Ditch These 3 Social Media Trends

This may seem counterintuitive for a bodybuilder who loves the sport, and who also coaches athletes (including aspiring bodybuilders)… but I tend to spend more time convincing others not to compete.

Why?

Because there is a huge cost or trade-off if you decide to undertake an extreme sport.  Or to transition to more athletic pursuits.  And most people compete for reasons that will not be met by these trade-offs.

For example, some of the PTs I have mentored feel the need to compete to overcome Imposter Syndrome and gain credibility as a PT. 

Some enthusiasts aren’t fully aware of what it takes or aren’t yet demonstrating a capability to develop the set of attributes and behaviours that are congruent with athletic pursuits.  And…

Others want to compete to have a body that they think looks fit or what they think fit “should” look like.

The “fit should look like” idea that most new and novice athletes have, has been largely fuelled by social media.  On one hand, social media has done wonders for many sub-culture sports such as powerlifting, cross-fit and bodybuilding, general gym culture and for the fitness industry as a whole.

Anything that normalises or inspires building a strong, fit body is a positive thing, right?

On the other hand, social media has also perpetuated a lot of “bro science”, approval via vanity metrics, and demotivational content that can negatively influence the content consumer in terms of what they should be doing, how they should look and how they relate to others.     

In this article, I’ll deep dive into 3 social media trends that are detrimental to your goals if you’re serious about competing or pursuing other athletic endeavours.

1. Ditch Your Unrealistic Expectations of What A Body Fit Actually Looks Like

Hint: It’s not an ultra-lean physique

If you believe what you see on TikTok, you may think 18 percent body fat is optimal for women.

However according to a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research in 2021 – the truth may surprise you. 

As a side note, I’m using women in this example, as the influx of women into previously niche sports has increased at a far greater rate than men.  Also, women tend to carry a higher bodyfat percentage.

Anyway, back to the Towson University study, where the researchers measured the body composition of 278 elite intercollegiate female athletes—across 12 different sports—and found that, on average, these super-fit women weren’t 18 percent… or even close.

Most of the athletes came in between 25 and 30 percent body fat. 

To put this in context: In a different study, scientists tracked 27 bikini and fitness competitors through their competition training. The researchers report that the competitors averaged 12.7 percent body fat the morning after their event.

Which for women in general is quite low and unsustainable. 

Interestingly the study also highlighted that these same competitors were at an average of 23 percent body fat before they started their competition-specific training and dieting.

I can also tell you from personal experience, and feedback from nearly 2000 female bikini and figure competitors, that most female bodybuilders lose between 10 and 40 pounds of total bodyweight during a contest prep.

The point? Fitness competitors’ walking-around bodies are lean, but they’re not ultra-lean.  And that’s not something that’s obvious on social media. 

All of which goes to show: Those ideal body fat targets you see in fitspo posts are often not based in reality.  And yes, the average female competitor, especially as they progress in the sport and compete at elite levels, will maintain a much lower bodyfat percentage all year round than most… it’s kinda their job.

But that is a narrow view of what a fit, strong body and if you’re new to bodybuilding or doing a sport such as powerlifting, you may actually need more bodyfat to optimise your muscle building performance.

That doesn’t make you an imposter in the sport or invalidate your potential. So, remember, when it comes to you, especially in off-season, no one but YOU (and with a little help of your coach) can know your ideal body fat. 

Basically, outside of a contest prep, the body composition you can maintain while eating, exercising, sleeping, and living in a way that helps you feel and perform at your best is probably the right body fat percentage for you.

By all means, keep following the lean fitspos, if they give you inspiration… unfollow if they do not, and if you’re like me, start following athletes from a variety of sports to help you put things into perspective.

2. Don’t Get Sucked into Toxic Body Positivity

If body-positive messages make you feel worse, you’re not alone and not all body-positive messages are created equal. 

But before we get into that, let’s just park any moralistic judgements you have on the topic.  There are plenty of well know influencers – think James Smith PT, who have strong opinions on the “rightness” and “wrongness” of the body positivity movement.

And there are plenty of fit people who think they are morally superior because they have a great body or eat and move well.  Remember just because you are prepping for a competition, exercising more than the average punter or becoming an athlete it doesn’t make you any better than anyone else. 

From what I have seen, the body positivity movement encompasses multidimensional aspects.  On one hand there are elements of inclusivity, promotion of personal agency and improving self-esteem.

On the other hand, body positivity appears to be superficial marketing tactics, normalising unhealthy bodyweights and creating another set of “shoulds” to judge ourselves and others by. 

My point being, is that the body positivity movement isn’t necessarily right or wrong.  So, if you’re getting caught up in the “right & wrong” dialogue and experiencing strong emotions on the topic – then, let me ask you:

1. Is this the best use of your time and energy?

2. How does this impact you personally? And

3. What are you realistically hoping to change?

If you want to compete or become an athlete, engaging in a diatribe about whatever topic is trending on social media is going to take your focus away from the activities you actually need to do to become competitive.

 So, my advice?  Put the phone away and get on with making your goals happen and instead of judging the movement itself, let’s just explore the impact of three types of body positivity messaging types on the felt experience of the intended audience.

If you’re currently in “off-season” and feeling uncomfortable about your body, you may be leaning into some of the body positivity messaging.  Some of these messages may feel alienating and others may hit home. 

As it turns out, that’s also the experience of 52 college students who were engaged for a study published last year in Body Image, which explored the impact of three types of body positivity messages.  Here is what they found.