From the start of your gym session to the end, we rely on digital media to help us out. Today I wanted to talk about how, why, and what has changed about the gym because of digital media. Digital technology has made gym memberships a lot more virtual, with a gym membership now you can download your gym’s app and use a lot more features than just a membership card like you would get before digital technology became a lot more advanced.

A lot of gym apps offer a smart membership where you can simply just scan your phone instead of tapping in the code into the machine to let yourself into the gym. Gym apps will also include your gym usage, so each time you have been to the gym, the app will track how long you spent there and exercises you could do next time. Lastly, gym apps will let you fill out your personal stats, which helps with keeping track of your gym progress. Some gym apps also let users know how busy the gym is, this means people can go to the gym when it is less busy rather than getting there and realising. Digital technology has made it so much easier and comfortable for people to use the gym.

I am sure a lot of us like all our personal body statistics stored in one place? As well as gym apps which are purely used for accessing the gym and tracking sessions, there are also apps such as My Fitness Pal, this app is full of functions to help you keep fit and healthy. One of my personal favourite things about this app is how you can track your food and drink, which helps keep track of your daily calorie intake. I think this is such a fantastic development, it has been made a lot easier by the development of digital technology, for example, to track your food you can scan a food products barcode on the packet and the app will automatically work out how much nutrients, fat, calories, etc are in that food product, your only job is to type in your serving size or measurement.

When you go to the gym you will notice a lot of people wearing a FiBit or smartwatches, these advanced watches track daily activity. Here is a video explaining how fitness trackers work.

The more motivating factor of fitness trackers is the ability to share your personal health and fitness data with your friends and family. Because of the expansion of digital media, you can now find online communities that will actively wear the trackers, who will belong to every age group and have desirable or similar fitness goals. Dr Elson from Harvard Women’s Health Watch states “I know quite a few physicians who compare their own activity with that of their colleagues around the country,” being able to compare with others adds a motivating factor because then it is much easier to compete against your friends and also it doesn’t matter whereabouts in the world you are you can still do it.

Digital media has redefined the fitness industry, especially how gyms now work and advertise themselves. Most local gyms will

have their own social media channels where they can let their members know information about their gyms. A lot of members will contact personal trainers through their local gyms social media pages. It has changed the way people use the gym, people become more easily aware of what classes are held as most gyms will upload stories on Instagram or tweet what classes are on that day. Gyms will also use social media to become more one on one with their members and showcase the facilities they have to offer, as well as competitions for members. Digital media makes it easy to communicate the brand and ethos to members as well as what the gym offers and what gym might be right for you.

How easy is this all for us now? There should be no excuses, right? Digital media has made everything so easy for us.

 

 

 

So all these cooking TV shows promoting healthy eating have now got a new competitor…SOCIAL MEDIA.

Social media has made people more aware about healthy eating and the benefits of having a healthy diet…it is almost like an internet trend now, people have started to change their diets to fit in with social media and be more trendy as that is what the internet is telling us to do.

There has been a huge rise in social media activity relating to healthy eating, whether people are setting up more healthy eating food accounts or influencers are promoting healthy meals – it has become a mini internet sensation in itself. A lot of Instagram influencers will promote healthy food, as you are scrolling on Instagram it is likely you will come across a food account promoting healthy food, particularly focusing on vegan food but also healthy food in general. There seems to be a massive interest in healthy food and what food is best to eat for different desires.

How can social media impact eating habits?

Research has shown that you are more likely to follow what you see day to day on Instagram, social media has a very good way of influencing if you are seeing healthy meals daily on your Instagram feed you are likely to try recipes out and fulfill a healthier diet.  “In laboratory studies, exposure to social norm messages conveying the typical eating behaviour of others has influenced participants’ own consumption of food. Given the widespread use of social media, it is plausible that we are implicitly exposed to norms in our wider social circles, and that these influence our eating behaviour, and potentially, Body Mass Index.” states the journal Appetite by Lily K.Hawkins.The journal study looks at Facebook users’ eating habits and preferences predicted participants’ own food consumption.

