After developing the actual workout programs, we wanted to provide a description and illustration of each exercise. With the descriptions, we wanted to provide detailed instructions so that someone who never heard of an exercise would be able to do it. And for the illustrations, we wanted them to complement the descriptions.

But what illustrations should we use? We did a lot of brainstorming on this topic. We thought about using fitness models like they do on other fitness websites and apps. We thought about using “regular people” to demonstrate each exercise. We thought about using photos, video or both. We even thought about not using an illustration at all, but then we went back to our original notes and realized we did want some type of illustration to complement each description.

First, we decided against using fitness models. We didn’t want people to look at a fitness model in one of our exercise examples and start making excuses for not doing the exercise. We didn’t want people to categorize an exercise as “that’s a man’s exercise” or “that’s a woman’s exercise”. Or saying things like “that model is too in shape — I could never do that” or “that model is not in shape enough — I’m not going to waste my time with that exercise”. Or even “that model is much younger than I am — I’ll never be able to do that” or “that model is older than I am — this exercise is not for me”. The excuses can go on and on.

The fact is most fitness websites and apps use fitness models, both men and women, that are in great shape. It helps sell their product. Is it a little bit of false advertising? It could be. When we see ads that say “Get great (fill in the body part) in 3 or 5 minutes, we question that. It takes work to get in shape — more than 3 or 5 minutes. Did the models in those ads use that program to get in shape? Maybe, but probably not. Fitness models are almost always in great shape to begin with. That’s how they get hired to appear in fitness ads.

Second, we decided not to use “regular people” for the same reasons. It’s too easy to look at a person working out and start making excuses as to why you are not going to exercise. So, if we were not going to use fitness models and we were not going to use “regular people” to demonstrate the exercises, who or what were we going to illustrate? We could just show a picture of the equipment used in each exercise, but we decided against that too. Again, the whole purpose of using an illustration was to complement the exercise description.

So, what were we going to do for our illustrations? After a great deal of thought, we decided to use Sam. Sam can be a man or woman. Sam can be young or old. Sam can be in shape or out of shape. The fact is Sam can be anyone and everyone. That’s who this program was designed for. You can be a man or woman, young or old, in shape or out of shape. Anyone over 18 that is able to do physical exercise can use this program (Check with your doctor if you have any questions or concerns about exercising).

A secondary reason we chose not to use pictures or video is we wanted to keep the illustration files small. Most people will use our PFT21 workouts on their phones at the gym. As a member is going through their workout, if they come to an exercise they are not familiar with, we wanted to provide a demonstration of the exercise that they could access quickly. If you want to see the images of an exercise in your workout, you just tap the exercise name and the images will pop up instantaneously. In fact, once your workout is created, you do not even need an internet connection to view the images. The whole idea is to get a quick reference of an exercise and get back to your workout.

There you have it. Sam is our model of choice. Sam will demonstrate all the exercises in PFT21 and the illustrations will serve as a great compliment to each exercise description. But remember, if you are ever still unsure about how to perform an exercise, even with the description and illustration, check with your gym staff and ask them to demonstrate it for you.