In our everlasting quest for personal perfection, we often end up clinging on to notions of success that are attainable yet surprisingly easy. As a rule of thumb before even reading the rest of this piece, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. Fitness gurus have a myriad of routines, workouts, warm-ups and cheats to get you the body you want. Think of this as a spotter’s guide when it comes to not getting caught out.
Product Specificity
If ever you’re reading about a workout you think sounds interesting and thinking of heeding the advice on the page just be wary that you’re not being sold some kind of product. You can spot these hard sells because they are usually overzealously trying to get you to invest your money in a certain protein shake or powder. Either that or they’ll used very absolutist language like only and best to describe things like sandbags and kettlebells. Be wary that you’re just a customer.
Look for Qualifications
Influencers are often the most accessible sources for fitness advice when you consider how well-connected everyone is via Instagram and other forms of social media, however more often than not the people doing the advising are not fitness professionals. Although some can be trusted without degrees a good way to feel safe you are getting good advice is to look for any qualifications they might have in nutrition or peak performance to name two.
Overuse of the word ‘Toxin’
Detoxification routines are very popular yet very few actually work. Toxins can be anything and this broad definition makes selling detoxification techniques relatively easy. More often than not these techniques focus on cutting out entire types of food and often fasting or ingesting only liquids for a set period of time. This will only deprive your body of the nutrients it needs that come from a balanced diet.
Associating Health with Beauty
There is such a thing as being unhealthily thin or large and those at risk are often easy to spot. However don’t be pressured into buying diet teas that reduce your appetite simply because you don’t look the way you would like. More often than not people associate health with aesthetic beauty and by directly correlating the two often do damage to themselves by attempting to emulate a standard of beauty they think means perfectly healthy.
