I’m not against ALL “fitspo” pictures. Like this one. Nothing motivates me more to workout hard than the thought of getting dropped into a gladiator arena with a bunch of teenagers on a reality show.
The other day as I sat happily pinning away on Pinterest, a taut, perfectly chiseled six-pack caught my eye. No I wasn’t admiring the latest David Beckham ad for H&M. It was a fabulously fit woman, one whom I would love to look like. But when I clicked to enlarge the picture I saw that the text written across her stomach was not inspirational words but a recipe for purging. The site the picture came from? Ana4Ever. It was thinspo.
For those of you unitiated in the world of eating disorders, “thinspo” (short for thinspiration) are images of very skinny models/actresses/cartoons that one then uses to self-flagellate with the hope that all the shame will make you stop eating and thereby help you lose weight. Because if we’ve learned nothing from The Scarlet Letter it’s that shame is clearly the best motivator to do anything. If I sound jaded, it’s because I am. I had a serious thinspo addiction when I was at the height of my anorexia. After going through a lot of therapy I can finally see the images for the damage they do and now when I look at thinspo I only see sadness. I only feel the self-hatred that permeated my every waking moment then.
I’ve managed to mostly put it out of my mind until this past week when a couple of events brought it right back. First, Tumblr, safe haven to thinspo blogs, announced a policy change banning any site that advocates self harming behaviors in general and eating disorder in particular. While I am under no delusions this will shut down the thinspo sites, I am very happy to see an actual policy acknowledging the damage they do. The other issue was that I got an assignment to write about the problems with thinspo and then show examples of healthy “fitspo.”
Another one I LOVE!
Obviously the first part came easy (maybe a little too easy, by about 200 words too long… oops) but while I thought the second part would be easy, it ended up being a juggernaut that has consumed my whole weekend. The first thing I did was go to Pinterest and start clicking on all my friends’ boards who posted inspirational fitness stuff. But as I got into it I found myself getting more and more obsessive with the images, then comparing myself to them and consequently feeling really awful about myself. Just like I used to do with thinspo.
Looking at rock-hard body after rock-hard body it occurred to me that fitspo may be thinspo in a sports bra. After all, the problem with thinspo is that the images represent a mostly unattainable ideal that requires great sacrifices (both physical and mental) to achieve and I daresay that most of those “perfect” female bodies, albeit muscular instead of bony, are equally as problematic. Many people will say that while it’s rare to be born with skinny genes but that muscle can be built with hard work in the gym. And I agree. But in most of these pictures, we’re not looking at your average woman who does Bodypump twice a week and can now lift her children with ease. We’re looking at a very exclusive set of dedicated athletes that train very hard and eat a very particular diet to maintain extremely lean figures. A second argument would be that super skinny is unhealthy while exercise is very healthy. Again I agree. Except that for the majority of women to look like the girls in these fitspo pictures they’d have to be young, probably not have had kids and quite possibly have an unhealthy devotion to exercise and eating. And let’s remember that women need body fat not only for spawning but also for our own health. I’m not saying every fitness model has an eating disorder. I promise! I am saying though that compulsive over exercise can be just as deadly as other eating disorders and yet it so socially sanctioned that it’s often promoted as inspiring.
This one totally made me grin.
The last point – one that I would never argue with – is that some women seem to find fitspo genuinely fit-spirational. Seeing those pics does make them want to work harder, eat cleaner and live better. I’ll freely admit that I may be more sensitive than most to this type of influence. Which is why I’m now asking you guys (because that’s my strategy – to ask normal people what they would do and then try and blend in!):
Do you find “fitspo” to be inspiring or frustrating? Does it matter to you if a beautiful bod comes from elite genes versus elite training?
P.S. While I’ve given you some examples of stuff I find truly inspiring, I feel like I need to give at least one example of the kind that bothers me so much. But I’ve put it way down here at the bottom in case it bothers you too – feel free to not scroll!
LOVE this sentiment! But everytime I look at this one I get depressed all over again. Because honestly? I will never, ever look like this. No matter how many weights I lift or sprints I run.
for more of my crazy antics and uncomfortable over-shares!
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The Hunger Games is so awesome. That is all.
Amen.
I agree with you. First three are inspiring, the last one crosses that line into fitspo, as well as turning functional fitness into over-the-top-sexy-fitness.
Good point about the Maxim-level sexiness too… blargh.
I agree that the last one is posed poorly. It does seem to emphasize the sex over the fit. However, her arms are amazing, and that’s via work, not genes. I don’t know if I will ever be able to achieve her abs, though. I have a natural “baby bump” that really seems to stay around no matter what I do.
And yet her bra is ill-fitting. Right after I mentally cleaned her up and made her stand up straight and square, that’s the first thing I noticed. So much of what is presented as sexy is actually sexy-like – it’s like food and imitation food-like products: all tease and no delivery – and when we can strip that away and see what that person looks like IRL, it gives a whole new standard for aspiration.
This is not to attack the model at all. That woman has clearly worked for what she has. However, so have a lighting technician, a makeup artist with a spray bottle, and a fitness photographer. I only want to point out that this is STAGED to emphasize something specific, and we can’t keep comparing our director’s cut to someone else’s highlight reel and expect to remain balanced. It’s also a bit dehumanizing that they’ve cut her face off, like they do in the background photo of news stories on obesity, as if the body and person could be separated.
From personal experience I can say that that chiselled boy-like waist means that women’s jeans bite at the waist and gape at the hips, while men’s jeans have too deep a rise. So be careful what you wish for. I do wish I could have her thighs (or, in this case, non-thighs) but I am reassured by the notion that hip and thigh fat is the body’s reserve of O3s for child-bearing and hippier women have cranially-advantaged kids.
