We’re not weight loss centres, but we help people lose weight

I was left very frustrated after watching the recent BBC documentary The Men Who Made Us Thin.

First of all, I felt the reporter seemed to have it in for the gym business in this very one-sided, confusing report. The reporter was trying to get across the point that exercise was not at all effective as a way of losing weight or preventing obesity. Is the BBC saying that doing no exercise will in fact make you thinner? I think a response to the report by the fitness industry is needed, so we can give our side of the story.

The government on the one hand spends millions of pounds on TV ads telling us all to get more active, to help prevent us getting fatter as a nation, and then the BBC comes up with a documentary that tells us not to bother, and that exercise doesn’t work in the battle against weight loss.

As those of us in the fitness industry have realised for some time now,  exercise is not the magic bullet to weight loss – of course exercise will not bring about weight loss without some control of calorific intake. However, for the vast majority of normal people working out in our clubs, their daily workout expends an important amount of calories, helping them to maintain an energy balance which in turn keeps their weight constant – which in turn helps protect their health.

No wonder the public are confused! We, as a industry, need to respond to this kind of journalism.

Rod Hill, Director, Anytime Fitness Iberia