Instagram is my favorite. One of my guilty pleasures is looking at all the fitness pages on Instagram and thinking “What the hell, I want my body to be like that”. There are so many inspirational and motivational Instagram pages of people losing weight and completely transforming their bodies. There are also hundreds of pages that focus on “strong is the new sexy”. How awesome is that though?! Being strong IS sexy.
But wait, if I dressed like these girls on Instagram to work out I’d be having wardrobe malfunctions every 60 seconds! I don’t know about you, but when I work out I wear a sports bra that pretty much flattens my boobs to my chest. Even with these boob flattening sports bras I still managed to almost have them pop out while doing grinders (an exercise where you are in a push up position and bring both your feet to the outside of your hands) in a co-ed crossfit class. I’m imagining if I was to wear a push up sports bra (do those even exist? I’m assuming they do because it looks like the girls on Instagram are wearing them – or they all have amazingly perky breasts) I would have completely exposed my boobs.
Speaking of sports bras, I wear mine with a tank top or t-shirt over it. I guess since guys can take their shirts off while working out, girls can too. Whenever I’ve seen a girl with just her sports bra at the gym I can’t help but judge (just a little!) There are a few reasons why I wouldn’t go without a tank top while working out including my six pack isn’t quite where I want it to be yet and I don’t want everyone to be able to see my nipples in case I get cold.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when a girl works out with her hair down. No, just no. If you’re working out with your hair down, are you actually working out? I still haven’t figured out how one jogs on the treadmill or outside with their hair blowing everywhere in the wind. I have watched countless videos on Instagram of girls doing exercises with their hair down and I still can’t comprehend it. For me it’s just one of those things…pigs don’t fly and you can’t work out with your hair down. Even when I put my hair up in a pony tail with an Under Armour headband on my hair still gets in the way.
And then there is the work out selfie (a very famous trend on insty). There seems to be a theme with a lot of these workout selfies. That theme is that the girls look like they haven’t sweat, they’re makeup is still perfect, and not one hair is out of place. HOW?! But the better question is WHY!? Why do we take selfies before/during/after we work out? I’m not a huge “selfie taker” in general but I’m guessing we take selfies to prove we are actually working out. Why do we feel we have to prove it to the world though? The honest truth is that we don’t and we don’t need our peers and Instagram followers to validate us exercising either. Taking a picture or video of yourself doing something awesome like a handstand pushup is one thing, but taking a picture of yourself in the mirror with nothing awesome going on but your outfit might not be Instagram worthy…
…except it will make me want to go get your outfit because workout clothes are just fun to buy. While I’m at it I’ll go buy some flattening sports bras with extra support and more hair ties because you can just never have enough.
The most important thing I’ve learned and talked about with other people is that a lot of these “fitspo” pictures are fitness models who have worked years to get the bodies they are sharing on Instagram. They also have an intensely strict diet. It can be easy for people to look at these photos and feel discouraged that they’re never going to get there. With determination and hard work they can get there, but it also essential to remember that these kinds of bodies (the ones that are being trained for fitness competitions) are not easy to keep and maintain. Looking like a model while exercising isn’t really the point. The point is to push and lift heavy sh*t so you feel f*cking awesome after.
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Exactly.