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I had been to a lot of different gyms due to travel (all over the US) and for the most part about 90% of people in them look extremely overweight.
People are so used to obesity in this country that they equate being fat and big with looking strong. I'm sure they consider themselves to be in great shape, and the others like them think the same, probably. It just looks awful. I mostly see lean, healthy-looking gym goers only among very young people.
General population actually tends to look less obese than average gym goers. I think most of them eat and eat all kinds of high calorie foods, thinking they're gaining muscle from that and that these calories would magically disappear and turn into muscle just because they "lift" - they will gain muscle, but also will gain fat (and wreck their health eventually). I look forward to work out at home gym only; gyms are way too depressing and not motivating now because everyone is so overweight.
Last time people looked normal and healthy in this country was probably somewhere in the 90s, or, more likely, the 80s, before processed foods completely took over.
And aside from general population- one can remember the time when strong and fit people were lean, with high strength per pound, without them having ballooned bodies with bloated (mostly useless) muscles and layers of fat on top. Era before "supplements" and roids.
1962 high school gym class vid (can't imagine that now even in high school): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGa6BPj3Mcw
Bruce Lee, etc, etc. Heck, even in rock climbing gyms many are overweight these days.
Most people, all ages. I don't see hardly any chubbies. Lots of retirees, nearly all look in shape. The young people--nearly all. Ballpark: 85%? This is a cheap, city-run gym. There's a private women's gym in town; all the chubbies seem to go there.
It seems the cost of membership in fitness centers has little to do with the level of fitness of the participants. There's a very ritzy fitness club in our downtown area, that has a high monthly cost and a big initiation fee. Many people who go there, hardly work out at all, spending their time drinking coffee, reading newspapers and sitting in the sauna. At the fitness center for our local university, which costs nothing if you're a student or on the staff or faculty, most everyone, of all ages, looks to be in good shape. Maybe those who are lazy and slack, just don't go there, so you never see them.
But there's a couple of local clubs that discourage members who are extra-fit and buff, saying that they make their more ordinary clientele feel self-conscious and uncomfortable around them. I guess it would be sort of an honor, to be asked not to return to one of them.
I had been to a lot of different gyms due to travel (all over the US) and for the most part about 90% of people in them look extremely overweight.
People are so used to obesity in this country that they equate being fat and big with looking strong. I'm sure they consider themselves to be in great shape, and the others like them think the same, probably. It just looks awful. I mostly see lean, healthy-looking gym goers only among very young people.
General population actually tends to look less obese than average gym goers. I think most of them eat and eat all kinds of high calorie foods, thinking they're gaining muscle from that and that these calories would magically disappear and turn into muscle just because they "lift" - they will gain muscle, but also will gain fat (and wreck their health eventually). I look forward to work out at home gym only; gyms are way too depressing and not motivating now because everyone is so overweight.
Last time people looked normal and healthy in this country was probably somewhere in the 90s, or, more likely, the 80s, before processed foods completely took over.
And aside from general population- one can remember the time when strong and fit people were lean, with high strength per pound, without them having ballooned bodies with bloated (mostly useless) muscles and layers of fat on top. Era before "supplements" and roids.
1962 high school gym class vid (can't imagine that now even in high school):
Bruce Lee, etc, etc. Heck, even in rock climbing gyms many are overweight these days.
I've also worked out at gyms all over the country and I've never seen a gym where "about 90% of people in them look extremely overweight," or where the "general population actually tends to look less obese than average gym goers." Most people who are serious about lifting weights realize the importance of diet and eating clean. I workout at a Y and they tend to attract the full range of body shapes and ages. There are hardcore lifters and people who walk on the slowest setting on the treadmills.
I really appreciated the 1962 high school gym class video. It was surprising how lean the boys were in that video, and how they actively participated in the class. This is something you will never seen in a high school gym class today. Many of the boys don't want to participate and the P.E. teachers have given up trying to pressure them to participate. I've seen situations where parents complain to the administration and force the P.E. teachers to give alternative assignments like write a book report instead of running a mile or doing the President's Physical Fitness Test.
Right now not that many due to the January resolutioners. But the core people that I see when I work out are in pretty good shape. A few are in outstanding shape and a few that don't get the fact that no matter how much you work out you cannot outwork your fork.
It really depends how someone is defining in shape. I would say about 5% are clinically overweight, but not obese. About 20% are ripped and magazine cover ready. The rest are either in decent healthy shape or working on some vanity pounds/problem area.
If you break it down to age groups, not many over 30. Most folks are overweight and it is getting worse. Ive been going to gyms for over 40 years.
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