{"id":41285,"date":"2015-06-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/how-much-we-pay-to-stay-fit\/"},"modified":"2015-06-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-06-29T00:00:00","slug":"how-much-we-pay-to-stay-fit","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/how-much-we-pay-to-stay-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much We Pay to Stay Fit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How much does it cost Americans to stay fit? Here are some stats to prove that we often go all out to keep our bodies in shape:<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\t<li>69 million Americans have a gym membership.<\/li>\n\n\t<li>Health clubs rake in $30.6 billion per year in revenues.<\/li>\n\n\t<li>The average cost per person for a membership is $58.<\/li>\n\n\t<li>Among gym users, 16.8 percent (ages 18-34), 26.2 percent (ages 35-44), 28 percent (ages 45-54) use personal trainers, and the total income for personal trainers was $3.3 billion in 2021 (latest figures available).<\/li>\n\n\t<li>Americans also spend upwards of $87.8 billion a year on athletic apparel.<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Editor&rsquo;s Note: These statistics were the best available as of 11\/2024.<\/p>\n\n<p><em>Possible Preaching Angles:<strong> Spiritual disciplines; Spiritual growth; Spiritual formation<\/strong>&mdash;In contrast, how much do we pay and how much effort do we put into our spiritual fitness?<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[410],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3726,3778,3794,3913,3994,4488,4708,5043,5046,5049,5305],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-41285","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-culture","tax_ctp_tags-devotions","tax_ctp_tags-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-exercise","tax_ctp_tags-fitness","tax_ctp_tags-money","tax_ctp_tags-priorities","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-discipline","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-formation","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-growth","tax_ctp_tags-worship"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Much We Pay to Stay Fit - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/how-much-we-pay-to-stay-fit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Much We Pay to Stay Fit - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How much does it cost Americans to stay fit? 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