“To be a personal trainer, you have to look like 4% body fat”: How online personal trainers negotiate social media and body image
Study Details
This qualitative study interviewed online coaches to explore how working on social media influences their body image and how they navigate appearance pressures within the online fitness industry 🔍
Here are the key findings ⬇️
Key Findings
📱 Coaches viewed maintaining a social media presence as essentially non-negotiable for running an online coaching business
👀 Participants described strong pressure to meet appearance standards in order to appear credible, desirable and competent to potential clients
📉 A particularly prominent expectation was the need to showcase a lean physique online
🎭 Coaches also felt pressure to appear authentic and relatable while simultaneously concealing their own body-image struggles from their audience
🧠 This creates a tension where coaches are expected to promote authenticity while still presenting a carefully managed version of themselves
↔️ Not every coach responded in the same way: some actively rejected industry appearance standards
📈 Others deliberately used their physique as a marketing tool to gain attention, increase social-media traction and reinforce perceptions of expertise
💼 The findings suggest that physique can become intertwined with professional identity and commercial success, rather than remaining purely personal
👩 The sample was 58.8% female, with an average age of 33.5 years
⚠️ The findings highlight a potential conflict between promoting healthy behaviours professionally and experiencing significant appearance pressure personally
Conclusion
For coaches and practitioners building a business online, credibility should ideally come from expertise, communication and outcomes rather than maintaining an unrealistically lean physique; greater awareness of these pressures may help create healthier expectations for both coaches and their clients ✅
Reference
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42785604/
Performance Nutrition Digest is powered by Healthspan Elite ⚡️
Healthspan Elite is a science-led sports nutrition range developed in collaboration with leading experts to support athletic performance, recovery, and health.
Use code: TCDIGEST25 for 25% off at https://www.healthspanelite.co.uk/ 💪