Why has the gym become elitist?

sssgilber

Article from Weighty Matters blog. weightymatters.ca/2015/02/guest-post-why-has-fitness-industry.html

dougpconnell219

I don't believe it has.

My gym has a lot of very serious bodybuilder types. They pretty much do thier thing. When my doughboy self asks to work in, no problem.

There are also 400+ pounders there. College kids. Elderly folks. Everything in between.

Frankly, I've found the gym goers to be more friendly and helpful than average.

I think the perceived fitness elitism is mostly fear and a convenient excuse.

And yes, the fitness industry has fragmented. There are crossfit boxes, martial arts studios, running stores, traditional gyms, yoga studios...

And every one of the above that I have tried has been very friendly.

And I'm sure a crossfit box would to if I tried it.

RHachicho

I agree with the poster above but to a certain extent it probably depends on the gym itself. There are probably certain gyms out there where snobby elitist types hang out. Doesn't mean that's all gyms. Articles like this can be misleading because it's very easy to focus on the worst side of something and make out that it represents the entirety of the subject mater. It's alarmist misrepresentation and a textbook example of unprofessional journalism.

Of_Monsters_and_Meat

Capitalism.

emdeesea

Yeah, well I think the one sentence in this article sums it up, "If you're not the consumer, then you're the product."

This is really just marketing to a certain subset, isn't it? You can choose to buy into it or not buy into it. Unfortunately most people don't even realize they're the product.

joolsmd

I don't think gyms are becoming elitist, or at least mine isn't. But that might be because its a public gym, and there is a very wide base of clientele, from serious weight trainers to grannys coming in for aquaerobics.

Some gym goers might have become elitist though, and look down on the serious weight trainers and swimming grannys, and wish they were in one where the monthly joining fee prevented certain gym goers from visiting.

I do sometimes get some looks when in a fitness class from the young women who are obviously much fitter than me, but I ignore them. One of the instructors told us not to try and keep up with the person next to us, just to do the best WE can. I think my gym has managed to prevent elitism very well indeed.

jemhh

This article seems to be more about fitness culture rather than the fitness industry or gyms in general. I do like this part though:

"Recognize that you’ve created a filter bubble around yourself. If you ascribe to one particular way of exercising or eating that fine, but it’s not for everybody. What you see in your searches and feeds was chosen for you because of actions that you’ve previously taken. I urge you not only to read opposing opinions, but also to introduce others to them."

michael1976_ca

I've been to two different gym's one was high price with some snobby women two as a matter of fact then the manager who was rude as hell when he found out I wasn't going to renew my member ship. The other gym was at a fancy resort hotel the nicest people went there but the locker room was small and the staff wasn't really friendly. I've been doing my workouts at home for a few year but hopefully I'll find a new gym try it out before I commet myself to a contract

SconnieCat

dougpconnell219 wrote: »

I don't believe it has.

My gym has a lot of very serious bodybuilder types. They pretty much do thier thing. When my doughboy self asks to work in, no problem.

There are also 400+ pounders there. College kids. Elderly folks. Everything in between.

Frankly, I've found the gym goers to be more friendly and helpful than average.

I think the perceived fitness elitism is mostly fear and a convenient excuse.

And yes, the fitness industry has fragmented. There are crossfit boxes, martial arts studios, running stores, traditional gyms, yoga studios...

And every one of the above that I have tried has been very friendly.

And I'm sure a crossfit box would to if I tried it.

First post nailed it.

My gym has a bit of everything. It's got the serious weight-lifters and body builders, elderly folks rehabbing a joint or keeping mobile, people staying fit, and people trying to get fit. It's an amalgam of people doing their own thing and while there are occasionally those *kitten* who shoot people pissy looks, like any other gym I've ever belonged to, it's few and far between. The old adage, "10% of the people cause 90% of the problem" is as true in the fitness industry as it is anywhere else.

While I found the linked article has some good points (i.e. "Conflicting information is common and everyone seems to be an expert that has stumbled upon the 'next best thing'. Fact is there isn’t a next best thing. Exercise is beautiful in its simplicity. The next best thing may be slightly better or slightly worse than the last best thing. It does however confuse the hell out of anybody reading it."), overall, the article is full of generalizations and the author never really arrives at a concise conclusion as to why the fitness industry has become elitest.

One point the author made was when he said: "If you’re already comfortable in the gym, work to make it a more comfortable place for others. When you see somebody unfit that’s new in your club, smile and introduce yourself." I found myself shaking my head at the author.

When I was new at the gym, that was the last thing I wanted anyone to do. Do I look like that much of a n00b that I stick out and it's completely apparent? Did I wear my, "Hi, be my friend?" t-shirt that day? Holy *kitten* no. That might work for some people, but I feel that it might cause more harm than good...especially to someone new and a bit wide-eyed with fitness. There's quite a bit of middle-ground from being an *kitten* to wanting to be a new best friend. How about just don't be an *kitten* to anyone? Period? New or old.

I think I need more coffee.... if those points made sense to anyone, it'll be a miracle

iplayoutside19

That was kind of a windy road as to why there is a perceived "elitism" at the Gym. I took more out of the facebook thing than anything. When I first got into nutrition & fitness I'd post about it on Facebook constantly. Then I realized how annoying I was. Now I only post about a major events I'm doing, or lament about how much an injury sucks. Mostly I save facebook for political rants, and sharing memes about how being outside is morally, mentally, physically superior to whatever other people are into. ; )

As for the gym. I'm going to be nice and polite to people. But for the most part, I give so much of myself to other people and other things during the day; The gym is my time, I'm going to do my business with as little interaction as possible, and get out. To me, it's not a social club.

cwolfman13

I would think this would be highly dependent on the gym. I love my gym and haven't found it to be elitist at all. We have all kinds at my gym...serious athletes doing serious training...fitness buffs like me...older folks doing themselves a huge favor by moving...younger folks just getting into the fitness game...over weight and obese individuals rocking it often for the first time in their lives, etc.

My gym is a pretty awesome place to be...I just love watching people crush it.

JM1481

There are always going to be those there judging. This is a part of life. I think it's the minority though. Most people are there for themselves and are not focused on you or anyone else. I've been in the spot where I want to try something new and I feel that hesitation like "Oh gosh, I'm gonna look stupid and/or weak" or whatever, but then I remember I shouldn't care, put my headphones in and go for it. I rather look dumb trying than not try at all. I'm not there to be popular to other gym goers, I'm there to feel better about myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN7lt0CYwHg

PRMinx

dougpconnell219 wrote: »

I don't believe it has.

My gym has a lot of very serious bodybuilder types. They pretty much do thier thing. When my doughboy self asks to work in, no problem.

There are also 400+ pounders there. College kids. Elderly folks. Everything in between.

Frankly, I've found the gym goers to be more friendly and helpful than average.

I think the perceived fitness elitism is mostly fear and a convenient excuse.

And yes, the fitness industry has fragmented. There are crossfit boxes, martial arts studios, running stores, traditional gyms, yoga studios...

And every one of the above that I have tried has been very friendly.

And I'm sure a crossfit box would to if I tried it.

We absolutely would be, even though we are an evil cult of intimidation

I completely agree with your post. Well said.

missomgitsica

First of all, anyone whose job description has the word "guru" in it is not to be trusted. Second of all, I work at the gym I use, and I absolutely don't get that vibe there. If anything, our member base is expanding, not just in numbers but in member interests.

Iron_Feline

Well Planet Fitness is certainly elitist.

wait, what?

softblondechick

Right. Go to the gym in Miami, you need to be decked out in the trendiest fitness wear, with hair and makeup perfect, forget about fat people at the gym, they are to be kept out, we only want "pretty" people at our gym. I have had that attitude quite a bit. Sniff..."What ARE you doing here?".

dougpconnell219

SconnieCat wrote: »

dougpconnell219 wrote: »

I don't believe it has.

My gym has a lot of very serious bodybuilder types. They pretty much do thier thing. When my doughboy self asks to work in, no problem.

There are also 400+ pounders there. College kids. Elderly folks. Everything in between.

Frankly, I've found the gym goers to be more friendly and helpful than average.

I think the perceived fitness elitism is mostly fear and a convenient excuse.

And yes, the fitness industry has fragmented. There are crossfit boxes, martial arts studios, running stores, traditional gyms, yoga studios...

And every one of the above that I have tried has been very friendly.

And I'm sure a crossfit box would to if I tried it.

First post nailed it.

My gym has a bit of everything. It's got the serious weight-lifters and body builders, elderly folks rehabbing a joint or keeping mobile, people staying fit, and people trying to get fit. It's an amalgam of people doing their own thing and while there are occasionally those *kitten* who shoot people pissy looks, like any other gym I've ever belonged to, it's few and far between. The old adage, "10% of the people cause 90% of the problem" is as true in the fitness industry as it is anywhere else.

