Over the last few years, social media has become a haven of information. From cute cat videos to world news, fitness trends, as well as fitness hacks. Thanks to Tik Tok and Instagram, fitness influencers have been given an opportunity to share their love and advice for their audiences. Although, they may have good intentions, it may result in more harm than good for the BAUCE desperately trying to lose a few pounds. If you type in #fitnesstrends on these social media apps, you will often find an array of different advice. Anything from at-home workouts to heavy lifters in the gym, and you may even see someone with a goat on their back. (Yes, goat yoga is a thing). Sprinkled across your feed, you’ll find videos of slim wasted women taunting viewers with magical fitness hacks. Although influencers swear by their results, many of the fitness videos trending on social media aren’t exactly effective. They can even be detrimental to your health. For all the BAUCE’s out there, who want to get into shape and get hot girl summer-ready, here are popular fitness trends to be cautious of and the ones to follow.
Exercises that claim to spot reduce fat
We all know that weight loss is a popular goal when it comes to exercising. Thousands of women want to lose belly fat, achieve a thigh gap, and fit into a smaller size. Therefore so many content creators jump on trends that claim to spot reduce fat. What is spot-reducing fat? It’s when one claims that a certain exercise will help you lose fat on a particular part of the body.
Here’s the tea. And no not the diet tea. Tony Carvajal, a certified L-2 Crossfit Trainer told LiveStrong : spot reduction is indeed a myth. Targeting certain body parts during working out can help build muscle but losing fat works differently. When you want to get rid of the fat cells in your body you must simply start with burning more calories than you consume. When you do this, the body draws from fat cells in different parts of your body, not one specific area. And your body starts using those fat cells for energy, shrinking the size of the cells giving you the appearance of “losing weight”. This is why doing small reps or hip thrusting may not give you that super slim waist.
“What I eat in a day”
This trend can be easy to get drawn into. This is where you’ll see influencers prep aesthetically pleasing meals, and they’ll show you what they eat for breakfast lunch and dinner. If that creator appears to look fit or healthy, many times the followers will try to mimic the exact eating style they’ve seen. This is a slippery slope because, everyone’s body is different. Calorie intake depends on body type and the amount of physical exercise. If you’re imitating what someone is eating, you may not be getting the right amount of nutrition for your body. Instead, talk to a nutritionist or your doctor to see how much you should be consuming in a day to meet your fitness needs.
Waist Trainers
Sarah Koszyk, MA, RDN, a dietitian says “Of course, you won’t want to eat when you have trouble breathing and your stomach is being pushed into your spine.” The fitness fad she is referring to is a waist trainer. Yes, the Kardashians and other celebrities have made this look trendy but it’s not healthy. This corset-inspired fitness accessory can lower your appetite because it’s squeezing all your organs, or help you sweat more so you may feel smaller when you take it off. But, if you haven’t changed your eating habits i.e still consuming more calories than you are burning, you won’t see a lasting change.
As we get closer to ‘bikini season’, you’ll want to be critical of the new fitness trends that will start popping up. To do this, ask where the information you’re viewing is coming from? Is it coming from a professional? Is doing micro squeezes with your thighs while sitting in a chair referencing any science-based methods? The foolproof method is: if you were to show a trending technique to your doctor or trainer, would they approve?
Experts say the best way to improve your fitness, is to keep it simple. Health, wellness, fitness don’t come with fast results, but with consistency and doing the needful. Common exercises such as walking, cardio, and strength training are the golden tickets to better body image and health. And the most important thing is: to practice self-love no matter your shape or size.