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I find fitspo almost as depressing as thinspo. Most of us with jobs and kids and lives will never look like that. These women are fitness models and/or competitors, and it IS their job to look like that. There’s also a genetic predisposition towards 6-pack abs that most women don’t possess.
I would REALLY like to see health and fitness represented in a variety of shapes & sizes. But I won’t hold my breath.
P.S., I would totally fail at Hunger Games. I’d be eaten.
No way – you and I would be on the same team. We’d survive! Or go down together! And so true that fitness desperately needs model diversity just like the fashion world does!
I agree with you! With three kids, one being a five-month-old nursing baby, I find fitspo depressing as well! I
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I like to think that Katniss Everdeen would look more like that Nike ad woman, but since she comes from District 12 and they are pretty much starved there, I doubt she does. But I realize that’s not your point.
I agree with you. I think fitspo (which is a funny word I’d never heard before) is just as damaging as thinspo, at least mentally if not physically. But again, it boils down to personal responsibility and knowing when to look and when to look away.
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True, personal responsibility is a huge factor. As long as I blame someone else for my negative thoughts I’m not working on changing them;)
Actually, that was my reason to stop with bodyrock.tv – I am all into fitness buyou’re sensitive when you’ve got a history with ED. And it’s just wrong they promote curves when all the women on their site have a body fat % that is far below fertile, no matter how “fit” they are, they’re not from nature’s point of view. Great post!
I love that: “No matter how”fit” they are, they’re not from nature’s point of view”. That is such a good thing to remember.
Oh I totally agree here! When the Gym Buddies and I bodyrock (which has been like once since Zuzana left), we read the description and purposes don’t look at the vids or pictures. Which is easier to do I think since we’re usually looking at it on someone’s iphone at the gym.
I agree! I did watch the videos when Zuzana did them, because I could just ignore the over-the-top sexiness, but now the videos have gotten even more extreme and I can’t watch them. I go back and do old workouts with Zuzana in them. She was fit, but you couldn’t see every single muscle and tendon, and while she did wear revealing clothing to look sexy, I fell like now the hosts wear revealing clothing to show off how thin and ripped they are and it isn’t even sexy. They did a Q+A with the new female host recently, and one of the questions was about her weight. Seeing as she looks like a body builder in the cut phase, this is probably not a good thing for people to focus on. I give her credit for her answers, and for skipping the answer to how much she weighed, but in the comments it became clear that everyone was more focused on her weight than her fitness. Almost every comment was guessing at her weight, or comparing her weight to their own. I haven’t gone back since. I love the workouts, but I just can’t watch the videos or look at the pictures anymore.
I totally agree with you point on fitspo. I myself suffered froman eating disorder. And sometimes, I have to look away from pinterest, or I would end up beating myself up.
I wanted to mentionned as well, I recently found bodyrock.tv, but quickly switched to Zuzana’s new channel: zuskalight on youtube
I had never heard of this and just went to the website. The video (I guess) is on a still looking down a woman’s sports bra and she has very obvious breast implants.
Clicked right back off. That is not inspirational, but revolting (body image issue trigger of mine).
Oooh, you bring up a great point. I am motivated and inspired by the fitspo images, but I definitely see how it could be problematic and lead to a comparison trap. Great post, Charlotte!
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Yes there are def. women who aren’t bothered by these at all. So glad that they inspire you!
I think what bothers me most about the last one is there is no face, the woman has been reduced to a body with no identity other than her torso. I love the butt one !
I find most “fitspo” pictures pretty much as unrealistic as the “thinspro” ones. I know they’re advertising (a lot of the time) but surely they can take a leaf out of the Dove adverts from a couple of years back and realise that not everyone is in their early 20′s with hours to spend at the gym every day. How about some that are of people who are fit and toned, with a healthy body fat percentage ? I think you and the gym buddies should create a series of “fitspro” pictures and show them how it should be done
Real people, real. bodies, achievable goals !
Hahah I LOVE it! Maybe we will do that.
“Nothing motivates me more to workout hard than the thought of getting dropped into a gladiator arena with a bunch of teenagers on a reality show.”
For me, it’s the thought of the zombie apocalypse that motivates me. What ever works, I guess. But I’m with you on some of the “fitspo” being too much. While much of it is inspiring in a healthy way for many people, some of it feels like it’s just masquerading as slightly-healthier looking thinspo. I’ve been very careful that when I do pick a fitspo quote/picture, that the picture is something I’m capable (and willing) to work for. No point choosing a chest-less model when the last time I was smaller than a C-cup, Kriss-Kross was making us all jump-jump.
Funny you should mention Kriss-Kross – my 5-year-old is at this very moment wearing all his clothes backwards. He just asked me to “snap my butt” because he can’t button his pants that way. See? They’re totally making a comeback. And so true about the zombies!
As someone who has ‘recovered’ from an ED, I definitely think all these pictures and sentiments would cause me distress. But I also think this reaction is very personal and there may be others who may not be affected by the pictures at all.
When it comes to body image / eating issues, I think it’s very important to analyze whether something [and this includes physical fitness goals] is affecting your daily life in a negative manner. Both ‘thinspo’ and ‘fitspo’ pictures would affect me in such a way that I would feel negatively about my body–so I tend to stay away from both.
Yes, there is a lot of personal responsibility involved – I think you’re right: it comes down to knowing your personal boundaries and taking care of yourself.
