I have been in the fitness industry for ten years and I dislike my industry. One of the reasons is toxic fitness culture & toxic fitness phrases which sadly I hear & see regularly. Not only can they be harmful & condition us to believe that exercise is only valid when it is considered grueling or pushing us to extreme discomfort beyond our limits. They can be incredibly demotivating when we are trying our best to lead a healthy & active lifestyle.

In the fitness industry marketing can be problematic. Women's fitness goals are usually focused on aesthetic goals, for example, getting smaller rather than the countless other more important benefits of exercise such as mental health, bone strength, and a better quality of life. I am here to tell you please do not believe everything you are being told by the fitness industry, your gym, or your trainer/instructor especially if the below are common phrases utilised by them. Especially with social media, there is a lot of misinformation & poor messaging.

Ultimately, you don’t need a gym or a fitness class to lead a healthy & fit life but it is their job in marketing to feel like you do, to create fear, doubt, or panic, if you aren’t doing their class or at their gym or feel like you aren’t working beyond your means, you aren’t doing it right or going to get fitter. It is poor tactics to keep you in their gym. Always remember, that you are in control of your body & what you do with it & how much you exert yourself.

Let’s take a look at some of the worst most common phrases below:

1. No Pain, No Gain.

It baffles me that this is still a commonly plastered phrase across gym walls, clothing & advertising. This phrase promotes the idea that pushing through extreme discomfort or pain is necessary to see results. Whilst pushing ourselves a little out of our comfort zone can be beneficial in an appropriate situation, ignoring your body & pushing through pain is absolutely in no way beneficial. If this is being said to you by an instructor PLEASE ignore this (or challenge it) & always listen to your own body. Ultimately, pushing through pain can just cause injury & further issues down the line.

Let’s rephrase this: PAIN means absolutely no Gain.

2. No excuses.

Oh, but there are. There are plenty of valid ‘excuses’ for not exercising such as recovery, illness, injuries, chronic pain flares, mental health, kids, and sleep. There are excuses and you don’t need to justify them to anyone.

3. ‘Earn your food’

If any trainer references that you have earned your breakfast or dinner because you have attended their class, this is a big red flag. This phrase perpetuates the harmful idea that food must be earned through exercise, leading to unhealthy attitudes towards food and exercise. Food should be enjoyed rather than something to be earned or punished for. The same goes for ‘burning off your dinner’. You need food to live. Period. You do not need to burn anything off. If you are a trainer or instructor utilising such language you could be seriously creating a harmful situation amongst your clients & you could be the cause of cultivating a very unhealthy relationship with food for your client. Other phrases which fall into this category I have heard: are ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’, a moment on the lips a lifetime on the hips’. My goodness.!

4. "Go hard or go home":

Whilst a trainer or instructor may be trying to promote intensity in classes - this perpetuates the idea that you aren’t worthy to be there if you aren’t working to their idea of intensity. How mean is that? As an instructor, it is my job to ensure there is space for people to take a class at a level that feels best for them. Whilst some participants will be very forthcoming with their day, life, injuries, etc, some aren’t so much. I recognise that sometimes just getting to the class is a big hurdle they face and I will give them the space to take the class at a level they would like. The last thing they need is someone shouting at them ‘go hard or go home’. Good grief the thought of it!

To me, this promotes an "all or nothing" mentality that leads to burnout and injury. It's important to find a sustainable balance in fitness routines that prioritizes both effort and recovery.

5. Get bikini/beach/summer body ready!!

Hmmm. It makes me uncomfortable just writing that. Your body is always worthy of the beach, summer, or wearing a bikini. You do not need a gym or trainer telling you otherwise. Such slogans prey on the insecurities of mostly women but also everyone in general. They hope slogans like this will cause us to ‘panic signup’ or buy into whatever ‘magic’ programme or pill they are promoting. Any trainer or gym who is promoting their services in such a way does not have your best health interests at heart and you deserve to work with a more empathetic coach or place that does not make you feel your worth is in how you look.

6. ‘Eat less, move more" or "You can't out-train a bad diet".

Whilst this may have truth attached to it. It is just really unhelpful to oversimplify things so much. This certainly isn’t helpful to the person who has struggled with their weight their whole lives & is doing their best to create change within their daily lives & create new habits. There could be a multitude of reasons why someone is looking to get more active. Perhaps losing weight is one of them & there could be several barriers to exercise that we cannot always see, including hidden illnesses, conditions, or disabilities. To sum up a ‘process’ in a simple quote or phrase is just going to make someone feel awful.

While it's true that diet plays a significant role in leading a healthier lifestyle, this phrase can be discouraging and oversimplify the complex relationship between diet and exercise. It can again lead to an unhealthy relationship with food & exercise and fuels the mindset that we need to compensate for poor dietary choices with excessive exercise.

To conclude, in gym culture, these phrases usually promote the idea that a thin or muscular body is the most superior or healthier body than other body types, even though the practices to achieve such a look may not be the best for our well-being. Unfortunately, the industry continues to latch on to the idea that the only way to market their service, gym, etc is completely revolved around how the body looks rather than the countless other & more meaningful benefits such as heart health, bone health, mental health, etc. This in turn creates an internalised voice within us that if we don’t look like a particular body or exercise to the extreme a certain amount of times a week, then why bother at all & it also fuels the act of comparing ourselves to others.

If you work in the industry, your words have power & seriously think about the message you are portraying to those you teach, instruct, or work with every day.

If you are someone who attends a gym, looking to join a class, or embarking on exercise for the first time in a setting, remember you can always challenge the narrative being relayed to you. The aim is to cultivate a healthier mindset towards fitness not one of punishment, fear, or comparison.