Reply to S/o Cult fitness classes - which ones are going to last?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think an individual barre studio or chain could be a cult but that barre itself is not a cult. My PT actually really encourages barre because the focus on "functional movement" makes it very sustainable for people with injuries or as you age. I use Barre3 and they are really, really good at providing modifications when needed and focusing on movement that builds strength and mobility without pain or overdoing it.

I think where "cult" comes in is when [b]the organization uses the endorphins and mental high of exercise to convince both clients and staff to overcommit their finances, time, or sanity to the enterprise.[/b]  [i]This, totally.  They'll also convince you that you worked harder by jacking up the heat.  I've been in rooms where mirrors were fogging up and the temperature is 80+ degrees.  It can get dangerous fast.  BUT clients walk out sweaty as heck and think they worked extra extra hard, which keeps them coming back.[/i] I think CrossFit and some of these other trendy chains can become cult-like because they want you to be coming every day or close to it, and they often push people to exercise in ways that may be bad for them longterm or could injure someone who doesn't have the right form or training. [b]A lot of those places also create competitive hierarchies, which I think is ripe for abuse[/b]  [i]Absolutely.  Some of the "star" trainers are treated like celebrities: they have offices, assistants, and no shame about asking younger staff members to pick up their special Starbucks orders, park their cars, etc.  We even had several high-performing staff members that we'd have meetings for before we actually met them.  At one, before we were formally introduced to a trainer, we were told not to speak to them unless spoken to.[/i] -- you should not have to compete for access to coaching, for instance. But [b]some of these studios will treat high performers differently or given them special treatment, which creates dangerous incentives for people to overtrain or work through pain or injury.[/b]  [i]100%, and this is encouraged.  Trainers would brag to us about working through horrifying life situations and illnesses, wearing "showing up no matter what" like a badge of honor.  A trainer was considered to be "slacking off" and talked about by their peers if they took a day off for something like jet lag.[/i]

I also think [b]a lot of these companies exploit their workers,[/b] and that has a cult-like effect, too. Many of these companies [b]hire students with the promise of reduced-rate or free classes, then pay them minimum wage and treat them very poorly. They also cultivate the vibe of "we are family" and will imply to employees that if they complain, don't show up for unpaid trainings or social events, etc., that they aren't being team players or don't really belong there. I think often people who are drawn to this environment are drawn in because of the camaraderie and sense of belonging, so treating employees this way feels especially wrong because you are exploiting people's desire for connections and belonging. Which, yes, is what cults do.[/b]  [i]Also true.  This extends beyond staff and to clients as well.  Younger people do it for community, like you said, and are drawn in by social media and the posts on there.  For older clients, going to the "cult" studio is seen as somewhat of a status symbol.  It's not unusual for them to dress to the nines and bring out their most expensive clothes and accessories to show off in the locker room before class.  Both groups have a tendency to really buy into the "cult" for a while and try to fit in, befriend the trainers, etc.  It wasn't uncommon for certain devoted clients to follow trainers around the city and take their classes at various studios.  Unfortunately, more than a few of these people don't find what they're looking for and end up really hurt.[/i]

So I'd pay attention to how the studio itself is run. I don't think exercise automatically becomes a cult. But there is something uniquely vulnerable about going to an exercise studio and signing up for a class. [b]There are lots of crappy people in the world who will try to exploit that vulnerability if it makes them money or allows them to exercise power over someone. Some of those crappy people work in the fitness industry. But that doesn't mean all fitness businesses are cults.[/b][/quote]

+100000, this is a really great summary!  I worked at one of the "cults" mentioned in here and the bolded have been completely true in my experience.  I expanded on a few of your points in [i]italics[/i].

I'll add 2 more point:

-- Workout "cults" attract people with addictive personalities as regular clients.  We had a number of clients who'd do 2-3+ classes/day (highest I heard of was either 4 or 5 classes in a day, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone beat that), and the company was happy to take their money.  Whether or not this is healthy, or is a liability and ripe for potential injury due to overtraining, is irrelevant as long as the company has money in its pockets.  Front desk staff and trainers are not allowed to say anything to clients directly about it.  Many of these clients would also use fitness as a replacement for a former addiction like alcohol or drugs.  They told us this openly.  For studios like OTF, which have a heavy sales focus, these types of admissions are ripe for exploiting to eke out an additional dollar.

-- Going off of the point above, a lot of "cult" workouts are built around trainers' personalities and encourage being open about personal struggles to seem more relatable to clients.  Unfortunately, the flip side of this is that gossip spreads across the company like wildfire, and is used against those very same trainers.  The types of things people openly talk about at those places are hair-raising.[/quote]

I feel like there's no way to write this without coming off like one of the cultists but c'est la vie.

This post makes the word 'cult' a lot more applicable than I previously thought. I posted earlier about how I thought that was an unbelievably pejorative word for what is essentially a positive activity. I will say that from an end user experience, a lot of this doesn't actually ring that true of peloton. Peloton instructors talk about rest days all the time, almost never talk about intentional weight loss, really emphasize doing your best, taking modifications when you need them, taking rest/low impact days when you need them, taking a 15 minute class if that's all you have time for etc. There is also very little push to invest more money. There is the monthly subscription fee and sure I get emails about the tread and apparel, but the instructors are not selling that stuff in their classes, and everything is available to people who don't have the hardware.

That said, of course they certainly do have the culture of celebrity trainers and I have no idea what the actual physical workplace is like but I would be totally unsurprised if it was catty and gossipy. I feel like I can pick that up from the instructors polished instagram pages! So I'm sure its worse IRL. I guess I'd just say I have actually never felt exploited or coerced by a peloton instructor, I think why it works for me is because they aren't coercive or pushy, my three 'favorite' instructors' catch phrases (yes its weird they all have catch phrases) are 'I make suggestions, you make decisions,' 'movement is a privilege' and 'it's not that deep.' [/quote]

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