Instagram Fitness: Photoshop, Synthol, Steroids, and Peaking

I recently got an Instagram account (If you have any desire to follow me, you can, but it's mostly pictures of food and my vacations... just search for Joe Berne). There's a lot of interesting content available, including a ton of fitness pictures - lots of very muscular, lean fitness models showing off their abs, arms, etc. It's all free and easy to find, and it's very easy to get inundated with pictures of very, very fit looking people, all kind of in your face on a daily basis.

To be absolutely clear, I'm not saying there's anything inherently wrong with any of this. I'm simply saying that there is a very specific danger to exposing yourself to this content.

Some people can look at these sort of pictures and have no negative impact. But many people can find these pictures discouraging - especially those of us trying to lose weight or gain muscle or otherwise improve our appearance. It can be easy to fall in to a trap of looking at a fitness model, then looking in the mirror, and feeling like your goals are unattainable, and that it isn't even worth trying.

Now plenty of people avoid this thought process entirely, and get nothing but extra motivation from so-called motivational pictures. And that's great! If you're that sort of person, fantastic.

But if you find yourself getting discouraged by these images, there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Very few of those models actually look like that year round. They're posting pictures from a photo shoot for which they have 'peaked,' they have extra makeup and stuff on, they have great lighting, etc.
2. Many of those models have advantages over you that have nothing to do with hard work or dedication. For example, they all have great genetics.
3. Many use performance enhancing drugs.
4. Many have had cosmetic surgery. 
5. Many don't have 'regular' lives that interfere with training (kids, full time sedentary jobs, etc.). 
6. That's not to disparage their accomplishments, just to say that comparing yourself to them is a little bit like a race car driver entering his Honda Civic in the Indy 500 and feeling crushed at not being able to qualify.

If you feel demotivated by these images, stop looking at them. There are more-realistic Instagram accounts - look for something with people who post excerpts from their workouts on a near-daily basis (both so you're not seeing a peaking picture and so you get a feel for the way even these people have good and bad days). Or stay away altogether.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to how to stay motivated. There is no good or bad here. Figure out what works for you, and stick to it!