Fitness Community / Swindlers Society

This is an article inspired first by a question that got me thinking about the fitness industry as a whole. From Bootcamp, to Gym, to Kettlebell, to DVD, right down to food marketing and beyond. Here Il discuss, as briefly as possible, some of the factors, thoughts, and observations of what is involved with the influence and change in todays industry.

The question was –  “Why do people want to lose weight before they join a fitness class?”.

The very idea is a little ridiculous, is it not?.

My simple answer was – “Because the fitness industry is very ‘fashionable’ these days”.

In a nutshell, that’s all there is to it. There are a lot of people out there in the Community trying to do the best by others and earn their coin at the same time. There are plenty who only wish to make coin. The latter, being able to do this through marketing. I look at the fitness industry now, as the music industry was 5 to 10 yrs ago. There is a whole lot of regurgitated stuff out there being fed to the masses as something new. I get asked “Do you do crossfit,metafit, kettlebells, etc etc” I reply “Yes, been doing it for a loooong time. It’s called training”

I’d like to point out that this is not a dig at kettlebell classes or interval training or thinking outside the box. But with the power of manipulation, they are right at the top of the commercial fad market. But, for instance, Kettlebells are still one of the oldest forms of resistance training in Europe, tried and tested. The same can be said for many other systems etc, but the problem arising more and more now is the ‘Cool’ factor. I’m not going to lie and say the industry hasn’t always been somewhat fickle. But these days, more than ever, you can go to the gym and see folk not only chatting, having a laugh, discussing stories. Also, not much work is getting done (which can be more harm than good). Classes have always been a great way to train, but
again, we see a trend of quantity rather than quality in a lot of cases, with trainers barely interested in what they are
doing. Some may be forced by their employers to take class after class, would you lose interest? That does not help the
client one bit, especially when the class is, for them, already more of a social event with a funky name than a goal-oriented workout.

 That takes me on to my next point, which is peer pressure and marketing. I won’t talk too long on it as I’ll start sounding like a conspiracy theorist. Putting my neck on the block, i’ll say that the government hasnt quite figured out how
to squeeze all that potential juice out the lemon yet. But they are starting to with massive tax on suppliments for example. Certification makes them money but not as much as they would like. The marketing though we can see happening and
indeed have seen already in the past. Take the ‘Drink Milk’ campaign. Calcium? Yes, actually in a sufficient quantity?
No, Cos they wnated to make money and look good? Yes. Better with green veg than dairy folks. The marketing and promotion
is hiding everywhere waiting for them to strike when ready. With big money spinning companys, well, half of them are
affiliates for starters. They mass produce and market some fantastic looking stuff that gets results…… in the short
term. What they do is create a self regenerating market, that has the public bouncing in and out, spending a fortune but
not getting lasting results. You see before and after pics. Not the after after pics :D. Health and Fitness is a lifelong
pursuit and Il risk to say that there is definately a ‘spirituality’ to it. This is the core of what is missing for
the commercial as per usual. No substance to their training approach. The BIG problem is that its not just peoples
wallets they swindle, but also their well being.

Hope you enjoyed this latest blog. Feel free to comment with your opinion and/or experiences.

Take care.