Personal trainer reveals the truth behind 'emaciated and exhausted' fitness pictures

'These photos don’t represent what I ACTUALLY looked like in real life'

Anna Rhodes (Instagram)

It’s easy to look at pictures of fitness influencers on Instagram and feel, well, inadequate.

But one personal trainer has now spoken out to explain that things aren’t always what they seem in a photo.

Anna Rhodes, from St Albans, has revealed that despite how strong she looked in photos from a professional shoot, she was in face “emaciated and exhausted” at the time.

The PT shared two pictures side by side: one that was professionally lit and edited, and another that showed Rhodes’ real physique at the time.

She explained that her body was down to “extreme dieting” and wouldn’t recommend anyone strive for the looks seen in professional fitness photos.

“So I had someone recently say to me ‘I want to get as lean as you were in your PT photo shoot’,” Rhodes wrote. “And to be honest, I didn’t feel entirely comfortable with that.

“It’s inspired a #throwbackThursday because it actually it made me feel kind of guilty. These images are with professional lighting, a lot of fake tan, tonnes of makeup, good posing and a physique that looked that way from extreme dieting.”

She went on: “These photos don’t represent what I ACTUALLY looked like in real life being that low body fat - which was kind of emaciated and exhausted looking.”

Rhodes explains that at the time, she weighed seven stone. She now weighs a healthy nine stone and is still incredibly fit.

And the fitness influencer admits that getting thinner had become an obsession for her.

“I look back at me when I was like that and I barely recognise myself,” Rhodes says. “I had a coach telling me ‘my legs weren’t lean enough’ and I became obsessed with the fact I had big legs.

“It was essentially an eating disorder under the guise of ‘fitness’ and I’m not afraid to admit that.”

When she spoke to another photographer recently to discuss getting some new photos taken Rhodes reveals that the photographer said she should consider getting “shredded” so he didn’t look back and regret looking “not lean enough” or “fat.”

Unsurprisingly, Rhodes decided not to work with the photographer.

And she’s now encouraging people not to compare themselves to professional fitness pictures.

“Next time you’re looking at all your fave fitspos images, please remember that: 1. They probably look like that for a very short space of time,” Rhodes says.

“2. That look is often not particularly obtainable if you aren’t a fitness fanatic - and even then it’s pretty tough.

“3. Tannnnnn.”