20 Fitness Post Ideas For Instagram Engagement & Growth

Looking for engaging fitness posts for Instagram? Whether you run a gym, personal training business, or fitness blog, social media is a crucial marketing platform. But coming up with creative content ideas isn’t always easy, so we’ve done the hard work for you…

In this article – we share 20 fitness Instagram post ideas for personal trainers, gyms, and online content creators.

1. Practical fitness tips
2. Motivational posts
3. Educational fitness info
4. Engagement-boosting posts
5. Workout videos
6. Client success stories
7. Giveaways or competitions
8. Your daily fitness or meal prep routine
9. Fitness awareness days
10. Exercise technique reels
11. Promo posts
12. Behind the scenes
13. Interviews
14. Funny fitness quotes & memes
15. Fitness goal tutorials
16. Collabs & partnership posts
17. Frequently asked fitness questions
18. Team intros & bios
19. Showcase awards, achievements & reviews
20. Address common client objections

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Let’s explore each of these types of fitness Instagram posts in more detail…

Practical Fitness Tips

Practical fitness tips are a popular and effective way to provide value to your social media followers. People love useful tips, practical advice, and time-saving hacks, so think about how you can use them in your content strategy. Example fitness posts for Instagram include…

• Tips for achieving a specific fitness goal – such as how to lose weight effectively and consistently, increase your strength through exercise progressions, or work towards a personal best running time.
• Ways to find time for exercise – like quick HIIT training sessions, power walks during lunch breaks, or making a commitment to workout first thing in the morning (before other priorities get in the way).
• Common exercise mistakes to avoid – such as incorrect form when performing a particular exercise, training too often resulting in injury, or eating habits that wipe out fitness gains.

A great way to come up with ideas is to think about the challenges your PT clients or gym members face. What holds them back from achieving their fitness goals? What stops them from getting started on the journey? Then brainstorm practical solutions and quick wins that can help them overcome these issues.

Practical fitness tips like these make great Instagram posts, Reels, and Stories. You can also group several tips on the same theme into carousel posts or Instagram guides.

Motivational Fitness Posts

Sharing motivational fitness content on Instagram is a tried and tested approach for successful accounts. Inspirational quotes are popular types of post since they help followers to believe that they can achieve their goals. This is often the first step in helping people on their journey towards becoming fitter and healthier.

Posting motivational quotes and inspiring words of wisdom will often generate strong engagement. When content resonates with how someone is feeling, they’ll like and interact with it. It’s also common for these types of post to be shared widely, since followers will know someone else who will appreciate (or needs to hear) it.

Educational Fitness Info

Posting educational and informative fitness content on Instagram is another way to build a loyal and engaged following. Teaching your audience about health and fitness can help them achieve their goals, and also positions you as a knowledgeable authority on a topic. This means people are much more likely to want to work with you as a personal trainer or join your gym.

Sharing information that educates your followers can also help you to sell to them. Explaining the benefits of a particular type of training, how it affects the body, and why it’s effective can all make people more inclined to try it. If you can translate complex scientific info into plain English that everyone will understand, then you’re on to a winning fitness content formula.

Reels and videos work really well for this type of Instagram content since they allow you to talk about the topic in detail or demonstrate it visually. Or posting fascinating facts and ‘did you know?’ content is great for images and Stories.

Engagement-Boosting Posts

Interaction is a really important aspect of Instagram marketing so it’s vital to build this into your content plan. Social media isn’t just about pushing out your messages, it’s about two-way conversations. While some fitness posts will naturally generate engagement, there are practical strategies you can use to encourage it too.

Questions and polls are ideal for getting engagement on your Instagram account. They naturally invite people to interact and get involved in a conversation. You can post questions and statements like…

• What is your biggest fitness challenge?
• Do you prefer sit-ups or crunchies?
• How do you track your workout progress?
• What’s the one thing you wish you knew about strength training?
• Who is your fav celebrity trainer and why?

