Fitness “influencers” are a dime a dozen these days, and most of them are full of crap. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell the good from the bad. The following is a non-exhaustive list of signals that you can use as an indication that you should definitely not that person’s fitness advice. These should not be taken as black-and-white laws but rather as rules of thumb. In other words, there could be some exceptions, but the signals will be accurate most of the time.
- They wear Gym Shark
- They have #aesthetics in their bio
- They’re 18, absolutely massive, and constantly bragging about how they’re “natural” (they’re not)
- They wear gloves at the gym
- They tell you that it’s not about calories
- They’re not in very good shape themselves (I can’t believe this needs to be said but it does)
- They use Bosu balls for basically anything
- They tell you that you can get “more with less”
- Their workouts are extremely complicated
- You never see them using barbells
- They have a degree in exercise physiology yet can’t squat 2 plates at depth
- They’re trying to sell you a program with the word “abs” in it