Gym Influencers and Adolescents Are Not Working Out
Photo from Pexels by Victor Freitas
Bella Orozco
For the past few summers, Planet Fitness has offered a free gym membership to teens under 19 for the entirety of their summer break. It is a great way to get out, be healthy, and even make new friends. The Planet Fitness app even provides workouts for teens who may not have gone to a commercial gym before or do not understand what they should be doing to achieve their fitness goals.
However, this advice is easy to ignore when one has been following gym influencers and developing an idea of health and body image. Many influencers’ ideas are inaccurate and even unhealthy for what teens’ personal goals should be. The recent increase in workout culture has created a negative impression on the body image of young adults; society needs to provide better education on optimal health habits.
Foremost, body dysmorphic disorder has been defined by an obsession with how one looks, specifically that aspects are flawed and behaviors like comparing or constantly staring in the mirror. “Not only women but also men are engulfed by rising preoccupation with their outlook, there is a dynamic shift from thinness oriented to muscularity oriented eating disorders in adolescent males” (Rising dysmorphia, 2020). Social media has been attributed to people being obsessed with how they look. During quarantine, this became especially true because many felt they were not being active enough compared to rising gym influencers. When we see this translated to adolescents, we can see that there is potential for an increase in body dysmorphia and eating disorders due to a lack of education from influencers on how to properly eat and lift for different body types and goals especially because teenaged bodies are not fully developed like adult influencers.
Gym influencers are not the only people who are admired for their bodies. Many celebrities and models are also commended for their looks. However, both groups of influencers have more access to cosmetic surgeries or products. Bella Hadid is highly regarded as a very attractive model and she admitted that she had a nose job at the age of 14 (Holender, 2022). She did state it was something that she regretted doing so young because she would have likely grown into it. Hadid is regarded as someone who is very influential to young girls, and her admitting to cosmetic surgery does help her following understand not everyone is perfect, but people trying to lessen their insecurities may not have the monetary resources to get surgery.
Another example would be a gym influencer by the name of James Ellis. He began using steroids to improve his physique when his following increased exponentially and he was starting to see little results by just going to the gym and eating healthy (Dodgson & Hosie, 2022).
Many impressionable people also do not understand that family studies have shown that the ability to grow muscle mass has genetic origins (Arden & Spector, 2009). Some gym influencers or celebrities might just have an ideal body type because of their genetics and there is no way for that to be translated into another human's workout regimen. In other words, influencers may be successful at what they do because of what they were born with, rather than just hard work and persistence.
While the increase of gym influencers has resulted in negative effects on the adolescent population, it is good that they are thinking about their health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), America has a 41.9% obesity prevalence and obesity is the cause of many health issues such as heart disease, stroke, and some forms of cancer. By being active and healthy, one can avoid obesity and other negative side effects of it. It is also important to mention that there are some gym influencers that do show their audiences how to properly perform exercises and eat. Those such influencers are @sopheallen and @makaylaamarie on TikTok who use microphones during their workouts to explain their movements and how they should feel. TikTok has an algorithm that provides its users with specific recommended content which means that people who interact with the content the two responsible users create, can learn to work out better (Burke, 2022). However, sometimes being too active can be unhealthy and also lead to negative health effects which should be discussed by gym influencers who work out for their needs and have younger viewers who do not understand how much is too much.
There really is no easy solution to solve the issue of “bad influencers.” They’re all people who are taking the correct steps for themselves and who believe they are providing a good example for others to follow. The issue arises when their impressionable crowd follows them to the tee. All bodies are different and it can be very frustrating to people when they do not see the same results as people they look up to. This can lead to body dysmorphia and eating disorders in an attempt for people to get the “perfect body.”
By opening up conversations amongst their followers, gym influencers can make a difference. It is important for people to know that building muscle takes a long time and a lot of the time people plateau at the gym when their body has adjusted to workouts and they need a new training regimen (Workout Plateau, 2022). Gym influencers and public figures in general can also discuss how many of them have received cosmetic surgeries or used steroids. James Ellis utilized steroids after he gained a large following and started plateauing at the gym (Dodgson & Hosie, 2022). He later opened up about his actions which is helpful for anyone that began following him recently, but during the time period, it was likely very harmful. As soon as more influencers open more conversations, more people can see the realities behind lifting and eating healthy.
Social media and gym influencers have made adolescents more aware of their health and body image in a negative way. Teens are obsessed with how they look and typically mold their ideal body image into an adult who has more physical maturity and even access to cosmetic surgeries or supplements. This makes the “ideal” body essentially unattainable for the average young adult resulting in unhealthy eating and exercise habits forming. To help remedy this issue, gym influencers or even influencers, in general, can use their platform to educate their impressionable following on performance-enhancing substances or cosmetics they may use and how attaining body goals is a long process that takes patience. Forget about “less talk more action;” bring this topic to the dinner table before the bench.
References
Adult Obesity Facts | Overweight & Obesity | CDC
TikTok Algorithm Explained: How to Go Viral | Backstage
Bella Hadid Addresses Nose Job, Filler and Eye Lift Rumors
How To Break Through A Workout Plateau – SWEAT
Rising dysmorphia among adolescents : A cause for concern - PMC
