5 Outdated, Cringeworthy Phrases That Are Aging Your Fitness Content

Motivational and marketing verbiage in the fitness world tends to age like milk. And if writers and editors aren’t mindful, incorporating old ideas about fitness into copy can alienate or mislead readers. Here are some helpful tips on how to modernize that language in your content.

By Julia Sullivan, ACE-certified personal trainer

Fitness trends have gone through a slew of iterations over the past century. Consider, for example, “slenderizing salons'' from the 1940s, where women strapped themselves into bizarre gyrating machines meant to reduce body fat (or… something). A more recent example: tools peddled on late-night infomercials, like Suzanne Somer’s ThighMaster from the 1980s or the infamous Shake Weight from the mid-aughts. (Truth be told: I had a Shake Weight, but only because my Mom found it at someone’s garage sale in 2008, and I thought it would be hilarious to take to college parties and fling around.)

As laughable as these tools might seem, the driving ideology behind them—to market an aspirational lifestyle to consumers that persuades them to purchase something—persists today. The language used in advertisements for those products promised exercisers a better, more fulfilling life. And, if you browse the websites of some of today’s most popular fitness products, they often have strikingly similar claims.

Centuries from now, I predict that historians will look back on some of the strangest marketing phrases purveyed by major health companies and cringe hard. While we live in an era saturated by wellness-related marketing more so than ever before, there are a few perks about the present time. The latest science and research behind exercise is stronger and more complex than ever, especially as mounting evidence continues to demonstrate a connection between regular movement and healthy aging.

And as a journalist who sifts through these studies on a daily basis can attest to, the path toward health and wellness is far more simple, straightforward, and enjoyable than those over-promising marketing phrases would imply.

Here are five outdated, cringeworthy phrases guaranteed to date your fitness content—and the more modern approach to use instead.

1. Describing an Exercise as “Toning” or “Lengthening”

Encouraging women to strength train is a good thing. For all genders, research has indicated that it may stave off certain diseases, help alleviate symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression, and boost bone mineral density—all of which can contribute to an improved quality of life.

And despite the research being resoundingly, irrefutably clear that it’s not hormonally achievable for women to grow muscle at the same rate or size as men, there’s a fear that engaging in strength-related exercises might cause a woman to bulk up. (Of course, whether that fear is founded in the patriarchy or by women themselves is up for debate.)

Enter: toning and lengthening, or the adjectives brands use to market a strength product or workout style most commonly geared toward women.

Here’s the unsexy reality: Muscles can grow and they can shrink. The amount of fat a person has on their body can do the same. But the composition of muscle fibers itself, which contributes to its length, is based on a person’s genetics entirely.

The modern approach: When describing a workout in an article or marketing a product, use science-backed research to determine what that benefit (and approach) will ultimately be. Will the movements feature heavy loads with minimal reps, enabling the individual to gain strength? Or, will the workout be more hypertrophic in nature, meaning it will help a person put on muscle mass? Or, does it have a cardiovascular benefit? Be as specific as possible.

2. Saying “Strong is the New Skinny”

As a cis-gender woman who found cathartic bliss in lifting really, really heavy things, it hurts me to (yet again) poke a stick at another tactic brands use to lure women to engage in strength training or buy a strength-related product: Strong is the new skinny!

First, semantics: Strong is a feeling or an ability. Skinny is a term used to describe the way someone looks. Comparing the two is just poor writing.

Second, what exercises a person prefers is their own prerogative. An exerciser can increase their strength and still attempt to reduce their body fat. They can choose one or the other. They can choose neither route. (To boot, there isn’t a direct correlation between muscle strength and muscle size.)

The modern approach: Instead of pitting one fitness goal against another, pose this question to readers: What type of movement energizes and excites you? It may be that movement is tied to achieving a certain aesthetic or athletic feat. But in order to ensure that person will stay committed to whatever movement they prefer, finding joy in it is crucial.

3. Comparing the Gym to Therapy

Exercise, whether strength or cardiovascular in nature, is associated with a trove of mental health benefits—from reduced anxiety and stress to stronger brain clarity. But to suggest that exercise can be used in place of clinical psychological help is dangerous, especially in a time when post-pandemic depression and anxiety rates are at all-time highs.

The modern approach: It’s perfectly fine to outline the science-backed mental health benefits of exercise when writing a fitness article or promoting your brand. But it’s also important to frame physical activity as a single component toward achieving better health, one that’s paired with adequate rest, consuming nutrient-dense foods, and monitoring one’s mental state.

4. Claiming an Exercise Will “Burn Off” Fat on a Body Part

Where fat primarily resides on a person’s body comes down to genetics. And as much as a magazine article from the early aughts on how Britney Spears did 500 crunches a night to keep her stomach flat led 11-year-old me to believe it (I can still recall panting heavily on my bedroom floor after the 10th crunch), no single exercise can “spot-reduce” fat on a person’s body.

Moreover, if a person has intentions of losing body fat, exercise really has little to do with it. Rather, a person’s genetics, the types of medications they’re on, and the foods they’re consuming regularly play the biggest role. Aside from the fact that it’s anatomically impossible to pick and choose where fat lies on a person’s body, it’s a dangerous and dead-end suggestion to promote exercise as the sole way of reducing body fat entirely.

The modern approach: When it comes to exercise, kill the discourse about body fat loss entirely. There are a million-and-one health-related reasons far more worthy of highlighting to engage in regular movement than the way a person looks.

5. Reiterating That There Are “No Excuses” for Not Working Out

In the case of social media, being bombarded by images and videos of other people exercising can be a double-edged sword. Although seeing someone else staying active can provide incentive to get moving, it can also spur feelings of guilt and self-resentment should a person be unable to make their workout that day for whatever reason.

The concept that a person will get some intangible reward or acknowledgement for showing up to exercise can also have serious consequences. In the case of overtraining, pushing the body to its limits—when rest is direly needed—can result in considerable injuries.

The modern approach: When it comes to any type of fitness recommendation, bolster the notion that rest days are just as important as training days. Should an injury, illness, mental blockade, or even just fatigue or a lack of motivation arise, note that it’s perfectly fine to forgo movement if it doesn’t bring joy and release.