‘I’m a fitness coach but I’m not getting shredded for summer – I love my rolls’

A fitness trainer has been applauded for proudly showing off her ‘summer body’ and refusing to ‘get shredded’.

With the sun officially out of hiding, social media has quickly become flooded with influencers showing off their perfect, toned physiques. If you’ve been scrolling through the mass of flat stomachs, abs, thigh gaps, and slender legs – chances are you’re feeling a little angry that the gym sessions haven’t given you the same flawless bod.

However, fitness coach Emma says – despite her career – she’s tired of wasting ‘so much time’ comparing herself to the unrealistic expectations society puts on women. To defy the pressure to look a certain way just because it’s June, the gym-goer has proudly shared her version of the summer body, and has been branded an ‘inspiration’ because of it.

Emma, known online as Live Well With Apell, is an online fitness coach, lecturer and Youtuber who has amassed more than 87,000 followers thanks to her workout tips and candid vlogs about fitness. She revealed how she’d previously spent time obsessing over her target of getting a six pack that her relationship with exercises became ‘unhealthy’.

“I am done wasting my time,” she said, posting a side-by-side comparison of her body to prove that what you see on social media isn’t always real. In the first photo, Emma is sporting a high-waist pair of shorts and a sports bra, and looks just like the models we see with toned abs and thousands of followers.

However, in the next photo, she shares how her stomach forms rolls when she’s sat down with her shorts pulled below her stomach. “I am all about creating our own health and just letting our body do what it does,” she said. “I am all about working out for health and celebrate movement.

“I am overall healthier (physically, mentally, emotionally) in a body that doesn’t have super visible abs. Because in this body I am happy, I feel strong, capable, fulfilled, nourished, energized, confident.”

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The content creator urged her followers not to change their body just because it’s summer. “Your body is not a trend. Your body is a lifetime body. Start working on just feeling your best and remove the pressure of ‘looking a specific way’,” she said.

Emma pointed out that healthy bodies can have “belly rolls, cellulite, and stretch marks” too – and told her followers to focus more on “just living and being” than what their stomach looks like. Instagram users flocked to the comments section to praise Emma for the reality check, with one person stating: “Thank you for this.” Another raved: “Love this!” While a third added: “Preachhhh.”

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