I’ve read on another blog that all those people who were kicked off tumblr are on pinterist now. I can totally see it. Sometimes I feel like I’m looking at Maxim when I check out the fitness section. I wanted it to be something like, ooOOoo, fun new workout, but after seeing all the thinspo interspersed with the fitspo, I can’t even visit that section anymore. I still go for food (love the salad in a jar idea that gets kicked round there), humor, and cleaning stuff (yea…just because you pin it doesn’t mean my house is any thinner, but I can pretend like I care), but I’m done with the fitness section. (Obviously not crafty, like *ahem* everyone else on there…two left hands and a brown thumb…hehe, I made a punny….since parents are Indian…blah).
I think I lost 3 lbs since joining pinterest because I’ve been not eating…pinterest is addicting, but all those images just get to you. I’d like to think I’m above all that, but I admit, I’m susceptible to adverts. (I also drank an extra 3 glasses of water everytime the Crystal Geyser commercials came on…)
To end on a happy note, some of my fav ones:
You probably just scrolled through pages and pages of people you wish you looked like. Snap out of it and realize that *you’re beautiful too* (I’d link, but the original has music on the blog)
http://pinterest.com/pin/107030928613957998/ (Exercise, some motivation required)
http://pinterest.com/pin/258464466084299356/ <–totally me [My whole routine lasts 1.5 hours, 15 min cardio, 15 min weight, and an hour talking myself into it]
Hahah – those are great!! And I’m highly suggestible like you too, lol. Thus far I have not got into cleaning stuff on Pinterest but now that you mention it I’m super curious!
I find most fitspo pictures to show women who are happy, healthy and in charge of their lives. That’s what I like about them. Fashion magazines often promote thinness that is unhealthy. For me, I’ve found that it’s great to be able to find healthier alternatives online.
If one looks as fitspo with the frame of mind: “I must become like that, I must workout more, I must eat healthier”, then yes, that kind of behaviour is destructive. But I sort of see myself as one of those fitspo women, with those pictures defending my right to be healthy and feminine in my own way, rather than in the way of mainstream beauty, that is unachievable to me.
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I like this: ” I sort of see myself as one of those fitspo women, with those pictures defending my right to be healthy and feminine in my own way, rather than in the way of mainstream beauty, that is unachievable to me.” I think my own ED’d mentality prevents me from seeing it in such a positive way but I’m glad that you can!
I agree that these images can be damaging. The last time I made an inspiration board I used pictures of athletes in action (Hannah Kearney doing moguls, Keri Walsh diving for a ball). But truthfully I’ve never had any of them be helpful. It’s hard to put up a visual for not out of breath walking uphill.
“It’s hard to put up a visual for not out of breath walking uphill.” True. But I love your athletes-in-action idea!
I love the nike ad! I think that is inspiring, embracing your body type while being fit.
I mostly feel compelled by the other images because for me (background of eating disorder and over-exercising) they show unhealthy behaviour. I don’t want to be one of them eating 20 eggwhites a day while working out for 20 hours a week. No thank you, I have a life to live.
I am vegan, very health-consicious and work-out six times a week but if that is not enough for achieving my dream body then so be it.
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“I am vegan, very health-consicious and work-out six times a week but if that is not enough for achieving my dream body then so be it.” YES. Totally agree!
Kudos to you for posting this during Eating Disorders Awareness Week!! This does remind me of the morning of my 16th birthday when I looked in the mirror and did NOT see Christy Brinkley looking back at me – the miracle I was so certain would occur.
Still struggling to embrace what God gave me, love it, and TAKE GOOD CARE OF IT!
Ooh yes, it’s NEDA week! I did actually know that although I forgot to mention it in my post. Lol, making it all about me… as usual;)
I can not agree more with your blog.. I really think that being healthy is more important than being slim.. I am not really aware of my figure but I am more aware of foods that can give me what I really need than what I really want.. Thanks for sharing your ideas with us! Keep it up!
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My favorite pic is the first one – it shows not just a sexy, ripped body but a woman actually working out hard and sweating and giving it everything. Those are pics I find inspiring – not so much the second one that focuses on just one body part. The last pic is too much on the sexy, sweaty side for me and that she doesn’t have a head also bothers me. She is being reduced to her body and the statement seems ad odds with the pic.
While I do agree that being constantly surrounded by pics of women with the type of body I’d like to have (in my case fitter, then thinner) can be troubling, for me exercise is about more then just how I look and trying to improve my look. With fitspo pics I know those women had to train hard to get that look and I applaud them for it – with thinspo pics I mostly see undernourished women who probably have to suffer for being that thin and who are not healthy (yes, there are a few women who are naturally that thin, but most of them are starving themselves) and I am not jealous of their bodies.
But yes, it would be nice to see some more diversity when it comes to women’s (or mens, for that matter) bodies – but let’s not forget: most of those images are trying to sell us something and advertisement don’t make money with telling you that you should be happy just the way you are.
” let’s not forget: most of those images are trying to sell us something and advertisement don’t make money with telling you that you should be happy just the way you are.” SO TRUE! And I did, actually, forget that. So thank you for the reminder:)
I think it depends so much on who’s viewing it and their headspace. Personally I find most of them encouraging, I even have a couple of beautiful sunset pilates/yoga fitspo shots on my fridge to remind me of how I want to feel/eat… right next to the keep calm & eat healthy sign and the photo of an array of fresh fruit and veg with I’m NOT ON A DIET written on it.
I’ve veered onto the disordered side and I understand where you’re coming from with the compare & despair approach to thin/fitspo but if you can look at it with your head on straight and think, yes you know what I do want to get to the gym/ go for a run/ want to have that bunch of greens with my dinner then is it such a bad thing?
I feel for those who are looking at it and crumbling under the pressure they put on themselves to look identical but if you can see it for what it is and use it in a positive way then why not?
I think the issue is where to draw the line, what is damaging to some may not be for others and how to enforce such a policy would require that distinction- do you know how they’re judging it?
Basically I think if you can’t look at it without feeling bad- don’t look at it! Keep yourself safe and happy.