Instagram Stories has built-in polls and question stickers which are perfect for this. You can also post images with the question on. If you want to run a fitness poll using an image post, then remember to give people A/B/C answer options to choose from and ask them to leave their vote in the comments.

Workout Videos

While YouTube is arguably the more popular platform for workout videos, they can make great Instagram content too. You can post workout sessions that are up to 60-minutes long that people can follow along with. Or you can edit workouts down into a 1-2 minute video that outlines the movements, reps, sets, duration, etc.

Posting workout videos is a great way to show people what it’s like to train with you. It can convince someone who’s sitting on the fence to sign up for your class or online program. Videos like this can also inspire followers to try a new type of workout that they might not have considered or known about before.

Client Success Stories

Sharing client success stories on Instagram is a great way to show followers that your fitness training gets results! It provides proof that your programs or techniques actually work for real people. It’s also a fantastic way to celebrate the achievements of your personal training clients or gym members.

You can use lots of different formats for success story posts on Instagram…

• Photos of the client with a text overlay stating what they achieved
• Reels where the client tells their story directly to the camera
• Before and after photos
• Videos where you show what they’re now about to do (e.g. how much weight they can lift)
• Insta Stories that highlight their achievements with photos and stickers
• Stories that reshare the other formats you’ve created (such as embedding Reels)
• Story Highlights where you pin all the success stories to a highlight on your bio

This type of fitness content is a great way to celebrate your customers while also helping to sell what you do. If you’re just starting your fitness Instagram and don’t have testimonials or case studies yet, then remember to create and share some as soon as you do.

Giveaways & Competitions

Hosting giveaways and competitions on Instagram is a great way to grow your fitness following and get more engagement too. They’re also an effective method for promoting the launch of a new workout program, product, or service.

Offering juicy prizes is a sure-fire way to attract attention and stop people scrolling past your post. Access to your latest fitness program, the hottest new piece of fitness equipment, or supplement bundles are all popular prize options. Be sure to choose something that’s going to appeal to your ideal client rather than the mass market. This way you’ll build a following of the right people who have potential to purchase from you down the line.

Set the entry rules in a way that’s related to your marketing goals. If your aim is to grow your following, then get people to follow your account and tag a friend in order to be entered. If your objective is to grow your email list, then get people to register via an online form. If you want to raise awareness of your new fitness program, then get people to tag two friends who would like it.

By running Instagram competitions and giveaways in the right way, you can grow your audience and generate leads for your fitness products or services.

Your Daily Fitness or Meal Prep Routine

Share your daily fitness routine or how you prepare healthy meals. This gives people a glimpse into your life which can help to build a relationship. It also helps them see how they might apply your approach to their own.

Instagram Reels about ‘what I eat in a day’ or ‘daily workout habits’ tend to be particularly popular. Diet and exercise go hand-in-hand so it’s helpful to show people how you approach both aspects. And because everyone is different, your take will always be unique.

Fitness Awareness Days

Posting timely and topical fitness content related to awareness days is a great way to grow your reach. It allows you to tap into a trending topic at peak time so that your posts are seen by a bigger audience than usual. Your content may even be shared by the official Instagram accounts of these days which can help you go viral!

National Fitness Day, International Yoga Day, and Stress Awareness Month are just a few options that you can post about. We’ve also put together a comprehensive list of health and fitness awareness days that you can look at for more ideas. The key is to create useful, relevant content and then use the right hashtags to ensure it’s seen widely.

Exercise Technique Reels

When it comes to personal trainer Instagram posts, you really can’t go wrong with exercise technique demonstrations. Use Reels, video, or photos to show the correct form for a specific exercise or movement. These posts are really useful to your followers since they can help them prevent injuries and get better results from their workouts.

But that’s not the only benefit – they also showcase the value of working with a personal trainer. People often don’t realise that they’re using incorrect form when doing an exercise, but these posts can highlight this. And that’s a powerful way of helping people to understand why it’s worth paying for one-to-one coaching with a fitness expert.

