5 Ways Fitness Challenges are Harmful
We’ve all seen it… every January we’re bombarded with 30-day fitness challenges that promise to get you the results you want and get them FAST. And then we see the cycle repeat itself in the spring before the upcoming summer months.
“Join my 30 day challenge today! Drop 20 lbs and get your bikini body!”
I did my first fitness challenge back in 2016 and let me tell you… I was HOOKED. I loved the competitiveness, I loved the community, and I loved watching my body change what felt rather quickly. I was introduced to lifting in a new way.
I first started lifting weights in high school, but the focus was purely on strength and performance. When fitness came to Instagram and I started doing fitness challenges, that was when I realized you could use weight lifting in a way to change how your body looked.
As a young woman who struggled with body image her entire life, this was extremely enticing. I quickly paid my $200 and signed up.
My before and after results from the first fitness challenge I participated in in 2016.
I participated in fitness challenges from 2016-2018 and then started coaching fitness challenges from 2020-2023. After 7 years of being on both sides of these challenges - the participant and the coach - I started noticing patterns and realized it wasn’t something I wanted to perpetuate any longer as a professional in the fitness space. I experienced first-hand the pros of fitness challenges and understand how they can be helpful… but I could no longer ignore the cons.
Here are 5 ways fitness challenges can be harmful:
They Perpetuate Short-term Behavior Changes
30-day challenges, 6 week challenges, 75 day challenges… no matter the duration, the set time-frame makes you feel like you have to reach all your goals within that time-frame, and if you don’t… well, then what? Unfortunately for many, that can quickly turn into a snowball-effect of negative self talk: I failed. I didn’t try hard enough. Something must be wrong with me. When you don’t feel like you accomplished what you set out to do, it’s that much harder to stick with the changes you made even after the challenge is over (because why would you keep doing things that resulted in “failure,” right?). The thing is, those behavior changes didn’t result in failure. You most likely just needed more time to see the success. Even if you didn’t accomplish all your goals in 30 days, if you stick with those behavior changes for longer, you eventually WILL accomplish your goals.. It’s just going to take longer than you initially thought.
This is why realistic goal setting is so important. Maybe you have the long-term goal of losing 20lbs. Instead of setting out to lose that 20lbs in 30 days (which comes out to an average of 1.5lbs of weight loss per day😳), it’s much better to set a realistic goal of losing 0.5-1% of your bodyweight per week. For a 175lb person, that comes out to .8-1.75lbs per week, which means they could potentially lose 20lbs in 11-25 weeks or 3-6 months (dependent on overall consistency and adherence, of course). It’s way more realistic AND the strategies will also be more sustainable and enjoyable.
Check out this article by Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD from Precision Nutrition: Fat loss and muscle gain: What does realistic progress look like?
2. Challenge Prizes and Winners Encourages Extremes
Raise your hand if you’re competitive 🙋♀️
I get it, trust me. My competitiveness is what made me so successful at these fitness challenges. I refused to be outworked and the cash prize at the end of the 8 weeks was all a broke college student like me needed for motivation. I wanted to win and I’d do whatever it took to make that happen. I noticed the same competitiveness from people I coached during challenges, too. Even if you give someone a realistic goal like 20 minutes of cardio 3x per week, the highly competitive often do MORE than is necessary because they know the most drastic physical changes will be rewarded at the end. They want that jaw-dropping transformation photo. Before you know it, (3) 20 minute sessions of cardio per week becomes (6) 60 minutes sessions per week. 🙃 And that brings me to my next point…
3. Hyper-focused on Physical Transformations
If you don’t have a drastic before and after photo did you even do the challenge?! /s
It’s no surprise that before and after photos are POWERFUL. They’re a huge marketing tactic for personal trainers and fitness coaching businesses: “See?! I can help you get these results, too!” And I’m not taking away from anyone that has achieved a physical body transformation. Shoot, I even have myself. The harm in this hyper-focus on physical transformations during fitness challenges is that plenty of people who participate actually don’t achieve a drastic before and after. The problem with this is two-fold: 1) those who participate and don’t achieve a dramatic before and after photo have a hard time finding other ways they DID succeed and 2) dramatic before and afters create false promise because those who see them often think its a guarantee that “they can achieve this, too!”
And maybe they can. But when those dramatic before and afters are used to market a 6 week challenge and the transformation actually took 6 months… that’s a problem. Not to mention, there are SO MANY positive changes that one can achieve that have nothing to do with aesthetic body changes. Higher energy levels, lowered blood pressure, improved sleep quality, and increased confidence are just a few “transformations” that can’t be seen in a before and after photo.
4. Encourage All-or-Nothing Mindset
After being a coach for 8 years, this is one of the hardest mindsets to change. Not being able to complete ALL the workouts, missing a couple cardio sessions, and going out to dinner for a friend’s birthday are just a few reasons why people think they’ve failed during a fitness challenge. Since the time-frame is so limited, it creates even more pressure to complete EVERYTHING and do it all RIGHT or PERFECTLY. No days off. Never miss a workout. No eating out. These extremes are unrealistic for most people (unless you’re a competitive bodybuilder) and challengers often find themselves feeling like they have to choose between doing well in the challenge and showing up in their real life.
As someone who used to coach challengers in fitness challenges, I always made it my goal to let them know it was okay to take an extra rest day if they needed it or to enjoy a meal out 1-2x per week - what mattered was what they did MOST of the time. This definitely helped people not see things so black and white and understand they didn’t have to choose between a fit and healthy lifestyle and real life, but not all coaches operate this way.
MANY fitness coaches are still old school in their approach and make people feel like they have to choose between being fit and living a life they enjoy. With them, it’s all or nothing. I’ve worked with clients who’ve come to me after working with these types of extreme coaches and they’re always so relieved when they find out they’re not “in trouble” after enjoying a meal out with their friends.
5. Lack of Support AFTER the Challenge is Over
Congrats! You made it to the end of the challenge. You’ve lost some weight and now you get to lose the community and support you’ve had for the past month!
This might be the worst aspect of fitness challenges. You go from having so much support - a community cheering you on and often times a coach you’re checking in with each week for accountability - to having so little support as soon as the challenge is over. A supportive community and a qualified coach are both GREAT things that some challenges offer, but they’re temporary and when they’re gone, that’s when many people quit. It’s hard to make big life changes on your own without support, especially if you don’t have that support in your everyday life. Not checking in with a coach each week completely removes any level of external accountability you had before. Having people in the community tell you “great job getting a lift in!” or “your work ethic inspires me!” are great external motivators when our internal motivators are needing a boost. The loneliness after a challenge is over is real, and the desire to be included and surrounded by support once again is what keeps people signing up for challenges over and over and over…
So what’s the solution?
Joining a fitness challenge can be a great introduction to fitness for newbies and beginners, but I think we can glean the pros of fitness challenges and avoid the cons in two ways:
Join a Fitness Community
There are many fitness communities - both in person and online - that provide you with everything a fitness challenge does sans the icky stuff. You can have the support of likeminded people, a structured plan to follow, and external accountability and motivators without the short-term timelines and over-emphasis on drastic physical changes. Group fitness communities like Crossfit, F45, and Orangetheory are perfect examples of this.
Virtual fitness communities like BIA Athletic Club allow you to chose from 10+ workout programs that fit your personal goals (including strength goals and running goals), have the support of a community and a coach (ahem me😉), and receive weekly fitness and nutrition education so you’re not just being told what to do, but also learning the WHY behind it all. Joining an online fitness community is also often a lower cost way to receive quality training and support for an affordable monthly price (especially compared to in-person costs). Learn more about BIA Athletic Club here.
2. Hire a Coach
I may be biased, but I believe hiring a qualified coach is the best approach for any health and fitness goal you want to achieve. Your goals are personalized for you, you have someone to check-in with weekly who can answer your questions and truly cares about your success, and the focus is on changes that will challenge you, but ones that you can realistically commit to. No hard timelines. No pressure to “win” or achieve the craziest transformation. No more doing this all on your own. You’re on your own timeline and you have the biggest resource and supporter in your corner cheering you on and guiding you every step of the way (that’s the kind of coach I am, anyway😌).
The one barrier of hiring a coach for some is cost. However, I’d argue it’s better to invest and go about this the right way rather than throwing $200-$300 to a fitness challenge multiple times a year only to see minimal changes and sometimes end up worse off than you were before. The cheaper initial cost of a fitness challenge isn’t worth the long-term price of un-f*cking your mindset and time you’ll never get back.
Not all coaches are created equal, however, so make sure you do your research! It’s too easy for anyone to call themselves a fitness coach nowadays, especially with the pervasiveness of social media and insta-coaches. If qualifications and certifications are important to you, make sure the coach you want to hire has them and is current with their continuing education credits. Check out their client testimonials - what do people have to say about working with them? Do you and this coach align on basic principles? Don’t be afraid to ask questions and in a way “interview” them before you commit to working with them and spending your hard earned money.
And naturally, I will now plug my own services. If you have strength goals, running goals, body composition goals and want to work with a coach who is qualified and dedicated to your results, fill out my coaching application here and let’s talk. I pride myself on providing quality coaching at an affordable price. I’m looking forward to connecting!
If you made it this far, I hope you know I want the best for you!
If you feel you’ve outgrown fitness challenges, but aren’t sure what to do next, know that there’s a place for you. Whether it’s in my community or another, your love for fitness doesn’t end just because the challenge does.
