How to Filter Fitness Information

Have you ever seen health and fitness information from different sources that seem to be saying opposite things? How do you know what’s true or what things you should actually be doing?

I know personally I run into this issue all the time. There’s an endless amount of fitness content out there, and it’s tough to know which things to put into action in your own life.

In this week’s newsletter, I’m gonna arm you with some strategies for filtering down the amount of information. I’m giving you fitness information in this newsletter obviously, but of course you are getting influenced about health from many other sources. I want to help you understand what is good information vs. bad information.

When looking at any piece of content, there are some key questions you should ask yourself before digesting the information:

1. Who is the source and what are their credentials?

Anyone can put information online in 2024. Do you know who the writer is and what their motives are? Are they qualified to give insight on what they are talking about?

For instance, in this newsletter you know that I’m the writer and that my background is in biology, healthcare, and a few years of personal training. My motive is to provide general advice that helps people live happier and healthier lives. It’s important to know who is writing or speaking and why they are talking.

2. Is the information supported by scientific evidence?

It’s very common for people to use things like “studies show” or “evidence suggests” or “the data says” in order to make it seem like they know what they are talking about. But is there actually scientific research behind their claim?

If someone uses the buzz phrase examples I just listed, questions you should be asking yourself are: What study, does it actually exist? Where was the study done? What methods were used? Who funded the study?

Anyone can say that a study shows xyz. Take note if the study they mention actually exists (and if they cited it) or if they are just someone trying to play pretend and make their opinion seem like it has evidence.

3. Is there a consensus among experts?

If you are seeing the same information voiced by multiple experts (scientists, researchers, doctors) and government agencies (like the CDC and US Department of Health), chances are the information is true.

There is some truth in the statement “power in numbers”. If there’s a consensus among a wide variety of professionals, I’m much more likely to believe the information as true than if I see the information one time from a random person on social media.

If you only see the information from one source, take it with a grain of salt. Yes, this means that you can’t just follow one social media influencer and do everything they say.

Consume a wide variety of information from a bunch of different people. The things that are consistent across all the different sources are the pieces you can take into your own life.

By the way, I help you with this in the “Ben’s Best” section of every newsletter by providing links to different Youtube videos, podcasts, and social media posts.

4. How large is their social media following?

I just talked about “power in numbers” in relation to how many experts are agreeing about something. There is also power in numbers when looking at how many followers a social media page has.

If someone has 4 million Youtube subscribers, there is probably a reason they have accumulated such a large following. Maybe it’s because they provide great information that a bunch of people find useful?

I’m not saying that all social media accounts with loads of followers have great information or that small accounts don’t have anything good to say.

I’m just suggesting that it might be useful to look at how many followers/subscribers someone has and question the reasoning behind how they got there.

More often than not, you’ll find that the accounts with a massive following provide massive amounts of valuable content.

5. What is the information trying to sell you?

Everyone is trying to sell something. There’s no way around it, the world runs on money. So ask yourself what the author’s financial motivation is because there is no such thing as a free lunch.

You might be wondering what I’m selling then, which would be a fair question. While financial incentives aren’t my primary motivation, I’m no exception to the rule. I’m hoping that you get value from what you are reading and continue subscribing to this newsletter.

Eventually my goal is to have some sponsorships and brand deals that provide me a minor income. My vision is to work only with companies that I think would be beneficial for my readers. And while I don’t currently, maybe in the future I will sell fitness programs or do online personal training.

The takeaway is this: everyone is trying to sell something. Influencers, bloggers, Youtubers. It’s useful to keep that in mind when consuming any type of information online, not just fitness information.

6. Are the claims too good to be true?

If some thing sounds too good to be true, chances are that it is. There is no magic shortcut, so anything that promises one should be taken with caution.

Seeing phrases such as quick, fast, quaranteed, always, or easy should be immediate red flags for you about the validity of the information.

Chances are if someone is voicing something that seems too good to be true, they probably have a major financial incentive and are trying to get you to buy something - which ties into my previous point.

Ben’s Best

Keeping with the theme of this week’s newsletter, I’m going to approach the Ben’s Best section a little different this week.

Usually in this section I give you links to specific videos, episodes, or posts that I personally viewed and enjoyed throughout the week.

Since we are talking about how to filter fitness information, I’m just gonna give you a complete, comprehensive list of people/shows that I follow consistently to get my information.

The sources I’m linking to this week are creators that I love and believe are providing high quality content. Generally speaking, anything on these accounts would be useful information for you. I highly encourage you to follow/subscribe to these accounts because I believe in the importance of surrounding yourself with at much positive influence as possible.

I’ll just note that I have no affiliation with any of these people. They are mostly accounts with millions of followers that have no idea who I am. The book links are affiliate links, so you can help me out AND get great information from those. 😁 

Youtube accounts I recommend:

Jeff Nippard: Provides scientific-based information on all aspects of health and fitness. Also has an instagram account worth following.

