The Story of Fitness Influencers.
How content is influencing our lifestyle and purchases we make on the internet.
Hey there friends,
Sending lots of Mumbai monsoon energy your way!
I have been thinking about health and fitness for quite some time especially since I have become more fitness conscious after I recovered from Covid earlier this year.
I have realized that my experience has not been unique, the pandemic has made us collectively more and more health-conscious And the way we interact with it has undergone a significant change; as gyms and sports clubs shut down during the lockdown as all of us were locked indoors for months on end we figured out newer ways of exercising, through Zumba routines, Yoga tutorials, app subscriptions, and AI and VR platforms.
What does this shift mean for the fitness industry? How is content influencing this industry? and where are we headed?
India’s fitness industry is expected to reach $32 billion dollars this year.
According to Entrepreneur India, Compared to the 2019 survey wherein only 26 per cent of Indians pursued yoga, 11 per cent cardio exercises, and 10 per cent body-weight exercises, the 2020 data showed an almost 60 per cent increase in all the activities.
84 per cent of Indians tried online fitness classes at least thrice during the first lockdown; in the pre-pandemic days, only 29 per cent of the population preferred an online fitness module. Recent studies suggest that Indian millennials are spending an average of INR 4,000 every month on wellness services and products.
The fitness industry before the pandemic was highly monopolized by gyms. Showing up to a gym, recruiting a personal trainer, fixing time slots and scheduling your day around your gym slots, spending the big bucks on having the proper recommended diet; fitness was mostly quite hard to be consistent with and mostly inconvenient. The pandemic has changed this.
And this change has been heralded by fitness influencers and niche content creation in this field. Whether it’s a banana and chia seeds smoothie recipe or it is weight transformation, you can find everything on the Internet today, you don’t need to pay thousands, sometimes you don’t even need to pay anything because the content floats around on Youtube videos and Instagram reels teaching you everything from yoga to callisthenics and so much more.
But this raises a very important question.
Do the fitness influencers take accountability for the consumption and lifestyle changes made by their followers?
Creating content on the internet is free. Creating content and distributing it to reach millions of people has never been easier. There is no penalty for creating faulty content, no systematic regulation, there are no credentials required to prove eligibility for creating any form of content. Anyone with a big buffed-up body can start giving body-building tips, anyone can use the label ‘nutritionist’ in their bio because it is not in fact a certified degree but sounds just as convincing.
People are now more likely to see fitness instructors as celebrities, and more likely to feel that they know them on a personal level. These trends have caused the industry to boom, reframed the nature of the fitness influencer, and raised questions about what comes next—and whether the revolution in how trainers and trainees interact is healthy or sustainable in the long term.
In the face of all this, it rests completely on the audience’s discretion to interact, engage and follow the myriad pieces of content. And it is too big of a responsibility and something that the average passive consumer is not even aware of.
A review of research on fitness influencers who are active on the Internet and social media shows that, to date, most researchers have been focused more on an assessment of the marketing benefits and their ability to modify the purchasing behaviors of their followers. Many fewer studies were aimed at understanding if the followers were likely to change their behaviors and adhere to a healthy lifestyle as a result of accessing the websites run by fitness influencers.
This becomes even more complex when places fitness content is within the larger framework of the creator economy. Many of these creators are creating niche content and promoting niche fitness and health-related products either through brand collaborations or sponsored posts.
The fitness influencers are also the drivers of fitness fashion; athleisure is no longer utilitarian it is now a fashion statement. So many smaller and independent apparel businesses are catering to these specific fashion needs and they are building their audience through these content creators. Fitness content, therefore, influences many tertiary niches today and is the centre of a novel millennial economic framework.
This page provides a comprehensive overview of the global scene regarding fitness influencers across platforms.
The Ringer takes a deep dive into the changing dynamic between a trainer and trainee. And points out how these influencers have garnered a star status, a celebrity image, which though not apparently visible can cause a negative strain on the mental health of the most ardent followers.
Fitness influencers aren’t selling a product as much as they’re selling you “a better version of you,” Johnston says. This can make them seem more relatable—and more apt to become the focal point of a relationship that can become unhealthy. Their message is that the difference between your life and theirs may be this yoga practice, or weight-lifting routine, or keto diet.
The fitness industry is currently booming in every way you can imagine and it will be interesting to see how these variables finally unfold. But as consumers of fitness content on the internet, we must be more prudent and cautious, because it can and perhaps is informing a very significant aspect of our life.
Have you started your fitness journey after being inspired by a creator? or have you made a purchase on the internet because of the fitness creators? We would like to speak to you, just reply to this email or mention it in the comments
Thank you for reading till the need. For any suggestions, queries or advice reach out to me directly on my Instagram @pawan_rochwani.
I will see you in the next one, till then take care!