The worst crime in the fitness industry is also its most prevalent. Fraud! Fitness fraud happens when a fitness organization or professional sells you goods or services that do not help you achieve your goals or improve your skills. As a trainer I see people like you being trained everyday; however, 90% of the time I witness fraud. When someone teaches you rowing without knowing how to row, that is fraud. Indoor rowing is a common source of fraud because most people do not know rowing form, so they do not know they are being victimized.
After rowing comes boxing. Since boxing is a loosely regulated sport coaching boxing is also mostly unregulated. Becoming proficient at boxing takes time and patience so rather than putting their clients on a slow path many boxing gyms just teach formless punching. This plays into the next largest source of fraud, sweating and feeling tired. When you swing wildly you will sweat and get tired; so many people “feel” like they have done a good workout. It is easier for a facility to run classes with cute instructors having everyone swing wildly and leave exhausted than it is to actually teach boxing. Les Mills even has a certification to train fraudulent instruction. In fact every fitness certification that is taught to instructors is a form of fraud. It is a methodology to sell goods and services, not a formula to make participants healthier.
Les Mills, Crossfit, Equinox, and almost every major fitness company makes their profit over perceived benefit aka fraud rather than actual benefit. While disgraced American investor Bernie Madoff might have been unusual on New York’s Wall Street his formula is the norm in gyms around the world.
To be effective fitness must be skill based. This is why professional athletes and military special operators are generally the most fit people. On top of skill development is the career motivation. The desire to feed yourself makes workouts different. Imagine if you approached every workout thinking that it is important to your survival? How would that change your evaluation of what you did? How would that impact your effort level and concentration? Would you be interested in just having fun, how the teacher looked, how the music sounds, or what other class participants were doing?
Just breaking a sweat, dancing around, or lifting weights does not mean your workout has actually benefited you. So, did your last workout actually accomplish anything? Did it cause a change in your physiology or teach you a new skill? If you are like most people, it was probably fraud. But don’t feel bad, it is happening to most people all over the world and it is one of the many reasons the world population is growing sicker by the hour.
Step one is to recognize it in yourself. So, are you a victim of fitness fraud? Well, since you started your fitness routine, have you made tremendous progress? Are you at your ideal weight? Are you better than you were last year? A good exercise program combined with a healthy diet will transform you life. Anything less than that means your program is not working.