If your Instagram account is for a fitness business, then you’ll want to include promotional posts in your content strategy. When we talk about promo content, we mean posts where the message is for followers to buy something immediately.

Many of the other types of post in this article play a role in the sales funnel by educating people about the benefits of something or removing barriers to purchasing it. But promo posts ask people to sign-up, join, or buy now. They might involve special offers, limited time discounts, or simply outline your product or service offering with a call to action that encourages them to purchase.

When we work with our social media clients, we recommend an 80:20 approach where at least 80% of posts are inspiring, educational, entertaining, or engagement-boosting, and the remaining 20% can be promotional. This means that a maximum of 1 in 5 posts should be directly promoting your product or service offering.

Why this ratio? Because the vast majority of posts should be providing real value and building an engaged following. This way you’re effectively warming them up so that they’ll be more inclined to buy when you do promote your goodies. Using a balance of value-driven and promotional content means you’ll have a targeted and engaged audience of potential fitness customers to sell to.

Behind the Scenes

Post photos and videos of what it’s like behind the scenes of your fitness Instagram or business. Giving people sneak peeks or exclusive access helps them feel part of your community. It’s a great way to build loyalty and engagement, while also subtly promoting what you offer.

• Gyms – behind the scenes content for gym and health clubs might include how your team prepares for group classes, the delivery of new equipment, or showcasing your rigorous cleaning routine.
• Personal trainers – behind the scenes posts for personal trainers could cover how you go about preparing custom fitness programs for clients, what a workout session is like with you, or a CPD training course you’re attending.
• Online Creators – behind the scenes content for fitness influencers and bloggers might showcase a new online program that you’re working on, how you prepare for an event or photoshoot, or what a day in the life looks like.

Interviews

Interviews make brilliant fitness posts for Instagram (and YouTube too). They’re a great way to educate your followers and help them learn more about a topic from an expert. Interviewing people is also a really effective way to build your network in the fitness industry, which can help you be successful long-term.

Instagram allows you to get creative with fitness-themed interviews. You can take the classic approach of recording a video with someone where you ask questions and they answer them. But you can also use Stories, Reels, and carousel posts to share questions and answers in a bite-sized format. Or do quick-fire Q where you get different people to answer the same set of 5-7 questions and then collate their responses.

There are lots of ways to edit and repurpose interview content too. You can take statements that people have made and turn them into motivational quotes or educational fitness tips. Or use the video content as the basis for image posts, Stories, and carousels. While it may take more time and effort to do the interview upfront, you can generate a wealth of different content from it.

Funny Fitness Quotes & Memes

Sharing funny fitness content on Instagram is another great way to build your following and get engagement. Posting humourous fitness quotes, entertaining memes, or sarcastic captions can really boost your account. It may not be suitable for every brand but works well for accounts that want to be personable and relatable.

If you’re someone who feels like motivational fitness quotes are overused on Instagram, then posting funny ones can be a brilliant alternative. They’ll appeal to likeminded followers who share your sense of humour and are on the same wavelength. Posting funny content can also show that you don’t take yourself too seriously, making you more likable and relatable online.

Fitness Goal Tutorials

Tutorial videos are one of the most popular types of online content so post fitness-themed ones to your Instagram. While the workout and technique videos we’ve previously discussed focus on exercise, fitness goal tutorials breakdown how to achieve a bigger objective.

These tutorials might walk followers through how to lose weight, bulk up, or improve athletic performance. You’ll need to tailor the topic to your audience needs and program offering. Then outline the big picture strategies and steps that’ll get people to their goal, including workout programming, nutrition, and other aspects of wellness that can contribute (such as sleep patterns, stress, recovery, etc).

By outlining how to achieve a specific fitness goal, you’re showing followers a complete solution. It’s then up to them to follow the steps you’ve outlined on their own, or sign up for your classes, training, or online program.