With this being said, fast food outlets love to advertise and

market their food to the younger generation who actively use social media, this could also influence in a negative way and contribute towards obesity instead of healthy eating. Weighing this issue up, it all depends on what people follow and what people interact with – as an active social media user myself, I like to interact with fitness fanatics, models and fashion and beauty influencers, therefore, I am exposed to more healthy eating on my Instagram feed than unhealthy A lot of the fitness influencers I follow will share their vegan diets so I then educate myself on vegan food and find out more recipes that I can then make – usually, the influencer will tell their followers what the recipes are.

The argument here is should people be more aware of what they are posting when they know it could influence and affect other people? If you are promoting fast food to your following all the time it will influence people to buy a takeaway or make unhealthy food. From a health perspective, I believe a lot more people need to take notice of fitness and health accounts in order to be encouraged to start to adapt to a heathier lifestyle.

It is near enough to impossible to be scrolling on Instagram and

not come across pictures of food, recipes, food-related videos, or simply just your friend’s stories of food of what they are currently eating. Like everything, this exposure comes with the good, the bad, and the ugly.

‘The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine conducted a study and found a few disturbing trends. Study participants who spent the most time on social media each day were 2.2 times more likely to report that they had issues with body image and eating.’ states Andrew Arnold, Forbes. Now, this may not be down to all food-based posts but it could have a big part to play. Those who are eager to lose weight who may struggle to cut the bad food out of their diets may find it difficult to see fast food and unhealthy food and seeing it on their social media might be quite toxic for them causing them to be even more depressed about their body or dwell on their body image.

‘This coincides with information in other studies that indicate that looking at pictures and videos of food can trigger behavioral and physiological responses that lead to excess hunger. This of course can lead to unhealthy eating habits and weight gain.’ Andrew Arnold, Forbes. Again touching on this subject, it can cause people to overeat or have cravings that they do not need and can’t be sustained for a healthy diet.

However, there are some pretty amazing pros that come out of healthy eating being influenced on social media channels. A lot of freely available dietary and wellness advice is accessible, which makes it easier for those who may want to educate themselves on what they are putting into their bodies. Social media is also broadening our food horizons in a cultural sense as well, educating us on food from all over the globe!

Whilst you are here follow some healthy eating Instagram accounts, especially if you are struggling with dieting! After all, abs are made in the kitchen!

 

Digital media has completely changed the ways of which we advertise, market products, reach out to people, share information and so much more. Influencers have become more noticed, influencers with big followings are used by bigger companies to market and advertise their products, usually within the lines of the type of influencer but it varies – for example, a fashion influencer may influence fitness products. Smaller influencers tend to be used for start-up companies who want to get their products more noticed and across by using smaller influencers but more of them.

You would be surprised how much putting a gym clothing set on and taking a selfie would attract so many people to buy that set. Fitness influencers use digital media to their advantage as they know that people look up to them and want to look like them body wise – so whatever they promote must mean you need to buy what they have in order to look like them!

Fitness influencers really have shaped how fitness, health, and well-being can be attained by everyday people – they make it look easy and something which you can achieve every day. This has a motivating factor as fitness influencers tend to be generous with their content, usually near enough every day work out video is uploaded therefore if a loyal and engaged follower is seeing that on their feed daily they are more likely to a, go out and exercise and b, buy into the products that they are advertising as they are being exposed daily.

How did the ‘influencer’ careers start?

First of all, the job title and the whole concept of ‘influencers’ are

due to the evolution of social media. How it has changed and how we perceive, understand, and process digital media and content.

One of the keywords in answering this question is access. Social media creates access for people all over the globe – this level of connectivity has created a worldwide community that exchanges ideas and information. Fitness influencers do this by documenting and uploading their everyday lives and fitness routines.

Another word I am going to use here is relatability. People like to follow influencers as they are just seen as normal people, they aren’t famous actors, athletes, etc they are just normal people sharing their everyday life. People feel like they can get to know influencers on a personal level by following their uploads, interacting with them, and watching their daily routines online. They don’t have these crazy lifestyles that celebrities do therefore it looks more achievable and realistic which is why people have trust in influencers.

