I’m not a hater, I promise. I know I rag on the online fitness industry regularly, but it’s mostly because I want people to see that it’s not all as it seems. I AM part of the online fitness community (on a very teeny scale), and I appreciate most of the things that bringing health and fitness into social media has done for people. It’s given girls the confidence to enter the weights section of the gym and kill their workouts. It’s shown us that health and fitness can easily be a part of your lifestyle. It’s given people the confidence to step into the gym, period, without feeling awkward due to the plethora of workout advice and exercises that are shown online.
I think the online fitness community has been a positive thing in many, many ways, but in others I think it’s dangerous. And for those that are new to fitness and are seeking advice from these online platforms, I think it’s important to note some of the “advice” that is being spread, may not be necessarily true, ethical, or healthy in the long run.
This is what the online fitness community isn’t telling you:
Cheat meals/every day treats are FINE and can be enjoyed regularly as part of a balanced diet.
This one I feel used to be more of an issue a few years ago now, but I do still see it – cheat meals are BAD and you deserve to be PUNISHED for indulging in food you ENJOY.
Doesn’t sound very healthy, does it?
If you’ve heard of the Youtuber Stephanie Buttermore, you’ll know that she participates in a MASSIVE cheat day once every 1-2weeks. She takes the day, eats whatever she fancies, doesn’t count the calories consumed, and then goes back to her regular routine the next day. At the end of her cheat day she’s typically about ~8lbs heavier than when she started, and within 2 days shes completely back to her pre-cheat day weight. 2 days. That’s it. No harm done to her progress, her physique, or her health. She gets a big load of energy to fuel her workouts for the next few days, she gets to enjoy the food she loves without feeling restricted, and probably mentally just feels really good afterwards.
And that isn’t her only “cheat” of the week either, she enjoys foods she loves on her “regular” days too, just in more moderation and accompanied by much more wholesome and nutritious foods.
YOU CAN DO THIS TOO. One cheat day, or “off” day isn’t going to ruin your progress in the long term, nor will enjoying a bowl of your fave icecream on a “normal” day.
At the end of the day, on a very basic level, all that matters when it comes to your weight loss/gain, is how many calories you consume compared to how many calories you expend. If you eat more than you expend, you’ll gain weight, if you eat less than you expend, you’ll lose. (now obviously health-wise it’s a little more complicated than that… but we’ll save that for another time…).
Go and enjoy your favourite donut, and don’t feel guilty about it.
An anterior pelvic tilt at the gym won’t help you in the long run.
Your booty may look great at the gym if you stick it out, but in the long run you’re not helping yourself. Actually, you want to do the exact opposite of sticking it out, and push it in til it’s nice and dimply and ugly during your workout..
Not only does an anterior pelvic tilt completely neglect the glutes from firing, it also neglects your core. If your core is not engaged while you lift – it’s bad news for you. Not having an activated core while you lift can lead to injury, strain, and will prevent you from lifting as heavy as you can.
Not engaging your glutes means no glute gains for you. And we all know eerbody want the glute gains… so tuck that pelvis in, girl, and let’s engage those glutes and abs!
You don’t need a lifting belt.
A lifting belt is and should only be used for one thing: lifting really, really heavy things.
Lifting belts are fantastic for powerlifters who wish to achieve a high one rep max, typically in competition. Lifting belts are not fantastic for those who are doing 3 sets of 10 on the lat pull down.
Lifting belts increase ones intra-abdominal pressure which provides them with more core stability to be able to perform heavy lifts such as the deadlift, and squat. I have read somewhere that once, and only once a lifter can lift ~1.5x their body weight, they should start using a belt. Powerlifters usually start using them when they are working at about 80% of their 1 rep max.
Using a lifting belt as a newbie, or even as someone that doesn’t consistently train at 80-100% of their squat or deadlift one rep max is first of all, pretty damn useless, and second of all, is setting you up for injury.
