Exercise is a difficult thing to politicize. Protein powder, pre-workout and creatine do not come with a party label. Working out is objectively, universally good for you — regardless of your political alignment.
However, a growing trend in recent years has been the association between fitness and political conservatism. Far-right influencers like Andrew Tate post obsessively about working out as a path to becoming an “alpha male.” A young faction of Trump supporters heads the Make America Hot Again movement, touting the importance of physical fitness. A recent New York Times article was initially titled “A Progressive Mind in a MAGA Body.” The “MAGA body” in question is that of progressive Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who regularly posts about fitness as well as his political views. The article implies Piker’s focus on weightlifting is a subversive, “MAGA” characteristic for an otherwise left-leaning man.
Associating working out with holding MAGA beliefs is dangerous. It gives the “gym bro” community a needlessly negative connotation. The objectively healthy practice of weightlifting should not have a political undercurrent. More importantly, it pushes people, especially young men, who are organically interested in fitness towards regressive belief systems.
Boys and young men who are simply interested in lifting weights can become easily sucked into the “manosphere” and Trump content. When people on the left imply that being into fitness is right-wing, this makes the problem worse.
Exercise is for everyone. We must reject right-wing narratives that claim conservatives have a monopoly on it. We must undo the social media echo chambers that drive radicalization.
Online pipelines
It is well-studied that online algorithms reinforce existing political ideas, leading to echo chambers. Less discussed is the way algorithms can pull people from their apolitical hobbies into rabbit holes of radicalization.
This happens with video games, as YouTube goes from recommending gaming content to content associated with the alt-Right. Something similar is happening with fitness content.
A 2024 study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found that women seeking information about health and wellness on Instagram were directed toward sites that promote election denialism. For men, seeking fitness information seamlessly transitions to recommendations for right-wing or manosphere influencers.
Take the Fresh & Fit podcast, which began by posting videos about subjects like body recomposition. The channel now specializes in videos with titles like “Why Women are UNABLE To Give Men Guidance!”
Popular YouTuber Hamza Ahmed posts what seems like straightforward fitness guides. Someone interacting with his fitness content would quickly be funneled toward his blatant misogynist videos, such as “The Lie of Female Empowerment.”
The issue progressives are pointing out is not, as Joe Rogan said, that we think “being healthy is far-right.” The issue is that people interested in becoming healthy are instead being directed toward misogynistic and radical creators like Sneako, Adin Ross and Andrew Tate.
Needed cultural shifts
Some perceptions that mistake fitness for being inherently right-wing are perpetuated by progressives themselves. This is something we must work on from within. In several instances, online progressives or self-identified leftists have been outright hostile towards the idea of working out.
In early 2024, a somewhat infamous Twitter thread sparked discourse among left-leaning members of the site. A user who tweeted, “Leftists should be working out 4-5 times a week … you can control for the most part how you move your body and when and to what end. Use that. Focus on what you can control,” was met with a slew of responses calling them conservative.
Articles like “Getting fit is great — but it could turn you into a right-wing jerk” and the VICE‘s “Gym Bros More Likely to be Right-Wing Assholes, Science Confirms” does not help our case.
We must remember that an activity being associated with “bro” culture does not make it bad. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don’t bash useful lifestyle choices just because they give you something in common with a frat guy.
Fitness culture has its problems, but its basic tenets keep you alive longer, stop your bones from snapping as easily and are incredible for mental health.
Many factors of public health are systemic, but at the most basic level, we have autonomy over how we move. This should always be encouraged.
On influence
Having progressive creators who overlap with or are in the fitness scene can help make a dent in this phenomenon.
This point is best exemplified by Piker. As mentioned, he posts extensively about his day-to-day lifestyle, along with his politics. He’s collaborated with top fitness influencers like sports scientist Dr. Mike Israetel and he’s incredibly popular, with 4.5 million combined followers on YouTube and Twitch.
There is a lot of passive disdain for Piker in certain, usually very online, left-leaning spaces. I hear him described as performative, abrasive and a stereotypical man.
It’s fine not to personally enjoy creators like Piker. Still, it’s important to remember that Piker has an audience that is mostly young and 70% male. At a time when young men are flocking to the right, playing a key part in Donald Trump retaking the White House in 2024, this is of crucial importance.
The left has a figure that is wildly successful and actively appealing to young men. That is something we should be observing and taking careful notes on.
Hasan Piker’s appeal lies broadly in the fact that he seems like a fun, normal person. He has what the NYT describes as “jock insurance.”
To convince people of your worldview, you have to meet them where they’re at. This means meeting some people at their interests in fitness, or video games, or podcasts or styles of comedy you might find abrasive. We’d benefit from taking a second to think before we dismiss creators like Piker for, in essence, being different than ourselves.
“Gym culture” is undergirded by ideals of self-actualization, relentless work and strength in strength. These are ideas that are easily co-opted by right-wing interests. However, this does not need to be the case.
Those on the left can, and should, embrace these ideals as our own. The gym and the community surrounding it are good things. Exercise is incredible for the body and mind.
In any left-leaning fitness group, the phrase “A fascist worked out today. Did you?” gets thrown around quite a bit. It would do us well to bring these sentiments into the mainstream.
