Redefining Fitness After 40: Beyond Abs, Applause & Aesthetics

In today’s image-driven world, fitness has become more about appearances than health. We’ve lost touch with the true purpose of movement, nourishment, and self-care, reducing “wellness” to a look, a number, or a social media trend. What if fitness could mean something more profound - a sacred relationship with the body?

I came across a video recently that stopped me cold.
A father stood on stage beside his two young daughters, 12 and 9 years old.
As they lifted their shirts to reveal their six-pack abs, the crowd erupted in applause. Their reward?
A shopping spree — for achieving a “body goal.”

Pause for a moment.
Let that land in your bones and cells.

“This isn’t motivation.
This is the objectification of children — by a parent.
And applauded by adults.”

It’s not just unsettling.
It’s tragic.

Tragic that this is what passes for motivation.
Tragic that we’ve confused discipline with display, fitness with approval.
Tragic that we’ve handed this distortion to the next generation, with claps, likes, and rewards.
This is the devolution of fitness.

The Distortion of Modern Fitness

It made me reflect…
When did the human body, especially so young, become a billboard for approval?
When did fitness become a stage?
When did applause replace connection?

It wasn’t just a video. It was a signpost — a quiet echo of how deeply we’ve lost our way.

We’ve strayed so far from what it actually means to be well — to be connected to our bodies, to their innate intelligence. Today’s fitness culture, as it exists today, is often a distortion.
A glamorized chase for leanness (at all costs).
A performative ideal.
Aesthetic perfection, dressed up as discipline.
A carefully curated image designed to sell.

And this narrative — this toxic obsession with the look of health — has been handed down like gospel. From ads and magazines to the perfect angles of social media, we’ve been programmed to define “fit” by what we see: flat stomachs, narrow waists, sculpted legs, and preferably no cellulite. And god forbid you deviate from that.

We Internalized the Lie

We scroll. We compare.
We pick ourselves apart — polishing the “imperfect” like our worth depends on it. And for many, it does.
Especially in a world where likes, follows, and attention are tied to how you look.

“What does fitness feel like in your body?
Not how it looks — how it feels to you.”

Do you know what it’s like to feel truly energized, strong, and at home in your skin?
Have you ever felt that pulse of vitality in your cells — the kind no mirror can reflect?

We’ve Lost the Connection

We treat our bodies like objects. Punish ourselves for indulgences. We squeeze and shrink and contort to fit an idea that was never even ours to begin with.

And for what?
A number on a scale? A thigh gap? Applause? A few more likes?

We are raising children inside this same illusion — teaching them to link love with appearance, reward with restriction, and value with visibility.
And many are still trying to unlearn that very message.

A New Definition of Fitness

Fitness is not the shape of your abs. It’s not a trend, or a body fat percentage, or how “disciplined” you are.

“Real fitness is a sacred relationship with your body.”

It’s being in tune enough to know when you need movement — or rest.
When you need to release what no longer serves.
When you’re out of balance, and why.

It’s honoring your body as sacred — the very vessel through which Spirit moves.
Your one and only vehicle for this lifetime.

Taking care of it isn’t a punishment.
It’s listening.
It’s devotion to your well-being.

Let’s Heal the Disconnect

We’ve been so deeply conditioned that what we do to our bodies often borders on abuse — collectively and individually.

But healing begins with awareness.
With reverence.
With learning to work with your body, not against it.

So let’s stop glorifying six-packs on children.
Let’s stop equating thinness with virtue.
Let’s stop calling it “fitness” when it’s actually disconnection in disguise.

It’s Time to Raise the Bar

Let’s reclaim what it really means to be well — in body, mind, and spirit.

Let’s teach the next generation that strength isn’t loud — it’s the quiet, steady knowing of who you are. That health is a sacred dance with your body, not a contest of control. That worth is intrinsic.

Wear this human form with grace.
Honor it like the miracle it is.
And please — don’t measure your magic by your mirror.

For God’s sake, let’s redefine fitness into something we’d actually be proud to pass on. Let’s raise the collective bar.