What started as an Internet meme (#healthgoth) has become a surging fashion trend that has paved way for the pierced and the tattooed to hit the gym in their own style.

Social media has played a huge role in the health goth presence, much like seapunk and normcore. Primarily people are sharing photos and selfies sporting the style, and it has created a community of people who you don’t usually picture sweating at the gym. But who says you can’t be goth and in shape?

The term “health goth” was coined in 2013 by Mike Grabarek, of Portland, Ore. He is one-half of the R & B duo Magic Fades. He and two friends — a bandmate, Jeremy Scott, and Chris Cantino, a video artist — began to play around online with the concept. They posted images on the web of athletic brand logos altered in a gothic style as well as photographs that could be described as metal-punk-meets-Pilates.

Not only did the guys start a Facebook page around the idea (full of some amazing and abstract photos), they inspired others to adopt the concept as their own as well.

The fitness trend aspect was developed by Johnny Love (John Dal Santo), a Chicago D.J. and electronic dance music producer also known as Deathface. In 2012, he decided to switch things up and adopt a healthier lifestyle, which led to losing 20 pounds.

He opted for the former, posting grainy fitness videos and pictures on Tumblr and Instagram and hastagging them #healthgoth. Others began to adopt the hashtag as well. Speaking to Vice last July about a record, “Cry for Black Dawn,” he laid out what he called 10 Commandments of #Healthgoth — including rules like: “Don’t check yourself out in the mirror at the gym. Healthgoths wait ’til they get home to flex so they can see how big their lats have gotten.” (The article ran with the headline “Deathface Wants YOU To Stop Eating Carbs.”)

Love started healthgoth.com, where he promotes the concept, encourages a healthy lifestyle and also sells some apparel. Items include a black sports bra with an upside-down swoosh and the message, “I just can’t.” It costs $25. Fans of the dark arts and electronic music don’t need to avoid a workout because they don’t have anything to wear. “Active participation and improving yourself is more important than wearing a uniform,” Love said.

Healthy living doesn’t need to only be for your typical gym rats, and the health goth movement is empowering people.

The market for health goth took root amid a demographic that previously had not shown a lot of interest in fitness, some trainers say. “Many goths have spent years drinking, staying out all night and smoking cloves,” said Ammo O’Day, a personal trainer and esoteric life coach from Brooklyn. “Lots of us work in night life. At our age, with our lifestyles, we’re not going to make it unless we take care of our bodies.” Ms. O’Day, 42, has dreadlocks, many tattoos and self-identifies as a goth and a witch. She is also a longtime fitness devotee and used to feel out of place at the gym. “I got stares,” she said. “I think people were surprised because I didn’t look like someone who ‘should’ be at the gym.”

The trend has gone far beyond that now and has become extremely culturally pervasive.