Senior Thesis:

An analysis of the Fitness Industry

One of the most significant faults of the fitness industry is their use of social media. It is almost universal now that by age 12, most children have a smartphone and some sort of social media, with instagram and youtube being some of the most popular apps. With such a variety of information available at youths fingertips, one of the most common and popular trends tweens and teens turn to is fitness. This should be something that we ought to be able to celebrate; the younger the children place emphasis on fitness and exercise, the longer and healthier life they will be able to live. However, large fitness brands and their athletes are not producing your typical fitness content, it often has less emphasis on promoting a healthy lifestyle and finding what form of exercise you enjoy doing, and instead is quite often a promotion of a certain brand, through the athletes themselves. What I mean by this is that these highly looked up to, millions of follower fitness influencers, are often posting photos of themselves, showcasing their respective brands clothing, which in turn, soars profits for the company by implicitly saying, “Hey! You can look this if you choose to wear our brand!”. And this is highly problematic especially because of the effect it has on tweens and teens.

It is in our nature to compare ourselves to one another, everyone does and we all struggle with it to some extent. However, the tween and teen age group is definitely the most susceptible to this sort of behavior. An article written by Kelly Burch helps elaborate on teen behavior with the aid of Neha Chaudhary and Linda Charmaraman: 

While we can't say anything yet about direct causation, we are seeing strong negative correlations in a few areas," says Neha Chaudhary, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. "Teen social media use has been thought to be correlated with depression, anxiety, worsening self-esteem, and loneliness.... Linda Charmaraman, a senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women and director of the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab, has also found that 21% of teens "felt down" about themselves after looking at social media. More than half of those teens reported that the feeling was related to their bodies.

If this is how teens feel normally on social media (which is frightening data) imagine  when they start to interact with highly-curated fitness content, it can produce a whole host of problems. The first, is that the standard displayed is entirely unrealistic. The countless photos of fitness athletes, and influencers on social media are what many teens and tween boys and girls aspire to. Of course, social media posts are tightly-curated, hand-selected photos showing people only at their best, but adolescents often perceive them as reality. Due to this, teens and tweens are left feeling less than and not good enough when they reflect this standard upon themselves. What is extremely frightening for our youth, is that it seems to be more common now than ever, that adolescents struggle with eating disorders, specifically anorexia and binge-eating disorder. A 2015 study done in the UK has shown the following:

The annual number of new cases of anorexia nervosa among 8 to 12 year olds in the UK and Ireland is around double that of a previous estimate in 2006, indicates research published in the online journal BMJ Open. In 2006, the incidence rate of anorexia among 8-12 year olds treated in hospital/specialist clinics in the UK was approximately 1.5/100,000 young people, or with the inclusion of 'other eating disorders' that may now be diagnosed as anorexia nervosa, 2.1/100,000.

This latest analysis indicates that the figure for children in this age bracket is 3.2/100,000.

  This research is very frightening. Since 2006, we now have double the amount of cases of anorexia for 8-12 year old boys and girls. Now while we can’t necessarily blame the fitness industry solely for this problem, we can make a connection between the social media boom and this issue. The social media boom occurred around 2010, and it has only grown increasingly popular with each successive year. Amanda Doria, a journalist for the life sciences of Boston College, explains how this boom has affected our young teens:

As social media’s presence in society has increased in the last decade or so.. studies found that interacting with attractive influencers’ social media accounts led to worsened body image in young women. Even more concerning, a study performed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute found that “approximately 40% of 9 and 10 year-old girls are already trying to lose weight.” This is largely a consequence of how the media in general has painted a picture of the “ideal” body type: tall, stick-thin women who have very few curves. In reality, this physique is unrealistic and potentially unhealthy for the vast majority, but one that many young girls chase after, as demonstrated by the rising presence of eating disorders in women and the usage of photo editing apps to alter one’s body to his or her satisfaction. Additionally, while the effect of social media is more pronounced in young girls and women, boys and young men are not immune either. Western views on the “ideal” body type for men have become a stronger, more muscular body, with an increased emphasis on fitness and working out.

As Amanda Doria explained, for a young adolescent who is trying to navigate social media, the pressure is simply too much to not try and emulate “attractive influencers’ social media accounts”. This pursuit can lead to eating-disorders, which when cross-referencing the UK study with this analysis on the social media boom and body image, we can clearly see that the two go hand in hand. Since the boom of social media there is a clear link to the rise of eating-disorders. But, what does all this have to do with the fitness industry? Well, as Amanda Doria pointed out, it is in large part due to these “influencer social media accounts” that create an unrealistic standard to achieve. And with social media fitness growing to a 100 billion dollar industry in 2019, the amount of fitness influencers branded by fitness companies have rapidly increased. If then, the social media boom occurred in 2010, and negative body-image has grown in the past decade, combined with double the cases of anorexia in young boys and girls, the fitness industry must be at least in part to blame for the growing mental and physical health problems of this young generation.

