Homo sapiens history can be characterized as illusionary because of emotions , needs and irrationality.Therefore, humans have been easy victims as numerous individuals have exploited the human weakness and strength of these emotions , needs and wishes . There have been an exorbitant number of Pied Pipers with too many to name. My critique of an article titled “These Workouts Build a Competitive Mind-Set” found in the July 12, 2026 edition of the New York Times follows .
Recently, a fitness company called Xenom was founded by an individual who previously was a cofounder of a publicity firm promoting fitness races in Germany. His current venture promotes “it’s about making you feel like a superstar, like the athlete you know you are inside.”
Xenom is derived from the Greek word Exos and translates as strange or foreign . Participation in this two day program includes 10 events - barbell lifts, a 3 km run, gymnastics ,handstand push-ups and pull-ups . According to the article, nearly 2 dozen men that included software engineers, salesmen, retired police officers and dads in their 40s took part.
This company uses many of the workouts from CrossFit, an official partner. The founder raised 15 million in capital , primarily from the technology investment firm operated by the former Disney chair Jeffrey Katzenberg. At the moment, about 2 million people work out in CrossFit’s worldwide network of almost 10,000 gyms and another 2 million readily put themselves through CrossFit inspired workouts according to the article .
The real purpose of this company is to deceive ordinary workout characters and have them believe they are pros .The illusion is to have them thinking they are Olympians or gladiators, if only for a couple days. This promoter spent more than $1 million for his illusionary charade that was held in Frisco, Texas.The cost to participate was $500. Promotionally, a number of people received their entry fee in a giveaway. One Air Force Senior Master Sgt. said, “I think I'll do it again, but I’m not sure I'll pay 500 bucks.”
According to the article, there were two CrossFit individuals competing in an elite division. There was no mention of the criteria for an elite division or other divisions . Were there divisions according to age, gender and /or weight ?
Clearly, the company’s profit motive is supreme. For the participants, they might have met their ego needs of exhibition ,achievement, abasement and affiliation. Hopefully , their mental and physical health and pocketbook won’t suffer in the process. Working out and participating with their definition of a “pro” is supposed to do what ?
The promoter is appealing to Individuals that are supposedly wishing to boost their self-esteem needs within their narcissism. Participating in this two day competitive exercise program with strangers is supposed to boost what? If you think you’re going to become a superstar ,because of entering this event ,you’re deceiving yourself .It’s just another illusion.
Illusions are wish fulfillments that are compensations for childhood or infantile emotions of weakness ,insecurity and/or helplessness .Thinking that you are receiving narcissistic satisfaction and believing you’re a superstar in this venue is nonsense .
Illusions are attempts at compensating for one’s inadequacies. They are not based on fact , scientific evidence or in this case Self-concept research. Self-esteem is based on a number of factors during development and experience. Goals, expectancies ,level of aspiration , achievement and success or failure contributes to self-esteem development. One isolated experience ,in adulthood ,does not modify one's self-esteem. Of course, one can very easily be duped by some external source that intends to take advantage of an individual’s emotions , impulses, needs and weakness .
For instance, an amateur or CrossFit “Pro” running on a track with Jakob Ingebrigtsen would not only be embarrassing but would also be a threat to hIs self-esteem and reinforce his inadequacy as would attempting to keep up with Brenen Thompson of the San Diego Chargers.
Attend any sporting event with the parent and their son. Watch the unnecessary involvement , body motions and verbalization taking place as their son participates. Parents have been known to verbally and physically attack the referee while supposedly protecting their son from some call. And, parents pay exorbitant amounts for their children’s pay to play for club sports along with their own enmeshment. Essentially,the parents are reliving and attempting to compensate for their own inadequacies when they were competing participants. They’re just projecting and displacing their emotions inappropriately.
This promoter’s statements about making one feel like a superstar is a promotional illusion. He has no evidence to support that erroneous statement. Is his motivation purely greed or is it a combination of greed and ignorance? With capitalism and its promotions , it is not unusual to detect the real motivation. In capitalism ,the motivation is profit.
Additionally, intrinsic motivation is more healthy than extrinsic motivation. For example, when I ran The Western States 100, I was not competing against Scott Jurek, Tom Johnson ,Jim Howard or Tim Twietmeyer. I accepted the challenge and was competing with myself. My self-esteem and self-worth was developed as a consequence of previous achievements,mastery ,self-confidence ,status ,dominance and recognition. I essentially was pleased and clearly added another achievement or another medal to my collection.
A more realistic claim about competing in an athletic event is to state that proper nutrition,strength training and aerobic activities are associated with numerous benefits that include enhanced immune system, improved memory and cognitive function, enhanced sexual functions, Increased rate of healing as well as living a more productive and healthier life . In fact, I provided seven prescriptions for a better lifestyle in”It Has Nothing To Do With Age” that was based on the stories of driven athletes competing in extraordinary sports and who were at least 65 years of age and older.
Reference
Coopersmith, Stanley. The Antecedents of Self-esteem.
