Fitness

Why Are We Still Obsessed With Shrinking Ourselves When It Comes to Exercise?

Published

2 years ago

June 11, 2024

Why Are We Still Obsessed With Shrinking Ourselves When It Comes to Exercise?

Nobody who grew up in the 90s and lived through the toxic diet culture of that time has really ever believed that body positivity was a magic fix that could save us all. Maybe some of us hoped, or were cheered by green shoots of things seeming different for a younger generation. But in our heart of hearts, if we were still looking in the mirror and finding it hard to quiet certain negative thoughts, it would likely not be long until society regressed. And sadly, following the rise of Ozempic the insipid creep of super-skinny feels like it’s back. And if you were feeling it, sadly there’s now evidence too.

A new study by Asics, out today, found that online searches for “weight loss exercises” have increased 552% in the last year, with searches for “quick weight loss” increasing by 581% year-on-year. The number of videos solely focused on “exercise + weight loss” has increased by 204%, 33% more than videos focused on exercise and mental health. The multitude of benefits of exercise are being completely lost in an all-consuming pursuit of shrinking.

And while it’s of course your prerogative how you spend your time and life, the fact is the study also found that in fact, the content isn’t always beneficial and in fact 42% said the volume of “quick weight loss” content has made them feel worse about themselves and less motivated to exercise.

To try and combat this, Asics have launched an “alternative weight loss message”, meaning that when people search for online weight loss content, they will be directed to content that reminds people of the other benefits of exercise. The campaign includes a series of videos that instead highlight that just 15 minutes of exercise can take the weight off our minds.

One of those involved in the campaign is influencer and body positivity campaigner, Emily Clarkson. The podcast host said that she was “disappointed, but not surprised” by the outcome of the survey.

“We are truly seeing a resurgence of diet culture,” she told PS UK. “And in lots of ways it feels as if the brilliant body confidence movement has been parked, and as often happens with trend cycles, the ‘thinspiration’ of my own teenage life is back in.

“I’d beg you please to remember that you weren’t put here on this earth just to make yourself small.”

“It frightens me honestly, as I know the hugely detrimental effects that that time had on my own mental health and relationship with exercise and my body, and I feel that young people’s exposure to it now, with the pervasive and relentless nature of the internet, is going to be hugely damaging. Whilst for us it was written on the walls; in the magazines and on the lips of our mothers, now it really is everywhere, and the genius of the algorithm will make it almost impossible to escape.

“I’m always disappointed to think that those profiting in the fitness industry are still so happy to play to people’s insecurities in order to make their success, but it’s hardly surprising when you look to the success of that formula across the beauty industry. I suppose it’s harder to sell a warm fuzzy feeling, and much easier to sell a transformation, at least whilst we live in a world that says thin is good, thin is beautiful, thin is successful. It’s such an easy thing to manipulate, the relationship between thinness and exercise and so it’s hardly surprising huge sectors of the fitness industry are happy to do it. And even less surprising that we, as the customers, are falling for it.”

While 72% of people believe society’s obsession with the perfect body image is bad for people’s mental health, what can we actually do to make a shift? The fact is, the mindset of shrinking continues to be pervasive, behind the positive instagrams they post, in the searches they’re making.

“First and foremost I’d beg you please to remember that you weren’t put here on this earth just to make yourself small,” says Clarkson. “There IS more to your life than that. And I don’t want you to look up in 50 years time and wonder why all your energy went on shrinking yourself, on taking up less space, when you could have been out there living, big and bold, as you deserve.

“Exercise can be so great. But it can be horrible too. The difference, is mindset. When I exercised because I hated myself, it was awful. Obviously. How could it not have been? How could anything positive have come from hate? When I started exercising for other reasons; because I wanted (needed) to escape my head, because I thought trying climbing, pole dancing or spinning might be fun, because my friend asked me to try something new, because I wanted to see what I could do, because I wanted to show up for myself and be proud of myself and do something cool, for myself? Well that’s when it started being great. The exercise stayed the same, but the way I thought about it changed. And that’s the magic.”
Psychologist Dr Tara Quinn-Cirillo explained how the mindset of exercise just for weight loss can be so damaging. “Evidence suggests that quick-fix weight loss, through diet and exercise fads, often leads to only short-term gains and negative long-term consequences,” she says. “The desire to lose weight quickly, perpetuated by societal norms and pervasive digital weight loss content, can be damaging to self-esteem and self-worth, as people strive for an ideal that society has cultivated.
“The result can cause people to obsess over using exercise only as a way to change appearances. What often gets overlooked is the power of movement to support better overall health.

