We live in a plumper land than what used to be. The Center for Disease Control reports that every state other than Colorado has a rate of obesity greater than 20%.  The thickening of an entire people raises some very serious questions about trends and causes. Are we stuffing our faces due to well-stocked grocery stores or are we just taking on more sedentary lifestyles because our chairs are just that much more comfortable than they once were? Or are trans fats and complex carbohydrates just too finger-licking good to step away from?
    We also live in a more synthetic land than what we once had. There are a plethora of devices we keep attached to our hips, tucked away in our backpacks, and even, in some cases, sequestered in our shoes.  For many, these devices have become every bit as essential to having before walking out the door as a pair of keys. Our increasingly techno-savvy and sophisticated society is taking the problem of obesity and giving it the technological solution - through the use of virtual communities in physical fitness.
    These virtual communities have grown from their origins as groups of people merely discussing personal tips and tricks on Usenet forums to vast virtual communities such as Crossfit.com where people across the nation hop onto the web, read the Workout of the Day (WOD) and proceed to do the workout. The exercises and rotations are selected by a professional and are discussed by a vast community of individuals who comment on intensity, compare style and strength, and attempt to spread information on physical fitness. Often, the gym culture seeps into the conversations taking place between members of the community. This crossover of the physical world and the technological world works in a number of functions. It  allows people who might otherwise be isolated from any sort of physical fitness culture to find comrades with which to share experiences and to motivate each other.
    Other examples of online virtual communities include the likes of mapmyrun.com. It uses the functionality of Google maps and forums to allow users to share their running routes with each other. Where running communities would often have to rely on word of mouth between a relatively small group of individuals, the internet provides a loudspeaker to these groups to share their successes and more interesting runs with each other.
    Ive found these sort of applications and communities to have an interesting effect on my life. The figures on the obese and overweight seem incredible to me. After immersing myself in these internet cultures devoted to physical fitness and sharing the fun of exercise, it seems like there are few that do not partake - even though that is not the case. Certainly though, the boom of fitness blogs and internet tools allow people to hop off their couches and perform an informed workout.  Before these virtual communities, the closest thing to a community workout came in the form of Richard Simmons workout tapes and Charles Atlas mail-ins. In its place, we have communities of amateurs and professionals mutually informing each other about how to be healthy in a cardiac arrest world.