to ask if you think Joe Wicks is tone deaf of just supportive of his wife?

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Joe Wicks has caused a bit of a stir with a recent Instagram post - thoughts?

www.instagram.com/p/Cq8Q3XvrXqL/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Anyone that follows anyone into fitness on Instagram is very used to seeing shots of arses in working out clips 😆.

I don't think he was tone deaf. He targets a specific audience that is interested in health and fitness. He's very proud of his wife's dedication - and there is nothing wrong with that.

I also don't think what she has achieved is unrealistic for some 'ordinary' women - especially those that were fit prior to pregnancy.

I hope you don't post any holiday photos OP, as there are people out there that can't afford holidays. I could go on woth various examples..but essentially women are allowed to prioritise their health and fitness postpartum and share their success. You can't live life in fear of upsetting other people. There are too many 'triggers' out there to love life that way.

And it's also common for women to feel totally find, eager to get back to exercise, have enough support in place to do so, and feel good about themselves.
Surely a range of experiences is good. Women can then find someone or something they can relate to if they so wish.

Why should he ‘read the room’? His wife has worked very hard and has a great body, he is quite right to be proud. I am very proud of my DH great physique in his late 60’s should I temper this feeling with concern for all the less fit older men ? Of course not.

@NeatCompactSleeper yes no envy there...

Even with her privilege of having a fitness influencer husband, Rosie has done pretty well getting herself back in to shape because the willpower has to be there in the first place.
Some of the comments made on this thread are absolutely appalling...but I guess mainly made by lazy lardy arses 🤔

But why should he have to acknowledge their privilege? Why can’t people just be happy for themselves without being dragged down because someone else isn’t or can’t achieve it?
Should a 16 year old have to caveat their gcse results because their were privileged by having a tutor?
If someone posts a selfie do the need to caveat it by apologising that some people are uglier?

I just don’t see the need to have to ‘acknowledge their privilege’. It’s actually just a way of trying to damped someone’s achievement.

If someone else isn’t interested in being at the gym at 4m pp then that’s fine for them.

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Why is this a bad thing? She's worked hard to look like that and he's supportive of his wife. Tone deaf doesn't come into it.

I actually think she looks far too skinny.

Bloody hell this phrase winds me up. Too skinny for what? Too skinny to conceive and healthily carry babies? Clearly not. Too skinny to be strong and fit? Again, clearly not. Or too skinny for your taste? if that's it you need to ask yourself why you are bothered by another woman who is in good shape.

Well isn't that their whole thing? I wouldn't want to be married to a fitness fanatic but I also don't understand why people talk about struggling to shift 'baby weight.' Once the baby is out, the baby weight is gone? Don't take it personally if other women didn't gain actual weight during pregnancy.

I saw it and just thought it was nice? I don't get why praising his own wife is tone deaf.

I actually think she looks far too skinny. I find these smug posts nauseating too. I'm sure if I had a PT and a nanny my figure would be amazing but alas I need to work a normal 9-5 job so I can't dick about in some hideous pink number in the gym during the day!!

She really isn't too thin.
She can wear what the hell clothes she likes.
Plenty of women have strong, fit, healthy bodies and work as well.

Why is it tone deaf? Because some women don’t prioritise fitness after pregnancy or kids that means someone who does isn’t allowed to mention it?

This is basically why it's tone deaf. Because of the assumption that this woman prioritised fitness over other things, while the mothers who are overweight haven't had the right priorities, made the right decisions or are in some way not as good as his wife. And his post is clearly about weight loss, as well as strength, based on the photo he posted at Coachella with the text.

I do wonder if he'd be just as gushingly proud of her on social media if she'd been plagued by postpartum depression for months and had postpartum thyroiditis meaning not only did she put weight on, but she couldn't get it off. And she was falling asleep left right and centre due to it rather than spending time working out. And then she fought through all that and started feeling better, but was a bit rounder. He may be personally proud in those circumstances, but he'd not be posting about it in the same way.

