For years the fitness landscape has been dominated by narratives of intensity, with optimum fitness only available to those who made the largest offering of sweat at the altar of effort.

Cultural focus on the relentless pace of modern life, narratives celebrating ‘hustle culture’, and ‘always on’ mindsets, have long framed intensity not just as desirable, but as a necessary approach for modern life in general. For ‘working out’, this focus is only magnified, in order to pack an impactful workout into a limited period of time, intensity is often presented as the only way to go.

This is clearly evidenced in the language and imagery used to market many workout classes, references to workouts that are “total-body”, “complete”, or “ultimate” communicate an all-body assault, while classes such as BodyCombat, BodyPump, or BodyAttack, all suggest aggressive efforts to destroy fat and physically recast the participant in the fires of workout intensity.Intensity is also a key code of self-guided wellness activities, Peloton bikes and apps like Strava for example, offer leaderboards, PB tracking, and a chance for public comparison, coding exercise as fundamentally competitive, and the pursuit of the greatest possible intensity of performance as the goal.

Increasingly however, alternatives are emerging that celebrate the value of low intensity and slowness as a route to broader wellbeing benefits.  

“Zone zero” exercise, is defined as exercise conducted at less than 50% of your maximum heartrate. This is a space of gentle strolls, working at a stand up desk, gentle yoga, household chores and even commuting (though the last of these has occasionally been known to incite heart rates above the 50% zone! ).

Activity in zone zero is proven to burn more fat than more intense practices which instead depend on burning more immediate sources of fuel such as sugars and carbohydrates, but low intensity exercise is also associated with more holistic benefits to our mental and social health.

Zone zero exercise is often more sustainable, and integrates more readily into our lived routines e.g fitting our working day, resulting in less disruption to our daily lives and the ability to build harmonious rituals that encourage consistency e.g. parking further from the office and walking the extra distance.

While less overtly an ‘event’ and therefore perhaps less obvious material for social media sharing, a number of wellness influencers are starting to share content concerning the benefits of low intensity exercise. Looking at the language used in these posts, references to “stress relief”, “nervous system” and “neurodivergent” identities, communicates the mental and sensory benefits of zone zero exercise, and promises a more holistic sense of benefit.Additionally, low intensity exercise is framed as being more contemplative, social, and as providing a space in which to find meaning in an increasingly hectic and seemingly superficial world. The growth of interest in recreational participation in ‘pilgrimages’ is an indicator of the desire for building deeper substance into wellness practices.  For instance, participation in the pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago is growing by 10% each year. The practice of Pilgrimage is no longer solely about religious observance, but it is associated more broadly with wellness narratives of personal growth and reflection. While of course it should be noted that the Camino de Santigo pilgrimage remains a significant physical undertaking, the ability to conduct it at a low intensity pace, opens up metaphorical space for contemplation and mental benefits.

The growth of these connotations is also reflected in in the media space, with programmes like the BBC’s Pilgrimage, in which participants with a variety of religious and political perspectives proactively connecting while vigorously walking, to enhance a sense of meaning and spiritual awakening.Of course spirituality is also inherent in a variety of other low intensity exercises such as yoga and pilates, which frequently make references to “philosophy”, “discipline”, “emotion’, and “sustainability”, and employs images connoting religious iconography.

These spiritual associations sit in stark contrast to the ‘intensity’ narratives of exercise brands that have tended to employ language and imagery that reduce wellness practices to a functional and joyless ‘grind’, with enjoyment deferred until some undefined future.

But we are now starting to see the incursion of spiritual language even into the space of intensity. In the communications for Hyrox for instance, references to “ritual”, “ceremony”, and “community” subtly allude to the values of spiritual nurture, in the context of an intense exercise practice, offering a possible route to embrace both physical and spiritual intensity.It is clear then, that the discourse concerning exercise is opening up in two key ways. First we have the shift away from intensity to embrace the value of zone zero exercise. While the second is a broader cultural focus on wellbeing as moving beyond the physical to embrace mental, social, and spiritual benefits. Exactly how these new narratives will co-exist in the future remains to be seen, but it is clear that the exercise space is undergoing significant cultural change, and brands active in this space will need to be culturally aware in order to navigate these changes, and take advantage of these new codes strategically and creatively for commercial benefit.

3 Key Takeaway’s for Brands:

  1. Narratives of Intensity have long been a persuasive way for brands to communicate impactful exercise, and can still be used by brands promoting physical wellbeing, but it is crucial to be aware that these narratives tend to frame the body as a machine, and overlook consumer emotional needs.

  2. Emergently, low intensity exercise is opening up space for the inclusion of emotional, social, and spiritual benefits within wellness discourses, and brands can lean into this language and visuals of this space to present a more holistic idea of wellness.

  3. We are slowly starting to see spiritual language moving into the intensity space, suggesting the possibility of communicating exercise that is both physically and spiritually intense.

Mark Lemon, Director

Walk on By: The rise of low intensity workouts and contemplative exercise