Health & Fitness in today’s culture

In a social-media dominated culture, the Health & Fitness industry found its perfect dimension.
Instagram and TikTok offered a platform for companies, influencers and regular gym goers to participate in a community that embraces millions of people around the globe.

An army of fans eagerly awaits the latest YouTube drop by their favourite athletes, religiously watching hours of content like it’s their favourite TV show.

Personalities like Jeff Nippard and Dr. Mike Israetel are helping to shape the next generation of lifters by guiding them through workouts and diet plans, busting health & fitness myths or simply showing a realistic day in the life.
Others like Will Tennyson or Jesse James West are adored by their followers for they crazy challenges and fascinating documentaries, travelling across the US and Canada to present different prospectives on how the environment surrounding us can affect the choices we make for our health (the good old nature vs nurture debate).
There’s also a space for pro-bodybuilders and amateurs posting extracts from their prep, competitions highlights or the beloved “What I eat in a day” kind of videos.

There’s seems to be a niche for everyone but the undisputed king of anything fitness related content is Cbum, X6 Classic Olympia Champion.
He started out on YouTube when he was still a teenager and slowly built his presence by posting silly videos or raw unfiltered footage of his already then impressive lifts, rapidly capturing the hearts of many.
He then struggled to find his division in bodybuilding competitions, being too bulky for Men’s Physique and not wanting all the dangerous size and related side effects necessary to enter in Open.
Around that time a new professional league was coming to prominence, Classic Physique. Inspired by the Golden Age led by Arnold back in the ‘70s, it signified an important moment in bodybuilding modern history as it proved a strong desire from sport’s fan to go back to more balanced and aesthetic physiques.
Sure, muscles are still important and will in many cases determine who’s crowned as winner, but size without balanced shapes and razor sharp conditioning will not win the judges over.
Even a shape’s God like Phil Heath surrounded to the spreading phenomena known as bubble gut, causing his defeat in 2018 to Shawn Rowden, who brought a far more pleasing to the eye body.

As inspiring as this story what’s the meaning of all this in modern society?
The way the sport has evolved in an almost symbiotic relationship with technology and especially social media, it has built a sense of belonging to an extended club, which is a terrific result for mental health as it can help alleviate the loneliness from which many young adults suffer from in this day and age.
But this comes at a price and surely, as every industry, it hides (or at least it tries to) a dark side.

Before this virtual utopia took control of our lives for good, the epidemic of PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) and it’s scary side effects were far less known, which  arguably made them even more dangerous then then now, but luckily only limited to a small part of the population, mainly professional athletes or people whom aspired to.
But now the conventional athlete is not just a sport’s fanatic but also a content creator,  a Social Media influencer, in many cases has a podcast and has a shiny collection of overpriced merchandise.
Unfortunately that’s not the only reality emerging from the sea of instagram accounts posting daily content. One worrying aspect is to realise how much the perception of what a good physique is and how much that’s impacting young kids looking to start their journey in the fitness industry and make a name for themselves.

The pursuit of greatness, the burning desire to leave a mark, staying relevant in a world where everyone wants to have their “15 minutes of fame” and will completely forget you if you don’t keep pushing the boundaries, all leads to questionable decision motivated by greed and lack of judgment.
At the root of all these problems there seems to be an ever worrying and underlying body dysmorphia epidemic that especially affect the youth, only to be exponentially worsened by the effect of steroids on the developing body and mind of young people.
If an unnatural physique is claimed to be natural, it suddenly seems far more achievable, further increasing the disappointment once normal setbacks and limitations are encountered.
The misalignment between the expectations created by a lie and the harsh reality of truth only have negative repercussions on the state of mind and emotional wellbeing of the person believing it.

That’s why it’s more important than ever trying to be a good example for younger generations and show them that the easy way it’s not always the right way.
This saddening issue will never be completely eradicated from our society as appearance has become almost a token upon which we judge the value of a person on so we need to learn to live with it, keep educating ourselves to make better choices and choose longevity and the incredible benefits of a healthy life over looks.