Gym culture is a relatively new idea that I’m sure we can all agree emerged in fairly recent years. It’s not that gym culture didn’t exist prior to its emergence, but this idea of fitness and going to the gym became widespread and became known just lately: specifically during the covid pandemic.
In the past two or three years, gym culture has gained so much traction thanks to the covid lockdown that got us all out of shape. As I’m sure we’re all aware, covid didn’t hit just the USA, but the entire world, so it’s safe to say that people got lazy and experienced a lack of fitness globally. With reduced physical activity and overall increased caloric intake for close to a year or two, average weight for people all over the world increased and physical health decreased. Fast forward, as lockdowns all over the world began to lift and people started re-entering into the public, everyone came to the realization of the need for urgent physical fitness, which most conveniently came in the form of going to the gym.
Man lifting in a mask
While I’m sure there were those who went to the gym regularly prior to the covid pandemic within a close-knit gym community, those numbers spiked following the lockdown period as people flocked to local gyms to pursue their previously nonexistent fitness goals. Flash forward to today, gym culture remains prevalent and continues to grow, meaning it integrated itself into not only American culture, but global culture as the same narrative applies across the world.
As mentioned before, no matter to what extent, most of us probably experienced some sort of negative physical change and made some sort of attempt to restore our bodies to the way it was pre-pandemic, most likely in the form of going to the gym, whether it lasted or not. Personally, I put on a good number of pounds during quarantine, which prompted the beginning of my weight loss and, therefore, my gym journey.
Currently, I’m obsessed with fitness and make it a mission to go to the gym 6 times a week. As someone who considers themself to be a part of the gym community and involved in gym culture, I know a lot of other people who are just like me. The funny thing is, most of them made their transition because of some byproduct of quarantine. Furthermore, gym influencers/creators grew to be very famous and popular alongside gym/fitness industries and other media, which was very rare before covid. Society has gotten to a point where gym talks and emphasis on physical fitness is a part of the norm, which wasn’t remotely the case before. The covid pandemic created a wave of gym and fitness culture that endures even today.
Gyms saw an increase in members/users post quarantine
I find it so interesting how it took a whole entire global pandemic to put emphasis on basic physical health and how that idea of basic physical health progressed to present day gym culture. This phenomenon somehow brought people of all different cultures, personalities, and interests under a shared umbrella that’s maintained together. The question is, “How long will all of this last?”
At this point, my claim seems to be that the covid pandemic and quarantine created a global gym/fitness culture from a previously small community, and it still stands strong and grows today. I’m seeking to answer the category of facts and its stasis questions regarding this new cultural addition.