Earlier comments are already critiquing the author for suggesting that exercise is a bad thing or that particular exercises don't work, but that perspective misses the point. The author isn't criticizing exercise itself, but she is instead observing the almost religious focus on suffering that happens to be embodied by approaches such as Crossfit. I admit to being puzzled as well.

I am perplexed by the degree of what I might call fitness elitism that exists in a nation as fundamentally unfit as the US (I'm American, BTW). I'm seeing a lot of comments about how simple exercise isn't effective and HIT is a necessity, etc. HIT is great, but it's a pretense to suggest that running, biking, or aerobics that raise your heart rate without being tortuous are not also effective exercises that can drastically improve one's health. I feel that there is an unnecessary focus on very intense exercise programs when simple cardiovascular conditioning that nearly anyone can do has the potential to drastically improve the health of so many.