INSTAGRAM FITNESS TRENDS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
By John Harris Fitness
Being fit is the new slim: Those who follow the current fitness icons on Instagram or observe international fashion shows will quickly notice that the beauty ideal has shifted from mere slimness to defined muscles. Nonetheless, numerous social media trends still revolve around an extremely slim physique.
If you're a regular Instagram user, you've probably noticed that many of these fitness and slimness trends originate there. What lies behind #thighgap, #a4waist, #bikinibridge, and #abcrack? Are these trends a new motivator for a healthy lifestyle or potentially dangerous?
Ab Cracks, the New Six-Pack?
This trend focuses on the straight abdominal muscles. Unlike the traditional six-pack, it places emphasis on the linea alba, the midline between the abdominal muscles, which is highly defined. Straight abdominal muscles can be effectively trained through exercises like crunches or using an abdominal press machine. To make the line visible, a body fat percentage of under 10% is required. You can precisely measure your body fat percentage with our iDXA analysis to see how far you are from your goal and which areas you should target.
Ab cracks themselves are not inherently dangerous. A healthy balance of exercise and mindful nutrition is beneficial for everyone. It's best to seek advice on how to reduce your body fat percentage in a healthy way. If you like this trend (the classic six-pack is still popular too), it can become your new motivation to work out regularly.
Understanding the Thigh Gap Trend
This trend is built around the hype of the thigh gap, inspired by supermodel Cara Delevingne. The model with particularly thin legs became a role model for many young girls on Instagram. When standing with legs closed, a narrow gap between the thighs is present or not. However, achieving this trend isn't solely dependent on body fat; it's also influenced by body structure.
Don't be misled; it's better to build muscles in your thighs (which increases their circumference). After all, your legs carry you through life every day.
The Bikini Bridge
In this slimness trend, the goal is to have prominent pelvic bones. Women lie on their backs in a bikini, aiming to create a gap between the bikini bottom and their abdomen. The bikini should not touch the belly in the middle. This gap requires prominent pelvic bones. This trend was intentionally created by the online platform 4chan.org to demonstrate how quickly new slimness trends can spread, and it succeeded.
Like other trends, this one depends on individual body structure. Depending on the shape of your pelvis, it might be easier or more challenging to achieve the ideal. For some women, their pelvis is naturally shaped in a way that their pelvic bones protrude more.
The A4 Waist Challenge
In this Instagram trend, the aim is to have a waist as slim as an A4 paper. Women photograph themselves with an A4 sheet in front of their bodies to prove their thinness. This eccentric challenge originally emerged in Asia but has now spread to Europe. An A4 sheet is only 21 cm wide, so the waist must be quite thin.
Women with a generally narrow physique can effectively hide their waist behind the paper sheet (especially with the right camera angle). However, remember that you can't change the width of your ribcage and pelvis through exercise, and your waist measurements are dependent on those factors. Embrace a slim waist, but understand that not everyone can achieve the same measurement.
Our Conclusion
If these ideals motivate you to exercise and maintain a healthy diet, then go for it! Always ensure that you're pursuing a goal achievable in a healthy way based on your body structure. You can't change your body structure. Don't chase after ideals you can't realistically attain.
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