How I got abs in two seconds... literally! (Instagram vs Reality)

The two photos above; were they taken in the same location? YES. Were they taken in the same clothing? YES. Were they taken on the same day? YES 2 SECONDS APART!!

It seems to be a social misconception that leaves people to believe that myself and other gym goers have hard abs and bulging biceps 24 hours of the day. As much as I love people thinking that my body is great, that's not totally true. I am 23 years old, 49kg, 5ft 7 and 14.8% body fat - so pretty lean, yet that doesn't mean that I have solid abs constantly!

I want to show that although I take pride in my body and I have worked extremely hard for those tiny abs and bicep vein, its okay to not look like Instagram famous buff bods all the time! Equally it draws attention to many 'before' and 'after' photos that companies use to promote a product; these may not be entirely accurate! I'll explain how I got abs in two seconds from simply adjusting my posture and activating my muscles;

The first photo on the left is me relaxing. Lets start from the bottom up... my knee's are bowed (tibial bow) and one of them is hyperextended, my stomach is relaxed and bloated, because after all I eat like the rest of you; my back is hunched (I have mild scoliosis and find it difficult to straighten for long periods of time and am usually found slumped!) and I'm in an all round comfortable and natural position for ME.

Then check out the second photo on the right, taken literally straight after and the sort of photo that is found on fitspo's Instagram's with the hashtag #girlthatlifts (I am guilty of this too!). I have straightened my knee's up; turned my legs out a bit so it looks like my quads are a bit bigger (apparently a trend in female fitness); I have rolled down my shorts for maximum abs; I've straightened my back; tensed my stomach muscles; lifted my boobs up to see my top abs and lifted my chest up and out.

I should add at this point that neither of these photos are edited or filtered at all and the only lighting in the room was the daylight coming through the window.

Here is another example:

So the first picture on the left is another one of me relaxing. My posture is awful and I have been working on it my entire life! I suffer from hypermobility syndrome, scoliosis and an anterior tilt so my relaxed position is pretty poor as you can see, but that's how I was created so I shall love myself all the same! Like the other photo of me relaxed above, I'm slumped, wonky and not tensing.

The second picture however is where I have changed my posture. I have bent my leg to help me not to sway back and to try and eradicate my anterior tilt (or dodgy lower back bend); I have tensed my abs and slightly twisted my body to bring out my oblique's; I have turned the opposite way as the lighting was better and the other way shadowed my abs too much (a great Instagram trick); I've straightened by back, pulled my shoulders back and my chest out and gently tensed my deltoid and arm.

What I want to stress to you guys from this post, is that although myself and many others train super hard, work in the fitness industry and do post photos of ourselves with these 'Instagram photo tricks', I'M STILL SELF CONSCIOUS!! I still have bloated days where I feel massive, I have days where I feel ugly and hate the way I look.. but I'm real. I have never 'photo shopped' a single photo and I will never pretend to be something I'm not, except for the odd saturation to look a bit more tanned (guilty). That's why I am showing you guys these posts, to say its okay to not have the same body as your favourite celeb; because they are using a whole load of tips and tricks... were all human, we have different bodies and social media should never define us!

I hope this post makes you realise that you are perfect and beautiful as you, and despite how you may think that people look a certain way there is a magnitude of ways for us to change in seconds. I train hard and I'm proud of my abs but it's also time to accept me when I am relaxing, in my pyjamas and when my hairs greasy... as a human!!

Read about my weekly gym routine in my recent post