While I found the linked article has some good points (i.e. "Conflicting information is common and everyone seems to be an expert that has stumbled upon the 'next best thing'. Fact is there isn’t a next best thing. Exercise is beautiful in its simplicity. The next best thing may be slightly better or slightly worse than the last best thing. It does however confuse the hell out of anybody reading it."), overall, the article is full of generalizations and the author never really arrives at a concise conclusion as to why the fitness industry has become elitest.

One point the author made was when he said: "If you’re already comfortable in the gym, work to make it a more comfortable place for others. When you see somebody unfit that’s new in your club, smile and introduce yourself." I found myself shaking my head at the author.

When I was new at the gym, that was the last thing I wanted anyone to do. Do I look like that much of a n00b that I stick out and it's completely apparent? Did I wear my, "Hi, be my friend?" t-shirt that day? Holy *kitten* no. That might work for some people, but I feel that it might cause more harm than good...especially to someone new and a bit wide-eyed with fitness. There's quite a bit of middle-ground from being an *kitten* to wanting to be a new best friend. How about just don't be an *kitten* to anyone? Period? New or old.

I think I need more coffee.... if those points made sense to anyone, it'll be a miracle

I see your point about greeting noobs.

About a month in to my tenure at the gym, one of the "fit people" walked by, fist bumped me, and said something positive. That was nice.

I made a point to talk to the woman that was like reality show obese. I haven't seen her lately sadly.

SconnieCat

dougpconnell219 wrote: »

I see your point about greeting noobs.

About a month in to my tenure at the gym, one of the "fit people" walked by, fist bumped me, and said something positive. That was nice.

I made a point to talk to the woman that was like reality show obese. I haven't seen her lately sadly.

I think the fist-bump and positive mention is great. I would be completely fine with that even to this day. And while I'll talk to just about anyone, and try to be as friendly as possible, it would be weird to me if someone came up and said, "you look new here". Maybe it's all in the delivery now that I think about it....

Hopefully the woman you talked to will be back. I also hope you don't think anything you did caused her to stay away.

terar21

Interesting article (not really about gyms but fitness culture). But I don't really agree with it, except the first part about fitness "cults" creating a lot of confusion for new comers in fitness. There's too much conflicting info but that's not the fault of the general active population. It's the fault of those "gurus" and doctors out there that push certain information as being the great new way to lose weight and make things overly complicated. We aren't the one creating those pushes. It's people like Dr. Oz sitting there confusing new comers with random nonsense ways to lose weight or the magazines swearing you can only eat at this time or do this exercise. The info is all over the place and expectations aren't realistic. Those in fitness culture are following the supposed experts. The information they are fed is what creates such confusion and difficulty for new comers.

The rest about the culture of social media for fitness made no sense to me. Of course motivational pictures are only shown by those already working out lol. Why would someone who hasn't decided to get into "fit life" be involved in it on social media? And the photoshopped images with motivational quotes are generated by "health" websites...not so much the actual users/consumers. If you take a look at a fitness tag on instagram, you'll see countless pictures of the average Joe/Jane showing off they've gone from overweight to only slightly overweight. It's very mainstream for people that aren't super fit to post their "journey" on social media with a lot of support for their efforts. The girl posting that's still 20 pounds overweight but has come down 60 pounds will get support. You could look on there right now and plenty of realistic role models still working to where they want to get. Of course there are your photoshopped / well-lit fitness models with 300k followers out there but it's not the norm at all. I also think they most people aren't posting under the mask of trying to motivate others. It is proudly showing off the hard work they've done, and well deserved showing off in a lot of cases. It's self-motivation and giving yourself reasons to continue pushing forward.

As far as the actual part about the gym, welcoming people is great. A comment here and there goes a long way. I think the falls a lot on the staff though. I feel much better about my time at the gym when an employee takes the time to ask how my workout was. As long as my fellow gym-goers let me work in with a smile, I'm good to go.

marcolbmp

honestly, I've probably been a member to over 12 gyms in the past 20 years and I've never noticed elitism in any fashion. maybe it's perception, maybe its in the eyes of the beholder, not sure.
but l can honestly say that gyms appear to me like most things in life, what you make of them.

dougpconnell219

SconnieCat wrote: »

dougpconnell219 wrote: »

I see your point about greeting noobs.

About a month in to my tenure at the gym, one of the "fit people" walked by, fist bumped me, and said something positive. That was nice.

I made a point to talk to the woman that was like reality show obese. I haven't seen her lately sadly.

I think the fist-bump and positive mention is great. I would be completely fine with that even to this day. And while I'll talk to just about anyone, and try to be as friendly as possible, it would be weird to me if someone came up and said, "you look new here". Maybe it's all in the delivery now that I think about it....

Hopefully the woman you talked to will be back. I also hope you don't think anything you did caused her to stay away.

Nah. I know she was frustrated because the trainer refused to work her out because she had back pain. I imagine that's why.

Packerjohn

Iron_Feline wrote: »

Well Planet Fitness is certainly elitist.

wait, what?

Yeah pretty much. Look at their ads. They don't want all types of gym goers

dbmata

Ermagerds elitism!

Yeah no. That's called projection.

elleykat

SconnieCat wrote: »

One point the author made was when he said: "If you’re already comfortable in the gym, work to make it a more comfortable place for others. When you see somebody unfit that’s new in your club, smile and introduce yourself." I found myself shaking my head at the author.

When I was new at the gym, that was the last thing I wanted anyone to do. Do I look like that much of a n00b that I stick out and it's completely apparent?

Went for my first session with a personal trainer at the YMCA last night, and this slightly older gentleman with a terrific accent (no idea where he was from, but I barely understood what he was trying to tell me...) stopped me on the stairs and told me something to the effect of "When you're hungry, just eat a little bit, and then no more. You work and work and work and think 'I am hungry,' but eat just a little bit, and no more." And I'm just standing there, all 5'4", 237 lbs of me, smiling and nodding and going "oh, yeah, mmhmm, just a little bit" and thinking - I'm not sure whether to be offended or amused or what here. OH BOY. I've decided he meant well, so I have to laugh and shake my head and go about my business. He clearly decided I was a n00b in need of some diet advice, though!!

mantium999

The standards for admission and acceptance are pretty low in my home gym.

JoRocka

It's not our job to be greeters- this isn't F*cking Wal-mart.

The gym has a staff- they can be greeters.

Don't be a d!ck applies to EVERY situation- including the gym. No one OWES you a thumbs up. Good job if you get one- but it's not owed- certainly not because someone happens to be occupying the same space as someone else who happens to be new.

Secondly.

"It's an excuse for people in shape to show off"

You're damn right it is. And 9/10 what do not in shape people say- if I had that body- I'd be showing it off too."
Anyone who is saying how awful this infiltration of fit bodies with little motivational slogans on them are- are fat and out of shape people looking for an excuse to hate on others.

Secondly- thirdly- or whatever- people who are genuinely fit and train... aren't concerning themselves with happy memo's and notes of how many burpees that Reese's cost them.

lame article is lame.
and wrong.

bethira

I've seen it some places I've belonged to. And I don't know if it was my own projection but I definitely felt it more when I was 300lbs + than now that I'm smaller. There's nothing quite like standing in front of a machine that looks like a medieval torture device with no idea how to use it while the grunty guy on the next machine over is eying you up trying to figure out if you're going to mess with his flow when he finishes this set. Perceived or real that's what it felt like.

dbmata

but, but, that reese's stick cost me 5 deficit deadlifts with two pauses at 3 plates!

JoRocka

bethira wrote: »

I've seen it some places I've belonged to. And I don't know if it was my own projection but I definitely felt it more when I was 300lbs + than now that I'm smaller. There's nothing quite like standing in front of a machine that looks like a medieval torture device with no idea how to use it while the grunty guy on the next machine over is eying you up trying to figure out if you're going to mess with his flow when he finishes this set. Perceived or real that's what it felt like.

it's projection- they might notice you for a minute- but they don't really don't spend any time really thinking about you. People think they are more important than they are. Which is why they think people are really concerned with their own goings on. We aren't. I

but, but, that reese's stick cost me 5 deficit deadlifts with two pauses at 3 plates!

you take that and run with it- I was in a world of hurt yesterday for 5 x 6 at 255.

dbmata

JoRocka wrote: »

you take that and run with it- I was in a world of hurt yesterday for 5 x 6 at 255.

They aren't too bad, add a hold at the top to make them super lame.

Yesterday was learning snatch... and dude, my hams and back are sore like I don't even know. This is far more sore than deads has ever done to me.

JoRocka

dbmata wrote: »

JoRocka wrote: »

you take that and run with it- I was in a world of hurt yesterday for 5 x 6 at 255.

They aren't too bad, add a hold at the top to make them super lame.

Yesterday was learning snatch... and dude, my hams and back are sore like I don't even know. This is far more sore than deads has ever done to me.

I do pause deads- so lift to the knees- hold- then complete the lift to the top.

And yes- any pause in a dead - anywhere along the path SUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKK.

lol good luck with the snatch- I pretty much only do SA DB snatches. I think I'm to afraid on my own to try it... without some guidance. It's a fun lift though- I really enjoy clean and press. Oly lifting to me is just FUN. It's hard- but fun.