Fitness Industry ethics

In my last post, I talked about a type of enhanced athlete that not only had its own health risks ,but had reciprocal effects on its viewers due to the instilled passion (or in some cases, obsession or delusion) to pursue through intense training the most aesthetic muscular build. This athlete is none other than the bodybuilder and while the sport its self causes it own bio-ethical issues, it is only a branch of a system that can be quite deceitful and corrupt depending on who you choose to trust. The fitness industry is similar goals to that of body building though they can vary at times. Fitness is more of reaching a more aesthetic you, whether it be a lean,slender build for running or the powerful build of a power lifter or somewhere in between.
 

While there is a lot of good information out there which has helped me as well as many others start their fitness journey there is also a lot of deception connected to big money. First of all there are the supplement companies. The main company associated  with fitness is the protein shake,powder, bar industry which makes around 16 billion dollars a year. They sell the idea a lot of times that more protein is better when it comes to wanting to gain muscle when this only partially true. Many scientific studies have been done to prove that the need protein intake for regular weight trainers is around 1.6-7 g per kg of body weight which comes to a little bit less than a pound a day. Yet, if you ask the average beefed up bodybuilder or trainer who was taught oddly enough by these same industries they will tell you 1, 1.5 , or even 2 grams of protein per POUND of body weight is needed which is extremely higher and much harder to get through regular food. For instance I weigh 190 lbs. Getting 190 grams a day of protein would be a chore which is where these supplement companies(so conveniently I might add) come in to save the day. The question now is this, why when there is scientific literature showing others do these companies get to sell their deception. It is a two part problem. You see we have these enhanced athletes in the which pose as naturally train individuals which actually can benefit from a protein intake as high as a pound per body weight. Then you have supplement companies sponsoring these same athletes and encourage them to sell the point even harder. I believe that deception like this leads to my next point. Absolutely horrific diet advice. The average article you find on google will tell you that you need to consume around 3000 calories a day to gain muscle. However, when deeper research is done the average male can only gain 1/2 pounds of purely lean muscle a month. Now while you stick to the freedom of a 3000 calorie 109 gram protein diet thinking your making bodily improvements you are actually causing bodily harm. Some people even take it to even greater extremes like fitness blogger Kali muscle. He has made many videos showing him making 5000-9000 calorie meals for muscle gain. (and not giving any disclaimers of satirical nature)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyZ3Of23xCg

Kali is one of the many enhanced yet athletes that try to come off as natural and then opens the door for deadly eating habits in the name of "gains." Even normally healthy eating has been over powered by cultural preference. Phrases such as counting carbs and carb-cutting are always used in talks of fitness yet they neglect the fact that carbohydrates are the most efficient type of energy your body runs off of. The paleo diet which includes primarily protein and fat much harder to do properly because fat is very energy dense and what ever your body does not need is stored as extra fat. The deep fried culture of America loves to keep things as close to its unhealthy ways as possible while still going in the right direction which don't get me wrong is quiet possible. But if tell the average person he can loose weight by eating bacon the result may not be as desired.

                                                     

 What is needed is a public understanding of how the body works as well as athletes that are enhanced coming forward even at the cost of endorsement loss. We must think of the health of our nation especially as health professionals which means saying no to the cries of the masses and doing what is ethically sound for not only our present but future generations