Every once in a while, I will stumble upon an Instagram account for an individual who clearly is NOT a model, but who has included “fitness model” in the profile description. A perusal of the user’s images almost invariably reveals NO professional images, but will have a whole slew of half-naked selfies shot in front of a bathroom mirror, or worse yet, on a bed, with a blue steel scowl or a do-ya-think-I’m-sexy pout in every single selfie that just makes me want to laugh. Just because someone WANTS to be a model doesn’t make it so, and no amount of selfies will ever generate the monetary compensation or exposure that would equate with a bona fide modeling career (unless you are Kim Kardashian). It also doesn’t count if you just so happened to have put on some fitness apparel once during a photo shoot with one of your friends who is a photographer, and struck poses which you believe to be fitness poses. Whatever you do, don’t be one of those wannabe fitness models who throws the title of fitness model around like you earned it! And stop using a ton of filters to make your images look better, then peppering them with a hundred hashtags to get more attention. All those things make you seem like a douche.

Fitness models are seen in print and online catalogs, ad campaigns, commercials, fitness expos, and are featured in magazines. The top fitness models make a very decent living doing what they do, and they work HARD for the money they make. That is why I get annoyed when I see a wannabe making false claims on social media. I have actually asked individuals who claimed to be fitness models where they were featured, only to get a flustered, cop-out response which I fully expect. There are some people out there who are photogenic and who have well-muscled, aesthetically pleasing physiques which lend promise to the possibility of a career as a fitness model, but they must prove that they possess the talent and work ethic to make it as fitness models. If you feel that you have some promise, then you can say that you are an aspiring fitness model, but don’t claim the title until you have actually worked as one.