Gen Z Ruined the Darty

By Scott Willson · 2026-10-22

CNN went inside “wellness darties,” the sober daytime workout parties popping up on college campuses from Alabama to Arizona State. Instead of beer pong there are pushups, cold plunges, supplements and nonalcoholic drinks, many of them run by Sweat & Soak, which founder Marty Moćs started in 2024. Students told CNN they come to socialize and work out without the alcohol, and one said the people she meets there feel more real than the ones she meets at a regular party.

Video@cnnon Instagram

Watch the video@cnn

First mistake is the name. If you call it a wellness darty, you’re asking to get compared to a real darty, and a real darty has a keg, a sunburn and at least one guy who falls off a roof before 4pm. What CNN filmed is an outdoor gym class with a DJ and a folding table full of protein bars. Call it a sweat social or a fitness mixer or literally anything else and nobody would care.

And if anybody at one of these says the word lookmaxxing out loud, they’re opening themselves up to get ruthlessly criticized, and honestly they should be. You’re doing shirtless pushups next to a golden retriever so a CNN camera can get your abs, so you don’t get to act shocked when the internet calls your generation soft.

Then there’s the girl who says she takes the people she meets at these things more seriously than the ones at a real party, cause it’s a real conversation without the influence. Just remember sweetheart, a drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts. If you want true authenticity you’re gonna need a dude who’s 8 tequila sodas deep.

I get it, these kids drink less and they’re in way better shape than I was at 20, and good for them. But nobody is going to be 60 years old telling a story about the Saturday they did a cold plunge in a frat house backyard.