Just How Inspirational Is Fitspiration Really?

Fitspiration is an online trend that you’re probably a part of. If you haven’t created a fitspiration image, chances are you’ve shared one. If you haven’t shared one, chances are you’ve liked, commented or at least seen one. I’m not saying the whole thing is your fault, but we’re kind of all involved just because there’s so much of it about.

As the obviously portmanteaued name suggests, fitspiration images are there to inspire you to be fit, or think about fitness, or whatever. I don’t have the figures to hand, but they’re overwhelmingly oriented towards women and carry slogans like "Would you rather be covered in sweat at the gym or covered in clothes at the beach?"

Obviously, there’s a way you can read this as being positive towards women taking control of their health and fitness.

It’s reclaiming sweat, effort and athleticism, and that’s a good thing, right?

Not everyone thinks so.

Fitspiration: The Darker Side

First, that particular fitspiration quote is actually advertising a brand. I won’t say which one - it’s enough to know that they make sportswear. That’s a problem in some people’s eyes, because it’s not really about inspiring you to be your best - it’s about inspiring you to buy expensive fitness merchandise.

There’s a deeper problem with fitspiration too.

Keeping with the same slogan, we can see that it’s emphasizing appearance — at the very least, someone who doesn’t keep fit is apparently going to inevitably want to keep all her clothes on at the beach. Why? Because she’s going to feel social pressure to do so, pressure that’s being reinforced by this ad.

In that sense, fitspiration has the capacity to be downright dispiriting.

But Not All Fitspiration Looks Like This

Some fitspiration is more down-to-earth and funnier. Slogans like "focus on what you want your life to look like, not just your body" are pretty hard to argue with. Especially since they’re presented as text on a coloured background with no accompanying images.

Which brings me to my next point.

Because this is a textual post it’s hard to work with imagery in detail, but we can talk about the kind of imagery that’s presented with "fitspiration" images. Mostly in these images, for instance, women are attractive and feminine. Most people wouldn’t see that as necessarily a bad thing, but when they’re all, always, conventionally attractive and feminine, and they  appear next to text saying things like "what’s your excuse?" it’s easy to see them as demanding certain behaviors from women, not encouraging women to achieve goals they have selected. ‘What’s your excuse for not looking like this?’ is how it often comes across.

Fitspiration images have come under fire for being hateful and oppressive towards women for just this reason, with bloggers like FeministFigureGirl and Beauty Redefined’s Lexie Kite laying into images that are seemingly designed to make women feel bad about themselves even while they pretend to do the opposite. In fact, some bloggers — notably Charlotte from The Great Fitness Experiment — have termed fitspiration "thinspiration in a sports bra". (Here at SteadyHealth, we’ve talked about thinspiration before. If you don’t know what it is, check out that article.)

See Also: Keep Calm: "Thinspiration" Can't Convince Us That Anorexia Is A Lifestyle Choice

So much for the cultural aspects. What about the nitty-gritty?

Does Fitspiration really inspire you to be fitter?

Does Fitspiration Really Inspire You To Be Fitter?

Whether you agree that it does so in a good way or not, fitspiration should surely be judged mainly on whether it does what it says on the tin. Does it actually inspire people to get fitter?

Fitspiration presents effort as both demanded and endless. You must make it, and keep making it. Push through those boundaries! Drive onward! That thing saying you should stop, because it hurts and you’re tired? That’s your mind, not your body! Work harder!

I personally find that kind of "Full Metal Jacket" school of inspiration entertaining. But taken as actual advice, it’s absolutely terrible.

If You’re Tired, Take A Break

If it burns and you’re tired, you’re working at an intensity that means your risk of injury is elevated. Don’t just keep banging out reps because some picture on the internet said you’re a loser if you don’t.

Bruce Lee once famously said, "If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." Rarely is this quote finished. Bruce said this while running in LA with a friend and the quote ends, "if it kills you, it kills you." Bruce Lee dropped dead less than three years later. I’m not saying Bruce’s death is funny, but it does suggest that even if you’re a preternaturally gifted and incredibly driven athlete it’s a bit risky. If you’re just trying to drop a few pounds, maybe you should ease off a bit.

It also shows off its ugly associations with thinspiration by presenting wildly unhealthy attitudes as good, and normalising them in the process.

OK. I do martial arts, and a lot of the stuff we do looks weird or downright silly to the outsider. When you read about the level of effort and dedication even amateur boxers, nak muay or BJJ players (I’m not any of these, by the way, but I take my hat off to those who are) have to put in, it does make you think your own training is pretty ropy. But here’s the thing: that’s the price for what they want. It’s not necessarily a good thing in itself to train six hours a day. If you’re presented with a choice between being "lazy" and being "obsessed", why wouldn’t you just stay away?

Just doing what you need to do to be fit and healthy isn’t bad, it isn’t evidence of moral weakness and it doesn’t mean that you lack the self-discipline to consider your body the enemy. It also doesn’t need the constant irrational reinforcement of fitspiration delivered to your social media a zillion times a day; life-changing results can come in just a few hours of sensible training a week, and you don’t have to spend them "overcoming all obstacles" or powering through fatigue (and into mental health problems, torn ligaments and ruined cardiovascular health).

See Also: HIIT Training Works To Improve Your Stamina

Fitspiration isn’t really all that inspiring most of the time, and it comes loaded with some pretty unpleasant baggage. Drop it, and just get healthy instead.

If you like what I've said here, or you've got a bone to pick, get hold of me in the comments section below!