The Best and Worst of Instagram Fitness

Oh Instagram how we love you. And yet, have you ever finished scrolling through your seemingly endless feed only to close the app feeling a little bit worse about yourself? If so, you’re not alone.

While Instagram may have started as an app to ‘instantly’ capture life’s moments and share them with your friends and families, what it has become is a whole other story…For those familiar with the app you will notice that the quality of images posted is far superior than most other platforms. Instagram attracts creative types who enjoy finding the perfect background, angle, filter, and pose to capture the best possible photo. In part, it’s why we love using Instagram. Whenever you open the app, you can count on seeing a beautiful stream of photos to enjoy. Aren’t we lucky? Access to photos of beautiful landscapes, architecture, animals, and people all at our fingertips….and free! But when it comes to Instagram ‘fitness’ is the content helping or harming us?

Due to the sheer popularity of Instagram, it would seem like there is literally no shortage of men and women with perfect bodies and perfect lives. Pre-internet you used to have to buy a magazine to see perfect people, now it seems like every gym on the planet has at least 3 gorgeous people filming their workouts and posting photos of their flawless physique….and these aren’t even the famous Instagram people, these are just average Joes and Janes (it seems) that exist…get this…in the real world! How is that possible?! Because Instagram is so perfectly curated and its algorithms control the content you see, it may seem like having the perfect body/life/house/husband/wife/kid etc. is really really normal, and in fact it’s you who isn’t normal…..but that really isn’t the case. For every model sharing her latest pilates workout (stereotype I know), there are 10 other women grinding it out on the court, field, gym, rink etc. achieving modest gains and posting poorly lit and otherwise unfiltered photos. But we don’t always see those photos based on how our feed is presented to us. So instead, our brain consumes a very narrow range of content and assumes it is a representation of the world at large. Let’s talk about those fitness models and their posts.

First of all, it is nearly impossible to know everything about a person from a photo. A smile is not necessarily an indication of a happy and fulfilling life, nor is a six pack. In fact, we are rarely privy to the sacrifices made in someone’s personal and professional lives to earn those perfectly sculpted abs or chiseled arms. Precision Nutrition put out a great infographic on what it takes to achieve a six pack, detailing step by step the sacrifices you will need to make to continue to decrease your body fat. Check it out here. I often show my clients this graphic, after which very few are still keen on achieving a six pack. Most people want to continue their current lifestyle aka sleeping in, eating out, drinking alcohol, and not monitoring their food intake. Oh but they also want to TRANSFORM their body! Preferably soon, like next week would be great.

When it comes down to brass tax and we discuss what it really takes to look like those female and male Instagram models, they really aren’t prepared to step that far out of their comfort zone and make the necessary changes to their lifestyle. Which, by the way, is totally fair! If you are otherwise living your best life doing a job you enjoy, spending time with friends and family who fill your cup, getting enough sleep, and having time for the things you love…..your comfort zone is pretty great! I can see why you wouldn’t want to leave. If your motivation is purely extrinsicic, aka based on external factors like looking different…..it usually isn’t enough to spark real change. It’s one thing to be motivated by looking at Instagram fitness models, it is another to feel bad about yourself and use them as some sort of benchmark for how a woman or man should look. Changing your lifestyle should be about Y-O-U. It should be about ‘living your best life’, feeling your best in clothes as well as in your birthday suit, getting the sleep you need to recover, grow, and dream, eating foods that nourish your body and leave you feeling satisfied, and overall feeling a sense of calm, content with your life, your decisions, and how you are treating your body.

So. If scrolling through Instagram is leaving you with a sense of emptiness instead of a sense of fulfillment you have to break the cycle! Follow accounts that inspire you, that challenge you, that make you think, wonder, believe! I hear @coachpeachey is amazing for this…..shameless I know. Cut out that crap that makes you feel bad about yourself or at the very least, limit the time you dedicate to consuming that type of content!! When you feel inspired you should also feel motivated to do something. THAT is how you should leave Instagram feeling. Pumped up to hit the weights, make a healthy meal, travel somewhere interesting, or meet someone new. Social media is a powerful thing, we can’t deny that. Let it EMPOWER you not have power OVER you. Woah, you feel that? Chills. Ok maybe not but I should quite while I’m ahead.

I hope you are choosing to surround yourself with people and things that charge your batteries. I would LOVE to know the accounts you enjoy following the most, the ones that give you a real boost. Please share them so we can all enjoy.

All the best,

Coach P