The problem with exercise
The fitness industry is a force for good. It helps people develop, reclaim, and maintain their health. Those working within it act as positive role models, advocate for healthier lifestyles, improve access for people who struggle to engage in physical activity, and contribute to research that advances human wellbeing.
And yet.
Alongside these strengths, there are also problematic emphases. The performance narrative that prioritises winning above all else, and the pursuit of an ʻideal’ body, are both reinforced by messages that promote individual responsibility. This can unintentionally create barriers for people seeking holistic health and wellbeing, and perpetuates a narrow view of health and fitness, leaving little space for lived experience and complexity.
Not every body is the same
Within exercise and fitness training the term ‘special populations’ is used to refer to individuals whose life stage, functional needs, or health needs, differ from the general population, and who therefore require adapted and more individualised exercise programming.
The most commonly referenced ‘special populations’ are youths and adolescents; older adults; people who are pregnant or recently postnatal; perimenopausal individuals or those with menopausal symptoms; people with disabilities; people with chronic or temporary health conditions; and, individuals referred through healthcare pathways.
We extend this consideration to other population groups, other bodies in practice, to include the grieving body; the gendered body; culture and the body; the traumatised body; and more.
There is another way
Often absent from university degrees and vocational courses is meaningful education on how to understand, and work with, people in all their complexity. Social factors are often treated as an afterthought which can leave professionals underprepared to work ethically and sensitively with people whose relationships with exercise, health and their own bodies may be shaped by vulnerability, inequality, or past trauma.
This matters, especially in a world where fitness advice is often delivered behind closed doors or broadcast unaccountably across large online platforms.
When care and commerce collide
When health and wellbeing become commodities tensions can arise between business success and genuine care for individuals. While these goals are not mutually exclusive, they demand careful scrutiny. How fitness professionals are educated, socialised, and incentivised shapes the kind of care they provide and who that care truly serves.
Across all our work, we adopt a critical, creative, storytelling approach, reflecting on our own positions, while examining the fitness and exercise industry as a whole. We ask how researchers, practitioners, educators, policymakers, and media can each contribute to more ethical, inclusive, and human-centred approaches to health, movement, and wellbeing.