Fitness Industry Myths #2 – Looking thin/muscular/toned is the same thing as being healthy and happy 

Fitness Industry Myths #2 – Looking thin/muscular/toned is the same thing as being healthy and happy 

A prominent myth permeated through the fitness industry is the idea that looking thin/muscular/toned is equivalent to being healthy and happy. This false equivalency sets people up for failure if they are expecting to attain a robust sense of wellness when and if they achieve a particular “look.”  

If you’re looking to social media for inspiration to lead a healthy life – both mentally and physically – be careful! The primary job of many prominent fitness influencers is to exercise, and to create content related to this that increases monetizable engagement. For some of the people, the line between exercise and constantly monitoring their own appearance through someone else’s point of view is blurry. This means that they often look happy while doing intense exercises and tend to show a lot of skin. They might even be trying to sell you clothes or supplements that they say will help you look and feel they way they apparently look and feel.  

Photo of fitness equipment and wall of windows

The reality is that you have no idea if the people you’re looking at on social media are physically or mentally healthy. You don’t know if the person you’re following is using diuretics to get defined abs or if they’re using fillers or have had cosmetic surgeries. You don’t know if the person you’re following is over-exercising out of self-hatred or using steroids. You also may not be able to tell the difference between the filter they’re using and what they actually look like.  

While some influencers don’t fall into these categories, it is important to remain critical of the ways the medium impacts the message: these people try to portray that they are happy and healthy using images and videos of themselves as their evidence. Don’t fall for this trap! Pictures of a person are no substitute for a holistic picture of health and wellness.  

The fitness industry makes money by getting you to think that being thin or muscular or looking a certain way is the same as being healthy. This is a myth. Image-based evaluations of health and wellness are inadequate. Health starts with what is going on inside of you – whether that’s your heart’s capacity to perform under pressure, or the ways your thoughts and feelings push you around. Health, mental and physical, is an inside game. So be careful – just because someone looks "good" as it is defined by media, does not mean they feel that way.  

Sources: 

  • - Kite, Lexie, and Kite, Lindsay. More Than a Body. HarperCollins: 2021. 
  • - Jiotsa B, Naccache B, Duval M, Rocher B, Grall-Bronnec M. Social Media Use and Body Image Disorders: Association between Frequency of Comparing One's Own Physical Appearance to That of People Being Followed on Social Media and Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 11;18(6):2880. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18062880. PMID: 33799804; PMCID: PMC8001450. 

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Past Wellness Wednesday Articles & Videos

Fitness Industry Myths - #1 Your body has to look a certain way - Sport and Recreation Services - Western University

Staying Active During Exam Season - Sport and Recreation Services - Western University

Physical Activity is Good for Your Mental Health - Sport and Recreation Services - Western University

Physical Activity Can Bring About Positive Impacts to Your Mood in Big or Small Doses - Sport and Recreation Services - Western University

Physical Activity is an Effective Treatment for LOTS of Presenting Problems - Sport and Recreation Services - Western University

Posted: January 15, 2025