“I’d made the decision to get fitter and stronger, and then the night before my first ever run I saw my friend had posted a 5K route on Instagram. ‘Smashed it!’ she’d written. And I don’t know why, but I didn’t put my new running shoes on. I think her post made me feel inadequate before I’d even started,” says Rachael, 34, from London.

It took Rachael another three months to lace up her trainers and start the Couch to 5K programme, but she couldn’t shake the epic time she’d seen her friend post and how far off she was from achieving the same results.

The Healthier Nation Index from Nuffield Health revealed earlier this summer that fewer than half of British women have done ‘vigorous’ exercise in the last 12 months. When social media platforms are full of enthusiastic amateur athletes and influencers sharing runs, weightlifting and workouts, why isn’t that encouraging more of us to move? 

It’s a no-brainer that #fitspiration makes us want to sweat it out, surely? And yet, studies show that when we ‘gamify’ exercise by challenging others to run faster, train harder or upload ‘fitspiration’ posts, it could have the opposite effect. Perhaps choosing to work out isn’t always accelerated by competitive posting.

It’s unsurprising we’re starting to see more fitness content on our devices. Jacqui Ward, PT and fitness instructor, tells Stylist: “Social media is such a huge part of our daily lives now, that it’s to be expected that our fitness routines would somehow integrate with our social networks.” 

Strava, one of the most popular online platforms for professional and amateur athletes to share their workout stats (among other things), registered 1.2 billion uploads in 2021, a 3% increase from 2020, while Nike+ run club grew users by 30%.

“I love running and HIIT,” says Sasha, 32. “But when I scroll through people’s activity shares across social media, I don’t feel inspired. I actually feel guilty that I’m not doing more.” 

Seeing friends or colleagues top leaderboards and smash run times may not have the desired effect on working out that #fitspiration posters assume. “When I cycle using Peloton I have to hide the leaderboard because it can ruin a great cycle,” says Julia, 35, from Leeds. “I feel like I’m doing really well, see that I’m actually really low on the leaderboard, and finish the ride feeling crap.” 

Researchers from Flinders University, Australia, studied women’s reactions to seeing #fitspiration posts to understand whether it would help or hinder their motivation to sweat it out. They found that seeing images of fit people actually left women feeling deflated, leading to increased negative mood and body dissatisfaction. They were then less likely to choose to work out.

Unrealistic body standards

Ivanka Prichard, a researcher from the university, explains: “When considering actual exercise behaviour, there appears to be no beneficial effect, despite their positive intentions and popularity, #fitspiration images are yet another way to make women feel worse about themselves and their bodies.”

Our mental load is already at capacity

There are several theories around why social media can actually harm rather than help our desire to work out. Seeing fitness types smashing it on Instagram while juggling childcare and a career, can simply add to women’s mental load. Mental load is the intersection of anticipating everything that could happen, while making sure we have the tools to manage the ‘thing’ whenever it arrives. Working out can sometimes feel like another thing women must add to their mental to-do list in order to meet societal expectations of being healthy or fit.

It increases pressure and competition

Even if you exercise regularly, the thought of posting activity or runs can be unappealing. Joanna Oliver is a competitive runner and says she rarely posts her times. “I feel it just adds too much pressure for me personally and feel like it becomes a competition (especially with some running ‘friends’).”

The odd times that she does goes on Strava or similar apps, she ends up questioning the validity of her own training – seeing the kinds of times other people manage to rack up. “Perhaps someone’s put up that they’ve been for a long run and I haven’t or they’ve run faster than me – and I wonder if I should be doing the same. I still don’t really like posting it myself as I feel that then I’m putting myself under unnecessary pressure that might take away my love of running.”

PT Jacqui Ward says that of course there are positives to recording and sharing your fitness journey on social media: “Strava and Peloton’s leadership boards can be fab. They can be used as a healthy tool for competition and give someone that drive or ‘want’ to push that little bit quicker or with more power.”  

As businesses that rely on subscribers, clearly the last thing Strava, Nike or Peloton wants is to demotivate potential customers from getting involved. And other studies, like featured in the Journal of Psychology found that social media posts can actually motivate women to work out more – but possibly because of unhealthy motivators like facing FOMO or guilt. Wards adds: “The flip side of this, however, is that you leave someone feeling that they can’t match these leaderboards. It can make them feel like they don’t want to try anymore.”

In the same way that social media companies have programmed apps to make us scroll endlessly and cause endorphin rushes when we see interaction with our content, exercise apps and leaderboards work in a similar way. Gamification of exercise can have a detrimental effect on us as athletes, as we chase highs or other high scores.

Helen O’Leary, physiotherapist and pilates instructor, acknowledges the benefits but cautions that sharing scores or leaderboard positions on social media can put people at risk of burnout. “There’s also a risk that people who are continuously using these apps are at the same risk as they search for gratification/likes rather than a more positive and healthy community support system.

“There is also a risk that a person’s relationship with exercise becomes unhealthy or toxic, where initially it may have started out with other goals in mind such as improvement of fitness, physical and mental health.” 

A paper in the journal of Internet Interventions analysed multiple studies and found inconclusive results as to whether gamification has a positive or negative effect for women when exercising. There are clearly multiple benefits to playing with exercise – anything that gets people moving is a good thing.

Exercise in nature

If you find yourself feeling demotivated because you don’t want to ride to the leaderboard or you’re embarrassed about your running time, what can you do? Coach Tunde from T9 Fitness recommends training outdoors and away from screens. “It doesn’t completely eradicate gamification, but it can shift the mindset of competition with others to competition with self. It helps my clients fully focus on their goals and get into their own personal zones. 

“I don’t have a problem with these health apps encouraging fitness goals and personal bests but in my opinion as a PT, the variants are too different when it comes to competing on an individual level.” 

Switch up when you share workouts and when you don’t

O’Leary recommends mixing up virtual with physical. “Like anything in the social media world, I think it is a balance between being a really positive tool while being aware of the negative impacts it can have. In my experience, I have found that using these tools works most positively when we interact with people we know in real life.”

Take things easier

As for Rachael, she’s now running slow 5Ks. It took her the whole of the pandemic to finish a 5K, but she couldn’t be prouder. “To be honest, someone could probably walk a 5K and overtake me. But I’m doing it, and I’m not sharing my time on social media, even if it is slow. It’s my little challenge, and this time, I’m the one whose smashed it.”

Images: Getty