Healthgoth 101: A Basic Primer
Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight: Healthgoth is a movement. It’s about making “outsiders” feel comfortable at the gym and get interested in their own personal fitness. It just so happens to look really fucking cool as well. Now, I’m going to tell you the story of how it came about.
A lot of readers may not know me, but I spent all of my 20s throwing parties, DJing and touring—first as a member of the Superstars of Love on International DeeJay Gigolo Records, then as Guns’n’Bombs on Kitsune, and most recently as Deathface on Trouble & Bass and L1L DEATH. So, what happens to your body when your teenage metabolism melts away and 10+ years of getting wasted and eating garbage food finally catches up with you? It’s not pretty, and at 29, I was wondering how the hell I had turned into this soft-bodied round-face.
I decided to change myself. I asked my friend Gibby Miller, from Dais Records, for advice on how to get fit; dude had been a skinny idiot like I was at one point, but he had turned himself into a sexy muscle man—kind of like a cooler, more indie Trent Reznor. “Quit eating carbs,” he told me, “unless you want everyone to start calling you fat-face instead of Deathface.” And that was it. The next day, I went cold turkey. Two months later, I had dropped 20 pounds—no working out, just changing my diet.
A few months after that, I saw a photo of myself stealing Major Lazer’s cheese plate backstage at a festival in Italy. I saw that I was painfully thin, so I decided I had to gain weight by putting on muscle. I started reading up on weightlifting programs and proper techniques, and as soon as I got back to the States, I got a gym membership. Since 99 percent of my wardrobe is black, all the clothes I wore to the gym were black. I wasn’t about to go out and buy some stupid, neon-colored trainers—no way. I went to lift in my black Mishka and Actual Pain tank tops, black soccer shorts and black sneakers.
As other DJ and producer friends of mine saw the difference I made with my own body, they started asking me for fitness advice. They called me a “healthy goth,” and thus, “healthgoth” was born.
How to Be a Healthgoth
First things first: You gotta make your body look good. Before you run out and start buying tech fabrics and compression gear, put down the French fries and cheeseburger. Stop eating processed garbage. Stop eating whatever can’t be made in someone’s kitchen. Read the labels on the food you eat; if you can’t pronounce it, you shouldn’t eat it. Shop the edges of the supermarket and avoid the middle aisles—meaning, stick to fresh produce and unprocessed meats. Stop drinking soft drinks and juices, and drink water and unsweetened teas. Watch your energy go up, your skin look better, and your whole body look better.
If you want to look like a Greek god (or goddess), you have to start partaking in physical activity. Yes, the first few times you do anything strenuous, you’re going to be sore as all hell; but to use the played-out phrase, “no pain, no gain.” And the fitter you get, the harder you’ll be able to hit it every weekend. Partying for three days straight is nothing compared to beating the shit out of your body five days a week at the gym, and you’ll soon discover “the pump,” which is nearly as good as any drug you’re taking on the weekend, anyway.
While you’re at the gym, don’t worry about not being the hottest hardbody there. Remember that healthgoth is all about empowering people who don’t feel like they fit in at the gym. Make sure you do everything correctly: research every lift you’re going to do, start light, get your form right, and get in a solid routine. Consistency is more important than intensity, and soon you’ll see results.
The Healthgoth Look
Now that you look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club (don’t lie, you know that’s what you’re going for), it’s time to put on the look. No, healthgoth is not just putting on some Nike/Adidas/Reebok/Under Armor and calling it a day. The look is a combination of chav/soccer hooligan, cyberpunk, industrial, and high-fashion stuff like Rick Owens. No, just putting on a pair of Roshe Runs is not healthgoth. Throwing on your old shirt from gym class is not healthgoth. And for fuck’s sake, tie-dye is definitely not healthgoth. “Label clashing” is not only not frowned upon, it’s encouraged; and honestly, you look like an asshole if you’re decked head-to-toe in the same logos, anyway (read: full-kit wanker). Ideally, the less corporate advertising you’re doing, the better. In keeping with the dystopian cyberpunk aesthetic, let’s not be completely obvious about how absolutely subservient we are to our corporate overlords.
The Healthgoth Sound
Arguably, the first “healthgoth” group was industrial band Nitzer Ebb. They wrote entire songs about fitness and have a clean, dark aesthetic. Danzig also counts, as does Peter Steele from Type O Negative, and who can forget Trent Reznor’s transformation into a muscle monster? Those are the granddaddies. For newer stuff—insert shameless plug—we’re curating a monthly mix series at healthgoth.com to showcase music we like and provide a soundtrack for your workout. It’s a great way to drown out whatever garbage music they’re playing at the gym.
Johnny Love (Deathface) is the founder of healthgoth and Healthgoth.com.