TheMealPrepManual: All things food and how to make prepping easier, healthier, and more cost effective. Also has an instagram account worth following.

Breathe and Flow: Yoga, flexibility, mobility, meditation, and mindfulness

Athlean-x: In my opinion one of the pioneers of modern fitness content. With almost 14 million subscribers, this channel covers all things fitness related

Tom Merrick: Functional mobility and flexibility. Less of a traditional yoga channel like Breathe and Flow above. Emphasizes body weight approaches to fitness.

Ali Abdaal: Not a fitness channel, but still one of my favorites. More of a mindset channel that takes a lot about productivity, time management, motivation, and business/career development. All things I think tie into fitness indirectly.

My favorite instagram accounts:

I use instagram for all of my recipes/food ideas, so you’ll find a theme in these accounts. They all essentially do the same thing: take common foods that are great tasting and make a couple of swaps so that they are healthier. These accounts include nutrition info as well as steps to make the food.

• Stealth_health_life

• Fairfiteats

• Aussiefitness

• Theflexibledietinglifestyle

• ice.karmcooks

My favorite podcasts:

Huberman lab: Andrew Huberman is a neuroscientist and professor at Stanford School of Medicine. His podcast has a goal of making science information about health easily accessible. He simplifies it so that everyone can understand it whether you have a background in science or not.

The Peter Attia Drive: Similar to the Huberman lab podcast, however in my opinion uses a little bit more jargon and technical science language. Doesn’t necessarily focus as much on making the information simple for people of all backgrounds. With that said, he provides awesome information. It’s just a little more dense to you really have to be paying attention

Mind Pump: Awesome podcast that covers all things fitness. I’ll label this one as a “lifestyle” podcast because they discuss all aspects of health and how it relates to the quality and longevity of your life.

The Diary of a CEO: This podcast started as a business podcast, but has transformed into more of a health and wellness podcast. He covers diet, exercise, relationships, sexual health and all things that enhance the quality of life. He often discusses how being healthier in all aspects of life will make you a better employee, manager, or CEO.

The Rich Roll Podcast: All things health and wellness including nutrition, exercise, mindset, relationships, and more.

Top books I recommend:

I believe reading books is the most important part of this whole list. Reading a book about health and fitness gives massive insight and mindset shifts that you simply can’t get from a 10 minute youtube video or 60 second instagram post.

Atomic habits by James Clear: I mentioned this in a previous newsletter already because I think this one is amazing. Not just a fitness book, but

Mike Matthews’ Bigger, Leaner, Stronger for men and Thinner, Leaner, Stronger for women. I’ve read both of these books. Even though I’m a man, I read the book targetted for women as well because I care about being educated to help women achieve their fitness goals. Put very simply, these books are absolutely amazing. A complete guide to help you with your health and fitness goals. Definitely read one of these.

The subtle art of not giving a f*ck by Mark Manson: a slightly unconventional approach to living a better life and achieving your goals, so long as you don’t mind some explicit language.

The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy: Talks about how the small things in life compound into big results when done consistently over the long term. He talks about this in the sense of money as well as health, fitness, and your general life.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill: This book is regarded as one of the best personal finance books of all time, but I’m recommending it here as a health and fitness book. It’s excellent for the pursuit of any type of goal, whether your goal is more money or better health.

Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal: Focuses on the important in finding joy in the process of what you are doing as opposed to just focusing on the goal. Sort of like saying “it’s about the journey, not the destination”

So there is a fantastic list of sources that I have gotten my information from recently. I don’t have facebook, twitter, or tik tok. I’m sure if you wanted to you could follow these people across all platforms. Hope this helps as you try to filter fitness information!

Weekly Action Points:

📝 Homework for the week: I want you to click through and explore some of the resources I listed throughout the Ben’s Best section. I genuinely think all of them are fantastic resources that would enhance the quality of your health and overall life.

Specifically, I want you to choose one from each category and actually follow it. So choose one youtube account, one instagram account, one podcast, and one book that you want to have in your own life.

Surrounding yourself with positive information is key to keeping your motivation high.

💪 Exercise Goal for the Week: We are going to try and get four 15 minute cardio sessions this week. Three of them can be just a standard walk like we have been doing in previous weeks. The fourth must be some form of exercise that elevates your heart rate more than a standard walk.

This could be a bike ride, a run, a swim, or anything you can think of. It also could just be a power walk where you are really pushing the pace and walking as quickly as you can.

Whatever you choose doesn’t matter to me, but have one 15 minute session worked in where you are breathing heavier and your heart is pumping harder than a standard walk.

🥗 Nutrition goal for this week: On one of the youtube or instagram accounts that I linked to, find a recipe that you want to make at some point this week.

I’m extremely passionate in my belief that cooking from home is much healthier than eating out, so I’m trying to make it your goal to do more cooking.

Even if the recipe isn’t from one of the accounts I linked, find a recipe and make it!

Next week we are going to take a look into some common fitness myths and misconceptions. Enjoy your week!

Ben

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