Can Social Media Help You Reach your Health Goals?

Have you ever used social media to help you achieve a health related goal?  Ever try out an application like Map My Run? Admittedly, I have not, but I have seen many friends post run statuses in my news feed. My curiosity lead me to download the application and if you too are curious, please read below.

Map My Run is owned by Under Armour. You will notice in the screen shot above, that if you were to log on to the application to go for a run, you would conveniently see an advertisement for Under Armour shoes. Pretty brilliant marketing, right? In the moment you are thinking about your fitness goals, you see the products that can help you to achieve them.

You will also notice that within the application you can find your friends and connect with them over your fitness goals. You can challenge your friends and encourage each other.

Map My Run allows you to capture your routes which you can use in the future and share with your friends. 

As you are writing down your goals, and “achieving your best” the Under Armour logo is prominently popping out next to the Map My Run title.  A subtle reminder that Under Armour helps you to achieve your fitness goals. 

Near the top right you will also notice a link to “shop”... again, just so you know that Under Armour products are always there when you are working on reaching your fitness goals! 

You vs the Year 2017. Under Armour has set up challenges on the application that allow you to compete and earn exclusive content. You can win Under Armour prizes throughout the competition. 

The Map My Run application has even tapped in to the Blogosphere, so you can further engage in the fitness community. As Li & Bernoff point out, “blog reading is one of the most popular activities in the groundswell, with nearly one in three online Americans reading blogs" ( Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 19).

What do you think, will you down download Map My Run to support your fitness goals?

Another recent example I observed of the power of social media to help you achieve fitness goals was the program Bright Line Eating . My mom joined Bright Line Eating to support her nutrition and weight loss goals and it has been the best program she has ever done for her health.  If you’re interested in a learning more, here is a  short clip from Susan, the founder.

One thing that stood out to me about the success of the program is the way it incorporates an online support group on Facebook in which peers from all over the world can support each other.

My mom described a moment when she had been doing well with her weight loss goals but was feeling stressed and wanted to eat. Instead of eating, she reached out to Bright Life and messaged the group (below is a copy of the message she sent):

Immediately, she received a flood of responses from her peers encouraging her to take a walk, take a moment to reflect and telling her she can do it!  Not only were these words of encouragement, but they were words coming from people who are all working towards the same goal of improved health and facing similar obstacles along the journey. The online community of support is immensely powerful.

As we have seen time and time again, with social media, people can get what they need from each other---whether that is advice on a product or a personal goal. So tell me, are there any online groups or applications that you would recommend for supporting fitness goals? It’s about time to spring into fitness!