The Fitness Industry Social Media Money Monster
There is a serious problem in our society right now, that is the effect of social media and it’s potential to make money by creating insecurity in our fitness industry. This, in turn is having a serious impact on our mental and physical health. At the root of this problem, whether intentionally or not is often those that many people look for for inspiration. These people are “fitness influencers”. Those individuals with the “perfect” bodies that we see on our screens every day.
Whereas some of these influencers are fully aware of what they do and how they prey, I understand that many are not and are just trying to get by. But, further down the root of this problem, behind the scenes, are the faces we don’t get to see. This is the true monster. This monster, and these companies/individuals knowingly use fitness influencers to create insecurity in the public. Insecurity that makes money.
You see, myself and many other coaches like me can spend a lot of time talking to clients and other individuals about the way they see their body and how they feel when they see the bodies they aspire to have from what they see on the internet. There is a great deal of body insecurity among millions of individuals within our society, and as a result we see body dismorphia, disordered eating, binge eating and years of body image-related psychological pain.
The important point to make here, is that we are looking at (and aspiring to look like) individuals, who are taking anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs in order to achieve and maintain their bodies (both men and women), and are having their photos severely edited before they get used on social media or in the articles, marketing campains, etc. Not to mention that many of them also have disordered eating and body dismorphia issues themselves, and their bodies don’t even look close to that most of the time. This is not only because the photos are edited, but also because they go through a preparation, or “cut”, prior to photo shoots (or competitions in the case of physique competitors) where they significantly reduce their eating and often quite literally starve themselves.
It’s also worth noting that when they are at this “peak” physique (especially in the competitive/bodybuilding sense), the health of most of these individuals is heavily impacted, resulting in female athletes missing their periods and male athletes losing the ability to get an erection, loss of sex drive in both genders, depression and more. The body you see is not maintainable and is not normal.
So, why am I bringing this up? If they want to do that to themselves then who else are they harming? And whats the beef? The further issue is that the industry the uses the insecurity of the population exposed to this to make money. The issue is that celebrities or influencers often get paid a lot of money through brand and product sponsorship for promoting a product. That may be a diet, a drink, a supplement, a programme. There is all sorts being sold and more often than not it is something that doesn’t work.
This leaves the consumer of this product shorter on money and still no fitter or happier with their body than they were before. Exposed again and again to more pictures of celebrities and influencers, drugged up and edited. Still insecure, more desperate and with an unrealistic expectation, the consumers in the public then buy again and again the products endorsed by influencers and celebrities. Products the models and influencers don’t even use.
Furthermore, the influencer often isn’t happy either. They too often have eating disorders and an expectation to maintain for as long as they can an unrealistic body, out of fear of being dropped by a sponsor if they don’t continue to look a certain way and sell more products.
It’s a disaster going on before our eyes and it needs to stop.
So what is the solution?
These products and systems make too much money from insecure people to stop doing it. This will continue to happen as long as unhappy people are willing to pay for a better body. So to address the problem, the wider public needs education. People need to learn the reality of what goes on within this dark side of the industry and that is why I have been putting it out there. People also need educating on the reality of supplements and products that don’t work and the reality of the drugs that do. And finally, people need more education and support in how to really achieve a “better” body and a healthy one at that.
This is education and support I am dedicating this part of my life to provide through my own presence, content and also my coaching services. If you are interested in learning more, you can check out my other blogs and content on this website or my instagram (@b.adnitt_training). Here, you can also contact me with any questions you have. I’m always up for a chat.
Alternatively, for full, unlimited education and support as well as guidance through the process and accountability to your progress, you can employ me as you personal trainer. You can also do this by emailing me or contacting me on instagram.
I’ll see you there.
Stay safe,
Brook
