The biggest problem that's literally ruining the fitness industry today is dumb people who are too dumb to realize how dumb they are, but insist on giving advice to people who don't actually realize these people are so dumb. So, internet fitness celebrities.
It takes more than an Instagram account, some YouTube subscribers, and decent ab definition to call yourself a trainer. Some actual credentials would be a good start. Maybe try to have a certification or a college degree related to the field. I'll take any semblance of formal fitness education, but "I've read a lot of articles" doesn't count.
Or reference a handful of clients that trained with you before you started posting on social media or demonstrate credibility by achieving something in competition yourself. That doesn't have to mean placing first at a National contest, we just need to know that the entire reason anyone outside of your house knows your name is because of something more significant than "I worked out for a while and I think I look pretty good, brah, so I'mma tell everyone what they need to do."
When an ignorant meathead tells his 90,000 subscribers that walking around wearing 10-pound ankle weights will solve their lower back problems, or when some 104-pound chick wearing a skin-tone thong gives her followers advice that builds jiggly glutes and precisely zero muscle anywhere else on the body, the industry is headed in the wrong direction.
Fortunately, we can solve this the same way we handle reality TV shows. Just stop watching these brainless, useless, pointless wastes of time. While social media currently allows anyone to talk at everyone about anything, if the likes stop coming in, they'll sputter out a few more videos before they fade away and, hopefully, rethink their "career" path.
These types of people are either ethically bankrupt and don't mind giving bad advice as long as it lines their pockets, or they're simply too stupid to recognize how terrible their advice actually is. Because I'm an optimist, I'll hope it's the latter.
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