Fake fitness instructors? There are millions of girls and guys on social media flaunting their great bodies and sharing fitness advice to their fans. “Do this exercise and look like me!” “Follow my workout plan and get my abs!” but the majority of the time, these individuals are not qualified to give health and fitness advice. If you are guilty of following fitspo girls on Instagram, take this as a public service announcement to stop – it might be harming your progress.
As of June 2018, there are nearly 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram, with the average user spending between 24 to 32 minutes per day on the social network platform. It’s a way to connect with friends, stay up to date with popular culture, and gain inspiration. But when it comes to getting fitness tips, you might want to look elsewhere.
Just because someone looks great, doesn’t mean they are healthy. Moreover, just because someone looks great, doesn’t mean they give good advice. Someone’s appearance is predominantly based on genetics and their naturally predisposed body type: how effectively they gain and retain muscle, whether they are likely to hold fat in the stomach, whether they have a bigger lower body and smaller upper body etc.
We are all different with different body types, needs, goals, abilities, and possibilities. If you are an ectomorph – someone who is naturally skinny and finds it hard to gain muscle and fat – raining the same as an endomorph – those naturally predisposed to muscle and fat gain – is not going to be very helpful for you. If you’re taking advice from an endomorph pro bodybuilder, it may leave you feeling insecure and unmotivated.
If you’re a female who’s taking fitness advice from a girl who is naturally skinny and tall, but you’re naturally wide, stocky, and short- you’re not going to get Victoria’s Secret body – it’s just not possible for your body type.
It’s not to say you should give up hope, in fact, it’s the opposite. This should be motivating. Perhaps you haven’t been making progress because you’ve been doing all the wrong things for your body type. So what’s the alternative? Ideally, get a personal trainer.
Think of it like this: if you wanted to get your haircut, you’d go to a hairdresser properly trained to do this task. Personal trainers are trained to understand how our bodies work: how to lose weight, how to build strength, how to keep clients motivated, and how to curate a workout specific to an individual’s needs and goals.
If you can’t afford a trainer, follow a qualified trainer’s advice, like the advice we share on our blog, to get fit for life.