Fitness is a vital component of a long, healthy life.
Developing and maintaining fitness reduces the risk of heart disease, increases athletic performance, elevates mood, reduces depression, limits anxiety, keeps weight under control and boosts immune system function, among other things. Committing to life-long fitness is one of the best ways to add years to your life.
The fitness industry is something else entirely. I’ve never come across a commercial enterprise so willing to manipulate, misinform and mislead to hit their bottom line. It is an industry built on a foundation of narcissism, greed, and ego.
Rather than providing honest, sustainable products and methods for achieving long-term fitness, the industry offers gimmicks and contrivances offering a quick fix.
They claim to help people build fitter, stronger, healthier, more physically capable bodies.
Yet many gyms sell memberships hoping you’ll stay home. That way they can sell more memberships. Unqualified social media “influencers” charge hundreds of dollars for online personal training because they look good in a swimsuit. Supplement companies sell downright dangerous powders and pills and fat burners with no FDA oversight.
They claim to help people regain self-esteem and confidence in themselves.
Yet they show us images of unsustainable, genetically gifted, photoshopped “perfect” bodies to aspire to. Bodies that are often starved and malnourished. Bodies that are overworked. Bodies that YEARS to build. They play on our insecurities. Our self-consciousness. Our fears. They use these to manipulate our emotions and in turn, our buying behavior. And they have no hesitation in doing so.
This unattainable ideal sets a lot of people up for failure. It may even keep many people from pursuing healthy habits in the first place, instead opting for what’s easy and quick.
Rebecca Puhl, PhD, deputy director of the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity agrees:
“This industry often focuses on appearance motivations for weight loss rather than health or important indices of health, like blood pressure, cholesterol, etc…And we also know from research on weight bias that when people feel stigma or shame about their body size, they are more likely to avoid physical activity or have lower motivation to engage in physical activity.”
“Instead, the messaging should focus on promoting healthy eating and exercise behaviors for all individuals, regardless of their body size or weight.”
They claim to help people learn and understand how to stay healthy and fit in the long haul.
Yet they assign timeframes to everything.
“Join our 8-week FAT SHREDDING challenge!”
“Couch to 5k in only 4 weeks!”
“Build more muscle with our 6-week MUSCLE MANIA program!”
“Lose 20 pounds in the first month or your MONEY BACK!”
They don’t care how you get the result, just that you get it. They don’t care about perpetuating unhealthy perceptions of body image. They don’t care that you’re now afraid to go near a carbohydrate. They don’t care that you mix and match multiple potentially harmful supplements. They don’t care that you’re purposing under-eating for lengthy stretches of time.
They don’t care.
The fitness industry is not in the business of empowering people to take care of themselves. They want us to need them. They need us to need them. After all, it’s us “regular people” who pay their bloated prices and provide them with precious likes, comments and validation on social media.
Dr. Jennifer Smith Maguire asks a very poignant question in her book Fit for Consumption: Sociology and the Business of Fitness:
Is the business of fitness good for us?
“For the majority, and in particular for those who are inactive and overweight, the answer is no. The private provision of fitness services facilitates the withdrawal of their public provision.”
Basically, the growth of the fitness industry gives rise to some serious public health issues. Why invest in walkable or bikeable communities or improve the food environment when people can just go to the gym or buy a diet pill? The growth of the fitness industry allows the public to relinquish its responsibility for the environment it has created — one of obesity and general malaise.
If we allow the fitness industry to completely commoditize fitness, we remove the need for other, viable alternatives. While I don’t believe in removing gyms from the populace or taking supplements off the shelves completely, I believe a better balance must be struck between the fitness industry and other, potentially healthier means of building and maintaining fitness.
There are no hacks to physical fitness. There are no secrets or shortcuts to success. It takes consistency, diligence and commitment. Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise does not have your best interests in mind.
There are of course certain products and services that have their place. Whey protein supplementation does in fact help with muscle development and maintenance and a quality personal trainer can go a long way towards building a healthy body.
I just ask that you exercise caution. Don’t take a company’s or influencer’s word for it. Do your research. Read reviews. Ask questions. Go in with both eyes open, and understand that the industry is focused on what’s best for them, not for you.
Scott Mayer is a runner, thinker, curious observer and certified personal trainer. Learn more at scottjmayer.com.
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