All the best xxx
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Yes, it really is about deciding what your personal limit with it is and respecting it. And those lines will be different for each person!
The only “picture” that really inspires me is my own image in the mirror, just to be the best me I can be. The rest is like comparing apples and oranges because everyone’s genetics are so vastly different and let’s face it, we could all eat and work out the same and we’d still all look very different!
The pictures are also just ONE moment in time. I’d guess most people can’t hold that look for very long and that they were leaning out in the weeks leading up to the photo, using some last minute tricks with carbs and hydration then to fill out. Who knows what airbrushing was added?
I might admire the beauty of those images for a moment, but I don’t take them very seriously either. I wouldn’t trade the balance of my life for whatever they had to do to get there.
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I need this to be a bumpersticker! That I wear on my forehead!! “The only “picture” that really inspires me is my own image in the mirror, just to be the best me I can be.”
Sometimes fitspo works really well and inspires me to go work harder and lift heavier the next time I go to the gym, but other times I find it more problematic than anything. For me, the difference between fitspo that actually does what it’s supposed to and fitspo that is just pro-ana imagery but with muscles is that effective fitspo shows women who are actually DOING things. I don’t like photos of women showing off glistening six-packs or bending over so you can see their glutes. It’s way too porn-y for me. I like photos of women deadlifting or running or doing pull-ups and in general being active subjects as opposed to passive objects.
I do agree that the ideal of femininity put forth in both kinds of photos is equally unattainable for most women. I have a big problem with the glorification of six-pack abs, for instance, and I think fitspo really plays into that by equating “visible abs” with “fitness.”
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” I think fitspo really plays into that by equating “visible abs” with “fitness.”” Excellent point!
My problem with fitspo pictures is that they’re still mostly about what the woman looks like. I have been focusing on goals that are more about achievements than appearance. Images that are supposed to be inspiring because the woman looks strong work against that. I prefer pictures of women doing pullups or lifting strong weights, regardless of what their bodies are like. My ideal fitspo images would be a woman who looks just like me, but is doing something I can’t do. That is what will motivate me to work harder to become strong and fit instead of making excuses for myself because I will never look like the woman in the picture.
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I just wonder what Nike’s impetus was behind (pun intended) using the alternate spelling of ambassador in that ad?
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I noticed that too (being a spelling pedant). I don’t believe that’s actually an official Nike poster, probably something someone photoshopped together.
Actually it’s legit: http://www.nikeblog.com/2010/07/26/new-nike-women-ad-my-butt-is-big/
But yeah the spelling confused me too. It has to be intentional – I mean a corp as big as Nike has got to have stellar copyeditors, no??
If you read, the ad copy is real but the one pictured with the girl is photoshopped, hence the different spelling. the original ad can be found here http://www.nikeblog.com/2010/08/02/more-nike-women-ads-thighs-shoulders/ along with similar ads for thighs etc
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Haha – you’re right!! That’s what I get for skimming… Thanks for clearing this up!
I was never into thinspo when I had problems with my eating (and when I see thinspo now, I just have a vague feeling of disgust), but I do notice that both fitspo and fashion magazines in general make me feel horrible about myself. They both present ideals that are completely unattainable for me but I can’t help but see them as attractive. Body type wise, if I aimed for fitspo, I’d end up looking like thinspo b/c I can’t grow a big or defined muscle to save my life and I feel like in some cases, fitspo images are more unattainable than thinspo ones. (For me at least. Also, I don’t have an desire to resemble thinspo so this may color my opinion.)
Bottom line is that I avoid them b/c they make me feel awful and when I see them on facebook and pinterest I get annoyed. Well, with the exception of the “what I really look like when I run” image. That one cracks me up.
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSiycSXectwB1e_rCqqPiFgf0Y605OLBpcrviTkfnJOhFeTQ-FTuV8h0kXF
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I will say that a friend showed me a video of a girl who was obviously a serious weight lifter getting pumped up to go the gym with her boyfriend (by listening to loud music in the car, etc…) and then going and lifting. Even though she was lifting big heavy weights and had a fitspo type body, I did find that inspiring. I think I enjoyed seeing her as a person and not just an image of her stomach or something and watching someone get psyched to go work out made me want to hit the gym as well.
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Very interesting – I wonder if I’d prefer a video as well. Something to think about…
I’m just doing the best i can. Over time I’ve learned to be quite proud of that!
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It’s a fine line for me. While I can be inspired by photos of fit women pushing themselves and exercising, a lot of fitspo stuff is of women at a body fat% I cannot get to without being really self destructive. It makes me feel bad for how far I would need to go to look like that instead of feeling strong and glad about how far I’ve come. I try and find pictures that inspire the second thing. I like pictures of strong women doing things though. It inspires me to move.
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Yes, this: ” It makes me feel bad for how far I would need to go to look like that instead of feeling strong and glad about how far I’ve come.” is exactly how I feel too.
I’ve been thinking a lot about why we seem to need practically unattainable goals to feel inspired. When so much of America is fat and sedentary, why isn’t it enough to see a woman who exercises almost daily and eats healthfully 85% of the time? Why does it need to be someone impossibly thin or ripped to be inspiring? And what demographic finds these extremes most inspiring? Is it mostly young people? Are there women 40+ pinning images of half naked sweaty women?
I like the middle two. The ones I like the most don’t even really need pictures, it’s the words that are inspiring.
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I think the key word in your q is “impossibly”. And good point about the real power being in the words!
I was on pintrest looking for a realistic goal of what I want my stomach to look like. It was hard to find one that was not a six pack, just relatively flat, and not all sweaty and sexed up. I wanted a pic that would just give me a reason not to snack on chocolate or stand in front of open fridge grazing just because I’m bored and not even hungry. I’ve never had an ED problem, I just like to eat and cook too much. I also pinned a quote that comparison is the thief of joy, which I love. I’ve learned I’ll genetically never have a 6 pack and I’m OK with that.
I’ll never have a 6-pack either so you’re in good company;) And I love this: “I also pinned a quote that comparison is the thief of joy, which I love.”
Being thin is not necessarily being, at the same time being a muscle bound woman is also ugly. the answer is findingyour ideal weight and maintaining it, but you got to include exercise othewise whe you get old you will lose your muscle tone and become flabby . . Sagging under arm and protruding stomach are not beautiful.
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The “fitspiration” posts on Facebook bother me too, but in a different way. I wrote a blog post about it recently too: http://erinparenthetically.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/the-new-skinny/
As a fitness person with lots of fitness friends, my News Feed is littered with these images every day, and it just makes me feel sorry for humanity that we’re so image obsessed – whether it be thinspiration, fitspiration or anything in between. For me, I kind of lump it in with “body shaming,” but that could just be my old ED talking…
” makes me feel sorry for humanity that we’re so image obsessed – whether it be thinspiration, fitspiration or anything in between.” Totally agree. And also, your FB stream sounds like my FB stream… are we friends yet, lol??
I think this is a great post. I do Fitspiration Friday posts every week and aim to put out images of strong, fit women and not the skinny/unhealthy pictures you see a lot of. I get a lot of comments from readers asking for different types of bodies so I do try to put up various types of healthy bodies so my readers will get to see their type of inspiration for being fit. But that is what I promote…FITNESS! Not thinspo and I do agree with you that there is a line that can be crossed to where Fitspo isn’t healthy. I also just hope my posts inspire people to get to the gym and live healthy lifestyles. The theme of my last Fitspiration Post was to “be the best YOU that you can be” and really that is my main goal in any of the posts!
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You sound like you are already really aware of the issue so I’m sure your posts are great! There are lots of truly inspiring images out there and I’m glad you are collecting them!
I think it really depends on the person. I can definitely look at that last picture and see incentive to lift weights (be stronger, be healthier) without the expectation of looking like the woman in the picture. I don’t seem to build muscle easily and I think I’d have to drastically alter my diet to get arm muscles like that – which is not something I want to do.
I do get stressed when I pin something as fitness inspiration and then it gets repinned as thinspo. It makes me feel terrible and it’s actually made me more hesitant to put that kind of stuff out on Pinterest.
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” It makes me feel terrible and it’s actually made me more hesitant to put that kind of stuff out on Pinterest.” I hadn’t thought of it from this perspective! I’m not super active on Pinterest so I haven’t had the issue of having people repin my stuff in a way I don’t like… interesting!
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http://www.therunninghq.com/training-schedules
I just don’t find those pictures inspirational. Those women (Nike picture excluded) work SO HARD to get that physic for the photo shoot and then loose it the next day. I have been following the blog of a woman who has spent the past 8 weeks getting ready for a photo shoot. She has paid a trainer to work out with her 5 days a week. She is really restricting the last week to get that final look. And I know that in general, the day of the shoot, they are totally dehydrated. They don’t look like that day to day and I don’t want my goal to be something that is unattainable to me in my day to day life. That is depressing not inspirational. The women in those pictures are in a condition that is just unattainable for the average person just trying to fit in some exercise in their otherwise crazy busy lives.
I’d forgotten about all the crazy prep work that leads up to a fitness photo shoot! But yes, this is a very salient point. Yet another reason why I’ll never look like that…
Thank you for this post. I am struggling with my pregnancy weight gain (baby is five months old and I am ten lbs heavier than I’d like to be). I find the fitspo images more depressing than inspring at this point in my life. Thanks for the reminder that most of the women are younger, never had kids, and not to mention, aren’t breastfeeding a five month old while trying to raise a family and work two part time jobs! I do find many of the sayings motivational like “no matter how slow you are going, you’re still faster than everyone on the couch”. It’s the ones with the perfect bodies that are depressing. Like the Body Rock chick, I couldn’t look like her if I ate nothing but chicken breast and lifted all day long. Our genes are completely different. Right now I am just trying to eat right and work out when I can. When I see the perfectly toned athletic bodies it really just makes me eat worse b/c I think I’ll never look like that.
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Oooh congrats on a squishy little 5-month old! I love that age:) And I don’t know if this is your first but for me, as long as I was breastfeeding my body kept an extra 10 pounds of “reserves” on hand. It sounds like you are doing awesome!
THANK YOU!!!!!! I’ve been really frustrated lately with all the half naked muscle pictures. Show me someone doing something hard. I’ve also noticed that people are naming workouts using the same slogans that are used in thinspo (example – till my thighs don’t touch) and its really bothering me. Fitness is about being able to do more, not fitting into smaller pants.
I swear, every time I see that Kate Moss Nothing Tastes as Good as Skinny Feels pic I want to vomit. And not to purge… just because it makes me sick.
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” I’ve also noticed that people are naming workouts using the same slogans that are used in thinspo (example – till my thighs don’t touch) and its really bothering me.” I’ve noticed this too and the overlap IS really disturbing.
I usually get more enjoyment out of those few pages in a fitness magazine that show “real-life” transformations. That is more attainable then the hard-bodies on the cover. While I can appreciate all the hard work that went into it, with all the air-brushing and editing of pictures, I still don’t know what is real.
Also, Nina makes a really good point. Regardless of fitspo or thinspo, businesses make a lot of money off of telling us we aren’t good enough. What would happen if we were all happy with ourselves? Oh the horror
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I love the true-life stories too! Although I wish they wouldn’t publish their heights and weights. Isn’t it enough to say how healthy they are now and show the pics?? I know, picky picky;)
I can’t say I find those images inspirational. They make me feel bad. I am speaking as a person who has never had an eating disorder or really been on a diet. I live healthy and don’t let images like this effect my behaviour.
