Tackling current health and fitness issues!

The numbers of gym memberships are going up, the health and fitness community is growing and the online interest surrounding the subject has rarely been so engaged. Yet child obesity is on the rise, eating disorders are becoming more commonplace for every generation and the price of healthy food has scarcely been higher. Something doesn’t quite seem right.

Those who have an interest in fitness will naturally find their way into sport. It might take them a while to find their passion but once they have found it they are likely to take to it like a duck to water. But that isn’t everyone. For some, they have very little interest in sport and, by extension, the health and fitness world as a whole. So how do those people go about leading a healthy lifestyle?

Well, and I’ve made this point before; it just isn’t true to say all the people in the world that would be considered physically healthy have a gym membership. It also isn’t true to say that they all play sport either. Even saying that they all exercise regularly is up for debate. Saying that they are all active however, is far more likely to be accurate.

Gym memberships are less telling that actual engagement with the gym. Let’s face it, we all know people who have a gym membership that couldn’t even tell you what the inside of it looks like. The online interest, while encouraging, is going to have little impact on childhood obesity, unless it is the parents of these children who are becoming engaged with the social media world surrounding fitness.

As for eating disorders? Well, opinion here is split. Some will argue that society projects the perfect body image to such an extent that young people, who are disproportionally found to suffer with these illnesses, look for drastic solutions. Others will say that these illnesses have only recently become understood and defined, meaning that more people are identifying with them, distorting the statistics.

The goal of this blog has always been to promote an active lifestyle, alongside a sensible eating regime. Other factors will contribute to a person’s health but these are the central pillars of health and fitness: exercise and nutrition. But who goes looking for these blogs? I wouldn’t want to stereotype our readers but I think it is inevitable that the majority of people that engage with this material is already an active member within the fitness community. The real challenge is to help those people who aren’t engaged.

Very few people that I have met don’t want to lead a healthier lifestyle. And yet, as I alluded to in the introduction, there are still plenty of problems to tackle. For me the answer lies in education. Simply doing as a trainer tells you or following a plan you have found online is not enough. We need an understanding of the genuine risks associated with all the factors that contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle. Ignorance is bliss may be a cliché but is increasingly relevant here. Ignoring the negative impact that certain behaviours have on our lives makes it easier to continue with them. Understanding their risk allows us to tackle the issues that exist within the health and fitness community.

If you’re currently in the mindset to tackle an unhealthy lifestyle that you’re living and you think you would benefit from a professional, talk to Ollie Lawrence Personal Trainers in Manchester today to find out what we can do for you.