Not only has the unrealistic standard portrayed by the fitness industry had a harmful effect on how adolescents eat and think, but it has also increased the rate at which teens are willing to take illegal or potentially harmful Performance Enhancing Drugs. Teens of course want to look like their favorite fitness athlete, especially when those athletes are often young teens themselves. But, when realizing that physiques that famous influencers showcase are nearly unrealistic, teens end up longing for something to speed up those results: often being some form of a PED, or an illegal steroid. Studies show that for US High Schoolers, 5% of males and nearly 3% of females have taken some form of steroid, that’s 375,000 young men and 175,000 young women. Needless to say, this is very concerning and can be potentially life threatening to teens doping at such a young age. But, when the pressure from fitness brands and influencers are so high to look a certain way, teens can think short term instead of long term in the pursuit of physical perfection.

Another fault of the fitness industry is that they are not entirely truthful. Whether it is through their marketing and advertising of their products, or the athlete ambassadors advice on fitness, there is often a side they don’t want you to know. First off, the athletes themselves. These athletes often claim to their naive following, that they do not take any form of steroid or PED, and that they are a realistic standard to strive for. However, this is not the case. Numerous influencers have come out and shed light on the dark side of the fitness industry, and one common thread is that nearly everyone in mainstream fitness is on some sort of PED. The problem with this is that adolescents then are left pursuing a standard that they will never achieve. What is also problematic is the products companies sell. Big fitness companies and brands often produce or endorse supplements. What’s problematic is both the label/ingredients of supplements and the way they are marketed. So first, the ingredients and labeling of supplements. Dietary supplement manufacturers are required to declare all ingredients on their product labels. Products that contain undeclared ingredients are illegal. However, what you see on the label, often does not reflect what is in the product itself. Companies constantly get away with this because the FDA does not regulate the supplement industry as it does for the pharmaceutical. Obviously this is highly problematic, and according to a study by Sonya Angelone, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says:

Chemical analyses found that product labels did not reflect ingredients for 80 percent of bodybuilding and performance enhancement supplements, and 72 percent of weight-loss products…...We found that half of the bodybuilding supplements in our analysis contained undeclared anabolic steroids….Supplements sold for weight loss or muscle building "tend to be contaminated the most, and usually they're contaminated with unlabeled drugs because that's how you get a quick effect," Angelone said. "They want people to use their product, so they have to put something in there to create an effect and keep selling their product."

This analysis further displays the dark side of the fitness industry. Not only are some of these companies breaking the law by not telling you what exactly is in your supplement, but they can also be inserting something very harmful to the buyer, hooking them with quick results, that could cost them an abundance of health in the long term. 

So not only are some of these supplements potentially harmful, but they can also be marketed in a misleading manner. Fitness athletes or influencers often endorse a certain supplement from a specific brand on their social media accounts, claiming to their large followings that this supplement will revolutionize the way they look and feel. However, this is just not true. While supplements can be helpful, studies have shown that they minimally affect body composition, while diet and exercise make up 95% of one’s transformation, effectively showing that no one supplement will revolutionize the way you look.

This is an incredibly unfortunate reality. Not only do we have fitness brands and athletes who are displaying an unrealistic standard of fitness for everyone, but we also have big fitness companies displaying an unrealistic standard of what you can achieve based off of the supplements you take. 

