This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Amna Faheem. Find her on Instagram at @amnaf.aheem. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Social media is overwhelmingly pushing out content related to health and fitness. The self-improvement wave has reached an all-time high, gracing the screens of almost every social media user. Fitness has always been a way of keeping ourselves healthy, whether it’s visiting the gym or walking a certain number of steps a day. The more we advance, the more equipment we can access, the more accessible working out becomes, the more we are able to keep up with the popular fitness habits. But is there such thing as too much activity? Do we get to a point where it becomes toxic fitness?
The term ‘fitness’ is very broad. Fitness is going to the gym. But it is also yoga; It’s training; It’s balance exercises. The gym encapsulates weight training, aerobics, and cycling. To be fit is not a fixed definition. It simply means to be in a condition of good physical health. In any shape or form. It’s very normal for people to have fitness goals they desire to achieve- it’s typically the motivator for many who begin their fitness journey. And while the content on social media is helpful and informative, it can also cause negative side effects and impose certain lifestyles or exceptions on us.
Explaining The Toxicity
Toxic fitness is essentially the exclusion of every outcome except for one. There is only one type of body and size that is acceptable, and anything else is not permitted; To be fit is to reflect that. It applies significant pressure on the person to be able to reach that result and to abide by the unwritten rules of what is fit and what is not. What is meant to be a community dedicated to self-improvement and wellness becomes a competition of who can be the most ‘fit.’ Who can obtain that perfect body shape and reach the perfect size? We end up forgetting the reason we began this journey to begin with and start running after this goal that has become to define our worth. To be fit is no longer trying to be the best version of yourself and better your health. It has changed to be something for other people. Your result now is to receive validation from others that you did it right. That you became the right kind of fit.
Severe fitness habits have abandoned the innocent roots from which fitness has grown.
The constant pressures to work out in the way fitness now has been defined takes away from the original objectives. We now go to the gym in hopes of looking the way popular fitness influencers do because that has been deemed the correct conclusion to being fit. Fitness has morphed into another way of losing your autonomy and working towards a goal that is not for you but for society as a whole. The cookie-cutter expected product only puts people in danger, both to their physical and mental health.
The Dangers of its Severity
Fitness is a simple way to ensure that you are taking care of yourself and practicing healthy habits. Going to the gym or physical activity classes, adopting healthier eating habits, and cutting out harmful routines are all forms of healthy fitness. Making sure your reasoning and motivation behind these actions are the most important thing to saving yourself from falling into toxic fitness habits.
Extreme fitness leads to a harmful relationship between the person and food and nutrition. The incessant portrayal of the seemingly perfect physical appearance that is said to be easy to reach ‘only if you’re fit enough’ is deceitful. All body types are different, and the face of fitness for one is not the same for all. Often, people will develop body dysmorphia, constantly noticing the issues in their physical appearance and picking themselves apart. The image of fitness is not reflective of them, and they believe it is their fault.
Toxic fitness can also lead to eating disorders. The goal is to be fit, which is often synonymous with being skinny. Gym culture can be intense. You’re never enough of anything: strong enough, muscular enough, toned enough, small enough. The goalpost is always moving. Fitness is no longer about bettering your health but a constant race against yourself to be the most and the best of whatever it is you’re striving for. Restrictive eating habits that usually go hand in hand with being a gym goer exacerbate the negative relationship with food that many end up developing.
That is not fitness. It’s pushing yourself past what you can handle and stretching yourself and your body too thin. It is succumbing to the pressures of the gym and fitness community and suffering body image disorders that eventually lead to dangerous eating practices in hopes of reaching that ideal fitness body.
The Unfortunate Results
What was meant to be an outlet to relieve stress became one that created it. What was once a way to improve yourself turned into something that hurts you. Self-confidence takes a significant hit; Through no fault of our own, we become victims to a damaging ideology. If you’re not constantly working out, you’re a failure. If you can’t stick to a specific- and often quite limited- diet, your progress is discarded, and your efforts negated. If you’re not awake before 4 a.m., you are unsuccessful.
In the name of fitness, we have bullied people for not working out ‘correctly.’ We have shamed people who snack and eat meals that don’t mirror the bland chicken breast and rice combination. In the name of fitness, we have created a toxicity that we ourselves cannot overcome now. In the name of fitness, we have used things like ‘getting a summer body’ to skip meals and normalize reduced eating.
In the name of fitness, we have taken things to the extreme. Too much fitness is not fitness anymore; It’s akin to self-destruction.
It is sad that influencers now must make content to purposefully offset the negativity that has overtaken the fitness realm. Videos showing ‘normal’ bodies, emphasizing that cellulite and other normal body features are not things to be ashamed of. There is nothing wrong with wanting to take care of yourself. But when it goes down such an radical path, it becomes toxic fitness.
Have you noticed any toxic fitness habits in your life? Do you think fitness can become toxic? Let us know in the comments below!
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