Experts are warning people not to be swindled by fitness bloggers who use Instagram to peddle their products.
‘Fitspo’ accounts are popular on the social media app where young women share scantily clad photos of themselves and advertise products to hundreds of thousands of followers.
Fitness expert Tiffiny Hall is warning people not to pay ‘good money for bad advice’.
Fitness expert Tiffiny Hall is warning people not to pay ‘good money for bad advice’
‘Fitspo’ accounts are popular on the social media app where young women share scantily clad photos of themselves and advertise products to hundreds of thousands of followers
Kellie Gallagher joined a popular Ashy Bines (pictured) programme while on maternity leave for $7, and then noticed money was being taken out of her account each month without her permission
‘It makes me angry and I am fixing that bad advice,’ she told A Current Affair.
Ms Hall has 127,000 followers on Instagram herself, and holds a diploma in sports coaching. She also has a black belt in taekwondo and has worked in fitness for more than 20 years.
Her Instagram account combats what she claims is poor advice dished out by self-appointed fitness gurus.
She works with an accredited dietitian and psychologist to come up with her programmes.
‘I think it takes a team of experts to put a programme like this together,’ she said.
Kellie Gallagher joined a popular Ashy Bines programme while on maternity leave for $7, and then noticed money was being taken out of her account each month without her permission.
Ms Gallagher lost $460 in total, and Ashy Bines and Co argued that she hadn’t read the terms and conditions of her programme properly.
‘I definitely believe that we should all be refunded and reimbursed our money,’ Ms Gallagher said.
Ms Hall’s Instagram account combats what she claims is poor advice dished out by self-appointed fitness gurus (fitness model Kali Burns pictured)
She works with an accredited dietitian and psychologist to come up with her programmes
Marketing expert Dee Madigan said people were keen to follow accounts with fit, young women because they wanted to be like them.
‘I don’t reckon most of them would be nearly as successful as most of them are if they didn’t look as good as they do,’ she said.
‘I would say look at their qualifications, because some may just be damn lucky with their genetics.’
Ashy Bines announced on Friday that she was taking a ‘break’ from social media.
‘I used to love this online space. I used to enjoy coming on here every day to connect with my community, but the actions and words of some are ruining that,’ she said.
Kali Burns is another fitness model who offers online coaching to her 930,000 followers.
The 21-year-old offers fitness programmes that can cost up to $299.
Beck Lomas from Melbourne has 185,000 followers on Instagram.
When asked if she has any fitness qualifications, she said ‘yes and no’.
She said she has worked in sports marketing and has worked in gym administration.
Ms Hall said people shouldn’t be fooled by ‘fitspo’ models selling products on Instagram