How the fitness industry is damaging our wellbeing and what we can do to stop this
Before I get started, I’d like to outline that this isn’t aimed at any individual professional or particular role. It instead talks about how general trends and those being pushed by large institutions are problematic and often not beneficial to your actual health.
As a practicing personal trainer, I come across a lot of stuff I believe to be toxic. Toxic to our mental wellbeing, toxic to our relationships with our bodies and toxic to our health.
Health comes in many different shapes and sizes
For many in the fitness industry, being lean and muscular is a shorthand symbol for health. Whilst for some this is a natural consequence of diet and training choices, for many being this ‘in shape’ takes a lot of work. This involves a lot of physical training and a lot of control around what, when and how much to eat.
Whether or not this is the ‘healthiest’ way of living is beside the point (such a fixation on what one looks like doesn’t sound like my version of health, but each to their own).
I am not against people looking like this; I am a strong believer in the idea that health can look very different for different people. What I am against is the narrative that anything other than this body type and lifestyle is unhealthy, which is utterly false.
Defining health and wellness only in terms of someone’s body fat percentage or how they look on the beach completely ignores all of the other aspects of health. Things like your wider physiological health (which is a lot more than just your fat percentage), your mental wellbeing and your social and emotional health are all overlooked by a view that prioritises body image.
This view of health is sorely lacking, and can actually hinder our attempts to cultivate holistic, sustainable wellbeing. On top of this, for some people, it can serve to encourage unhealthy behaviours (like overtraining and severe calorie restriction) in pursuit of this ‘healthy look’.
A useful and healthy thing to remind ourselves here is that these images have become so widespread because they are nearly always being used to sell something. They are not realistic. They play on the idea that this is how health really looks and promises that whatever product they are being used to sell will solve all of our problems.
Deep down, we all know this isn’t true. These ideas don’t account for people’s values, lifestyle, and budget. They don’t represent people like you or me.
And they certainly don’t give us a realistic, balanced view of health.
2. Perfectionist and unhealthy language
The fitness industry and surrounding media are rife with so-called motivational messages and terms such as ‘be your best self’, #noexcuses and the idea of ‘eating clean’. Whilst the aim of these terms and hashtags are seemingly admirable, they send some pretty negative messages when we find ourselves wrong side of them.
In a world full of pressure to make every aspect of our lives perfect, the last thing we need is a sense of obligation surrounding something that should serve to make us feel better - health.
It’s worth noting here that, similar to images surrounding ‘health’, these terms are often used to sell us stuff. Note the pre-workout products and gym equipment brands giving us #noexcuse to not go to the gym. Or the Instagram influencer promising to help you ‘eat clean’.
The issue with these terms is that they severely limit the discourse surrounding health and wellbeing and reduce health to a series of tickboxes to satisfy instead of something to be genuinely nurtured and cared for.
This serves to further de-personalise health. It is as if there is one universally ‘right way’ to be healthy. This is utterly false. Killing yourself in the gym every day and only eating protein enriched products doesn’t do much for your microbiome, mental health or relationships. This view lacks the nuance to support people in nurturing all forms of health and places bodily health at the top of an ever-changing list of priorities.
If there is #noexcuse to skip the gym, what I can I do when I feel under the weather and would be better off resting?
If I should always ‘eat clean’, what should I do when I’ve had enough of limiting my enjoyment of food just to look a certain way?
And, does not doing these things mean I am failing to ‘be my best self’?!
Of course not.
The way to counter these narratives is to actively consider what health means to you, and nurture it.
For me, this means moving and using my body when I feel like it and resting when I don’t. This means making an effort to eat a balanced diet most of the time but allowing myself joy (oreos or white chocolate) from time to time. This means pursuing my interests and hobbies but not beating myself up when I feel like vegging in front of the TV or going to the pub instead.
Only you know what health means to you. Find what serves your version of health and nurture it, ignore the noise.
3. Whilst many in the fitness industry are experts in fitness and exercise, none are experts in you.
The issue with many relationships in the fitness industry is that they are wholly unequal. Many people surrender their autonomy and sense of self when they go into an exercise class or PT session. This can be problematic if the exercise professional asks (or tells) you to do something that you don’t feel ready for or aren’t happy to do, resulting in injury, discomfort or a genuine lack of enjoyment, all of which are going to de-incentivise you to engage in exercise (which should be fun!)
Luckily, if this relationship is done well, it should be challenging, empowering and enjoyable. Therefore, in any interaction with an exercise professional, it’s important to remember that everything should be in service to your version of health.
It is the job of the exercise professional to support this (although this will necessarily mean challenging you sometimes!)
To summarise, the three things we can do to nurture our version of health are;
Remind ourselves that many of the images we see related to the fitness industry are not realistic, and may not reflect genuine health.
Actively consider what health looks and feels like to you, and nurture it, ignoring the all of the other crap advertising and media throw at you.
Trust your own intuition when it comes to your health. Yes, use coaches’ expertise to positively impact your health, but remember that you can and absolutely should say no when something doesn’t feel right, both physically and mentally.
I wish you the best of luck in finding and nurturing your version of health!