It seems that every month there’s a new view on just about everything to do with fitness and wellness. Some things directly contradict what I thought I knew! How do I know where to find reputable gym, fitness and wellness information?
This question gets to the heart of our current reality. As you read this, there are refugees fleeing SA, complete with their two-tone khakis and matching bellies. We all know it’s a lie but just imagine, for a second, you had no connection to this country other than what you read.
Our agriculture minister, John Steenhuisen, was quoted, astonishingly, as saying one of the so-called refugees told a YouTube channel that he farmed rescue ponies at a guest farm. Where did the US president and his lieutenants find these people? It’s like a Brakpan meme.
Beyond the whole façade being eye-wateringly embarrassing as a South African, it reinforces something I said a decade ago when everyone else was still seemingly excited about the possibility of social media: It is the beginning of the end. At least the end of the world as we knew it. Add AI and it is like throwing a match into a warehouse of gas.
Reports emerged last week that people, asking innocent questions of Elon Musk’s Grok AI, such as, “How many times has HBO changed their name?”, were getting answers about white genocide in SA and Julius Malema’s favourite song. Rest assured, though, it’s not just tech overlords waging info wars against us. Our deputy police minister, in trying to defend a bill aimed at destroying the private security industry, said the SA Police Service is not failing to protect South Africans. He genuinely said it.
This is the world we live in. You can say it. You can be quoted as saying it. And it becomes true. It sounds as outrageous as former UFC prodigy Conor McGregor giving the recipe on how to be brave enough to manifest your own reality. Hold on tight folks, truth is so pre-pandemic.
I have seen people, in incredible shape, train and eat in contradictory ways. Some people believe in high-intensity full body training, others do full body splits, some do crossfit, others only use machines, some eat pasta before exercise and some are militant banters. Yet, they all enjoy results. Bodybuilding legend Ronnie Coleman trained “lose”, fast and heavy, whereas today’s Nick Walker trains “tight”, controlled and with perfect form. Dorian Yates did one or two sets a week to failure, while Arnold Schwarzenegger seemingly did sets for most of the day. It all worked for all of them.
This is not to say that you can do anything, but there are far fewer “commandments” in wellness than we’re led to believe. You need to cut through the “fitfluencer” nonsense. All or nothing comments, like “this one routine will burn the most fat” or “why you should skip cardio to be lean”. This is marketing nonsense designed to trap you into buying something.
The worst is some layperson reading a summary about a study on 20-year-old men, and then extrapolating it to be relevant to menopausal women. Social media gives everyone a platform and it is outright dangerous.
Sports science may be fairly “new” in the greater scheme of things, but meta studies, qualified experts and reputable publications find commonalities and links about what can, and generally does, work for people. They’re often downed out.
How does one find publications to read, or know “influencers” actually base their content on solid science? Other than reading the Water Cooler, of course.
Try this. Go and find a real trainer and dietitian in this country. Not some bro trainer that can’t string together a sentence. Someone who has experience in designing unique, tailored, evidence-based programmes for different people and different sports or contexts. Learn from them and take the time to ask them what they read and who they “follow”.
That’s a good starting point because it will introduce you to a circle of influence that is far less likely to be curated, moderated and influenced by algorithms that are designed to do nothing more than exploit you to monetise someone else’s “content”.
And please remember, the data sets that underpin large language models are infused with obvious and inherent biases, so be prepared to interpret what “AI says” accordingly.
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