There are literally so many people out there today, mostly online, that think they know best when it comes to nutrition and fitness. I have personally met a fair few that thought they knew everything, when in fact they knew hardly anything. Online is the worst though - so many people sitting behind a computer screen that may not even have any qualifications or experience, but yet call themselves experts, and think they know everything. As there are so many, I can see why people who are looking for advice end up listening to the wrong person. So who should you listen to?
It may sound obvious, but I would, and do, advise people to listen to those who are established. Personal trainers and nutritionists who write in magazines such as Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle and Fitness, Women's Health, Women's Fitness and so on are ones to start listening to. If they spoke garbage, they wouldn't get asked to write in magazines such as those. Some people may disagree with what they have to say on certain topics, but that is just a difference in opinion, rather than talking rubbish. I don't personally tend to listen to people if they have a 'one off' article in a magazine. They may well be up and coming and extremely knowledgeable, but to keep the amount of people I go to for knowledge down, I have picked a few people that I trust. This way, i'm not reading 25 different opinions on 25 different topics. There was a time where I signed up to nearly every nutrition and fitness newsletter that I could find, and I just ended up with a mass load of unread emails. Whereas now, I stick to a few, and they are - Nick Micthell, Jeff Cavaliere, Charles Poliquin and Charlotte Ord. Why those people? because I regularly see and read their opinions on lots of different topics to do with nutrition and fitness, and they don't talk garbage. They are all genuine and well respected in their field.
I'm not saying that you have to listen to the same people as I do, but I think it will be beneficial if you select a few people who you regularly listen to, whether you're wanting to lose fat, build muscle, sport specific training, or if you are a personal trainer or nutritionist. If you concentrate on those people and simply ignore the 'trolls' (as they seem to be known as) out there, you won't feel bombarded with tons of views. Being overloaded with information is very common, and it can sometimes affect your goals because you end up feeling stressed - 'this guy said do this, and now that guy is saying its wrong, I don't know what to do!'
Don't just find trainers and nutritionists that have the most followers on Twitter, because that doesn't mean anything. I have come across some absolute lunatics on twitter that have a huge following, and talk utter nonsense. I came across a trainer in America that had nearly 300 thousand followers, and Nick Mitchell has around 20 thousand. The guy in the states spoke so much dross that I quickly unfollowed him. So don't always go by the amount of followers. You want to find a few people that are respected in their industry and follow them, read their blogs, watch their YouTube videos, and just see what you think to be honest. You are in control of who you listen to, so don't just listen someone because a friend listens to them, because they could be getting fed false information.
I hope you have found this post useful, As mentioned, there are a lot of "think I know it all's" out there, so if you come across them, ignore them!
Lee Gregory Fitness