Now it’s a health club feeding America’s fitness mania

Once upon a time there was a unique bookstore in my neighborhood. The store had two levels, comfortable seating in the reading nooks, an escalator that offered great views of the store from the top floor, and a coffee shop accessible from a side door next to the recorded music section.

That bookstore no longer exists, the victim of expiring rent subsidies and amazon.com. In its place is a large commercial fitness center. As is typical with fitness centers, the place is fatter this month — its population expanded by the “newbies,” those individuals who join gyms in January after making a soon-to-be forgotten resolution about “getting in shape.”

The business model of such centers is odd. They rely on a rush of individuals joining in January, giving up a bank account or credit card number for automatic monthly billing, working out religiously for a few months and then becoming an exercise atheist by stopping to show up — but not canceling the monthly fee being deducted from their account. Gyms rely on more than half of the people who join the rest of the year to do the same thing. Join, pay and don’t come.

The number of gyms and gym memberships is at an all-time high. The number of exercise classes being taught in those fitness facilities has never been more varied or higher in number. Also at an all-time high — the obesity level in America. In November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the obesity level in America had reached 36 percent.

The reasons for the obesity rise are varied. There is obviously no correlation between gyms, gym memberships and a decreasing obesity rate. That’s because, among the regular users of fitness facilities, a high percentage of them are afflicted by Fat Aerobics Instructor Syndrome, an unpleasant term coined by the creator of one of the biggest-selling body-building supplements of all time. What it means is simple: The more of a certain activity you do, the more efficient your body gets doing it and the fewer calories it takes to do it. Without changing the activity, intensity level or calorie consumption, a healthy individual tends to gain weight. After a certain birthday, calories ingested — not time spent in the gym — is the leading determinant of one’s weight.

Equal to the percentage of Americans who don’t have enough physical activity in their lives is the percentage who are “exercise bulimic.” These are the people who are in the gym — to paraphrase the Beatles — eight days a week. They have a schedule: biceps and back three days a week, triceps and chest three days a week, legs twice a week, cardiovascular four times a week, standing around and talking to their gym friends — every day. Who knows what businesses these bulimics don’t start, what education and insights they miss out on, what cultural and artistic events they pass up and what personal and family connections are left unattended — all because of that Body Pump or Spinning class that can’t be missed or because it’s “lat” day.

One of my favorite exercise bulimia stories concerns a friend. He wanted to travel but didn’t want to endure the 20-plus-hour flight to Asia or the joy of visiting a Third World Latin American country. He didn’t get into exercise until he was older, having begun regular workouts in his home gym with his personal trainer after years of cigarettes and heavy alcohol use.

I had to take an eight-day trip to Rome and Berlin. I told my friend about the short flight and the two great cities we would be seeing. He immediately signed on and, because he is Italian, was excited to see Rome.

Three days later, my friend called and announced he couldn’t go on the trip. When I asked the reason, he replied, “Because my trainer said I’ll miss too many workouts.” (And may a 45-pound Universal plate fall on my head if I’m embellishing.) My friend isn’t the only one with that backward thinking.

The main reason the human body burns calories is not to stay on the elliptical for an hour, do spinning class or do three sets of 10 reps of anything. The main calorie user is to keep our body temperature constant. Weather, wind and darkness permitting, the best workout may be bundling up in layers, covering your ears and neck and going outside for a long walk or bike ride.

Walking or cycling on a brisk day provides good physical activity, a great post-activity feeling, and nobody is taking money from your bank account.

Ken Kaszak works in finance and the arts in Pittsburgh (www.valuekaszak.com). He also is the author of “Cut Your Calories — Now!!”