So this begs the question: If we can’t receive information that is truthful and beneficial for people interested in health and fitness, where do we find it? Let’s look at Hollywood briefly  and how the fitness industry has invaded the motion picture business. Hollywood actors and actresses are admired by people in a similar way that fitness influencers are on social media. This is in large part due to the amazing physical transformations we see on the big screen. Think of Chris Hemsworth in Thor, or Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger, and Chris Evans as Captain America. What’s interesting about these transformations that we see is that they are all quite fast and result in dramatic changes in body composition. For example take Mark Wahlberg’s transformation for Pain and Gain in 2013. Mark Wahlberg discusses how he put on 40 pounds of muscle in just two months; he says, “Well, I'd wake up at 4:30 every morning, have a nice big breakfast—a pre-workout igniter—and then I'd hit the heavy weights, depending on the day and the routine for the day. But it always involved lifting heavy, and mostly just lifting weights. And then a protein shake right after the workout. And then chicken, steak, fish, a little bit of pasta here and there. Just really overloading, meal after meal after meal.” It is very clear from Mark’s statement that he worked very hard for this role and that it required lots of dedication to get into great condition for the movie. However putting on an exuberant 40 pounds of muscle is definitely not a realistic reality for anyone in 2 months. Mark Wahlberg was 42 years old when this was filmed, which means he was well past his physical prime. Studies have shown that your ability to put on muscle significantly declines with age. According to a review done by Elena Volpi and Reza Nazemi of the National Institutes of Health, “One of the most striking effects of age is the involuntary loss of muscle mass, strength, and function, termed sarcopenia. Muscle mass decreases approximately 3–8% per decade after the age of 30 and...this involuntary loss of muscle mass, strength, and function is a fundamental cause of and contributor to disability in older people''. With this in mind, it’s hard to believe that a man who is over the age of 40 and well past his prime was able to put on a whopping 40 pounds of muscle in just 2 months without the aid of some sort of PED. What people don’t realize is that oftentimes these actors/actresses are in fact taking something to speed up the transformation process, but they simply can’t discuss it. Actors and actresses are required to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements, which when signed act as a pact to be confidential about certain aspects of the motion picture business. This is why actors all say the same thing regarding physical transformations, that it only requires intense lifting and a strict diet to put on nearly 40 pounds of muscle in two months. And people are susceptible to believing this sort of information. As a celebrity who has a massive following, similar to a fitness influencer, people believe what they say is true and that this transformation is in fact possible. But again, these people will be disappointed to realize that these results simply can’t be achieved in such astounding magnitude in such a short amount of time. Unfortunately, the cover-up nature of the fitness industry has not only made its way into social media, but into Hollywood as well. This leaves us with the bleak reality of what fitness looks like today. 

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Within recent years, there has been a movement in fitness that has been very positive. It has gone against the grain of typical fitness content with completely unrealistic standards for people to compare themselves to. This movement is called body positivity. 

Charlotte Markey is a professor of psychology and founding director of the health sciences center at Rutgers University. She has been doing research examining eating behaviors and body image for over 20 years. She says the following regarding the body positivity movement: 

Research examining the effects of beauty ideals on social media suggests they can be detrimental to body image.  However, the body positivity movement, which is prevalent on social media sites, aims to challenge traditional beauty ideals.The body positivity movement has caught on, in part, due to social media. The philosophy underlying this movement is that society’s messages about beauty are oppressive and unobtainable.  Individuals are encouraged to challenge beauty ideals and welcome diversity in appearance and body size.  Unique physical features are regarded in a positive light, not as deviations from what is considered attractive.

This research is very encouraging. Now there is a movement taking place on social media fitness with a more realistic outlook. And, while it can’t be quantified how pervasive this movement is currently, it is a step in the right direction for the fitness industry. Not only is this movement taking place on social media with everyday people, but recently, a powerhouse of a fitness company named Gymshark, has started to encourage this movement to their very impressionable audience. 

In September of 2020, instead of Gymshark advertising their brand through glamorous photos of their athletes who are entirely unrealistic standards to compare oneself too, they advertised normal people. Viewers of the advertisement could easily relate to the people displaying Gymshark’s gear because they physically looked similar to them. Gymshark has continued to do this through the rest of this year, and it has likely had a very positive effect on the fitness community at large.

While this is a step in the right direction for fitness, I believe there needs to be systematic change within the fitness industry. People continue to struggle with eating disorders, body dysmorphia, and they are even growing more willing to put potentially harmful things within their body to achieve results. If the fitness industry is to change, I believe that the body positivity movement needs to grow, and this should come from fitness brands and social media influencers.  Similarly, I believe Hollywood and the famous actors and actresses should be more open about what they are using to transform for roles, so that people won’t be left discouraged when they don’t achieve similar results to their heroes.  If this happens, fitness will be able to return to its original intention, to keep people fit and have a healthy lifestyle.

Bibliography: 

-Burch, Kelly. “How social media affects the mental health of teenagers”. March 16, 2020. insider.com/how-does-social-media-affect-teenagers.

-British Medical Journal. “Anorexia nervosa among young children in the UK and Ireland on the up”. October 22, 2019. medicalxpress.com/news/2019-10-anorexia-nervosa-young-children-uk.html.

-Doria, Amanda. “The Effects of Social Media on Body Image and Mental Health”. 2019. lifesciencesjournal.org/2020/02/the-effects-of-social-media-on-body-image-and-mental-health/.

-Leskin, Paige. “Personal trainers and health nuts are cashing in working as influencers as people flock to Instagram for fitness inspiration”. September 6, 2019. businessinsider.com/instagram-influencers-use-fitness-cash-in-2019-9.

-Markey, Charlotte. “Body Positivity on Social Media Is a Work in Progress”. August 17, 2020. psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smart-people-don-t-diet/202008/body-positivity-social-media-is-work-in-progress.

-Thompson, Dennis. “Can You Trust the Labels on Your Supplements?”.  November 2, 2017. webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/news/20171102/can-you-trust-the-labels-on-your-supplements#1.