Let’s play a quick word association game: When you hear the word “exercise”, what is the first thing you think of? For many, words like “exertion, exhaustion, challenge, and pain” may come to mind. For others, they might be thinking “sweat, hard work, or the gym”. And still others, probably have a visceral reaction to the word, shaking their head to clear away feelings of intimidation, inadequacy, fear, rejection, or failure.

Unrealistic societal values of a “perfect” body type have masked the importance of listening to our own bodies. No one needs to constantly be told they are “too big”, “too fat”, “too thin”, “too” anything. HAES aligned personal trainers strive to reinforce the fact that bodies come in a spectrum of shapes and sizes and that one’s health cannot accurately be determined by a judgemental glance.