For others, it will finally mean they realize that there are no “quick fixes” or magic pills or ways to have the pounds just melt away. Oh, I am the same - but I understand how to get from being unfit and overweight to fit (and still overweight actually). For me, and I think for many others like me, I need to start small and increase the exercise over time, starting from a position of unfitness and being asked to jog for 10 minutes is just not possible. I understand that you have to do challenging exercise, but there’s challenging and there’s I’m going to die ways of doing this. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/9 "2005-12-05T21:28:41Z")
Getting back to the OP… I have to say I handled the show differently, without a lot of anger. I just didn’t watch the stupid thing. I have confidence in you. You can learn to do the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/10 "2005-12-05T21:49:30Z")
Mr. brown, bless him, can’t see the “negative reinforcement” aspect. We used to ride road bikes together, but it became very unpleasant for me. Rather like a dad over-coaching his son, he was always hounding me to ride faster, farther, or steeper than I could manage. I guess he thought it was good for me. I’d end up either trying to keep up with him and feeling sick with exhaustion for a day or two afterwards, or fighting with him to let me ride at my own pace. Finally, bicycling became the source of too much conflict and now I walk and jog on my own and am much happier about exercising. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/11 "2005-12-05T22:57:45Z")
> [@teela brown](#): > > Mr. brown, bless him, can’t see the “negative reinforcement” aspect. We used to ride road bikes together, but it became very unpleasant for me. Rather like a dad over-coaching his son, he was always hounding me to ride faster, farther, or steeper than I could manage. I guess he thought it was good for me. I’d end up either trying to keep up with him and feeling sick with exhaustion for a day or two afterwards, or fighting with him to let me ride at my own pace. Finally, bicycling became the source of too much conflict and now I walk and jog on my own and am much happier about exercising. My point exactly! And Asknott - I can’t help it, I’m addicted to ‘before’ and ‘after’ - be that cleaning my house or dumb tv shows. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arsehole-fitness-instructors/333938/12 "2005-12-05T23:18:42Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > Oh, I am the same - but I understand how to get from being unfit and overweight to fit (and still overweight actually). For me, and I think for many others like me, I need to start small and increase the exercise over time, starting from a position of unfitness and being asked to jog for 10 minutes is just not possible. I understand that you have to do challenging exercise, but there’s challenging and there’s I’m going to die ways of doing this. Heck, my doctor even specifically told me that I was to not push myself very hard at all. Of course, I’ve got congestive heart failure and there’s a very real chance of me hurting or killing myself if I try to do too much too soon. I’m only allowed to do exercises in the water, and only for 15 minutes at a time. I’m supposed to rest for five or ten minutes after every 15 minutes of activity.