“Everything I thought I knew about exercise changed, I realised that in order to really do it well I needed to eat properly to fuel myself.”

“Therefore, reframing our relationship with exercise is crucial. Moving our bodies releases dopamine which boosts mood, reduces stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline and has long-term benefits for anxiety reduction. And we don’t always need to engage in ‘formal’ exercise for these benefits. Activities such as running, playing games in a park or even going up and down the stairs are all movements that can contribute to overall improved wellbeing.”

It sounds great, but as many of us who have tried to make the shift know, it can be a lifelong trial. Look at the example recently of former Love Island contestant Paige Thorne feeling comfortable to tell her thousands of fans she needed a “punisher” exercise and eating day. The messages are everywhere and hard to block out, before you even attempt an internal struggle.
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For Emily, she said that mindset change took time – but is possible. “It was an accumulation of things; I was doing a lot of work to heal my relationship with my body and with myself, I was really trying to learn how to love myself, in every sense of the word, and at the right time, someone asked if I wanted to run a marathon,” she says.
“Whilst I was training for that I watched all the old patterns, the old thought processes, the old way of exercising, fall apart. And it was great. Everything I thought I knew about exercise changed, I realised that in order to really do it well I needed to eat properly to fuel myself, I realised that how far I got that day was so much cooler and more important than how much I weighed that day, I realised in those long and lonely training runs that thoughts of ‘Yes Em, you can do this, you’re amazing, look how far you’ve come, look how well you’re doing, this is so badass’ were so much more effective than ‘Come on you massive lump, you’re a loser who everyone hates, you can’t do this, just give up’.
“When you set yourself a challenge like that, you have to be a cheerleader, because otherwise you can’t do it. And when you start cheering for yourself, you start wanting the best for yourself, and when you start wanting that, you realise that you’ll no longer accept horrible exercises and skipping meals and feeling like shit about everything you do, because it isn’t conducive to your won success. So for me it was a marathon, but I’d say it just needs to be something that requires you to get behind yourself.”
To find out more about ASICS’ alternative weight loss message, go to www.asics.com/15minuteweightloss

Rhiannon Evans is the interim content director at PS UK. Rhiannon has been a journalist for 17 years, starting at local newspapers before moving to work for Heat magazine and Grazia. As a senior editor at Grazia, she helped launch parenting brand The Juggle, worked across brand partnerships, and launched the “Grazia Life Advice” podcast. An NCE-qualified journalist (yes, with a 120-words-per-minute shorthand), she has written for The Guardian, Vice and Refinery29.
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Fitness

How Kaye Adams’ varied exercise routine keeps her fit at 63 – and why she swapped HIIT for walking

Published

10 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

How Kaye Adams’ varied exercise routine keeps her fit at 63 – and why she swapped HIIT for walking

Journalist and presenter Kaye Adams has regularly spoken about her health and fitness habits over the years. And while some of those have changed with age, it doesn’t mean strength and fitness don’t remain a priority. In fact, her podcast, How to be 60, champions the idea that ‘turning 60 isn’t about slowing down – it’s about shaking things up’.

Below, we take a look at Kaye’s approach to fitness in midlife and why it’s so effective.

She walks as much as possible

Kaye told The Sunday Post that having a dog has been a great way of ensuring she gets out for a walk (shoutout Bea the cockapoo!) every day, and that she’s ‘at my happiest walking my dog’.

While it might sound simple, walking really is one of the best things you can do for your health. One scientific review of research on walking concluded that ‘the evidence overwhelmingly supports walking as a powerful anti-ageing intervention that can reduce the risk of chronic age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes and cancer.’

Even a short 10-minute walk after eating has been found to have tangible health benefits. One study found that a 10-minute walk straight after eating helps suppress blood sugar spikes – eliciting similar effects to those seen after a 30-minute walk.

