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United States: Inequality and exercise Spin to separate
美國：不平等與運動健身，分道揚鑣
Sweating on purpose is becoming an elite phenomenon.
有意流汗成為精英現象。
In a darkened room at the edge of downtown Washington, DC, electronic music pulses over the speakers as a crowd of mostly sweaty young women bop up and down.
在華盛頓特區市中心的邊緣，幽暗的房間里電子音樂沖擊著揚聲器，一大群汗流浹背的女孩隨音樂起起伏伏地跳著。
Candles burn at the front and inspirational slogans cover the walls.
前面點著蠟燭，墻上掛著勵志標語。
Sadly, this is not a drug-fuelled rave, but rather a mid-afternoon spin class.
悲哀的是，它不是一場藥物刺激下的狂歡，而是斯賓課（spin class）的下午場。
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”.
這是一節由SoulCycle開辦的動感單車課程，他推廣的運營理念是在激烈音樂下騎行，就好比參加了次“靈魂救贖營”集訓。
The experience, which also involves awkwardly lifting weights while cycling, costs about $35 for 45 minutes.
一節課程45分鐘，騎車同時可能還需要做一些笨拙地拉舉動作，單次收費在35美元。
This 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.
這并不妨礙它的富有客戶紛紛加入，一位工作人員揚著眉毛說“有些女人花很多錢來這里”。
The recession of 2008 damaged many industries. One which emerged remarkably unscathed was exercise.
2008年的經濟危機使很多行業陷入衰退。其中一個出現的健身行業竟然毫發無損。
According to figures from the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, an industry group, gym members now number 54m, up from 45m in 2009.
根據行業組織國際健康及運動俱樂部協會的數據，健身俱樂部會員現已達到5400萬，超出2009年的4500萬。
Twice as many Americans subscribe to gyms as in the mid-1990s. Yet the population has not got visibly healthier.
這是90年代中期美國人報名參加健身俱樂部的兩倍。然而民眾的健康并未明顯改善。
According to the Centres for Disease Control, a government agency, in 2013 a quarter of adults engaged in no leisure-time physical activity at all beyond the bedroom.
根據政府管理的疾病控制中心的數據，2013年1/4的成人除了臥室內性生活外，根本不參加任何健身鍛煉。
Between 2001 and 2012, the age-adjusted proportion of the population who are obese or extremely obese grew from 36% to 41%.
2001-2012年期間，肥胖或極度肥胖人口的比例從36%上升到41%。
That increase has slowed of late, but it has not yet reversed.
這一增長已經放緩，但趨勢尚未扭轉。
The explanation of this paradox lies in who is doing the exercising.
關于誰在做運動的統計解釋了這個矛盾的現象。
Where once “prosperous” was a synonym for overweight, being fit (and thin with it) is a marker of status.
“豐滿”一度是超重的代名詞，保持健美（或瘦）是身份的標志。
Outposts of Soul Cycle are to be found in the Hamptons and Westchester County in New York.
Soul Cycle的動感單車起源于紐約的漢普頓和威徹斯特。
In such places small gyms, yoga studios and the like, which make their money from hosting classes rather than through membership fees, proliferate.
在這些地區，小型的健身房和瑜伽館數量激增，他們不收取會員費，而按課時收費。
They advertise fitness as something close to religion.
他們將健身宣傳得近乎信仰。
At CrossFit, which describes itself as a “word and a phenomenon”, though it mostly involves weightlifting, customers are described as “athletes”.
健身房CrossFit標榜自己是“流行詞（CrossFit）和趨向“，雖然它主要是舉重，客戶被描述為“運動員”。
Exercise is not quite yet a luxury good, but it may be getting that way.
健身并非奢侈品，但它可能正在變得奢侈。
譯文編自鹽湖
