The more we learn about the fitness industry, the more we realize how incredibly complex it is. The messages that the average consumer receives from the media, beauty culture, diet industry, fitness industry and even holistic wellness trends can be confusing and contradictory. Especially for women.

 

Shrink yourself, but take up more space. Lift heavy to get strong, but don’t get too bulky. Fit and healthy can happen at any age, but try all these tricks to look younger. Over the decades, we’ve been told that wafer thin is chic, to have a muscular Amazonian bod is empowering, goddess-like curves are divine and body neutrality is the ultimate path to self-love and acceptance.

 

Whatever the ideal of the decade that has been sold to us, we ate it up (or sweat it out) hoping that if we consistently show up to the gym and group fitness classes we can change our physique and we will be accepted, more successful, respected, worthy of love and finally feel like we belong. What we discover is that the process and the journey through physical exercise is infinitely more powerful than the results that we get.

 

 

Throughout the history of fitness there have been unsung heroines that understood this complex and powerful dynamic. They started movements that not only re-shaped bodies but re-shaped the world as we know it.

 

 

Our guest in this episode does a really excellent job of shining a light on some toxic traits of the fitness industry while illuminating the very best parts and the potential that we have as fitness professionals not only change people’s lives but to influence fashion and beauty trends, music and even consumer goods like tampons and cereal. The way we move… shapes our society.

 

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