Fitness wave on social media

This text was written by a TecMundo columnist; finally learn more.

Conformity to something means conformity. When applied to health, fitness means “being in good physical condition”. The current fitness wave is characterized by a movement by people trying to improve health, especially through social networks.Through an active lifestyle with physical exercise, good nutrition, adequate sleep, among others.

Fitness on social media has never been more popular. I wrote about “ego elevation” weeks ago, but that’s just one part of the movement that is taking place. Never before have so many people talked so much about exercises, workouts, muscles and health.

But do we really promote health in a comprehensive and balanced way, or do we actually impose the behaviors we deem most appropriate based on personal experience?

We need to go hand-in-hand with science so we can tackle the superficial conversations based on our own lives to motivate people to improve behaviors. It is very impressive when it shows us that exercise is good for health as well as adequate sleep and nutrition, which are characteristic of an active lifestyle.

The fitness wave is trying to popularize physical exercise, but we cannot lose the basic premise of it. Despite the inspirations of digital phenomena, the majority of the population does not primarily train in their daily lives and do not even want to be athletes.. No wonder the researchers say that people (in most cases) actually don’t have time to exercise, based on their perception of lack of time rather than a real time barrier, and this is because they dislike exercise.

The culture of maximum performance and productivity has also reached this segment, namely education became an obsession; it was unquestionable to have the body desired or imposed by society. Something far from acting on a natural instinct of our species, such as having fun.

The aggravation of an aesthetic standard that is considered ideal leads to people’s constant search for the current standard, resulting in body dissatisfaction, body image disorders and disorders, and behavioral changes. A disorder such as vigorexia that particularly affects men who see themselves as small and weak despite their extraordinary muscle mass.

There are already terms in the literature to describe this phenomenon: “Instabod”, which stands for the “perfect Instagram body”. As a result, we noticed an increased use of anabolic steroids to accelerate the muscle gain process.

We have communities within the fitness movement that focus heavily on bodybuilding and CrossFit people, but other aspects are emerging as well, such as runners and Yoga practitioners. Social support through this support and the formation of communities is important, we are extremely social beings and a sense of belonging makes the difference.

The critical point may be motivation of behavior. Traditionally, we initially motivate ourselves to exercise externally, i.e. we want the results of exercise, such as aesthetics, health. Such motivations were not enough for us to continue practicing regularly, as the activities were distant and dependent on many factors in addition to practice. To be healthy and gain muscle mass, just training is not enough.

Fitness culture is a billion-dollar industry that is sadly moving away from scientific evidence. Food supplements illustrate this phenomenon well, where the industry is ahead of science when they bring products to market, and then science pursues them to test their effectiveness through controlled experiments.

Exercises are no different; we know very few researchers and many influencers; that is, people base their training on case reports of athletes who go to famous podcasts to be asked about their routines. Aside from strongly marketed exercise methods, there is little scientific evidence for their effects.

The truth is, given the complexity of behavior such as being physically active, and despite our belief that we can perform the skills that influencers demonstrate, it may not be quite the case, partly because it’s empowering to see them do it, watching what we call a representative experience. sufficient. There are numerous social barriers that prevent a motivational social media slogan from truly making a difference.

Do motivational posts on Instagram really motivate?

In an article titled #Fitness that explores the impact of Instagram on exercise compliance and self-efficacy, Indian college students were exposed to motivating posts on the social network followed by exercise, while another group acted as a control and trained without exposure alone. to Instagram. This did not happen, although the authors’ hypothesis was in favor of Instagram. Exposure to Instagram did not increase exercise commitment as there was no difference in exercise maintenance between the groups for 2 weeks.

As with anything in life, filtering and moderation is essential. The content we consume in social networks, where critical understanding and scientific literacy are required, must be carefully selected because it affects our behavior. The idea is not just to adopt temporary health projects, but to maintain an active lifestyle for years to come.

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Fabio Dominski He holds a PhD in Human Movement Sciences and a Physical Education degree from Santa Catarina State University (UDESC). He is a university professor and researcher at the Sport and Exercise Psychology Laboratory (LAPE/CEFID/UDESC). He is the author of Physical Exercise and Science – Facts and Myths and presents the Physical Exercise and Science program on UDESC joinville radio (91.9 FM); The program is also available at: podcast on Spotify.