{"id":6436,"date":"2015-10-02T11:28:41","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T11:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fitproblog.mysites.io\/the-death-of-fitness\/"},"modified":"2015-10-02T11:28:41","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T11:28:41","slug":"the-death-of-fitness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fitpro.com\/blog\/the-death-of-fitness\/","title":{"rendered":"The death of fitness"},"content":{"rendered":"

After 25 years in the fitness industry and having dedicated more than half my life to making people happier, healthier and fitter, I see the ruins of greatness around me, says Donatello Pisani<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The fitness industry is dead! Fitness has failed us all. Unfortunately, what could have been and what really is are planets apart. How can I make such a statement about what I truly consider to be the best job in the world? And what do I expect the PT and coaching community to do about it?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let\u2019s start off with the why. The sad truth is that, while I am extremely blessed in my career to be involved in changing thousands of lives in amazing ways, I am not the industry. The great coaches we have out there are not enough to make the industry. They are the minority. The horrible reality is that the number of crap trainers outnumbers the great trainers 100 to one \u2013 easily.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I see an industry that started out with huge promise \u2013 guaranteeing all and sundry an immeasurably better life, adorned with six-packs, amazing butts and better sex \u2013 turn into a farce. In an industry of high fivin\u2019 bros, pouting gym babes, flavoured protein shakes, magazine pics Photoshopped into impossibility, studiously chosen selfies, deceitful role models, trainers who couldn\u2019t find their gluteus maximus with a GPS and flashlight, and those damn fitness gadgets that aren\u2019t worth a protein fart, we have sadly lost our way so badly that the chances of finding the way out of the forest are slim (pun not intended) to none.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re offended? Deal with it. You beg to differ? Here\u2019s the tuna in your salad …<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

A group of scientists have gone through 10 years\u2019 worth of the UK\u2019s Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) records from 2004 to 2014, looking at over 175,000 cases of obese to morbidly obese folks to see how many managed to return to normal weight, and keep it, over 10 years, checking for irrefutable signs of obesity being dealt with in no uncertain terms. As the CPRD is the largest primary care database in the world, if there\u2019s anywhere that will give us a true look at the health status of the planet, this is it. In the golden age of fitness, this study should guarantee we see some amazing results \u2026 right?<\/em><\/p>\n

So, what were the results of this study? What was the record number of people that regained normal weight in 10 years? Virtually no one did. Just one out of every 1,290 men and one out of every 677 women managed to regain normal weight. In 10 years.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The implications of these results are staggering. You can twist it around any which way you like and give me all the excuses in the world but this means just one thing to me: the fitness industry is of no consequence. It has failed to have any effect on the segment of the population that needs it the most.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If, in 10 years, the industry has helped virtually no one out of 175,000 people regain normal weight and health, then it\u2019s just about as useful as a fork at a protein drink festival. And that\u2019s exactly why we\u2019re in the middle of the most crippling obesity epidemic in human history \u2013 and one that\u2019s getting frighteningly worse year after year, with all the associated implications of medical issues plaguing \u2018modern\u2019 society in the 21st\u00a0century.<\/em><\/p>\n

This cannot be fixed without a deep look at the entire industry, starting from the very top and going right down to the roots: from how trainers are educated by the industry to how they relate to the most important people in their professional lives \u2013 their clients. Because we, as trainers and coaches, need to step up to the plate if we\u2019re to bring the industry back to life. And we need to do it right now, otherwise we\u2019ll always be viewed as snake oil salesmen \u2013 and people will keep on mistrusting us and just keep on getting fatter and sicker, in a never ending cycle.<\/em><\/p>\n

Who wants that? I sure as hell don\u2019t. That\u2019s not why I got into the game all those years ago. I love making people the best they can be \u2013 and I\u2019ve been blessed to be really successful at what I do. Now, all we need to do is make sure most (all is a bit too optimistic) trainers and coaches bring exactly that to the table.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, what do YOU think? Are you going to stand up and be counted?<\/h3>\n

How can we illuminate the darkness?<\/strong><\/h4>\n