I think we've all been seeing the trends in the fitness industry, but it took a recent experience for me to realize just how out of control it has gotten. Allow me to set the mood...for the story (not for a porno).
I was recently in line at the grocery store waiting to pay for my half dozen pints of Halo Top. Being the typical millennial that I am, I decided I needed to scroll through my Instagram feed because patiently waiting without some source of entertainment would be absolutely preposterous. As I scrolled through my feed of "Fitness Icons", I immediately found myself lowering my screen brightness all the way down and looking around to make sure no one had seen what had just come across my screen. That's when it hit me... the fitness industry might as well be the porn industry at the rate we are going.
I have watched it happen over and over again to those who I used to respect in this industry. Now i'm not going to sit here and bring names into this, nor am I going to post examples as this is not designed to be a personal attack on anyone nor am I going to encourage it by posting more of it. I will say this though, long gone are the days when content was created using a brain and not a butt. It has actually gotten quite comical if you ask me.
Please for the love of God tell me why you need to post a picture half naked in order to talk about the benefits of eating Goji berries?! My personal favorite is when these women post pictures of their butts and then try to promote their new protein powder by putting a container of it on the counter behind them that is barely visible. Way to set an example for all of the young women out there! (Yes, that was me being condescending if you couldn't tell).
And for the men...you are not exempt from this either. I see your same bullshit ab selfies over and over again. Making promises to people that they can look that same way by taking the garbage supplement you are promoting and not telling them that you really look that way because of the compounds your running behind the scenes. And before any of you who personally know me try to call me out for posting a picture like this, I would encourage you to read the content that comes along with it as I am most likely using the picture to explain some misconception in the industry or talk about what it takes to naturally get that lean.
It's tough to see an industry that is already so corrupt transition into borderline erotica. I blame our generation for this. Not only do we support it, but we encourage it continuing to idolize these "icons". These are the people that have the voice and the power to bring about real change in the industry but they won't do it because they are afraid of losing popularity. To those of who you produce real content and make positive contributions to this industry, I thank you. To those of you who continue to ruin this industry, I hope you get morbidly obese and are so disgusted with yourself that you are forced to post content with real substance that requires the use of your brain. Was that too harsh? IDGAF!