Sweating on purpose is becoming an elite phenomenon.In a darkened room at the edge of downtown Washington,D.C.,electronic music pulses over the speakers as a crowd of mostly sweaty young women bop up and down.Sadly,this is not a drug-fuelled rave,but rather a mid-afternoon spin class.It is run by Soul Cycle,which promotes the idea that riding an exercise bike to loud music is akin to entering a"soul sanctuary".The experience,involving awkwardly lifting weights while cycling,costs about S35 for 45 minutes,which does not deter its well-heeled customers."Some of the women pay a lot of money to go here,"says a staff member,her eyebrows raised.According to figures from the International Health,Racquet and Sportsclub Association,an industry group,gym members now number 54m,up from 45m in 2009.Twice as many Americans subscribe to gyms as in the mid-1990s.
有意流汗成为精英现象。在华盛顿哥伦比亚特区市郊一处幽暗的房间里，一群年轻女性跟着扬声器里传出的音乐节拍，又蹦又跳，挥汗如雨。遗憾的是，它不是一场药物刺激下的狂欢，而是斯宾课的下午场。这是一节由激情单车工作室开办的动感单车课程，其推广的运营理念是：在高亢激昂的音乐下骑行，就好比参加了一次“灵魂救赎营”的集训。一节课程通常是45分钟，单次收费为35美元，骑车的同时还需要做一些笨拙的拉举动作，但这并不会阻止那些高端消费者纷纷加入。“有些女性为了来这里花了很多钱。”一位工作人员扬着眉毛说道。根据行业组织国际健康及运动俱乐部协会的数据显示，健身俱乐部会员现已达到5 400万，超出2009年的4 500万，是20世纪90年代中期美国人报名参加健身俱乐部的两倍。
