by West African discovers Americans pay to exercise after driving everywhere
The Gym Industrial Complex Nobody Questions
DENVER, CO – When Musa Kamara first saw Americans driving to gyms to walk on treadmills, he thought he was witnessing some kind of elaborate practical joke. Six months later, he’s realized this is not only serious but considered normalpossibly even admirable. “You drive your car to a building where you pay money to walk in place,” the 29-year-old from Sierra Leone said slowly, making sure he understood his own sentence. “Then you drive home and complain you don’t have time to exercise. I’m not crazy, right? This is crazy?”
In Freetown, Kamara walked everywhereto work, to the market, to visit friendsburning thousands of calories weekly without paying anyone for the privilege. In Denver, his coworkers drive three blocks to the gym, pay $60 monthly to walk on machines that go nowhere, then drive home and post about their “fitness journey” on Instagram. “The journey is from your car to the treadmill and back,” Kamara observed. “That’s not a journey. That’s a very expensive circle.”
When Exercise Requires Membership Fees and Parking
According to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, Americans spend over $35 billion annually on gym memberships, with 67% of memberships going unused. Kamara did the math on his coworker Brad: $70 monthly for a gym Brad visits twice a month, meaning each workout costs $35 plus the gas to drive there. “Back home, we call this ‘burning money,'” Kamara explained. “You’re literally paying to do something you could do for free outside, using your legs, which came with your body at no extra charge.”
Jim Gaffigan said, “I know I’m out of shape when I’m driving and I see someone jogging and I’m jealous that they’re sitting down.” Brad knows he’s out of shape but somehow thinks the solution involves paying monthly fees to access equipment that simulates the outdoor walking he could do for free. When Kamara suggested Brad could just walk outside, Brad looked confused and said, “But what about my steps?” while wearing a $400 smartwatch that tracks steps he could count with his brain.
The Treadmill That Costs More Than His Cousin’s House
Kamara’s neighbor recently bought a Peloton treadmill for $4,000more than Kamara’s entire family earned in six months back home. “It’s a treadmill,” he repeated to himself for several days, unable to process it. “That connects to the internet. So you can watch someone tell you to walk faster. On a machine. In your house. That you paid $4,000 for. When outside is free and has actual scenery that changes.” His neighbor explained the Peloton has “community features.” Kamara suggested walking in the actual community would also have community features, like community.
Dave Chappelle said, “Modern problems require modern solutions.” Americans’ modern problem is they’ve engineered movement out of their lives. Their modern solution is paying thousands to add it back artificially. Kamara’s free solutionwalking to places you need to go anywayis somehow considered “too hard” by people who wake up at 5am to drive to gyms to climb fake stairs.
The cognitive dissonance reached its peak when Brad complained about gas prices while driving 2 miles to the gym to ride a stationary bike for 30 minutes, then driving home. “You biked to nowhere while burning gas to get there,” Kamara pointed out. “If you’d ridden an actual bike to an actual place, you would’ve gotten exercise AND accomplished transportation. Instead, you spent money on gas to spend time exercising that accomplished nothing except making you tired in a building.” Brad said Kamara “didn’t understand fitness culture.” Kamara thinks fitness culture doesn’t understand efficiency or irony.
When Walking Outside Becomes Revolutionary
Kamara walks 45 minutes to work each morningfree exercise, free transportation, free vitamin D. His coworkers think he’s training for something. “Training for what?” he asked. “Life? Walking to places? The radical act of using my legs?” One coworker expressed concern for his “safety” walking in Denverone of America’s safest cities. That same coworker pays $85 monthly for CrossFit where she deliberately lifts heavy objects repeatedly until she’s exhausted. “One is dangerous, one is exercise,” Kamara marveled. “I can’t tell which is which.”
Chris Rock said, “You know you’re getting old when you’re at the grocery store and you hear a song you used to party to.” Kamara knows Americans are disconnected when they pay to walk on treadmills facing walls inside gyms while outsidewhere walking is freesits unused. His revolutionary suggestion: “What if you just… walked? Outside? To places?” His coworkers looked at him like he’d suggested communicating via smoke signals.
The Gym With More Equipment Than His Village Has Tools
Kamara’s gym tour (his coworker insisted) revealed 47 different machines, all designed to simulate activities humans used to do naturally. “This one simulates rowing,” the guide explained. “We have a river,” Kamara replied. “This one simulates climbing stairs.” “We have stairs.” “This simulates hiking uphill.” “Colorado has actual hills. I can see them from here. They’re free.” The guide smiled patiently. “But this is controlled environment with AC and WiFi.” Kamara left wondering when comfort became more important than common sense.
