So what's the reason?
It's right there in the closing statement. Who reacts most strongly, most positively to defined abdominal muscles? Women. Getting the muscle, and most importantly the low body fat (and dehydration) is the way to make a high percentage of heterosexual women be physically attracted to you. Not saying its easy, but its not complicated by any means. All the other stuff like crossfit, "functional strength" etc is just the flavor really, along with an allegiance to proclaim and feel good about. We can discuss this in different ways, from a public health perspective (Maybe all the anti-obesity propaganda is starting to work and 'spornosexual' is just a word to describe a type of guy who goes to the gym regularly) or some other. But unless you're a coach, trainer or competitive athlete, youre taking an ab selfie with the intent of attracting female attention.“People love it. There’s no top or pair of shoes you could wear that gets as much reaction as a six pack.”
Dude. Brah. This statement is almost as cringe-worthy as the one you deleted. Let's take your statements: There's a reason why dudes are getting in shape in greater numbers than in the past few decades. These align with the observation made by the article: That men are spending more and more time preening in the gym, and that this is a new thing. But then you go with this howler: Assume that were true, which is hilarious, but assume it were, and it doesn't the answer the argument: why do women "react most strongly" to 8-pack abs NOW? Why are the men of today suddenly the first and only enlightened generation in the history of mankind, which up until now has subjected the fair sex to flab purely out of ignorance and sloth? When you attempt to answer the question, you throw a wobble ("Maybe all the anti-obesity propaganda is starting to work") and then head back to the tried'n'true Brosif parable: "I'm in it for the chicks." Right. All these dudes getting ripped for movies, which are attended 70% by 18-yo males, are doing it to impress the female audience. But leave that aside for a minute and try again: Why NOW?There's a reason why the 'dad-bod' thing died so quickly.
Who reacts most strongly, most positively to defined abdominal muscles? Women.
The deleted one was a double-post of the one you replied to. Why NOW? Because of Tinder and things like it. A small subset of heterosexual dudes is having a really good and easy time in the casual sex department. The biggest thing that subset has in common is a low body fat percentage. You want to join that club, get shredded. In fact, with how fat 'average' is these days, just don't be fat and you're already above average. People work out for all sorts of reasons. Some people want to be big venous powerlifters, some want to win the crossfit olympics. Some may be genuinely into fitness as a hobby and want to share their progress and techniques with the world (Or social media, amounts to the same) Others enjoy the process, the endorphins that much, and others are just in it for girls. With the examples described in the article, specifically abdominal definition and social media presence used to advertise such, and no indication that your average 'spornosexual' is a fitness coach, professional athlete, etc, I don't see a reasonable conclusion outside of the Brosif parable. * Or the 'Lots of dudes are broke and polishing up the 'ol meatwagon can be fun and rewarding' bit that you mentioned. But my money is more on the former than latter.