She does a variety of physical activities

‘I also play tennis, run and do spin classes, as I have done for years,’ Kaye added in The Sunday Post interview. She also recently told The Sun, that she also does what she calls ‘disco Pilates’ – reformer with ‘bright lights and music’.

While all of these activities are effective individually (one study involving more than 8,000 participants found that those who played tennis lived on average for a decade longer), the science also suggests benefits come from mixing it up, too – with a recent landmark study finding that exercise diversity is key for longevity.

Researchers found that compared with the lowest variety group, participants in the highest physical activity variety group had a 19% lower risk of death from any cause, and a 13-41% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and other causes.

She’s ditched higher-intensity training

After sustaining an injury at a HIIT class, Kaye told The Sun that she feels she’s ‘too old for them. It’s heavy duty circuit training, weights, burpees, all that sort of stuff’.

But as she’s shown, age doesn’t have to mean slowing down, but rather, finding a way of moving that works for you.

One of our most frequently asked questions here at Women’s Health? How to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. So, we asked superstar trainer Oyinda Okunowo exactly how to do it. In this 4-week plan – created exclusively for Women’s Health COLLECTIVE members – you’ll get the workouts and nutrition guidance needed to help you on your way to better body composition. Tap the link below to unlock 14 days of free access to Oyinda’s plan and start training today.

Get the plan

Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Health and Fitness Writer for Women’s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis. She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner’s World and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity. A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She’s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.

Fitness

22 Trainer-Approved Bodyweight Exercises That Actually Build Muscle

Published

20 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

22 Trainer-Approved Bodyweight Exercises That Actually Build Muscle

Sorry to break it to you: Lack of equipment isn’t a surefire excuse to skip your workout. When you’re on the road or too busy to make it to the gym, bodyweight exercises are the always-ready tool you can turn to—and they might even challenge you more than your typical weighted workouts.

“Don’t underestimate the impact of bodyweight workouts because you will be quickly humbled,” says Kim Perry, CPT, a certified personal trainer and pregnancy coach. Bodyweight exercises are typically compound movements, meaning they activate more than one muscle group at a time. As a result, a bodyweight workout can help improve your balance, core strength, cardio, mobility, and flexibility, Perry says.

Plus, bodyweight exercises are especially great for those who are just starting off their fitness journey, says Claudette Sariya, CPT, founding instructor of SOLE Fitness. Nailing an exercise with only your bodyweight first allows you to really understand the fundamentals of a movement before loading up the weight.

Meet the experts: Kim Perry, CPT, is a certified personal trainer and pregnancy coach. Claudette Sariya, CPT, is the founding instructor at SOLE Fitness and a coach at LifeTime.

Ready to break a sweat using only your bod? Here are the 50 best bodyweight exercises to build strength, muscle, and boost your heart health, according to Perry and Sariya.

Instructions: Choose five to six moves that target the area of the body you want to hit. For a full body experience, select two upper body exercises, two lower body exercises, and two core exercises. Perform each move for 40 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds. After one round, rest for 60 seconds, then repeat two or three more rounds.

1. Hollow Body Hold

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: The hollow body hold is even more challenging than a plank (trust us), and requires full-body activation. Pro tip: Press your back into the floor and squeeze your core while doing this move. If you feel your lower back is rising off the floor, bend your knees to 90 degrees, says Sariya.

How to:

Start lying on back with with arms extended overhead on floor and legs straight resting on mat.
At the same time, and with control, lift arms, head, shoulder blades, and legs a few inches off the floor.
Hold the elevated position, ensuring your low back is still glued to the ground.

2. Plank

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: Planks are a great way to build total body strength. They’re a type of isometric hold, which takes a lot of effort and builds both stamina and endurance. Plus, they can easily be modified by planking on your knees or elevating your hands until you can do them all-out.

How to:

Start on all fours with shins and palms flat on mat.
Step back onto the on balls of your feet, creating a straight line from heels through the top of your head. Keep your gaze to the floor.
Squeeze your glutes and abs to keep hips inline with your shoulders. Hold here as long as you can.

3. Bird Dog

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: This is a great move to practice coordination, and builds core stability and balance.

