You’re taking a mirror selfie in Equinox. Your biceps are bulging and your glutes are looking strong. Your abs are defined (you’ve taken your top off, natch), so much so you could bounce a penny off them. You look good; feel good. But there, in the corner of your eye, is a treadmill — mocking you, taunting you. You see it and a shudder runs up your spine. It’s a foreign object, untouched and feared.
If this sounds familiar, you may be Hot Girl Fit.
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♬ original sound - Sony Pictures Ireland
Never heard of it? The term has hit the mainstream thanks to the film Anyone But You, starring Sydney Sweeney as Bea and Glen Powell as finance bro Ben, and sends up those gym hotties who have a 10-pack but curiously can’t manage the slightest bit of cardio. Hot Girl Fit is not a new or rare phenomenon. ‘Most guys have this issue,’ says Will McLaren, head coach at Chelsea studio KXU. ‘It’s like having a Ferrari chassis with a Fiat engine.’
So next time you consider skipping cardio day in favour of yet another upper body session, think again. ‘Being muscular fit and cardiovascular or respiratory fit are two different fitness metrics and require different training styles,’ explains fitness coach Maximus Mears. ‘Just lifting weights won’t work your heart in the right zones or for long enough to actually improve your fitness.’ The term is likely born out of the idea of Lululemon-clad ladies who lunch publicising their performative fitness to paid-for followers. It’s not exactly conducive to activities that require stamina or endurance.
Diverse training programmes are essential, so you’re not left red-faced or struggling to stay afloat. ‘What’s the point of looking like a Spartan if you can’t act like one?’ McLaren concludes. ‘It gives me the ick.’
