Fitness Misinformation: 3 Things That Wind Me Up About the Fitness Industry

I've worked in the fitness industry for over 20 years.

In that time, I've seen low fat become keto, keto become flexible dieting, flexible dieting become intuitive eating, and then somehow we've ended up back at people obsessing over meal timing and trying to optimise every tiny detail of their lives.

Fitness trends don't disappear. Most of the time they just get rebranded.

What I find amazing is that we're living in an age where you can ask Google or AI almost any fitness question and get a decent answer in seconds. There has never been more free information available.

Yet somehow, there's also never been so much fitness misinformation.

Some of it is harmless. Some of it is frustrating. Some of it actively stops people making progress because it convinces them they're doing something wrong when they aren't.

So, after two decades in this industry, here are the three things currently winding me up the most.

1. The Obsession With Optimising Everything

Everything has to be optimal now.

The optimal training split.

The optimal time to eat carbohydrates.

The optimal number of steps.

The optimal supplements.

The optimal morning routine.

The optimal sleep temperature.

The optimal amount of protein within the optimal anabolic window after the optimal workout.

Honestly, give it a rest.

Don't get me wrong. Optimisation has its place. If you're competing on stage, trying to qualify for the Olympics or squeezing the last 1% out of your performance, then those finer details matter.

For everyone else?

Optimal in theory gets utterly destroyed in practice.

The problem with optimisation culture is that it's incredibly fragile.

It gives people the impression that unless everything is perfectly lined up, it's not worth bothering.

Can't get to the gym for an hour? Might as well skip it.

Can't hit your protein target exactly? What's the point?

Can't meal prep this week? Takeaway it is.

Perfect becomes the enemy of done.

I'd much rather see someone train three times a week for the next three years than six times this week before disappearing for a month because life got busy.

I think a fitness plan should be built the same way engineers build skyscrapers.

They don't build them to be completely rigid.

They build them to bend.

Because if they make them as rigid as possible, they'll crack in the wind and crumble in a shit storm.

The best fitness plan is exactly the same.

Life will get busy.

The kids will get ill.

Work will be stressful.

You'll go on holiday.

You'll miss workouts.

You'll eat pizza.

The people who succeed aren't the ones with the perfect plan.

They're the ones whose plan is flexible enough to survive real life.

2. Unrealistic Physiques Are Being Sold As Normal

This one winds me up even more.

I have absolutely no issue with people using steroids, TRT, peptides or GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro.

Honestly, I couldn't care less.

Your body. Your choice.

What I do have a problem with is pretending you don't.

If your physique has been helped by a pharmacy rather than just your training programme, don't sell it as though everyone else can achieve the same thing simply by buying your coaching.

That's misleading.

The same goes for lighting, camera angles, editing, posing and filters.

Most people have absolutely no idea how much difference those things make.

I've seen people look like they've gained 10kg of muscle in the space of thirty seconds just by changing the lighting and flexing properly.

Then there are the people approaching 40 who somehow appear to be ageing backwards.

Apparently all it takes is lifting weights and eating enough protein.

Or... maybe the TRT has had a tiny part to play?

Again, if you're open about it, fair enough.

What frustrates me is when people talk about testosterone replacement therapy as though it's just another brand of creatine.

It isn't.

The same applies to GLP-1 medications.

They're brilliant drugs for the right people and they're changing lives.

But let's not pretend there aren't people using them to get into single-digit body fat while selling the illusion that it was simply discipline and their "fat loss blueprint" that got them there.

The problem isn't the drugs.

It's the dishonesty.

Because the people following these influencers end up thinking they're failing, when in reality they're comparing themselves to a version of the story that isn't true.

3. Photoshoot Culture Has Become Another Thing To Sell

Before anyone gets upset...

If you want to do a photoshoot, do a photoshoot.

I've got absolutely no issue with that.

If it's on your bucket list, go for it.

The part that winds me up is how many coaching businesses have turned photoshoots into the end goal.

Not because people need them.

Because they're easy to market.

Transformation photos.

Professional pictures.

Social proof.

The next wave of testimonials.

The problem is that most people don't maintain that condition.

Because they can't.

Photoshoot lean isn't normal life.

It's a temporary result achieved by pushing things far harder than most people would ever want to live.

And that's completely fine if you understand that going in.

The trouble is, a lot of people don't.

I've lost count of how many people I've spoken to who felt like they'd failed after their photoshoot because they couldn't maintain that physique.

Of course they couldn't.

Hardly anybody does.

And what really makes me laugh is how many coaches have quietly changed their tune.

I can think of at least ten off the top of my head who, a few years ago, were all about functional fitness.

"It's about what your body can do, not what it looks like."

Fast forward a couple of years and they're running back-to-back photoshoot programmes because that's where the money is.

Come on.

At least stand by a principle or two.

My Final Thoughts on Fitness Misinformation

The fitness industry has never had more information.

It has also never had more noise.

Most people don't need a more optimal programme.

They don't need another supplement.

They don't need a photoshoot.

They don't need a morning routine that starts at 4:37am.

They need a plan they can still follow next month.

One that survives birthdays, holidays, stressful weeks at work and kids leaving half a fish finger on their plate.

The people who get the best long-term results aren't usually doing anything spectacular.

They're just doing the basics consistently for years.

It isn't flashy.

It isn't particularly Instagrammable.

But it works.

Every single time.