How to:

Start on all fours with wrists directly under shoulders and knees under hips. Keep back flat, core engaged, and a slight bend in elbows.
Extend left arm out in front at shoulder height and right leg straight behind at hip height.
Bend leg and arm and bring to midline under torso until elbow and knee touch. That’s 1 rep. Alternate sides.

4. Reverse Crunch

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: This move builds strength and control through your core abs. Make sure you’re using your lower abs—and not momentum—to perform this movement. If you’re struggling, imagine you’re pushing your heels to the ceiling, Sariya says.

How to:

Start lying on back with arms by sides and feet lifted off the ground, legs extended, and toes pointed.
Squeeze your core to pull your hips off the ground. Do your best to push your toes up towards the ceiling instead of back towards your head.
Slowly return to start. That’s 1 rep.

5. Russian Twist

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: This move builds rotational strength. Make sure you have the proper form when doing this oblique-working move: Puff out your chest and keep a long line from your tailbone to your shoulder.

How to:

Start seated with upper body leaned back until abs are engaged, legs lifted and bent, arms bent, hands clasped, and elbows wide. For an extra challenge, lift heels up off the floor.
Rotate torso to right side so that right elbow is hovering off mat.
Keeping lower body still throughout, rotate the upper body to the left side. That’s 1 rep.

6. Inchworm

Movement pattern: Core

Why it rocks: This move fires up both your core and upper body, making it a great warmup move for your upper body days.

How to:

Start standing with feet hips-width apart.
Hinge at hips and lower down until hands reach the ground, focusing on core activation and spine alignment, keeping legs as straight as possible.
Crawl forward lifting one hand at a time with legs straight and hips lifted until in a high plank. Try to keep hips as square to the ground as you can throughout the move.
Walk hands one by one back to feet.
Reverse motion to return to standing tall. That’s 1 rep.

7. Superman Arm Extension

Movement pattern: Upper Body

Why it rocks: This is a great move for people who want to strengthen their posterior chain (or all the muscles on the back side of your body!). It can even help improve posture, says Sariya.

How to:

Start lying facedown on a mat, legs extended, elbows tucked at sides.
Squeeze glutes to lift legs and extend arms overhead simultaneously, pulling thighs and chest off the floor.
Pause, then lower legs and bend arms to sides to return to starting position. That’s 1 rep.

8. Triceps Dip

Movement Pattern: Upper Body

Why it rocks: This move isolates the triceps. Pro tip: Make sure your hands are right outside your hips and your elbows are pointing behind you in order to really target the back of your arms. To make it more challenging, straighten out your legs.

How to:

Sit in a chair (or on a box/step) and grip the front edges with hands.
Scoot butt forward until it’s hovering just off the seat and legs form a 90-degree angle and straighten arms.
Lower body down until biceps are parallel to floor.
Engage triceps to press back to start. That’s 1 rep.

9. Superwoman Isometric Hold

Movement Pattern: Upper Body

Why it rocks: This move works the back muscles that stabilize and support your spine, making everyday movement easier, says Sariya.

How to:

Lie facedown on the mat, with arms and legs stretched out.
Squeeze glutes and lift torso and legs up as far as you can. Imagine reaching out with arms and legs.
Pause at the top and hold.

10. Incline Pushup

Movement Pattern: Upper Body

Why it rocks: This is a great move for people working their way up to a flat pushup.

How to:

Start in an incline plank position with hands on a chair, bench, or step and feet on floor with head to heels aligned.
Lower down, with elbows pointing 45-degrees away from body, until arms bend to 90-degrees.
Press back up keeping body in a straight line. That’s 1 rep.

11. Pushup To Plank Row

Movement Pattern: Upper Body

Why it rocks: This exercise targets your chest and back at the same time. Once you get comfortable with the move, add a resistance band around your hands for a little more back challenge. Or, you can also pop into a high plank position for a full pushup.

How to:

Start in a modified plank position, knees on ground, wrists under shoulders. Maintain a long spine with knees to head aligned.
Lower into a pushup so chest hovers just above the floor, and elbows are close to sides.
Push up from ground to return to modified plank position, then drive right elbow toward sky, performing a row.
Return right hand to ground.
Repeat row with left arm.
Return left hand to ground. That’s 1 rep.