The current Fitness Fad: Why did it get so big again? And is it a fad or a change?

[Lemmingwiser]

I'd really love to believe that people have gotten more conscientious and want to have a healthy body and healthy mind. However I'm not sure it's all that kind of awakening for most people. Everybody says they do it for health, but for whomever is motivated by either wanting to look good or just to belong, they're never going to say that.

I've been noticing more and more how the people that tend to follow every fad, are now all into fitness. People didn't really care about training and now everybody seems to be asking me tips. I hear nieces talking about how their friends won't drink at parties because they're counting calories. I'm sure it's not everywhere, but it suddenly seems to be everywhere. Is this a counterweight to the covid scare? Is it the result of all the superhero movies and the "unrealistic" bodies? Is it a countermovement to the whole body positivity being pushed?

I'm just kinda curious where it all came from and where it's going. Is it actually a fad or just the next stage in our rat utopia?

 

[DumbDude43]

recent? fitness (especially weight training) has been on a steady rise for something like 10-15 years now, since the days of zyzz and probably even before that.
well, at least that's how it is on the male side, can't speak for the female side. maybe it's more of a short term fad there, i have no idea.

 

[Lord of the Large Pants]

For me it really is health, pain relief, and surviving the Day of the Rake. The exercises I do aren't especially good for aesthetics, just functionality. Or so I'm told.

I haven't really changed my eating all that much though, aside from cutting down on sugar some. I don't really think too hard about gainz or stare at myself in the mirror. I just keep doing the exercises in the book and when the weight gets too light, I get the next one up.

 

[oldTireWater]

Form follows function. People who value form over function are pursuing a fad. People who seek to improve function are are not.

Crossfit is a fad. Cross training is a tool to improve function. "Fitness influencers" are using a fad to pursue money. People who are sharing what they've learned to improve the people around them are team players (and show-offs).

I don't think fitness as a fad will go away, but the ideal and the message will change over time. The people who want to be faster, stronger, etc tomorrow than they were yesterday will continue to kick their own asses regardless.

 

[sum ting wong]

well, at least that's how it is on the male side, can't speak for the female side

All you need to know is that the body positivity/healthy at any size movement is made up of a majority fat women.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

A lot of it is vapidity, but people have always been kind of vapid and image obsessed.

It could also be because as time goes by exercise becomes less and less a part of regular daily life, and more some separate entity.

At least from my perspective though when it comes to focusing on health overall with how everything is these days it feels like your body itself is the only thing you can even count on being here tomorrow, so if you're going to invest your time and energy you body seems like one of the few places where you can safely do so.

Plus there's the entire pharmaceutical machine pumping out pills that are supposed to make people happy and 98% of them are nonsense that don't provide benefits beyond relatively short term since they're just temporarily shuffling around some neurotransmitters, and a lot of people probably recognize that.

If you can't control your environment to avoid feeling sick and unhappy, you can at least control your body to be more resistant to it.

 

[libRT]

Not really a fad, its just that now theres so much 'work' that doesn't require any exercise, and unless you want to balloon you either exercise for a modicum of health or starve yourself and constantly eat shit (figuratively) as your body is trying to blow the shit out of your choked up systems on top of everything else.

 

[DrearyDoomguy]

Fitness isn't a fad, fitness advice is just more in demand nowadays because far more people are fat nowadays. The more fat people you have, the more fat people you have that want to stop being fat. Couple that with the age of information and you're going to see a lot of people capitalizing on the demand by sharing their (hopefully accurate) knowledge and advice on the subject.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

I think there are two extremes both of which are amplified by social media. On one end you have the fitness influencers who mainly chase and present the aesthetics and don't really care about the health benefits. On the other end you have the body positivity fatness is good movement that attempts to make obesity seem normal. Both are grifts in ways. Normal people who exercise and stay active to remain in shape don't care about any of that.

 

[Gas The Trannies]

Yeah it’s a fad (though not that recent really) and the reason for it is wanting to fuck people who would otherwise not want to fuck you. Everyone under 40 who tells you otherwise is a fucking liar. Only exception is the occasional "doctor told me I’m gonna die in a few years if I keep on living like this" guy, e.g. Ethan Suplee). Gym thots only working out on their asses and single dudes hitting the gym 3 times a week proves this.
Maybe a bit lazy to blame the usual suspects here, but online dating, tiktok, IG is a major cause of this. If everyone around you looks super good, most people will do what everyone else is doing in hopes of being able to compete.