Around 3000 years ago, ancient Greece became home to the first formal gyms. They were usually a locality for the education of young men, as public libraries and recreation centers are today. The educational opportunities provided included physical education, bathing, and studying. Ancient Olympians would regularly attend to train and prepare for future games.

The culture of fitness has drastically changed since ancient Greece, as not everybody who attends a gym are young men or future olympians. Smartwatches, monitoring devices, headphones, and applications using augmented or virtual reality have been incorporated into the fitness regime — some of which don’t even require a gym. These have been vital in providing motivation for both new and experienced users, enhancing and individualizing their active lifestyle. 

Fitness tech gadgets help automate tasks like rep counting, progress tracking, macro tracking, heart rate, blood pressure, and other variables. Although new innovations have supported users in their fitness journey, other elements, such as substances, have also been used to achieve one’s desired physique.  The use of steroids, for example, results in various opinions in modern day fitness. “People who are taking steroids are taking the cheap way out,” senior Kamaal Reel said. “Sometimes there are good ways to use it and terrible ways to use it. For weightlifting, it’s a terrible way to use it.” 

Several negative consequences emerged from dependency on both technology and substances. Users have shown signs of fixation on numbers, rigid diet, obsession, app dependency, high sense of achievement, extreme negative emotions, motivation from ‘negative’ messages, and excess competition. Those on steroids have also been shown to have complications such as signs of delayed wound healing, rapid mood swings, muscle weakness, skin that bruises easily, diabetes and stomach ulcers.

Not every resource about health and wellness can be trusted. Gym-goers on social media will not only try to come up with exercise variations just to be different, but also encourage poor form and technique on traditional exercises. Poorly performed deadlifts on social media with incorrect technique and rounded backs make the rounds of online fitness circles, all for the sake of receiving unwarranted validation.

Some consider social media partly responsible for unrealistic body images and the mental health issues that follow. Studies suggest that women who spend more time on social media are more susceptible to thin idealization, body consciousness, and exercise motivation.  “All these influencers, they’ll get all these surgeries and post and say ‘this is my body and I worked for it, you can do it too,’” junior Aleesha Farooq said. “But they’re using their filter, they’re using their money to get what they have, and it’s very unrealistic.” 

Unrealistic physiques from fitness influencers have resulted in unrealistic expectations of what the ‘ideal body’ is. Adolescents have access to an overwhelming amount of photoshopped bodies and unconventional health routines, which has a huge impact on their self-worth and body image. “People romanticize the perfect body,”  junior Lina Boughaba said. “They really want that hourglass, they really want those abs, they want slim waists — everyone really wants that ideal body.” Teenagers may expect men to have chiseled abs, a big chest and extremely tapered waistlines to look ‘perfect’ and be healthy, and for women to have underweight/extremely thin bodies, and in reality this can be a detriment to their long-term health.

The extremes that individuals are willing to go to achieve their ‘dream body’ can be considered a form of addiction, specifically, exercise addiction. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), negative gym environments can cause exercise addiction, appearance anxiety and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). “I feel like [gym culture] is impacting little kids,” Farooq said. “{Young] girls want what we want. Like first of all, you haven’t even gone through puberty, don’t worry about your body,” Farooq said.  Farooq has seen the impact of diet culture on her younger sibling. “It makes me feel so bad, it makes me want to cry. [My sister] is only in 4th grade. The boys around her want the girls to have a big butt. I feel like when I was in elementary school, you had to be skinny. Now you gotta be slim-thick.”

The global fitness industry holds great power in the economy, as it is worth over $87 billion. The US fitness industry alone builds up a revenue of $33.25 billion as of 2021, some of which is due to the 39% of Americans who hold gym memberships. Between now and 2028, the fitness industry is expected to grow 171.75% to $434.74 billion. Arguably, the spike in interest and revenue in the fitness industry could be from people who are ready to attend public gyms again after 2020, or from individuals who participate more so because it’s a trend. “I think [fitness] is more of a lifestyle to everyone who believes it is,” said junior Dany Nguyen. “You just have to put in the effort to make it one.”

Individuals such as Academies of Loudoun seniors Pratap Allam and Raffaele Marino, who share a weightlifting account on Instagram (@acllifting), encourage fitness related achievements and fosters the lifestyle through their page. “I loved when people sent pictures of themselves because I want to grow the gym community as much as possible,” Allam said. “It’s really important to me, and I definitely would like to share that with other people.” This unique angle towards promoting diverse health and wellness journeys has put varying progressions into a realistic perspective. “There are many influencers that people look up to who take steroids and lie about it,” Allam said. “They’re displaying false images. They’re preaching that ‘you can get as strong as me while being natural’ when they’re actually enhanced.”

Approximately 48% of Gen Z adults exercise several times per week, and an additional near quarter do so several times per month. That’s above average when compared to the general population. “Depending on the age range, I’d say ages 13-25 work more on their looks, while people older than that genuinely want to work on their health,” junior Judy Hourani said. “The more you grow up, the more you wanna look better for yourself and make yourself feel good.” The evolution of fitness and gym culture varies per generation. An exerciser’s objective when participating in activity will determine the quality of both physical and mental health afterwards.

Research suggests that any increased form of physical activity can improve depression symptoms experienced by people throughout their lifetime. Reel uses time in the gym to process and work towards personal goals. “[Fitness] helps me a lot actually. If I’m angry at something, I can take it out in the workout,” Reel said. “I heard this quote. It sounds a little corny, but, ‘any weight that you can lift is too light.’” 

Due to the substantial benefits that come with exercise, the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition seeks to “expand national awareness of the importance of mental health as it pertains to physical fitness and nutrition.” Junior Daniel Bankole takes advantage of these benefits. “When I wake up and go on a run, my mind just feels clear,” Bankole said.  “It helps me with school, too, because it makes me more motivated,” Bankole said.

Reliable resources are available for those that are both new and experienced in the fitness industry. Using professional websites dedicated to health and wellness is an alternative to sifting through opinions and biases on social media. If you are looking for self-improvement or a change in your lifestyle/physique, the websites listed below contain realistic and trustworthy information. 

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: https://www.eatright.org/

US Department of Agriculture (USDA): https://www.nutrition.gov/

School of Public Health at Harvard: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/

Exercise Prescription on Internet: https://exrx.net/

Livestrong: https://www.livestrong.com/

Bodybuilding.com: https://www.bodybuilding.com/