You see, lifting without a lifting belt is going to help your core and abdominal stabilizer muscles gain strength, which will not only help you with your lifts and somewhat your physique, but also help prevent you from getting injured. What’s the point in having really strong legs if your core is about as useful as a plate of jello? There isn’t a point really.
And, while we’re on the subject of lifting belts, you also don’t need a lifting belt for while you’re doing a damn lat pull down or bicep curl, you loser.
Diet shakes don’t work.
Let me rephrase that. Diet shakes aren’t healthy long term. Also they’re boring???
You don’t need a diet shake to lose weight. You need exercise, and a balanced diet to put you in a caloric deficit. You don’t need a chocolate milkshake packed with all the synthetic greens/nutritionts out there, you just need to eat well, eat your VEGETABLES, and exercise.
Losing weight really isn’t rocket science, people.
“No days off” culture is BAD NEWS.
Rest days are ESSENTIAL to getting stronger. They provide the chance for your body to recuperate from the hell you’ve put it through for the past few days so that it can come back stronger than before.
Not allowing yourself to take one or two days off a week (as a normal, regular old person that works out for funsies) is going to put you on the path to injury, burnout, plateau, and just a general lack of motivation.
You do not need to workout every single day to get results – seriously. If bodies were designed in such a way that they went from fit to out of shape in one day of rest we, as a species, would not have lasted this long.
Programs shouldn’t be sold without being created by a certified Personal Trainer/Kinesiologist/Physio.
I feel like this one shouldn’t even need to be explained. If you are not QUALIFIED to take people’s health into your hands, you should not be doing just that.
I feel like personal training has gotten this rep that anyone can be a personal trainer because “it’s just exercise how can it be that hard” and you’re right… it really isn’t that hard. But the difference between you who’s literally only experience is YOUR OWN fitness/weight loss journey and a trained professional is that they are qualified to deal with ALL KINDS of people’s fitness/weight loss journeys.
Would you have the first clue how to put together a training regime for someone with fibromyalgia? Someone who’s had a knee replacement? Someone who’s recovering from an eating disorder? Morbidly obese? Probably not, and by dishing out cookie cutter programs you genuinely could be doing those populations far more harm than good. Leave the programming to the professionals until you’re certified.
You cannot gain more than ~1lb of muscle/week, just like you can’t naturally shed 1-2lb of fat per week, sustainably.
Muscle doesn’t grow on trees, y’all. Just because you started a bulk phase and you’re up 5lbs in the first week doesn’t mean you gained 5lbs of muscle you wiener. If gaining 5lb of muscle was that easy my arse would be the size of the UK at this point…
Eating in a surplus means you’re likely retaining water and the extra calories are filling your muscles out – giving the appearance that they’re bigger. Same with if you’re losing 5lbs a week after starting a dieting phase… it’s probably just water weight. Losing weight that quickly is not sustainable.
For a little bit more user-friendly info on this, take a little look at this Livestrong article on muscle gain and what could be influencing it.
You cannot start a “prep”/diet down to get “shredded” if you don’t have the muscle/fat mass to begin with.
I see this one so much, especially in girls. ESPECIALLY on Instagram girls.
“Just started my cut on Monday” BABES, CUTTING FROM WHERE!? If you do not have an excess of fat mass and you’re a normal functioning human being who isn’t out here trying to compete in body building comps WHAT ARE YOU CUTTING FOR, AND FROM WHAT EXCESS TISSUE!???
It sets a super unhealthy standard for people when they see their fave fitness influencer talking about how they want to cut weight when they’re already sitting at a healthy, normal body fat percentage. It’s ok to want to switch your nutrition up a little bit to tighten up a tad but to call it a “cut”, and treat it as such I think makes it a little drastic.
For a few more of my fitness related rants, check out these blog posts: Why Waist Trainers Are A Complete Waste Of Money, What’s The Deal With Stretching?, and Not Eating Enough May Be Halting Your Weight Loss.
Anyone else have any gripes with the fitness industry/false claims that are made in fitness? I’d love to hear them!
Until next time
Xx