The Current Fitness Crisis

Reading time: approx. 7 minutes

Hey Brothers! 

Welcome to LenDentonThrive Letter #65!

The mission of the LenDentonThrive Letter is to provide you with practical, science-backed information and strategies that help you lose weight, get fit, and stay fit… all in a smarter, not harder way. 

This edition of the LDT Letter contains both bad news and good news. We’ll start with the bad news, and quickly move to the good news. 

The Current Fitness Crisis

We are living in what should be the Golden Age of American Fitness. 

• There is a gym or fitness center in practically every strip mall in America. Many of them are open 24 hours a day. 

• Our universities graduate tens of thousands of new dieticians and nutritionists every year. 

• Our grocery stores are stocked full of food products labeled as low-fat and healthy foods. 

• On the web, we have access to millions of hours of content showing us how to exercise and eat to achieve optimal health. 

• We have amazing technologies to constantly measure and track our exercise, our heart rate, and even our sleep.

• Americans spend more than $30+ billion a year on health and fitness-related products.

Yet, despite all of this, American men are facing a health crisis!

• The obesity rate among American men is at an all-time high (over 40%) and increasing rapidly.

• Incidence rates of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and dementia are at an all-time high.

• Life expectancy for American men has declined from 76.3 years in 2011 to 74.8 years in 2023.

I call this the American Fitness Paradox because, at a time when we have all of these tools to help us become healthier, we are quickly becoming less healthy and living shorter lives!

Where Did This Go Wrong?

How did we get here? America is perhaps the wealthiest nation on Earth. Yet, we rank behind most of the other wealthy nations when it comes to our overall health.

Is it because we are lazy and don’t care about our health and fitness? Not hardly!

I think there are 3 primary reasons that American men are experiencing the fitness crisis we're seeing today.  Let’s look deeper at each one.

#1…Big Food

The chief culprit behind our current fitness crisis is our everyday diet. I call it the Standard American Diet, and it is slowly killing us!

The Standard American Diet is primarily made up of food products produced by giant American food corporations, which seem to be more focused on repeat buying and profit margins than selling healthy products. The majority of these products are categorized as Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs). These are typically multi-ingredient food products that are engineered to taste good while being inexpensive to produce. They typically contain hidden sugars, unhealthy oils, fillers, chemical preservatives, and stabilizers. 

UPFs are many of the familiar boxes, cans, and brands that we all grew up eating. The list of UPFs is too long to include here, but I’m sure that you’re aware of some common examples:

• Frozen pizzas and meals

• Breakfast cereals

• Sugary soft drinks and fruit drinks

• Most breads, cakes and pastries

 Today, the average American gets more than 50% of their daily calories from UPFs (See Figure 1).

#2…Conflicting information

There is so much fitness information available to us through the press, the internet, and social media. The problem is that much of the information is contradictory, leaving us without a clear path for action.

What is the right solution? What is the best exercise for abs? Should I eat low-fat, low-carb, paleo, or carnivore? Which is better - heavy weightlifting or High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). 

Well, in this age of information overload, it all depends on who you ask!

#3 Big Fitness

As I noted above, fitness is a $30 billion industry in America. And, big business needs to sell you something! 

Corporate Fitness has a product for you! But, is it the right product for you? 

Industry statistics say NO! January is typically a big month for gym and health club memberships. However, gym attendance usually declines dramatically by the end of February as new members fall back into their old habits and avoid the gym.

Why does this happen consistently year after year?

Because that gym membership was not the right solution for every one of the guys that dropped out. 

Despite the slick advertising and beautiful facilities, the drop-outs needed a different solution. The one-size-fits-all product wasn’t the right product!

What To Do Instead

Does any of this ring true for you? 

Have you tried to become more fit and just failed? Does it seem too complicated to start? Do you think you’re too far along to change your outcome? Are you just too busy?

Ten years ago, at age 56, I was that “too busy guy.”  I was 70 pounds overweight with a cholesterol reading that was through the roof. At my annual check-up, my doctor told me that I was a poster child for a heart attack or stroke! That got my attention because both my dad and my little brother suffered fatal heart attacks in their 30s!

I knew that I needed to change, and I did!

I lost 70 pounds in just 7 months. My cholesterol went down by 80 points. Today, at 66, I’m lighter, stronger, and healthier than I was ten years ago.

I didn’t diet…I didn’t hit the weights or go to the gym… I didn’t run a single step!

Here’s what I did instead. I started a routine that involved doing 5 simple things every day that dramatically changed my health and fitness. It made a big difference in just 30 days. From there, it was easy to see the results coming through so I just kept going. 

I call this The Too-Busy Guy’s Guide to Health and Fitness, and I’ve written about it extensively here.

To give you a preview, here’s a quick summary of the 5 steps:

Step 1 - Get a check-up: start here to find out what might be slowly working to kill you prematurely. This single step saved my life. It might save yours, too. After the initial visit, it will cost you zero minutes a day!

Step 2 - Eat Smarter: don’t diet! But, do change the way you eat. I’ll show you how to do it without hunger or deprivation. You will change the way you look, the way you feel, how healthy you are, and how long you’ll live if you can change the way you eat. It’s that powerful! Remember, your weight loss battle will be won in the kitchen, not the gym! Learn more on Eating Smarter here.

Step 3 - Weigh-in Daily: There is real science behind this. If you don’t measure it, you can’t manage it!

Step 4 - Get Your Daily Steps: motion is essential. Learn how Zone 2 cardio is the key to rapid weight and fat loss. Save the gym for later. Trust me on this one!

Step 5 - Get Better Sleep: sleep is the super-drug of longevity and cognitive health! Most guys are getting way too little sleep. 

This is the smarter, not harder way to lose weight, get fit, and stay fit for the rest of your life. You don’t need crazy diets, punishing workouts, or expensive memberships to reach your goals. Just start with these five steps and follow me for more.

Thanks for stopping by.

Smarter, not harder.

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