Bill Burr said, “I’m not going to apologize for being right.” Kamara’s not apologizing for finding American fitness culture absurd. People pay $100 monthly to access weights they could replicate with furniture, treadmills that simulate the sidewalk outside, and pools that are less convenient than public pools. “You’ve monetized movement,” he concluded. “You removed it from daily life, then sold it back as ‘fitness.’ This is the greatest scam I’ve ever seen, and everyone’s participating willingly.”
His favorite gym absurdity: people driving in circles for 10 minutes searching for parking spots closest to the gym entrance to minimize walking to their workout. “You’re trying to walk less before walking more,” Kamara observed. “This is meta-laziness. You’ve layered your convenience so thick you can’t see the contradiction anymore.” His coworkers don’t see contradictionsthey see parking strategy.
When Fitness Becomes Performance Not Function
Last week, Kamara watched his neighbor leave for the gym at 6am, drive 15 minutes, work out for 45 minutes, shower, drive home, and arrive back at 8am. “You spent 2 hours and $3 in gas to exercise for 45 minutes,” Kamara calculated. “If you’d walked anywhere for 2 hours, you would’ve gotten more exercise, saved money, and actually gone somewhere. But instead you went in a circlephysically and philosophically.”
Amy Schumer said, “I’m not saying I’m lazy, I’m saying I’m energy efficient.” Americans aren’t energy efficientthey’re efficiency-confused. They’ll meal prep for hours to save time during the week, but won’t walk 20 minutes to save gym membership fees. They’ll wake up early for fitness classes but won’t take stairs. They’ll track every calorie burned but won’t consider that parking farther away burns calories. The efficiency is performative, not practical.
The Personal Trainer Who Costs More Than His Mother’s Monthly Salary
Brad recently hired a personal trainer for $80 per session to teach him how to… exercise. “You’re paying someone to tell you to move your body,” Kamara summarized. “Your body came with movement instructions built in. You know how to walk. You know how to lift things. You learned this as a baby for free. Now you’re paying $80 per hour for someone to remind you.” Brad explained his trainer provides “accountability.” Kamara suggested being broke might also provide accountability, but Brad wasn’t interested in free financial motivation.
Kevin Hart said, “Everybody wants to be famous, but nobody wants to do the work.” Everybody wants to be fit, but nobody wants to just… move more throughout the day. They want it scheduled, coached, monitored, posted on social media, and ideally validated by strangers. Fitness isn’t about health anymoreit’s about identity. You’re not just exercisingyou’re a gym person. That identity costs $70 monthly plus $80 per training session plus $400 in gym clothes plus gas plus time. Being healthy never costs so much.
The breaking point came when Kamara’s coworker complained she “doesn’t have time to exercise” while scrolling through Instagram watching other people exercise at gyms. “You have time,” Kamara said. “You’re using it right now. You just don’t want to walk to places or take stairs or move naturally. You want scheduled exercise that counts as exercise. Walking to work doesn’t count because it’s functional. It has to be pointless to count.” She said he didn’t understand. He definitely understandsthat’s the problem.
When Fake Movement Costs Real Money
Kamara’s investigation revealed Americans spend an average of $155 monthly on fitnessmemberships, classes, equipment, apps, clothesto compensate for lives designed around sitting. “You built cities where you have to drive everywhere, then invented an industry to sell back the movement you removed,” he marveled. “This isn’t fitness cultureit’s fitness capitalism. You’re paying to fix a problem you created and calling it wellness.”
Trevor Noah said, “In Africa, walking is life.” Kamara agrees: “Here, walking is a workout. You’ve turned basic human movement into optional paid activity. My grandmother walks 5 miles dailyto the market, to church, to visit neighbors. She’s 72 and healthier than Americans half her age who pay for gym memberships they don’t use. The difference? She moves because she has to. You don’t move because you don’t have to. Then you pay to move artificially. Then you don’t go. Then you wonder why you’re tired all the time.”
When asked if he’ll ever join a gym, Kamara laughed while walking home from work, getting free exercise while accomplishing transportation and saving $70 monthly. “Why would I?” he asked. “I walk everywhere. I take stairs. I carry groceries. I move like humans evolved to moveconstantly, functionally, freely. You people have turned movement into a luxury good that requires membership fees and parking. Back home, we’d look at your treadmills and ask ‘Why don’t you just walk outside?’ Here, when I ask that, people look at me like I’m crazy. The real crazy is paying $60 monthly to walk nowhere while free walking is everywhere. But sure, I’m the crazy one for using my legs like legs instead of paying someone else permission to use them on their schedule.”
SOURCE: Bohiney Magazine (Aisha Muharrar)
DATE: 11/10/2025
