To post or not to post? That is my question.
I was talking to a really great friend of mine, who is my inspiration and motivation in the gym world, about social media and our fitness pages. We were talking to each other about if we want to up our social media account and get a bigger following. Thank G-d, I am truly happy with Sweat with Shana, and the SWS page on Instagram isn’t what’s most important. However, if as trainers we wanted a bigger following, how can we acquire that kind of response on our pages? Does it really boil down to more posting of ourselves for the world to see our results? Is that what’s really necessary in order to build a fitness business?
I struggle a lot when it comes to this topic. I aim for people to believe in themselves on the inside in order to be happy with themselves on the outside. So if that is truly important to me, how can I possibly be busy posting pictures of myself and my clients in order for others to be inspired? I want more than anything for the inspiration to come from within!
Is that reality, however? As much as I want to believe that people need to feel happy with themselves on the inside, would that really create utmost happiness on the outside? Unfortunately, I’m probably wrong. People are visual. Human nature is that people want to see something in front of them in order to incorporate it into their own personal life. Personally, the accounts I follow on social media are the accounts that show more of themselves, but even more than that, it’s people who look the part. And to be honest, I hate to admit how I’m drawn more to the accounts of the people who are extremely fit and chiseled. I’m mad at myself that I fell for that trap. Let’s think about it, though. Is it a trap or is it just how life is?
I keep trying to focus on the fact that beauty comes from within, which is definitely true. However, only a truly confident person can wrap his or her head around that concept. In order for us to really believe in that, we need to see it—we need to visualize it first before we can internalize it. So how can I be true to myself by helping people understand the values of internal beauty, but still help people reach their physical goals by showing them pictures of results?
I don’t have the answers, but I now understand how much a visual can help people be successful. What we have to understand is that we can’t filter the type of trainers we see. Meaning, there will be bigger trainers, taller ones, more fit, less fit, six packs, two packs, or no packs. We have to learn to understand that whatever we see with our eyes can also cause a huge adverse effect in our endgame.
We can’t all look like the people we follow. For example, we work so hard to do whatever we see on our favorite fitness page. We complete all the routines, we use the same weights, same rest time, and our heart rate even gets to the numbers that theirs do, but we don’t end up looking like them! Well, that’s because we aren’t them. Our DNA is different, our genetics are different, our bone structure is different, and even our metabolism is different. We are different people.
So as much as visuals can help by giving us an extra push, it can also cause us to be down on ourselves. It can cause us to beat ourselves up because we still don’t match up to what we see. We’re also promoting external happiness before internal happiness, which is not a long-term goal. Knowing and understanding all this, the question remains. Do we, as personal trainers, fitness instructors, and online coaches, post our pictures and routines or not?
I would love to hear how you feel about this topic. Please reach out to katzshana99@gmail.com or 718-614-8589 to share your thoughts about this.
Whatever you believe, stay true to yourself and continue to be you, only stronger.
Peace out,
@SWS
Shana Katz is a personal trainer and founder of Sweat with Shana. To contact her, WhatsApp 718-614-8589 or e-mail katzshana999@gmail.com.
