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Off-Topic Article in Outside Magazine: US spends most on fitness but still ranks lowest

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North Coast Miller said:
People need to be educated that one doesn't exercise to be "better" , homo sapiens exercise to not be ill. We have no protections against a sedentary lifestyle as our evolutionary past all but eliminated a low activity life - we are literally evolved to be dependent on "exercise".
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This. Our culture - both scientific and popular - frames the question in completely the wrong way. They take our species very current and extraordinary circumstances as normal and ask, "What is the least amount of exercise that people should do to be healthier than a sedentary person" rather than what is the range that evolution optimized us for?
 
Even within the US, more money spent does not equate to better outcomes.

I find it ironic that in the midst of epidemic lifestyle diseases, there are gyms everywhere and races every weekend. Popular races sell out fast, or have a lottery for entry. Maybe there is regional bias? Here on the West Coast people seem pretty active, maybe it's different elsewhere?
 
vegpedlr said:
Even within the US, more money spent does not equate to better outcomes.

I find it ironic that in the midst of epidemic lifestyle diseases, there are gyms everywhere and races every weekend. Popular races sell out fast, or have a lottery for entry. Maybe there is regional bias? Here on the West Coast people seem pretty active, maybe it's different elsewhere?
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It's still a very small percentage of the total population...
 
True, but when you're "out there" it doesn't seem that way at all. Any weekend with at least semi-decent weather in CA (most of them!) every parking space is taken at every surf spot, trail head, ski hill, crag, paddle spot, etc. All at the same time. Want to run Western States? Not in this lifetime. Leadville or Hardrock? Lottery, hope your rabbit's foot has mojo. What used to be an event for anyone crazy enough to try, Ironman Hawaii requires qualifying, and you have to be FAST. Beat out the other hordes.

At Leadville I was on the line with 1500 other riders hoping to last 104 mi over 9000' who knows how many could get in that year?

And yet, all those hordes are only a small percentage! What is everybody else doing?
 
Oh yeah for sure... believe me I know first hand better than most the issues involving access and over crowding...

But regarding events... one can run the Western States course (and similar) anytime they choose...
 
vegpedlr said:
Even within the US, more money spent does not equate to better outcomes.

I find it ironic that in the midst of epidemic lifestyle diseases, there are gyms everywhere and races every weekend. Popular races sell out fast, or have a lottery for entry. Maybe there is regional bias? Here on the West Coast people seem pretty active, maybe it's different elsewhere?
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I live in the mid-Atlantic ( Virginia Beach ) and there's plenty of facilities as well as events/races for whatever people are interested in. As well, martial arts are big here as well with a BJJ meet nearly monthly. As @offwidth stated, while events sell out, it is just a small percentage of the population. And a decent amount of the people that sign up for a good portion of the events fall into the obese category.

There's a lot of fat people, and a lot of people that are listed as being obese due to not fitting into the BMI standard, which is complete bs as a standard. I'm obese due to being 6' and 240lbs. as my BMI score is like 40. There needs to be a better standard and people that are truly obese need to be treated as if they have a disease because just recommending someone lose weight isn't cutting it. And while I'm not into bullying and/or body shaming once are fat a$$ doctors get themselves into shape they need to provide some tough love to the people they treat.
 
Steve Freides said:
We Spend Billions on Fitness and It's Doing Nothing for Us

The article begins:

The Great Fitness Scam

The United States leads the world in spending for health and fitness but still ranks lowest in measurements of actual health. How do we break the cycle?

-S-
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There are many assumptions in the title of the article.

For example how does spending money equate to what is tantamount to behaviour change? You can't 'buy' a behaviour change, you have to 'do' behaviour change.

I think spending billions on 'health and fitness' IS doing something though- it's re-enforcing the notion that a human being has no control over their life but can acquire it if they purchase a physical object ... Ironically I think that working on one's inside world is how you manifest abundance in your 'outer world'.

In a world that celebrates, supports and immortalises being shallow, narcissistic, emotionally and spiritually disconnected and focused on consumerism perhaps we should ask, "How has mankind survived so well despite these things?"

Without reading the article it smacks of, "we've been looking so hard in all the wrong places I just don't know how we haven't found the right answer"

The solution has to start with awareness....what that looks for one country or all developed countries I don't know.

Can we have societies that prize mankind's wellbeing above the $?
 
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