Like Martin Luther King once declared, I have a dream. My dream though, reflects a world whereby globesity is diminishing, processed foods are a thing of yesterday, and the number of people involved in regular purposeful exercise is at an all time high.
It is sad that, in my time on this planet, I probably won’t be fortunate enough to witness the reality of my dream.
But, what I have witnessed in the last 12 months is something quite extra-ordinary, and it is something that is getting me truly excited. Social media has certainly taken the communication world by storm. But now there’s evidence to suggest that it’s taking the world of fitness by storm too.
What do I mean? Well, we’ve always envied the determination and dedication of our fitness freak friends. You know, the sort that get up at 5am, get to the gym for their pre-work workout, work a full day, pick the kids up, cook tea, go for a run, then settle in to their evening activities. We’ve always known that’s what they did – their blemish-free, perfectly sculpted physiques would give it away.
But now, they can tweet, post, or share it via various social media platforms, and so when we log in to get our own daily social media fix, we are drowned in optimistic, motivating, and highly energetic status updates from our fitness enthusiast friends. And it seems many of us have jumped on the bandwagon of ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!’
Social media has created the ultimate platform for discussion, information sharing, and motivation surrounding health and exercise. It has essentially raised the profile of the paradigm of fitness. It has ultimately made exercise ‘cool’.
Social media allows us to share our experiences and our emotions with those who want to hear about it – our friends and followers – and like an adequate Chinese whisper, more and more of us are able to spread the word about how fantastic exercise makes you feel, and how different life is when you surrender to healthy living. We exercise, we feel great, we want more people to experience that wonder, we post about it, we inspire others to get a taste of it – and it becomes an awesome upward spiral.
It’s just human nature – we’re like sheep in a flock, and if we have good reason to copy the actions of our friends, then we naturally do so.
There are now a huge abundance of fitness-related pages on Facebook alone. You can find recipes, motivational quotes, do-it-yourself home workouts, exercise challenges, and tonnes of useful advice. No matter what social media you visit, you can be assured you will not be alone. In fact, you will be amongst one of the happiest, most optimistic and energizing social networks you’ll probably ever be engaged in.
Long story short, it’s hip to be fit. You’ve got to be in to grin. My message remains the same as always – exercise is a pre-requisite to a long, healthy, and happy life.
For comments email corinne@fitfixnz.co.nz