Collabs & Partnership Posts

Collaborations are really popular on Instagram because they enable you to tap into new fitness audiences. By partnering with other accounts, your posts can be seen by their followers and vice versa. Collabs are a great way to expand your reach and grow your online following.

Think about complimentary accounts that you can partner with. They should have a similar target audience to yours but not be directly competing…

• Gyms – If you run a gym, then consider collaborations with your supplement suppliers or local businesses.
• Personal trainers – If you’re a personal trainer, why not collab with local health food cafes, nutritionists, or sports clubs.
• Online creators – If you’re an influencer or blogger, then partner with online businesses and brands that you use and love.

Once you’ve found other Instagram accounts to partner with, you can do joint posts, takeovers, or run competitions together. The key here is to encourage their audiences to follow you by always including your Instagram handle and a call to action in the content.

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A downloadable guide to boosting social media engagement for health and fitness businesses.

Frequently Asked Fitness Questions

If you want quick and easy fitness posts for Instagram, then answering frequently asked questions is the solution. Think about the common queries that your clients and social media followers have, then create posts, Reels, and Stories that answer them.

This type of fitness content should be short and snappy. You’ll have the best idea of what your audience asks but examples include…

• How many times a week should I exercise?
• Will strength training make me bulky?
• What is HIIT?
• When is the best time to exercise?
• How much weight can I lose in 6 weeks?

These short questions need concise responses. When it comes to FAQs, people want an immediate answer rather than a long explanation. If the topic warrants a longer, more in-depth answer then it might be better suited to an educational post or tutorial video.

Team Intros & Bios

If you’re looking for gym Instagram post ideas, then why not introduce your team members? Post a photo with caption or video of them briefly talking about themselves. This type of content can make your brand more personable and help followers to build relationships with your staff. They’ll be much more likely to ask them for help or training advice in the gym if they’ve already learned a bit about them on Insta.

What makes these posts really engaging is including a bit of personality. Yes, they should talk about their qualifications, experience, and specialties. But also get them to talk about why they got into a career in fitness, who they enjoy helping, and their interests outside of work too. This will make it much easier for followers to start conversations inside the gym and decide who they might want to train with.

Showcase Awards, Achievements & Reviews

Fitness accounts should also post about their awards, achievements, and awesome reviews on Instagram. In the same way that you’d celebrate client success stories, you should showcase your own too! They all help to build your credibility and establish you as an authority in your area of fitness.

If you win an award, then post a photo of it along with a caption that explains what it is and why you won. When you achieve a milestone, such as getting 10,000 followers, helping 1000 gym members, or the 5-year anniversary since starting your account, share it online. And whenever people leave awesome 5-star reviews for you, repost them to Instagram and let the world know!

Address Common Client Objections

If you’re using Instagram to market and sell something, then it’s worth including objection handling posts in your strategy. These address and resolve common client objections to purchasing so that they’re no longer a barrier. Whatever is holding people back from signing up or buying, you should create content that overcomes it.

The most common objections for gyms and personal trainers are price, lack of time, and fear of commitment. So, create posts and Reels that talk about and resolve them, in the same way you’d do in a sales negotiation. There are plenty of persuasion techniques and objection handling strategies that you can use to do this. The important thing as that you address them openly so that people who are sitting on the fence become convinced to buy.

20 Engaging Fitness Posts for Instagram

So, there you have a comprehensive list of gym and personal trainer Instagram post ideas. Whether you run a health club, training business, or fitness blog, you’ll find content to suit your needs. Get creative, tailor these ideas to your target audience, and you’ll be on your way to growing an engaged Instagram following.

If you don’t have time, then we’ve got ready-made fitness posts for Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms. They’re based on 15+ year of fitness industry marketing experience working with global brands, local gyms, and online startups. We’ve applied marketing best practices and the lessons we’ve learned along the way to create a comprehensive package of social content for fitness businesses.

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