Eat. Sleep. Train. SHARE. Repeat.
„If there’s no picture of it on Facebook, you didn’t work out!“, I recently read as a caption to a selfie showing two teenagers inline skating, desperately trying to look motivated. „Uhuh“, I thought and hoped from the bottom of my heart that the winking smiley after this statement was supposed to imply irony.
Somehow everybody’s sporty these days – or at least pretends to be in various social networks. Is suddenly everyone going to the gym instead of McDonald’s, preferring lifting over partying? Has exercise suddenly become cool and fitness replaced „just chilling“ as the number one goal in life? I don’t think I’ll ever understand this (social media) world.
Taking a closer look at my own newsfeed on Facebook, I realize that I myself have been infected by the fitness virus as well. And here I am, scrolling through and looking at countless pictures of pumped guys and perfectly shaped girls’ bodies, generously displayed. So this is how you’re supposed to look like these days. Good to know. There you go, right into our subconsciousness with all these expectations that no-one whose life for some incomprehensible reason does not only consist of „Eat. Sleep. Train. Repeat.“ could ever meet.
Sometimes I do however ask myself where all these beautiful people are hiding in everyday life. Maybe at the gym around the corner that I stroll by day after day. I occasionally see them there, from a healthy distance, too far to be able to tell if they really are the personified perfection I only know from the internet. There they are, visible to everyone passing by, sweating the last gram of fat off their bodies, simultaneously posting „progress pics“ that strangely show them freshly showered and all dressed up. Yepp, I really don’t think I’ll ever understand this (social media) world.
I have to admit though, this is better than party picture nr. 437. It’s lovely that young people care about their health. It’s also reasonable and desireable and generally just great. But nevertheless, I am about as interested in who went to the gym when and with whom as in what my dear Facebook friends had for lunch the day before yesterday – thus, not the least bit. Little by little I get the impression that this opinion makes me part of a dying species. Food pictures and workout videos as far as the eye can see (or as far as you can get an internet connection). Self-staging at the highest level. Or something.
But sure: If there’s no picture of it on Facebook, you didn’t do sports! And wouldn’t it be a crying shame to struggle for nothing? So go right ahead, create a whole damn album – just to be sure.