There’s a fitness phenomenon taking place at the Queen’s ARC.
As a frequent exerciser and avid people watcher, I love the gym — or at least most things about the gym. I dislike thinking about the amount of sweat that has been absorbed by the mat that I’m using and I’ll never enjoy burpees.
Yet this year there seems to be an inordinate number of girls on those mats doing burpees.
I’m completely supportive of having more girls at the gym and particularly in the weight rooms that are often viewed as ‘guys only’ zones. But I’ve noticed that a significant number of these girls are using the Kayla Itsine Bikini Body Guide.
This is something I have extremely mixed feelings about.
Itsine is a 23-year-old personal trainer from Australia that has developed a training program for women that specifically want a flat stomach, toned arms and svelte inner thighs. Believe it or not, these traits are actually listed as the program aims on her website. She also currently has 1,508,429 followers on Instagram, where she provides “fitspo” — fitness inspiration.
I’m all for anything that encourages people to get active and improve their health. Itsine’s promotion of working out with friends fosters exercise as a form of positive social interaction.
On her social media, Itsine offers daily denotations of positivity and motivation, such as “Food is not the enemy, self hate is.” She encourages healthy eating and claims to believe that beauty comes in all shapes.
But the guide is called the Bikini Body Guide, which to me, makes it pretty clear that the emphasis is on physical appearance rather than health.
The majority of Itsine’s posts are shots of herself in a sports bra and shorts, showing off her toned stomach. What strikes me the most about these posts is that she chooses not to include her face in the shots.
This sends the message to over a million followers that she is defined by her body.
Many of her other posts feature ‘transformations’ — women who’ve sent in ‘progress photos’ of themselves at the beginning and end of the training program.
From a marketing perspective, this is brilliant. From a health perspective, not so much.
Most of the women featured in the transformations go from average bodies to extremely thin and toned bodies. The viewer has no idea how many photos may have been filtered through in order to select that specific one.
They may assume that their body should look similar with a bit of exercise and healthy eating. It sets a precedent that’s unrealistic and can foster self-loathing.
The concept of ‘documented pleasure’ — the satisfaction one feels from documenting the progress of his or her activity — is taken a step further on social media outlets such as Instagram and Facebook, when one can put his or her progress out there for other people to approve of through ‘likes’ and comments.
This control of what other people see allows us to create a ‘performing self’, a perfect version of our less-than-perfect self, for example, choosing to post number 17 of 32 selfies.
The ‘performing self’ is a personality cultivated through emphasis on display, appearance and management of impressions.
In the case of the Bikini Body Guide, it isn’t about being healthy — it’s about being desirable.
We ought to exercise because it makes us feel good and not so that someone can evaluate our bodies on a screen.
Tags
Fitness, Fitspo, gym, Health, instagram
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