Just because I do not alter my behaviour based on stuff like this does not mean it does not make me feel bad. I must say I don’t look at pictures like this. I will never attain any of those bodies, including bootilicious firm buttox girl. I have many good features that I am happy with in my body but I am not one of those models, they are gorgeus and I am a 29, soon 30 year old woman who cannot attain that anymore with the amoungt of work I am willing to put into exercise. Why look at them when I will just feel like crap? I don’t like comparing myself to others, even in physical tasks like running, because I am not that good or talented physically, I try and A for effort is all I get.
Ok, so it makes me feel a little better that normal people feel bad after seeing these images too. Misery loves company? I don’t like comparing myself either – it’s a bad habit I’m trying really hard to break!
I loathe the term “fitspiration”. I do think it’s mostly thinspo in different clothing and I don’t think deriving inspiration from looking at another person’s body can ever be truly healthy. I want my fitness inspiration to come from within me and my personal health goals. The physical comparison game is 100% ED and people who think it’s not are kidding themselves and might find out the hard way. That being said, I do like those images you posted. They do contain some positive elements but I don’t want to see someone’s airbrushed midriff along with it. Thanks for posting about this because I think people really do need to stop and consider whether continually viewing these images might be harmful to them. It’s going to be different for everyone but all I know is “fitspiration” is not for me.
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Hm… honestly, while I find “thinspirational” imagery EXTREMELY depressing (and not because I want to look like the women in those pictures… more because I find the cultural insistance that excessively thin = the only kind of beauty depressing), I don’t really feel very much of anything when I look at those “fitspirational” images. I’m neither depressed nor inspired by them. I mean, I guess it’s nice to see images of women being active and athletic – rather than, you know, lying like a dead body on a beach with a strange facial expression on – but nah, I don’t really feel inspired. And I DO wish the women in these images were more… dressed, because I can’t shake the feeling that even though they’re aimed at women, they’re made with the male gaze in mind, and I find that annoying.
“And I DO wish the women in these images were more… dressed, because I can’t shake the feeling that even though they’re aimed at women, they’re made with the male gaze in mind, and I find that annoying.” YES. Totally agree too. I always find it a little spurious when women tell me they are wearing their spangly booty shorts because they’re just so comfy. Would you be wearing that working out in your basement? Or in an all-girl gym?? Not that it’s bad to flirt or whatever – just own it.
The one thing I enjoy about fitspo images is that it shows that some women do indeed have muscles. And that it can be just as sexy as the skin covered bones of the thinspo pictures. Many women with muscles beat themselves up that they are not the petite, muscle-less women that are portrayed as the ideal image of feminine beauty. After that though, it becomes one more thing to hate myself for. Thinspo makes me think : “If only I could control my piggish eating enough I could be that thin”. Fitspo ADDS to that : “and if I would push myself to 120% each workout and not be a slug I could be that fit”.
“Fitspo ADDS to that : “and if I would push myself to 120% each workout and not be a slug I could be that fit”.” EXACTLY. I love you for saying this.
Oh how I love you.
) for this reason.
I struggle with this one and thought I felt this way (think I feel this way?) because Im not a visual person at all.
CAINT STAND THE PINTEREST (there. I said it. my WOMAN card shall be revoked…or so Im told
emaciated.
buff beyond belief.
none of this triggers me in any sense from wanting to do MORE exercise, LESS exercise, selflove, selfloathing etc.
Im a words person.
Oh but did I say how I loathe quotes?
there’s that too…
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Interesting! Out of curiousity – what kind of quotes bother you? And I love that images don’t bother you. You are still one of the most grounded people I know!
A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B
It kinda depends on the mood I’m in as to whether I’ll respond positively or negatively to these kinds of things. And that’s just it, isn’t it? It’s about our REACTION to them… and our culture helps to shape our reaction to them.
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Indeed. And I think some of us are more susceptible to culture’s manipulations than others. It’s def. a tradeoff.
As much as I’d like not to believe this, it’s not really any better to be wasting energy comparing and wishing for a muscular body than a thin one. I really want to be able to wish for a body that’s capable of menstruation & childbirth because I surely can’t be healthy without that & I’m well aware of the risk of osteoporosis which is associated with absent periods. Personally, I don’t have the body of the fitness models – I’m looking at the bodyrock women (very unfairly, they may be perfectly healthy but represent a lot of others for me) and their bodies are far more ripped than mine & have less body fat yet I have no periods. Can they really be a healthy role model?
I have asked this exact q so many times myself! I lose my periods at about 14% body fat (and my body prefers to be much higher!) and yet so many female athletes live their daily lives far below that. I’ve def. had those “it’s not fair!” moments. And I’ve questioned their healthy role model status too…
Great post. I think it can go both ways and it’s up to the viewer to chose to let it be inspiring. If it depresses you or makes you feel bad then back away. Delete.
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Eh. I don’t know about you, but I don’t typically work out in a regular, non-sports bra, sexy crop top and underwear/swimsuit bottom. I usually look more like the Nike/new sexy face one. And THAT is the difference, to me, between inspirational fitness images (even if they are selling Nike clothes) and Maxim/Victoria’s Secret/Thinspo.
you hit the nail on the head, again! while they can be motivational, the photos featuring those amazing abs, arms, legs? I constantly DO compare myself to them, and that is not healthy. so they are a blessing and a curse.
Self confessed fitspo addict right here, but I can definitely appreciate that it’s not a healthy habit.
