“You started working out to get a flat stomach and a fat a$$”: A content analysis of fitspiration videos on TikTok

Abstract

Fitspiration presents idealised bodies to viewers, emphasising a fit ideal to women and a muscular ideal to men. Previous content analyses have focused on images from Instagram, with research yet to examine video content on TikTok or verify the accuracy of the diet and exercise information posted by fitness influencers. This content analysis examined 200 videos from popular TikTok fitspiration hashtags (fitness, fitspo, gymtok, fittok). Two independent coders used a standardised codebook containing definitions and examples for coding. Overall, 78 % of videos showed only women, and 10 % of videos showed only men. Videos of women included both fit and thin idealised bodies, whole body and specific body part objectification, harmful themes, and promoted appearance-related reasons for exercise more frequently than videos containing men. Videos of men included muscular idealised bodies and objectification through face obscurity (excluding the face from view) more frequently than videos of women. Most videos were posted by fitness influencers, and 60 % of videos presented incorrect or harmful information. Findings suggest that fitspiration TikTok content contains characteristics known to negatively impact body image and highlights gendered differences in content themes. Further investigation is required on the promotion of appearance reasons to exercise, and the credibility of information and content creators.