Motivating or distracting? How Instagram has affected the training process

People in fitness gyms are divided into two types: the first one is sweating, trying to find the last strength for one more approach, and the second one is taking graceful poses and posting photos of themselves in a sports uniform. Thus, they develop their sports blog and motivate their audience to go to the gym. How Instagram affects the quality of workouts and how it helps other people, let’s learn together with a psychologist and a trainer.

Why do people broadcast workouts on Instagram?

Social media has influenced the way we go to the gym and the way we see ourselves in the mirror. Today, gym photos aren’t just a way to show off a nice figure or motivate followers. People who have more gym posts in their feeds are more concerned about their bodies. This suggests that even just scrolling through our Instagram feed makes us think about our fitness and going to the gym, so social networks automatically identify our interests and suggest like-minded accounts.

There is a perception that photos from the gym are posted by people who admire their looks. But they’re not the only ones who can post selfies from workouts. Psychologists believe that for people for whom sport is an integral part of life, to post a photo from a fitness club in Instagram is not something boastful and “for show”. After all, for them, going to the gym is as commonplace as other everyday activities.

sports psychologist

Every person has a need for recognition. Blogging on Instagram is one way to fulfill this need.
By actively positioning ourselves in social networks, broadcasting our values and life guidelines, we receive public evaluation of our activities and personality in general. Satisfying the need for recognition has a positive effect on mental health: a person’s self-esteem, self-confidence and sense of usefulness increase.

How does Instagram affect the quality of workouts?

Many fitness trainers believe that “storizas” in “Instagram” can favorably affect training. The whole point is that by posting photos on social media, we motivate ourselves and expect praise and approval, even if wordless. It’s as if we convince ourselves that those who look at our photos from the gym will marvel at our athletic accomplishments. Also in photos we usually try to look positive and exude vivacity, and this subconsciously helps us to find strength for new exercises.

trainer, health coach, lifestyle modification and non-medical wellness specialist

Training in “Instagram” has a negative impact on those who do not know how to competently perform the exercises shown. But this is not the fault of the social network itself, but a particular person who does not control the correctness of the technique of exercises. “Instagram” allowed sports to become more accessible, because now we can find a lot of blogs about fitness, from which people who do not have the opportunity to study personally with a trainer can get new information, the main thing is that it was useful and reliable.

How should we treat sports blogging?

Psychologists conduct annual studies on how social networking relates to self-esteem. It turns out that people who regularly discuss their diet or workouts on social media are broadcasting the most important part of their life in which they are most successful. In this case, they believe their strongest trait is physical attractiveness.

Sports psychologist

Promoting a healthy and athletic lifestyle through Instagram can be a mission for a person. He lives for the feeling of his importance, and a blog about training can help other people to achieve the desired figure. Also, the desire to actively broadcast one’s athletic achievements on social networks can be attributed to a person’s desire to conform to a certain social group to which he wants to belong.

But in a world where we absorb most of our knowledge and information through social networks, there is an important problem – the lack of professionalism and specialized education among bloggers who disclose health-related topics. Why do people trust such blogs and follow the recommendations they find in the posts? Scientists believe that the authors of such blogs can give support to people who have started exercising, especially if they lack motivation in real life.

trainer, health coach, lifestyle modification and non-medical wellness specialist

We live in an Instagram world, and it’s understandable that clients would be distracted by it during workouts. Usually coaches are loyal to blogging and will sometimes help take videos and photos. If a person comes to me for a personal training session, we arrange a time in advance to make content and then put the phone away and start working out. If the client does not let the phone out of his hands at all, I have a bad attitude towards such a person, because the training process is disrupted and the result deteriorates.

However, you should be cautious about blogs that offer new exercises and programs, especially if they look easy at first glance (for example, “5 exercises to get in shape for summer”).