It promotes certain goals which are unattainable to the general population – no matter how many sit-ups I do, I’m never going to gain the three cup sizes needed to have simultaneously perfect abs and large boobs. And yes, some of the fitspo women look beyond amazing, but many have the support systems in place to do it safely. Objectively, I don’t think it is as different to thinspiration as people (including me) would like to believe.
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I love fit pics – muscles like the last pic but I agree – it is very very tough to get that lean & ya have to work super hard & eat super clean. I like the muscles though so I just wish the pic itself was less sexy & more focusing on the strong. My biggest issue although I pin a lot of pics like that last one for the motivational saying but I just want the focus on the strong & muscles & less on the sexiness that so many women struggle with…
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I have been finding the fitness area of Pintrest inspirational, even found a reasonable weight routine for Feb on it. When I find I’ve been at the computer too longg, I click over & get my dose of pretty people to kick my butt off to the gym. I know I don’t have the discipline to have 15% body fat, just a couple of years ago I was just under 20, and now I’m pushing 25 and I’m not liking it
honestly, from a random persons perspective, i find fitspo and thinspo incredibly disheartening. i look at those pictures and just see what i can’t achieve. it makes me want to grab the Ben and Jerry’s way more than my running shoes, and i’m a pretty healthy person. But then again i’m prone to comparison and feeling inadequate. i unfollow all my friends fit boards on pinterest, as well as hair and nails but that’s just a whole other topic. And i’ve never had kids, i have a thyroid problem, am a runner and am 26 and am 5’9″ and 140 lbs and i think i’m fat, so there’s your demographic on that one.
I find the fitspiration pix just as bad as the thinspiration pix. All they serve to do is make me feel bad about myself, never mind that I’m 40 now. Since I’ve never had kids, I assume that no matter my age, I should be able to look like that. Ridiculous? Of course, but we want what we want, don’t we.
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The thing I use to inspire myself isn’t pictures of women- it is the STORIES behind them. whether it is a story of a Olympic/professional athlete, or a Mom with 4 kids, my inspiration comes from wanting to do the same things they do- not from wanting to LOOK like them. The pictures often have slogans related to doing, but the fact of putting them with a picture really makes them about image. Get rid of the image, and you get down to the inspiration itself, and not the body image
Some people look at these images and see them as aspirational–’you ought to look like this.’ I don’t think that’s how they’re meant.
I think they’re meant to inspire a sentiment, not a comparison; that is, they’re symbolizing a feeling, not a goal.
When I see a picture of someone with muscles tensed, dripping sweat, I often think, ‘Wow, I’d love to FEEL like that.’ Not ‘I’d love to LOOK like that.’
The images that trouble me more are those that seem more like ‘pinup pose’ than ‘active pose.’
Great post, Charlotte, important topic and excellent points raised. (Loved the Nike ad/photo about the backside–that is me!
And, like you, I know what my body will never look like, but I’m also at peace with where I am in my fitness. I’m off to exercise while I wake kids, lol. For anyone interested, here is a post I wrote about a very similar issue of my own: http://joannaaislinn.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/pem-can-one-book-change-your-life/
Thanks for your candidness!
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It is inspiring for me to see fit women, but I do NOT like the last one. I don’t find the body builder type pretty. I recently saw a runner on the beach who had the body I want – feminine, runner, yoga body. I work out, do Physique 57, walk, Jazzercise and yoga but I am never going to have the runner, yoga body and my 57 year old body can’t look like that. That doesn’t mean that I want to stop doing any of the things I do to try to achieve it, its just reality.
Let’s remember that these fitness models probably don’t even walk around looking like this all the time! They know when they’re going to have a shoot, so they pare down their diet, they work out extra long and hard, they don’t eat carbs. I’ve read the diet for figure competition athletes and a sane person could not LIVE like that for more than a few weeks.
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Just the other day I was bitching to my fiance about socially acceptable purging (ie: over-exercise) after I had to listen to the girl behind me at Zumba tell her friend all about how she was going to go run for an hour after the class since she was going out to dinner that weekend. It makes me want to scream. Imagine me telling someone I went and threw up my dinner last night to not gain weight. (Not that I did! Just an example.) And “fitspo” is no different, in my mind. Admittedly I’m very susceptible to this kind of thing but come on. I think looking at pictures and comparing them to yourself or lusting after the body-type in a picture is disordered.
A few fitspo pictures here and there doesn’t bother me and can even be inspirational to me. But I choose more realistic women to put on my inspiration board because that is what I look at everyday.
I sometimes wonder if those pictures harm the chances of people developing a healthy relationship with exercise… My last “real” job my supervisor was a marathon runner – one that actually PLACED/MEDALED… and it was part of what fueled my unhealthy exercise habits.
The truth is… not everyone has the potential to look like that due to genetics… no matter how hard they work out.
and I also wonder if it deters some people from the gym — worried that they won’t match up.
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Im not bothered by fitspo images and at one point I was motivated by them. That has worn off too. :-/
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Im not bothered by fitspo images and at one point I was motivated by them. I am not motivated by them so much any more.
Jenn (GH) recently posted..Oscar Winner for Best Celebrity Arms
I love your post. You brought up some very important points. Something that many of us should spend time thinking about! Thanks for your insights!
I’ve had some fitspiration on my fridge for the last 3 months ( some perfect ab’s that I found by googling “perfect abs”…. now that was an interesting search).. and I have to say – it has not stopped me from opening the fridge to search for chocolate and wine (as was the intention when I stuck the pic on the door of the fridge!). I’m sure my husband has had more benefit from the “perfect abs”pic being on the door of the fridge than I have!
Ha haha I say the same thing, my hubbs benefits more from the fitpics on the fridge than I do lol!
