Instagram is rife with various accounts of users documenting their personal gym progress. Gym-goers from all over have created these accounts to motivate themselves and others to maintain a consistent schedule. Gym accounts can inspire others to begin going to the gym or to create accounts of their own.
A common motivation many begin exercising is the desire to lose weight or gain muscle. Because of these effects, going to the gym is more than just a method of self-care and health improvement, it’s also a way to become more comfortable with their body.
“I think [I started going to the gym] because I wasn’t really happy with how I was or how I looked as a person,” Max Ding (10) said. “And I want to be comfortable in my own body, right? Because you only get one life.”
Building and maintaining a steady exercise routine can improve health and endurance as well as mental stability and discipline. Setting reachable goals increases the likelihood of success and can improve work ethic by building an exercise habit.
“[A benefit of exercising is] improved health, but like cardiovascular-wise especially,” Trip Gipson (12) said. “It also helps you with mental discipline, because there are days where I just don’t feel like going to the gym, but I force myself to. It really helps with discipline.”
Depending on the person, it can take weeks or even months to begin to see results from exercise. However, seeing results from regular exercise can build the incentive to continue working toward improvement.
“I think [it took] about 9 months [to see results],” Ding said. “Right now, I feel like everything is like starting to get better and look better, but it is still obviously not where I want it to be.”
Like any habitual act, it takes time and effort to maintain a steady exercise routine. When building a routine, some consider personal goals and gradually work up to more intense activities that complement their goal.
“I think the best thing to do is to start out small, keep like a steady routine, make sure it’s something you can commit to, because if you can’t commit to it and you try to go into it at the start, you’re going to be disappointed in yourself when you don’t reach your goals,” Ding said. “Also, set your expectations pretty low at the start because you’re not going to be looking amazing after just a few months at the gym, right? It takes some buildup.”
Both Gipson and Ding have Instagram accounts dedicated to tracking their exercise progress. Creating an account not only helps in visualizing progress, but also provides the necessary motivation to continue a strict routine.
“I think it gives me something that I look forward to every time I go to the gym, or it’s my motivation to just add more to the account,” Ding said.
After settling into a routine, going to the gym can mean more than a daily workout. It can become a safe place to destress and have an enjoyable experience.
“At first it was a way to be healthy and improve my lifestyle overall, but now it’s somewhere I go to enjoy myself,” Gipson said.
In addition to improved physique and physical strength, going to the gym can improve mental health and facilitate positivity. As a form of self-care, exercise can relieve stress, improve mental wellbeing and increase energy levels.
“So physically … I feel like I look right by my body. I’m more aesthetic, I guess, and I’m definitely stronger than before,” Ding said. “Mentally … I think it helped me out of a bad place, because whenever I started going to the gym, it was like I didn’t feel great about myself, but it helped me build positivity.”
