Viral Strava Jockey Appears Due To Literacy On Low Sports Goals

JAKARTA According to a number of studies, exercise can help a person get fit, improve cognitive function, reduce weight, and reduce the risk of various non-communicable diseases. However, the trend of FOMO in exercising can actually have a negative impact.

In the increasing era of social media, people are often trapped in the feeling of fear of being left behind or the popular term FOMO (fear of missing out). This phenomenon penetrates almost all lives, from trendifashion, culinary, to social events.

Recently, the FOMO trend has also infected the world of sports. Although FOMO in sports has a positive value, because it can encourage people to exercise, this feeling of fear of being left behind can actually have an impact on mental health.

A healthy lifestyle by exercising has recently become a trend, even after the COVID-19 pandemic ended. Physical activities such as running and cycling are among the sports that are popular after the pandemic. Running sports, for example, currently there are a myriad of running events held in almost every weekend in various cities in Indonesia.

In the midst of the hectic sporting trend, the Strava application is a concern. Strava is a GPS data-based application (Global Positioning System) to track physical activity and can be linked to social networking features. The main feature is to track the results of the sport.

With features that allow users to share, track and compare their activities, Strava inspires many people to exercise harder and more often.

But behind its benefits, a troubling phenomenon suddenly emerged, namely the Strava app jockey. Joki Strava has seized public attention in recent months. Joki Strava is an individual who cheated on improving the records of their activities in the app that emerged in 2019.

Strava jockey service offers first appeared on social media X (formerly Twitter). This practice can be done using motorized vehicles to complete routes, manipulate GPS data, and even ask other people to exercise on their behalf.

People say, those who take advantage of this Strava jockey are solely for recognition to win the challenges held by Strava or its community. So it's no wonder that this jockey user is referred to as a group of FOMO people in exercising.

Special Sports Medicine Doctor dr. Antonius Andi Kurniawan, Sp.KO also highlighted the number of people exercising for fear of falling behind trends. According to him, this is due to low literacy about sports goals and good sports methods.

"If you look at trends and all kinds of things, it just increases, is the increasing trend really sports for health purposes?" he said.

"Or exercise is just a PHOMO, pursuing status, and postings, and all kinds of things. I think they are still just following the trend of being proven, for example, as the easiest example, there is a Strava jockey and it only exists in Indonesia," dr. Andi added.

The trend of FOMO in sports could have a positive impact, because it creates curiosity in people who were previously lazy to exercise, then become active in sports.

On the other hand, exercising because FOMO, especially when using application jockey services, deviates from the purpose of the sport itself.

Sports, according to a number of studies, is believed to help a person get fitter, increase cognitive function, reduce weight, and lower the risk of various non-infectious diseases such as heart, hypertension, and diabetes.

When exercise is based on the feeling of being left behind from other individuals, instead of getting the benefits, what is obtained can actually have an impact on mental health.

Psychologist Arnold Lukito does not mind the presence of the Strava jockey as long as it does not harm others. In fact, Arnold highlighted the psychological impacts on users of the Strava jockey or other jockeys.

"The bad impact, especially when they are used to pursuing instant gratuities, which of course can have various negative impacts," said Arnold.

Arnold detailed the bad effects felt by jockeys. First, it will make jockey users less disciplined and unmotivated. Habits of using jockeys can make a person easily tempted by instant pleasure. Not only that, they also ignore long-term goals.

Second, the use of jockeys can increase anxiety and stress is getting higher. Because they are used to getting what they want instantly, it is easier for a person to feel anxious and stressed when waiting for something. This situation can cause them to be easily frustrated and impatient.

Finally, exercise because FOMO can also trigger someone to get used to pursuing instant gratuities so that it is easier to make impulsive decisions without thinking about consequences. This can lead to various problems such as finance, relationships, and health.

Doctor Antonius Andi Kurniawan also added that the bad impact of sports was only due to feelings of fear of falling behind trends.

Karena ketika kita FOMO, ketika tujuannya adalah untuk mendapatkan validasi, ketika tujuannya hanya untuk mendapatkan sebuah pride yang terjadi adalah kita akan cenderung berlebih dari kapasitas dan kemampuan diri kita. Yang terjadi adalah tadi apabila misalnya lari malahheat stroke,cardic arrest, kita bisa meninggal dunia, pungkasnya.