While the concept of fitness influencers isn’t new – with workouts back in the day widely shared on DVD instead of Youtube – social media has turbocharged this genre.
From people simply sharing their weight loss journey to offering personal training over Instagram, there’s a whole range of content creators related to working out.
A study by OriGym found that six in ten Brits get their diet and exercise tips from the internet. While YouTube was the most popular sharing platform for people looking for fitness advice, Tiktok leads the way for Gen Z – with almost three in five admitting they get diet tips from the app.
This isn’t a surprise given that Tiktok boasts just under 200billion videos related to working out.
According to Farren Morgan, a serving British soldier, coach and tactical trainer, fitness influencers are useful because they ‘promote a healthy lifestyle’.
‘They can show what can be achieved if you get enough sleep, set your mind to exercising regularly and eat healthily,’ he tells Metro.co.uk.
However, just like many other aspects of the internet, social media is a fertile ground for exaggeration, misinformation and distorting the true reality of things.
When it comes to topics such as health and fitness, ensuring accuracy in what you advise is crucial – and hard to monitor on social media.
When it comes to younger generations who turn to Tiktok to get advice, this can sometimes lead to harmful circumstances.
While many fitness-related social media accounts have expert knowledge and experience in the field and promote a balanced way of living, the same can’t be said for others.
‘There are two types of fitness influencers,’ says Farren. ‘The first promotes a healthy lifestyle designed to keep you happy and fulfilled by healthily eating whole foods [and] encouraging others to live a balanced life around their work, fitness while having time for family and loved ones.’
‘The second advocates for exercises that are dangerous – or even fatal to your health – and tend to have attitudes that insist you have to look healthy/ripped all year to actually be healthy.’
This can, ultimately, have negative consequences for those who consume this information – it’s simply not sustainable for most of society and ultimately results in negative outcomes for people’s mental and physical health.
One concerning fitness trends on Instagram is ‘what I eat in a day’ videos. This is when the content creator will share their meals of the day, usually followed by a calorie count.
Danny Ly is a Functional Medicine Practitioner and Personal Trainer, who says that it’s ‘highly worrying’ to see a lot of these videos across social media.
‘More often than not, these content creators are extremely lean and eat a very low amount of calories,’ Danny tells Metro.co.uk.
‘[This can] suggest to others to eat the same so that they can look like them – not only is this very dangerous as it can cause you to be nutrition deficient, but it can cause body dysmorphia related issues.
‘It’s impossible to look like someone just by eating like them.’
Danny also raises concerns on whether some of these fitness influencers are qualified enough to safely give information to so many people.
‘Sometimes, these fitness influencers are not even qualified to be giving out the advice that they do,’ he says. ‘For instance, kettlebell swings and squats are often being incorrectly performed which can cause back injuries but thousands of us watch them.’
Katie Rowe-Ham, a fitness expert and trainer also talks about the importance of clear, professional advice when it comes to workouts.
‘Damage can occur if the trainer doesn’t make clear to the audience the suitability of the sessions,’ she says.
‘If people are using weights [in their workout videos] then it’s really important to have the correct form and explain their exercise.’
Of course, it is great to see healthy lifestyles being promoted, but it’s important to understand that this is something very unique to each individual.
‘I think there needs to be more regulation around what content creators can put on social media,’ says Danny.
‘When you see influencers posting food restrictions and handing out general exercise regimes, it is best to take these tips with a pinch of salt.’
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