Zoomers, Doomers, and the Search for Connection
Imagine this scene,
Its 2006, and a young AJAC is in high school.
I go to the gym, its the local LA fitness. Stereotypical big box gym, with rows of treadmills, then some machines, and then finally free weights. There is a group exercise room as well.
Im 17, and one of the youngest members there. The majority of members are 30+, about half women, and half men.
The women occupy the classes and cardio equipment. The men are in the weight room, which is often referred to as the "man" area of the gym.
There are a few teenage boys like myself who are passionate about training. We are a small minority and source of curiosity for older members.
This Scene was a stereotypical one across the USA
Depending on where you lived, gyms and health clubs were largely grown adults, sometimes retirees, and young people were always the smallest group.
Gyms were also unintentionally segregated by gender, men lifted weights while women did cardio and classes.
If you wanted to experience a different kind of gym, your options were early Crossfit gyms, or the "hardcore" gyms that had a bodybuilder and powerlifting members.
Hardcore gyms were a completely different world, with an emphasis on free weights, run independently by meatheads, and with unabated steroid use. They were usually found in warehouses, backlots, and the rougher parts of larger urban cities. If you ever trained at one of these gyms, they had their own subculture and community that could not be understood by outsiders.
Now lets jump ahead almost 20 years
Its now 2024
You go to a gym now after 2pm, and it will be filled to the brim with young people under the age of 30. And not just young people in their 20s, but teenagers.
If you live anywhere that has a family population, gyms are packed with Zoomers.
Hardcore gyms that were previously the refuge of antisocial meatheads have now morphed into destination gyms. Young people will drive an hour to lift at facilities designed for bodybuilding and powerlifting. Influencers abound. Everyone wants to look their best.
Gym culture and "hardcore" lifting has become the norm.
Some of the most famous content creators and influencers are simply gym bros and fitchicks that share their workouts and diet and lifestyle.
All the girls are lifting. They are training their legs and butt 3x a week.
All the young guys want to have golden era classical physiques.
Everyone is watching content and following training programs and doing compound movements.
The gym is a hangout spot.
The older members and boomers that can afford it have fled to the higher end clubs like Lifetime, because the cheaper mid tier gyms and places like planet fitness are packed with youngsters.
What has changed in 20 years for this to happen?
A social analysis on how the world has changed since 2000 could probably span hundreds of pages.
But I dont want to be long winded, and I want make an observation that is thoughtful and helpful
Young people want REAL, authentic experiences
Mainstream media is almost entirely "fake and ghey". Everything is scripted, everything has converged on the same viewpoints, culture is stuck, creativity is dead in Hollywood, and in Music.
There are cultural critics galore that have made these same observations, the decline in film and television viewership and the rise of streamers and online content creators is a testament to the general public looking for more raw, relatable media.
But what does this have to do with the gym?
Working out isPHYSICAL, its REAL WORLD
Gym culture has exploded with Zoomers because training is one of the few authentic experiences and spaces still available to them.
The act of physical training requires presence of mind and zero distraction. It demands honesty, focus, sweat, effort.
It cultivates virtue through strength.
Most people live in the past or the future, and their mental universe is their phone screen.
The gym is a place to break out of this addiction, and ground yourself back in reality.
People want Connection, not social media addiction
Everyone is equal, everyone has to work hard.
It is offline. It can be done with friends.
Its in an environment thats not wholly infiltrated with woke BS. Men are men, women are women. You're allowed to be attractive and be proud of yourself. There is no victimhood.
The Future cannot be "you're addicted to social media, you get fat and depressed and diabetic, and then you die"
I refuse to give in to any kind of doomerism and blackpilled sentiment.
Yes, most people are unhealthy.
But YOU do not have to be one of them.
You have the resources, knowledge, information, plans, community, coaching.
Whether its me or someone else you go to. Everything one needs is available.
Health is a state of existence we all have equal access to.
All that is left is action, and creating health habits.
As I say everyday on X,
GO TO THE GYM
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Talk again,
AJAC