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One thing though – my youngest child (aged 2 and a bit) did ask me why I had put up a picture of my tummy on the fridge!!! He got extra pudding that night
It is interesting to me that I am reading this right after seeing a picture of a very thin woman with the caption, “skinny is not sexy, health is”, but seeing her picture started self loathing in me because I am a slave to the sugar which has given me more belly pudge than I have had in quite a long time. So, yeah, I get you.
Also, I love the reference to The Hunger Games! My girls and I are big fans and can’t wait til the movie comes out!
One thing I’ve noticed with some of these fitspo pics – it’s just a small thing, and doesn’t apply to all of them – the photos are taken very precisely. I was looking at a few after my workout this morning, and started feeling all down on myself because, even though I work out pretty hard, I don’t have that smooth, powerful, all over muscle tone. My beads of sweat never look sexy, either, by the way. It just looks like I’m crying. Out of my forehead.
But then I realized that a lot of these photos were posed, or edited/shot so that the lighting was more dramatic or the colors were changed to be more or less subtle, which can affect the way a picture is interpreted. By, for instance, upping the contrast in a photo or by darkening the shadows in Photoshop, or just by taking the picture in the right lighting, it can really highlight muscle tone, which we then might exaggerate in our mind as we stare at our own stomachs in the mirror. Which totally freaked my friend’s boyfriend out the first time he caught her doing that. “Are you PREGNANT?”
I agree with everything you wrote – there is a fine line between using a picture to pump yourself up for a workout and using it as a weapon against your self esteem. But it’s also somehow helpful to know that if you pose in dramatic lighting in your room in front of your mirror, flexing, you will suddenly see muscle tone where you didn’t when you were looking at the bikini pic your friend Megan took of you while you weren’t looking on that camping trip to the lake last summer.
BTW THANKS A LOT MEGAN
YOU COULD AT LEAST WARN A GIRL
I COULD HAVE RUN TO SOME DRAMATIC LIGHTING AND FLEXED
Everything about this comment is AWESOME. I laughed out loud like 10 times in 20 seconds. Please be my best friend.
I look at fitspo blogs and use my tumblr to reblog and pot up my favourite videos. I personally don’t find them damaging. I think as as long as you look at it realistically, like the fact that the women in these photos are athletes and models whose job is to work out and look good and that photoshop is 99% involved, then it’s not so bad.
I use these photos as a motivation to work out and eat right, but I know that I’m probably never going to look exactly like them since I don’t have the same lifestyle but they do. But it does help me on the path to working out and eating healthier. Ever since I’ve started, I have more energy because I eat more healthy and no have a lot less terrible back pain (I have scoliosis) from working out.
Some bloggers post their before and after shots, usually just mirror shots, no fancy cameras and photoshop; I find them very inspiring. But again, I don’t compare myself to them, I just feel proud of them and hopefully I will be at that level. Look at these photos for inspiration but don’t take it personally, do your research so you eat and work out properly and go at your own pace
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Just a guess, but 95% of fitspo is 16 – 24 year old Caucasians. So not only does the very specific body type alienate a large segment of the female populace, so does the age and race. It’s like if you aren’t some version of Barbie, you’re shit out of luck.
Now to be fair, some of the women do look fit in a healthy way, and I even found a post about an African American body builder who is in her 70′s on some blog, but far more of the women look surgically enhanced, way too thin, or like they are auditioning for soft porn. Add the shots that are obviously Photoshopped into superficial ridiculousness. Not inspirational at all.
The last picture is too cut for my taste. I am working toward a more feminine lean.
Interesting post with a point of view I hadn’t considered before! “…fitspo may be thinspo in a sports bra.” To which I say: no, I don’t think it is, because the focus of fitspo is to do what thinspo does – lose weight – but HEALTHILY. And that makes all the difference, in my opinion!
Again, though, “thinspo” is such a broad term, and “fitspo” is too. I think it depends on a) the attitude of the viewer and b) the images that the viewer sees. I’m looking to lose weight the healthy way (i.e. exercising, eating clean) – I don’t think that looking at a pro ana tumblr will be very dangerous to my mental health at all because the mindset I have now sort of makes me draw away from those images with repulsion. Fitspo promotes the EXACT opposite of thinspo – it was born, I would say, to COUNTERACT thinspo.
I haven’t read all these comments (there are a lot heheh) so I’m sure what I’ve said has already been covered! But, to summarise, I think they are essentially worlds apart.
Jess xo
This is a very interesting post. I hadn’t considered fitspo to be something so similar to thinspo, but I see your point, for sure. However, I think fitspo is a much more positive variety of inspiration than (obviously) thinspo, which advocates for a completely unhealthy lifestyle. I used to look at fitness pictures and feel depressed too, because I “knew” I would never look like that, but then I started motivating myself to work out, and I’ve lost 60 pounds already! Now that I’m starting to see results in myself, I can honestly look at the same fit pictures and think “You know what? I CAN look like that.” We can all look like that, and we don’t have to work out 24/7 to do so. What it comes down to is consistency, even if that’s only 30 minutes a day. I don’t know… I might be rambling, but I think fitspo is a very positive form of motivation to improve your health and I think it’s only “depressing” if you let it affect you that way. It’s all about perspective.
Charlotte, as always, thanks for being an advocate of seeing beyond shape, and evaluating one’s self worth without focus on the body and its outward appearance. I am very uneasy with “fitspiration,” which I understand can be inspiring, but I think it’s also laden with pressure to conform to a physical ideal. And in some ways, it’s more dangerous than thinspiration, because it seems innocuous. I posted on it a few weeks ago, if you are curious! http://www.choosingraw.com/more-thoughts-on-fitspiration-and-on-letting-go-of-body-molds/
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