COVID-19 has forced the closure of almost every public business/entertainment facility across the country. This includes the closure of gym facilities, which has led many fitness gurus and small business and gym owners to turn to social media in order to conduct their own takes on “stay at home” workouts. With an increasingly noticeable amount of workout videos populating the internet now, it’s hard to tell whether this quarantine based workout influx is good or the bad.

Why “quarantine workouts” could be received poorly   

Although the majority of workout tips that are populating social media are initially posted as harmless pieces of advice for anyone that would want to lose a little weight or keep the weight from creeping on over the unknown length of quarantine, it is very easy for people to interpret these things in different ways. Since there are so many of these posts circulating the internet, an average teen could easily feel like their social media might be trying to “tell them something”. Social media is known for flooding your feed with things that you like or giving you suggestions on things that you might like. With this knowledge, the fact that a workout video might pop up on one’s feed, even without liking that many fitness related videos, someone could start to wonder… “should I be losing more weight?”, or “does my stomach need to get flatter?… I mean, I do have a lot of time during quarantine…”. These reactions are perfectly reasonable and seem ingrained in human nature. We always feel the need to continuously work on ourselves or things within our lives to maintain a goal that keeps us going. However, basing our worth or value on these messages can be dangerous. And oftentimes with teenagers, these messages can be internalized and morph into unhealthy or dangerous obsessions.

Some benefits “quarantine workouts” could provide

Despite the backlash that workout advice circulating the internet has currently accumulated, most people are using the tips to evolve this boring time at home into a more relaxed and manageable period to complete one’s goals of healthily gaining/losing weight (whichever a person might want to achieve). Seeing encouragement from others online can provide motivation to reach one’s goal, especially since many people are having a hard time trying to find encouragement under the current struggles that we are all facing. It has taken a lot for the world to start attempting to find a “normal” again, and most body/workout influencers are only trying to use their platform to help others get back on track.

Taking a step back

Since there are reasons on both sides of this controversy to agree with, it is 100% up to the interpretation of the viewer. Working out is neither good nor bad, and it all sums up to what one personally does with the information given. The number one piece of advice that we should all remember, is to take a step back before trying to complete any of the workout advice online and learn to not base ourselves off of unrealistic standards that could be impossible to achieve.