Looking good for training

ASPIRING fitness junkies are giving their wallets a workout by spending more than $1400 a year on the latest active wear, but often they are not even breaking into a sweat.

The obsession with kitting ourselves out comes with a hefty price tag, with consumers pumping more than $14.1 billion a year into active wear, health foods, supplements and the latest fitness fads.

But the ING Direct Cost of Health and Fitness Report found, while three in five people admitted to spending up on trendy active wear in the 12 months, only one in five people held a gym membership.

Former TV Bachelor star Sam Wood runs online fitness program 28 and has more than 15,000 subscribers. “People want to be in the latest gear but they don’t necessarily do the workout,’’ Mr Wood said.

“There’s a real fashion shift, particularly with women, that their training wear is their leisurewear and sometimes they’ve been to the gym, but most of the time they haven’t.”

Nicole Bhagwandas, 32, works out six to seven times a week and spends thousands of dollars a year to have a gym membership while also keeping up with fitness fashion.

“I spend $66 a week on my high-intensity interval training membership and I spend a fair bit on my clothes . . . between $1000 and $1500 per year,’’ Ms Bhagwandas said. “I like to think I’m trying to look good when I’m sweating it out, I do quite a bit in the activewear.”

The report also found the appetite for health foods was growing — in the past year Aussies have spent more than $500 on foods such as kale, organic produce and coconut oil.