Fact checking so called experts
As I continue to do my weekly research in the form of Podcasts, paid education through reputable companies, and begrudgingly social media (this is a big area as most people are getting their education from “experts” on the internet) I have found myself frustrated, confused and outright disappointed in the misinformation being put out there. I would like to think that I am fairly educated in the world of health and fitness being in the industry for over 5 years spending countless hours looking to learn more and continue to do so. However, it is easy for me as this is my livelihood. For my clients and the majority of the population who have other careers, busy lives, they are seeking out experts to guide them on their health and fitness journeys. They are trusting us. This is something I do not take lightly.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are knowledgable and reputable experts in this field but finding them can be difficult as most of them aren’t flashy, don’t have hidden agendas in the form of selling you supplements, gender specific programs, balance your hormones nutrition plans (side tangent balancing your hormones is a click bait way of saying master the basics of nutrition with eating mostly whole foods in the right quantities and exercise consistently and this will balance your hormones). It’s really that straight forward and not sexy, unfortunately.
Most of these so called experts have just found a way to gain followers because maybe they’re attractive, speak like they know what they are talking about, have “Dr.” before their name and use fancy words like “mitochondria”, “hormone balancing”, “decrease cortisol”, even using fear mongering tactics. A lot of them are used car salesmen at best. The majority of them don’t have the formal education to even speak on such topics. When I have fact checked them looking at clinical trials and meta-analyses or just basic science principles they are so far from the facts it’s alarming but yet they have huge followings.
Additionally there are medical doctors sharing information on large platforms stating that there is women specific training and nutrition, specifically for perimenopausal, postmenopausal women as this is a huge focus for middle aged women right now. They are stating things like this is the “optimal performance and independence” rep range for strength training (of note the number I read was under 6 reps for 3-5 sets). I guess my question is what does optimal performance mean? Most women I work with and have worked with are looking for general health and body composition changes which can easily be found in different rep ranges and sets when it comes to resistance training (I am a huge advocate for), different forms of cardio and consistent basic nutrition practices. Very few over 40 women are looking to increase their 1RM in any weightlifting implement and honestly I believe the risk/reward is not validated in this demographic. As far as independence, does this mean that if you are training above 6 reps, you have less timespan of independence, less overall independence? I’m not seeing the scientific evidence here (I don’t read bullshit articles of someones so called interpretation of data or one study done on 5 people).
The number of sedentary and obese Americans is alarming, so hyperfocusing on rep ranges, cardio zones, power output, feeding windows, etc. is outright ridiculous messaging to our middle-aged population in my opinion. We have to walk before we run and most Americans aren’t even walking!!! (pun intended).
Here are some facts with no hidden agendas (the WHO and PubMed is not selling you supplements, books, workouts). For general health, here are the guidelines from the World Health Organization on physical activity for health. “All adults should undertake 150-300 min of moderate-intensity, or 75-150 min of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or some equivalent combination of moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, per week.” “The guidelines recommend regular muscle-strengthening activity for all age groups. Additionally, reducing sedentary behaviors is recommended across all age groups and abilities, although evidence was insufficient to quantify a sedentary behavior threshold.” I believe if this was done consistently by all adults, we would see a significant decrease in all cause mortality.
From a weightlifting reps standpoint, unless you are specifically training to increase your 1RM of a lift, there is evidence for muscle gain and often strength and endurance in ALL rep ranges. This stands true for men and women. Here is the PubMed (a free resource supporting biomedical and life sciences literature) article for reference. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7927075/
Here’s the bottom line ANY form of exercise is beneficial. The majority of Americans aren’t doing any. This is a cause for huge concern. In your research if you come across an account, a Podcast, a salesperson at a gym stating that their program is the only way and puts down other programs or forms of exercise, that is a huge red flag and they do not have your best interest in mind. They are part of the problem, not the solution. Again this is speaking from a general health and even some basic body composition changes. There is a difference between exercising for general health and chasing fitness goals. These are two very different approaches.
I encourage you to seek out reputable experts who do not have hidden agendas or huge social media followings because they are attractive and sound like they know what they are talking about because of the terminology they use and conviction in their voice. Additionally beware of the “experts” who use click bait titles. Fact check them! I also encourage you to be vigilant of the harder to detect experts that have an MD behind their names. They will reference scientific evidence. Fact check them. PubMed is my go to resource for this. Look for meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials. These are a compilation of the data from multiple studies and/or controlled environments. Beware of very limited studies (low number of participants) or uncompleted timeframes (study wasn’t completed as participants dropped out).
It’s honestly not as complicated as everyone is making it out to be. I just don’t see the data that men and women are that different with exercise and nutrition that warrants a huge overhaul of basic nutrition and exercise practices based on gender and age. Pubmed specifically states that “even if there are more women involved in strength training programs, studies on strength gain, body composition, and cardiac remodeling were mainly conducted in men and whether they are similar in women remains to be explored”. We simply DO NOT have the data to support women specific strength training. What I have seen are that the men and women who have dialed in the basics of nutrition and exercise consistently over a long enough time are living active fulfilling lives with yearly health markers tested and confirming this. Conversely, I have seen more men and women who choose not to focus on nutrition and exercise in any form have the opposite outcomes.
I am up against a tough crowd in this space as I won’t lower my standards and “sell” anyone by stating that my program is better than any other form of exercise or is designed specifically for women for optimal performance in their perimenopause years, blah blah blah. I believe the exercise that you will commit to and do consistently is the best for you. I hope that it has a component of resistance training because it does have (fact check me) so many physical and mental benefits for EVERYONE but I will not be part of the problem just to grow my business.
If you are a middle-aged woman (this is the demographic I enjoy working with and am passionate about being an honest voice in this space with so much misleading information circling) I would love to connect.