As I have discussed before in my previous column, social media has power over many people throughout society. However, it can both benefit and hurt progress and mental health in the gym. I discussed the negative influencers thoroughly, but I want to bring light to those individuals who make an effort to help novice lifters with their fears of the gym. 

First, I need to discuss what damage an influencer can do. An influencer is a person seen as somewhat of an expert on a certain subject. In this case, we are discussing the gym. Negative influencers discourage new people to try the gym. They see themselves above others and often use social media just to gain likes and attention. 

Now that we know the yin of influencers, let’s discuss the yang. 

While the gym involves a lot of physical strength, you must be mentally strong as well. Mental strength can make or break your lift so finding some sort of inspiration can be a great way to sustain mental strength. This is where positive influencers come in. These males and females don’t care about the amount of weight you lift or how many reps you can do. All they want to see is progress. They want to see you go up at least one pound from your last. They want to see you succeed in any way that you can. 

These influencers can be on all different platforms like Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, and many more. Many even try to make it their own goal to change gym culture online. They will come across negative videos and attempt to teach the negative influencer a lesson. A notable positive influencer is Joseph Sergo, AKA Joey Swoll. While this guy is jacked beyond belief, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. He is a genuine guy who cares about gym culture and has led the charge in changing gym culture on social media. He is one of the many who fight for positivity to shine online. 

The gym is unfortunately a war of negativity and positivity. Whether that is a war in someone’s own mind or against negative influencers, there are always fights between the two sides. As stated before, some influencers use social media to show dominance over people and others use it to spread positivity and increase happiness through gym culture. 

The Internet can be a powerful tool, so make sure that you look for the positives that the gym can bring. Just like with anything, the negatives can be discouraging. Find those positive influencers who can bring you the motivation to improve your lifts, and improve your life.