Whether it’s the rising temperature of a body engaged in physical activity, or that of the northern hemisphere as the North Pole tilts towards the sun in summer season, it’s never been a better time to be cool. But according to modern urban jargon, being cool transcends mere temperature. Today it means doing what’s cool, and luckily, fitness is cooler than ever.
The other day I heard some news from Spotify, a desktop computer application allowing over 40 million users to stream music over the internet for free. Six million of those pay subscriptions for upgraded access and features, while the rest endure subtle advertising in return for a daily fix of free entertainment.
But corporate executives are dissatisfied with the company’s liquidity and will be diversifying Spotify’s services. Rivalling other decidedly cool and immensely popular video-streaming services currently enjoyed by millions worldwide, Spotify have announced they will also be breaking into the video-streaming realm, but that’s not all. Also on the cards, along with music and videos, will be fitness. Yes, fitness it seems, is seen by big shot corporate types these days as insanely profitable, a sure-fire sign of its credibility in popular culture.
Last week we discussed the use of smartphones in the gym, and listening to music while working out is widely agreed by experts and enthusiasts alike to be their most useful function. Now, Spotify users will be able to synch their music to the tempo of their own workouts. Thanks to an integrated package with a major sporting goods provider, you will now be able to run, cycle, step, and pump your way to better fitness to the rhythm of your choosing.
Spotify users will be able to synch their music to the tempo of their workouts
What fascinates me the most about this latest development, however, is not the product itself, but rather the staggering heights fitness as an industry seems to have attained. As my opening rhetoric attests, fitness is well and truly cooler than ever before. As far back as 2004, a TV show in the US based around contestants losing the most weight in return for handsome cash prizes, fitness had already cemented its place in the collective mainstream consciousness.
Winners of the show achieved celebrity status, and the phenomenon quickly spread to Australia and the UK, replicating the same tiers of success. Personal trainers who whipped the contestants into shape, who themselves sometimes lost incredible amounts of weight, were put on show for all to see. Suddenly more and more people wanted a personal trainer and to lose vast amounts of weight just like the real-life people on TV.
Personal training has been flying high ever since. The latest relevant international survey showed that nearly 30 per cent of the world population of adults attend fitness centres; a staggering statistic.
If nearly one in three of all adults are doing it, then it would seem that ‘going to the gym’ has become something very normal indeed. And why not? The gym has become a place we can go to psychologically relax, meet people and ultimately feel better about ourselves.
Talking about statistics, even academic researchers have taken an interest in the global craze, studying the sociological routes and implications of the fitness movement through a range of studies and papers easily accessible online.
Winners of the annual Crossfit Games now achieve the deserved title of fittest man or woman on the planet, and enjoy commercial endorsements and widespread admiration to rival all but the most popular of sports stars, actors and musicians. Even the clothes we wear to the gym have had a marked influence on fashion and footwear trends throughout recent years.
And here we arrive at that all-important key word – trends. We all follow trends in some form or other; it’s totally natural and there isn’t really much wrong with it. Fitness is cool, I think we’ve established that, but if you think about trends, it’s hard to deny that few of them are better for your health than fitness.
Some trends are fleeting and unprofitable for any other purpose than the act of following the trend itself, but deciding to get in shape will furnish you with far more benefits than those you initially may have set out to achieve.
Yes, you’ll look better and perhaps improve the quality of your personal and social lives, but you’ll also feel more energetic, improve your general health, and decrease your risk of contracting a wide range of non-communicable diseases. It’s never been a better time to take the plunge, and it doesn’t have to break the bank either. While your decision to get in shape could very well potentially feed the commercial fitness industry, it doesn’t have to.
Finally, here is a trend that doesn’t have to benefit anyone other than yourself personally. Start walking, jogging, or performing some simple circuit training at home. Search online for home-exercise solutions. You may seek professional guidance at some point, but that is entirely your choice.
So be cool this summer, follow the healthiest trends of them all, and enjoy a host of personal rewards you might never have imagined.
matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt