Mindset trends in the fitness world

Historically, fitness has been the celebration of the six pack, of a lean bikini body and of outstanding performances. Then a few years ago there was a shift towards an indulgent, new approach that seemed to be all about accepting your body how it is. But fitness is not about sitting back and doing nothing.

When I got into the world of fitness (a long time ago) the health and fitness scene was simply about training really hard and doing whatever it takes to make progress.

In more recent years this has shifted towards listening to your body and understanding your needs, as well as anti-dieting, intuitive eating, anti-criticism, curve-worshipping trends. Although there is nothing wrong with any of these approaches it seems (to me) that these trends have become a bit over accepting, over relaxed and over advertised. Of course, as long as someone is happy in his/her skin it’s all good but at the end of the day fitness is about being FIT. That is a state that requires healthy self-criticism, discipline and effort.
The fitness world finally has a new direction. Now what I see is an emphasis on health, wellbeing, and the idea that nutrition and exercise can add to your life. It is more about being healthy and feeling good - the celebration of athletics/performance but in a positive, exciting way, focusing on progress and self-development. Health and body image in the form of feeling confident, strong, energetic and productive. Realistic but not overly forgiving expectations towards ourselves, aiming for a condition where the body functions at its best while maintaining a lifestyle that challenges yet pleases us. That sounds much, much better. And I think all of should follow this direction and aim for a better version of ourselves. Do you agree?