People who take selfies at the gym are more likely to have mental health problems

I find almost nothing as annoying about Instagram as seeing other people work out while I’m lying on the couch in an XL baggy sweater snoring with a bag of Maltesers.

Then I immediately feel bad. Too fat. Too lazy. Too sluggish. Why do all these people post that? Why do I have to see those tight bellies working out in crop tops and why do I have to see what route someone has run? I don’t fucking care. Let me be lazy in peace.

Now it turns out that I’m not even that wrong with my complaining. Because people who take pictures of themselves in the gym and share them on social media often have psychological problems. Narcissism and low self-esteem, to be precise. Narcissistic people are quite fond of themselves and think the world revolves around them. That’s probably why they are so addicted to social media: in the end, it’s nothing more than a personal profile where you shine, where you are the star; the rest is secondary. They don’t think much about what others think and mainly find their own happiness very important. Narcissists are always looking for recognition, for attention. They need that to feel good.

According to researchers, those who brag about their own abilities – in the gym or not – are the ones who feel insecure. They need to show in their Stories that they are working on their appearance. They want to catch compliments in a certain sense. They like to flaunt their bodies, but only in the right pose. They usually do this from a low self-image: if you are insecure about something, there’s a good chance you want to project everything on social media to compensate for that unpleasant feeling. If you get a lot of likes and thousands of followers, then your self-confidence can get a boost. Idiotic perhaps, because it’s just an online fake world with filters, but it’s the time we live in, huh.

Anyway: if you work out, let your fellow human beings be and don’t post a photo. Just go spin and cycle and that kind of nonsense and mainly focus on your own body instead of what unknown people on social media think about it or not. As long as you feel good in your sports outfit, you feel good, no matter what size. I’ll enjoy a little longer in my XL baggy sweater, greetings.