By Dajour Harris
The Role of Exercise in Self Esteem and Body Image
Working out. Exercising. Conditioning. Practicing. Hitting the gym. There are many ways to say it, but they all mean the same thing. We all know the benefits of regular exercising include improved physical health, improved mental health, and improved looks. But what is the main reason people do it? If you were to ask, many would comment on feeling healthier when they have a consistent routine hitting the gym.
Others would say it would be preventative. Building a strong and healthy body now will help when they’re older. But frankly, a powerful reason for exercising consistently is simply vanity. People want to look good. That, in turn, makes them feel good. Body image and self-esteem play huge roles as to why people consistently work out. Perhaps they are the biggest reasons and, for most people, outweigh all other benefits to exercising regularly.
Understanding Body Image
To begin, we must first look at what body image and self-esteem may be. According to a 2018 article, body image is “how you see yourself when you look in the mirror”, or how “you picture yourself in your mind”. Body image and body composition are often mistaken for one another.
A 2020 article suggested that body composition is when you “breaking down the body into its core components: fat, protein, minerals, and body water”. Essentially, body image may differ significantly from how it is actually composed. Whether a person sees their body as being too skinny or too fat, it’s really their image that drives them to change.
How Men and Women Perceive Body Image
This can mean different things to different groups. Men, for example, typically have a body image of being either too skinny and wanting to gain muscles/weight, or they may simply want to lose fat and get ripped. According to a 1087 article, women usually prefer to lose weight due to “sociocultural pressures toward thinness in women”.
Defining Self Esteem in Relation to Fitness
A 2019 article suggested that self-esteem is generally used to describe “a person’s overall sense of self-worth or personal value”. Self-esteem can develop from where people place their values and those that they can attribute them to themselves. For example, some people may have lower self-esteem because they have a lower income or because they are not as extroverted as some of their colleagues.
The Connection Between Self Esteem and Body Image
In the case of exercising, self-esteem is a powerful driving force and correlates with body image. As mentioned earlier, some wish to gain weight and muscle because society sees their current body type as being small or weak. However, some want to lose weight and become skinnier because society could view their bodies as soft, overweight, and unattractive.
Societal Influence on Vanity and Image
Vanity and image have always had huge roles in society and social interaction. From the past to today, society determined that having a skinnier frame as more attractive or more appealing. Models in commercials, posters, billboards, and social media all have a similar size and look. The public agrees the way they look is ideal and should be the goal.
Today, the most influential source to see the ideal body type is social media. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are all social networks where people promote images. One of the largest online communities are “fitness influencers”. Their occupations and businesses are, basically, their bodies. They all have stellar abdominals. The men all have big biceps and broad shoulders. The women all have tiny waists and toned lower halves.
Social Media, Fitness Influencers, and Body Image
The influence that social media has goes together with body image and self-esteem. The constant presence of these influencers with ideal bodies often pushes the normal person to see themselves as being inferior. They may follow these influencers and copy them just to try to get what they have. However, body image can also conflict with societal views. There are those who exercise for their image and self-esteem, but often take it to the extreme.
Bodybuilders and the Pursuit of Image
Take bodybuilders for example. Their goal is to have massive, symmetrical bodies with peak physical condition. However, looking at the Mr. Olympia stages and seeing the best bodybuilders in the world, their bodies are often ridiculously large and, perhaps, grotesque. Nevertheless, bodybuilders try to reach even higher standards and go beyond what they have now.
This also relates to body image and self-esteem. Bodybuilders will spend hours exercising and posing, trying to look a certain way to themselves and in the mirror. Although the normal gym goer might see them as freaks of nature, the bodybuilder often sees only the flaws and work out harder to fix them.
The Other Extreme: Overtraining and Eating Disorders
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are also those who exercise hard to appeal to an image of being much smaller and skinnier than they really should be. According to a 1987 article, women “tend to see themselves as overweight even if they are not” and will also “diet more often than men to achieve the thin ideal”. This could lead to overtraining and eating disorders to satisfy their ideal body image rather than ideal body composition.
Health Benefits Beyond Vanity
There are numerous health benefits to working out. They range from present health conditions to practicing preventative health. Once a person is constantly exercising, more than likely it would be better in the long run. However, vanity is a powerful reason why people continue to exercise. From societal pressures to have “the look”, to self-awareness and self-esteem becoming additional driving factors.
References
Body Image. (2018, February 22). Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/body-image-0
Cherry, K. (2019, September 30). Why Self-Esteem Is Important for Success. Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-esteem-2795868
Drewnowski, A., & Yee, D. K. (1987). Men and body image: Are males satisfied with their body weight? Psychosomatic Medicine, 49, 626–634.
What is Body Composition? (2020, September 16). Retrieved November 11, 2020, from https://inbodyusa.com/general/what-is-body-composition/
