Blogger reveals what men’s fitness really looks like in candid Instagram post

'I used to think looking like this was going to give me happiness'

Instagram (Mathew Lewis-Carter)

Ripped muscles, chiselled abs and cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass on...is that what fitness should look like?

Blogger Mathew Lewis-Carter has spoken out about the pressures men face to look a certain way in order to be deemed fit on Instagram.

The personal trainer and part-time model posted a side-by-side shot of himself when he competed in a bodybuilding competition alongside a snap of him now.

In the former, Lewis-Carter appears to be in a peak state of physical fitness, complete with popping veins and lashings of fake tan.

However, the former competitive trainer confessed “washboard abs” and “rockhard bums” do not necessarily equate to fitness.

“We see these sorts of images on a daily basis and are made to believe that this is what fitness should be,” he writes.

“The media dictates it, magazine covers dictate it, people tell you how you should be looking or how you should aspire to look.

“This is in no way a criticism for anyone that competes, it’s focused at creating awareness as to what I now perceive as more important (like having a life)."

He continues to explain how, at the time, he thought looking like that would make him happy, however, he confessed the opposite was true.

“What I believed the fitness industry perceived as ‘fit’ and ‘normal’ couldn’t be further from the truth."

Lewis-Carter revealed the toll training to look like that took on his social life, claiming he trained twice a day and tracked the calories in all of his meals in order to maintain his lean physique.

He added that this post was “for the guys who never really talk about the way they look because they’re afraid of getting stick from the lads.

“Fitness should be a way to enhance your lifestyle, enhance your people skills and enhance your outlook on what should be a healthy and maintainable lifestyle,” he concludes.

“Do it for the right reasons."