Social media is said to be a good fitness motivation, as people are finding solo gym sessions harder.

Instagram, one of the top social platforms of the world has 400 million daily active users. Instagram is great for following people you don’t personally know and a huge portion of those people being followed are fitness influencers.

“It does create unrealistic expectations. Social media as a whole shows off people’s highlight reels, complete with airbrushed abs and filters. The social world is relatively new, so we don’t know the long-term impact of all of this, but right now it’s easy to assume it does create body image issues among both men and women,” says Mitch Calvert. A transformation body coach whose business and clients are all from social media.

180 million of those Instagram accounts are fitness related. They are successful because 75 per cent of Instagram users take action from the posts they see by following an influencer or going to their website.

“The lone wolf approach to fitness only works for the most dedicated individuals. Research shows that having a close friend or family member lose weight increases your chances of doing the same,” says Calvert.

When Lauren Parsons joined a cycle class she knew the community is what she was missing from her workouts. She was always shy until she got on the bike with people that supported her.

“You get on the bike and you sort of become a different person,” says Lauren ** now a cycle class instructor at Saikel Studio.

Being part of a fitness influencer following can give you a sense of community and help motivate you to continue your own fitness journey. The problem with following a large influencer is that they are doing things to gain their following and may not have your best interest at heart, especially in terms of losing weight in the proper way.