Digital media has changed a lot of people’s perceptions of

fitness. Before the evolution of digital media, people used to say to be able to get your dream body it was almost impossible unless you were willing to work your absolute hardest and drink water and eat nothing for the rest of your life or unless you are a famous bodybuilder then it is not achievable – fitness influencers have come around and changed this ridiculous perception of fitness and body goals and they have made it realistic for those who want to change their bodies.

Not only has digital media created a lot more jobs but it has also made some jobs redundant and more easily done. Influencers are used to market and advertise products all over the globe, arguing that it is cheaper to get an influencer to advertise a product to their thousands and thousands of followers as opposed to printing out loads of adverts to stick around gyms etc. I would personally say an influencer will create more engagement than a poster however some may disagree.

The answer to this question is that fitness influencers have used digital media to their advantage now taking over a lot of the famous athlete’s positions on Instagram as people want realistic and trusting people to engage with not people who have been trained up and have had to adapt their life to their career. This is why fitness influencers are winning!

Whilst you are here check out our twitter! https://twitter.com/FitnessvDM

So we all know individual fitness influencers can build up their followings, how do brands stay upcoming and relevant now individuals are looking at taking over?

However in saying that, many fitness influencers are making their own fitness brands and using their personal platforms to promote their own brand. This has been majorly common in the fitness world. For example, Grace Beverly (Grace Fit) released her own resistance bands which have done majorly well, sales flying high due to her promoting her resistance bands on her own Instagram that has a following of one million.

Before the evolution of social media, fitness brands, like any other brand before digital media would have to sell their clothes in a shop. Now Instagram has taken over a lot on the business front, you can now sell and promote your business and use affiliate links which makes products more influencer friendly, therefore, creates more money!

Digital media has changed and evolved, TV adverts used to be

one of the main ways of advertising sportswear (some fitness brands still choose this method) however the money is now in social media, the target market of most of these products are the people who are on social media daily. Instagram has created in feed adverts that let businesses promote their products to people based on their searches and likes using an advertising technique called dynamic remarketing, which allows advertisers to readvertise products have you may have already been looking at or a category of products allowing new brands to be discovered.

Now how can we go on in this blog without mentioning one of the biggest fitness businesses, GymShark, a 1.3 billion brand. GymShark was founded in 2012 and since then they have reached a staggering 4.7 million Instagram following. Many big names in the fitness world promote GymShark products which is one of the reasons for them becoming so popular. If someone is an inspirational fitness figure and has a desirable body aesthetic to what you want, what they are wearing can be desirable too. A lot of people will subconsciously think if they buy what a fitness influencer is wearing they will fit in, they will look the part and look good as well as feeling fully confident.

Under Armour is just another brand that has been successful due to digital media. Under Armour like to advertise their products on almost every social media channel and successfully may I add. Under Armours, YouTube page has more than 100 videos that have gathered more than 2.4 million views. Digital media has made it easier for fitness brands not only to sell their products but to encourage people to get out and keep fit. Their well thought through YouTube videos feature Under Armour athletes doing sports, and they make you want to turn off your device and exercise. Below is an example!

David Kurzmann, founder of the biggest women’s orientated fitness brand in the world used Instagram to maximise his revenue by 5.  Instagram is the hub for fitness businesses to grow and gain a loyal following. “Instagram is particularly suited for successful marketing because everybody is online,” Kurzmann states. For their target market which is young women – most young women if not all are online and are actively using social media.

“Instagram business tools offer many advantages and helpful insights as well,” Kurzmann states. Instagram Insights is another tool that makes Instagram stand out as a great business hot spot. Instagram Insights is a tool for business pages to view how much engagement their page is getting, it gives you insights in depth including what country people are looking at your page from, age groups, how many have viewed etc.

According to Hootsuite, a marketing research company ’80 percent of users on Instagram follow at least one brand. About 60 percent use Instagram to discover new products, 75 percent are likely to take action, and 70 percent are likely to buy products through their mobile devices.’ this proves that Instagram really has become the hub for fitness businesses, so much has changed and developed in the recent years. Fitness businesses would not have been as successful as they are if social media was not a thing, it is something that is relied on and has completely changed the way businesses run and operate and how they attract their customers to the products.

All of these examples just prove how much digital media has helped fitness companies to be at where they are at now. Without digital media, things would not be the same for these businesses.