Gym culture today isn’t just about health, it’s about morality.
The rise of the digital age, media influence and culture cycles has produced a moral hierarchy in groups of extreme fitness-regimen followers. We are socialized to equate one’s physical appearance with their virtue.
Our society praises physical indicators of fitness without regard to true health. Does it feel like you’re killing yourself in the gym for the approval of others? Did you forget to post your workout? Ha! It didn’t happen. We are all guilty of attempting new fitness regimens in hopes of appraisal. Our bodies act as moral projections to signal righteousness when we attach moral language to ourselves and others. We are deeply socialized to believe that fit bodies are healthy and, therefore, morally superior.
When did the gym become a church?
Often, when we see people embark on challenging fitness endeavors, we see language with oddly religious undertones. Language such as transformation, suffering, worthiness and self-sacrifice has become extremely common when describing the discipline and challenge of the athletic quest.
These language choices are not random; they come by design, from an 1850s ideology that equated exceptional physical capabilities with a form of spiritual transformation.
In mid-19th-century England, the “Muscular Christianity” movement began, upholding ideals of vigorous masculinity. These ideals emphasized physical health in men, Christian values and politics both inside and outside of the church—characteristics of bravery, athleticism and honour associated with the ideal Christian man.
A group of English writers, including Charles Kingsley and Thomas Hughes, developed influential rhetoric that challenged the perceived over-feminisation of the church through changing the model for the ideal Christian man. This period heavily influenced Christian men to become disciplined and to treat the body as a temple.
While the ideology of muscular Christianity lost major influence after WWII, many ideals are not only felt in our culture today, but are still seen in various ways. This ideology is partly responsible for the popularization of groups like the YMCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the requirements of sports in both private and public schools. According to religious historian and author Nicholas Watson, medieval Christianity helped shape the modern Olympic Games we see today.
Capitalism may be driving your workout
In an age that equates goodness with discipline, hard work, productivity, and extreme fitness, self-control has become a badge of honor. Companies and corporations eagerly seize this obsession, selling us the promise of a “better you.” And it’s working.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the Global Health and Fitness Club market size was valued at $121.19 billion in 2024. People, myself included, fall victim to the new creative marketing schemes of these industries. While I believe healthy movement is essential to our health and happiness, we must be cautious when buying new workout gear, fitness programs and fad-dieting plans that are disguised as a solution. We must not let these companies profit from our desire that we must be “fixed” to be worthy. Rest becomes resistance in a society that attempts to profit from our every moment– even during our sleep!
Culture evolves in cycles, not in a straight line. We are constantly evolving and fitting old comforts to fit the new pressures of the present day. Our feeds seem to be filled with the same routines, ideals and versions of means of “self-improvement.”
This cycle is hard to ignore when we see it every day: the same gym habits, diets, ideas of “discipline,” expressions of identity. Uniformity and conformity are not accidental; these cycles reflect a far larger cultural shift in our nation. The rise of conservatism and Christian nationalism has reshaped our nation with a newfound interest in traditional gender roles, masculinity and alt-right media.
These ideals have become increasingly intertwined with mainstream fitness cultures. Though these shifts are not new, they reflect a repackaged modern expression of “Muscular Christianity.” Our culture has reinforced that the principles of physical strength, routine and self-control are not just personal goals, but means of virtue.
I am a strong believer and advocate for healthy movement; I am not trying to vilify exercise.
In the digital age, finding enjoyable ways to participate in healthy movement is essential to our physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being. Healthy movement is good for you, goals are good for you and forms of discipline can be good for you. I aim to reshape our ways of thinking around gym culture by noting where some of its toxicity is historically rooted, socially conditioned and where we can identify it in our current culture.