He's proud his wife is back to being thin and fit and he's proud of the effort it took her. And he's proud he can show her off. That's fine. He's free to show the body of his wife off (it's actually a really weird thing to do when you think about it, unless she's a trophy) to promote his brand.

Personally if I was married to someone who saw my worth like that I'd be reaching for the biscuit tin! 😂

Smug and annoying spring to mind but not offensive. If women can be arsed exercising whilst preggers good on them

Oh no, he's proud of his wife and praises her, how awful. You come across as bitter, is no one praising you?

Also the baby is 7 months old not 4 months.
I had my second daughter the same week as she did, was back in my jeans in 7 days. Now I aren't as toned as her but I certainly feel great and I'd wear exactly what she does if I looked like her! Why can't we build people up not tear each other down.

Yeah to my taste - isn't what this forum is about, opinion! I don't think she looks attractive at all with how thin she is! Many will disagree but I think she looks gaunt and under weight.

You can be a raging druggy and still carry a child it doesn't mean it's right or looks healthy!

Are they at the gym ‘all the time’? For him at least, isn’t they how he makes a living? Do other people get slagged off for being at work or doing things linked to their career?

I know quite a few women who had horrendous pregnancies due awful morning sickness and Hyperemesis Gravidarum. They could barely
function let alone exercise.

"He hasn’t said anything bad to those women though has he? We can’t live in a world where we can’t say anything positive about someone through fear of upsetting someone else."

I totallly agree and DH and I often discuss cancel culture, and how over sensitive our culture is becoming in that respect. I completely appreciate that point. I think though that it's just interesting and frustrating here as, to me, he was always someone who was supposed to be 'relatable' and had a big influence on encouraging people back into fitness etc and this feels like it doesn't fit with that.

I'm not sitting here livid, personally I just found it a bit tone deaf and disappointing in a way, and wanted to discuss and hear other's take on it.

They have huge privileges which enabled her to achieve this. It still takes hard work & commitment, but most women just don’t have the money, time & help she has. It’s a good example of how social media posts can be unhelpful & damaging for many women.

But lots of people who follow him WILL find it relatable. Plenty of women will feel a bit of shame about wanting to go to the gym and work to get their body back post baby because they want to feel more like them again, and everything out there is telling you to focus on baby, your body doesn’t matter anymore because it’s made a person. Plenty of women following his page will be happy to see that it’s ok to go and work out after having a baby, doesn’t make you a crap mum.

"Should a 16 year old have to caveat their gcse results because their were privileged by having a tutor?"

I guess it's about audience size and influence?
Joe has 4.6M followers...

But she is healthy. That's the point.

She doesn't look gaunt at all. Gaunt was Jodie Kidd in the 90s. I know this phrase is totally overused on MN, but we really have lost sight of what normal is.

I don’t know much at all about Joe Wicks or his background. But is it fair to shout about privilege and money etc when the person has worked hard and built a successful career?

or does it always need to be a race to the bottom - if some people can’t have it then nobody can?

This will be my last reply as it’s like banging my head against a brick wall. The difference is nuance.

A ‘normal’ person posting about holidays or GCSE results or beauty or whatever isn’t the same thing.

Of course he can be proud of his wife. But he is also a fitness influencer. The clue is in the name. He influences people. Your mate who has been to Barbados or who has a son with great GCSE results isn’t being followed by a bunch of strangers who are influenced by their opinions. I personally don’t buy into the influencer stuff but a lot of people do. The impact of social media on mental well-being is well documented.

He isn’t acknowledging that there are many reasons why their life enables health and fitness; instead he’s doubling down on it and saying that all you need is YouTube and some dumbbells. That is irresponsible in his position for many reasons given in the thread.

(As a sidenote, I am not overweight or stuck to my sofa so that isn’t influencing my opinion).