Is Fitness a Fad?

20130810-163552.jpgAs the owner of Pinnacle Chiropractic and Phoenix Bioperformance, I spend an awful lot of time learning the best ways to market to my patients and consumers. Most small business owners know that you can’t just exist and expect to have customers. Some people don’t think of a health care practice as a small business, but it absolutely is. I spent seven days a week in the early years working ON my practice as well as IN it. We have quite a great referral base now, and while I may not spend seven days a week out doing personal marketing, between Pinnacle and Phoenix Bioperformance (makers of KinetiCream), I still do some form of marketing daily for one or both companies. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are aware of the social media craze. Facebook, Linked In, Google Plus, Instagram, Twitter and several more phone or computer apps are designed to keep you in the know and connected with friends. As a business, it is also a great way to keep connected with your consumers. So I often find myself trolling these apps to determine how to best market my companies to keep my customers engaged. Surprisingly, while searching through social media, I am noticing a trend of people flocking to the health and fitness industry and shouting to the world on how they are improving their own personal fitness. My question is whether this is the beginning of a real era of putting health first, or if it is just another fad.

I happen to be writing this as I sit in my hotel in Davenport, Iowa, getting ready for my 10 year class reunion dinner with my chiropractic colleagues from Palmer College of Chiropractic. Needless to say, due to the nature of the chiropractic profession, many of the folks on campus are extremely fit and obviously health conscious. However, not one to miss many workouts, I ventured to the local Gold’s Gym twice now with my fiancée, Courtney. I was quite pleased to see that there was a big crowd and the people were absolutely loving the gym. The gym had kept up with current trends, incorporating CrossFit style exercise stations and kettlebells, and it had a substantial number of trainers on site who absolutely looked like they were practicing what they preached. I am not a huge guy, but I’m used to being one of the more muscular guys in a gym, and I was happy to see that there were several guys and girls that obviously took their health as serious as I do. There were many beginners, working hard to improve, but they were doing it with passion rather than reluctance. Needless to say, I was impressed with the overall atmosphere that this created.

With baby boomers aging and healthcare reform looming (with a broke government that won’t be able to afford subsidized healthcare long-term), fitness NEEDS to be more than just a fad. I don’t ever claim to be perfect. We all have our times of guilty pleasures like the occasional Frappucino or Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs. (Thank goodness they now sell these in other forms, or else I could never diet around Easter!) The quest shouldn’t be perfection, but rather becoming better than yesterday. I think as a human race, we all need to realize the global socioeconomic upside to a greater focus on fitness and health. There will be less disease, less disability, less depression and less violence (because aggression can indeed be channeled differently). There can be more productivity, more sense of self worth, greater confidence and more camaraderie. Maybe that all sounds lofty and assuming, and I’m sure it is a little, but imagine how great it would be if you were less worried about the health of your older family members. Now realize that you will someday be the person that others are worried about. Don’t we owe it to our loved ones if not ourselves?
While I love seeing what all my friends and acquaintances are up to on my timelines and newsfeeds, I will tell you I really do get inspired when I see just how many people now are becoming more health conscious. I have seen more of it recently, and a ton this weekend. Of course, I realize that I see what I surround myself with, but it does indeed seem as if the circle is getting bigger. Take it as a challenge to continue to share fitness and health with your friends and family. If we all do this together, we can make sure that health and fitness is truly an expansive change for the better rather than just a passing fad.
-Dr. Craig

 

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