Fitness Marketing – Fighting Cliches and Stereotypes
We have all been guilty of the phrase, ‘I’ll start on Monday’ as you are 4 pints deep and thinking of your inevitable Donner kebab or greasy McDonalds later, knowing you’ll regret it in the gym session that you planned with such good intentions for 7 am on Monday, that’s if you make it there…
But are there deeper reasons for the fact that according to the Fitness Industry Association, most people quit the gym or stop going after 24 weeks, and many more of this percentage would have quit earlier if they had not been tied down to a contract.
The stereotype of going to the gym has certainly changed, as previously people assumed when they stepped foot in a gym, it would be full of people resembling Arnold Schwarzenegger, but slowly but surely over the last few decades, more people have had increased confidence when stepping foot in a gym, but what purpose do the marketing tactics and strategies of gyms, content creators and fashion brands have on how people perceive the gym.
As our poll on Instagram told us, 45% of you have been made to feel worse about their bodies after seeing an ‘influencer’ or someone with a better physique than them on social media.
Social media seems to be the key place to start. It’s extremely easy for people to become overwhelmed, stressed, or even upset from seeing other people at the gym on social media, but even social media standards in general. You’ll be made to think that everyone has a six-pack, has a six-figure job, and travels the world every week when that is just not the case for most people. As clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson states, you should not compare yourself to anybody, as you do not know the intricacies of other people’s lives and their journeys, so the best way to measure your success is to compare yourself to who you were yesterday. This is something that gyms need to focus on with their marketing, it needs to be less of showing people who are ripped, shredded and at 5% body fat, and more focused on how they can transform real, normal people.
In terms of gyms, personal trainers are extremely stigmatised, and as James Smith points out (we will discuss him further later), it is a relatively simple course to become a registered PT. However, in my experience, they can be hugely beneficial, sure, some of them look like self-centred turds, but when they are down to earth, they can be life-changing. But in our technology-centred world, online coaching has become one of the big new crazes, usually a man with a massive chest and abs telling you they can help you lose 5kg of body fat in a week, and then another one telling you that you can grow your chest exponentially in the space of a fortnight, all with. The misinformation is rife, especially on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, where most people don’t realise that they can be easily manipulated for financial gain. You only must take one look at the cost of some people’s programmes to see this for yourself. But to reiterate my point, there are 100% some genuinely great coaches out there running their businesses for the sole purpose of elevating people’s lives.
The marketing of certain coaches and trainers is slowly being debunked by content creators such as James Smith, known as either the ‘Godfather of PTs’ or as cynics and sharper-tongued individuals have coined him, the ‘Fat PT’. He is in no way fat, he is in what 99% of the planet would consider tremendous shape, but what is more impressive than his bicep veins and massive quads is his ability to make normal people feel more comfortable in the gym and live more fulfilling lives. His books ‘Not a Diet Book’ and ‘Not a Life Coach’ hone in on how TikTok and social media portray the gym in a way to makes it unappealing for the average person and marketing themselves with impossible-to-attain natural body types is awful. And how most people should just seek to make healthier lifestyle choices instead of fad diet plans that will not last more than a fortnight before they have a binge eating session.
As our poll has found out, 18% of you are intimidated at the thought of going to the gym, and 92% have said that they think that gyms do not do enough to welcome more insecure members. This is a ridiculously high figure as both should not have to be questioned, which further exacerbates the need for the gym community to change. As much criticism that the fitness community on TikTok receives, content creators such as Joey Swoll, Noel Deyzel, and again James Smith all do their part in calling out unsavoury gym etiquette that they spot on the platform and do their best to give their expert advice to newcomers to help them feel more settled, but that should not be their job.
Women are much more inclined to feel more insecure in the gym to the point where they simply refuse to go or settle for alternatives like a women’s only gym or home workouts. Some of the reasons that have been stated in our Instagram questioning have mentioned the actions of certain men and the whole experience in general, particularly how objectifying ladies' gym fashion is, with someone describing it as being for the sole purpose of the male gaze.
In terms of gym fashion, this is a topic that has only recently become popular. Gone are the days when a Nike T-Shirt with some Adidas shorts is what most people are wearing. There are tons of brands such as Gymshark and Bo+Tee all sell hundreds of matching sets to make people feel better in the gym. This initially started as primarily muscle-fitted clothes and tank tops for men, and tight sports bras and leggings for women, with the brands using ripped athletes to promote their brand.
This slowly began to change as points were made about brands not promoting more ‘real’ body types, and as Gymshark started promoting real people who have had inspiring journeys such as YouTuber Behzinga, during his incredible fat loss journey that led him to run a marathon, just a few years after being very overweight. But as 55% of our poll think that brands such as Gymshark do not do enough to promote body positivity, what else should they be doing. The owner of the company Ben Francis has spoken on multiple podcasts knowing how they still have a long way to go, so should they be making their business moves such as creating a physical store and doing Black Friday sales and incorporating more body-positive athletes into their marketing to make people more comfortable?
Are you a member of a gym, and if you are, do you think they do enough for the body positivity movement?
