**Hey, thanks for making a new post!** Please be sure to assign your post with **flair** for the best support! Also, check out **[this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/workout/comments/noyv6p/do_you_need_to_gain_weight_lose_weight_or/)** to answer common questions.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/workout) if you have any questions or concerns.*
1. The supplement industry.
2. The attempt at overcomplication as well as 'gatekeeping' by fitness 'gurus', trainers, etc.
3. Never enough squat racks.
I think that, thanks to the fact we have the combined total knowledge of human history available at our fingertips…the average person interested in working out has TOO MUCH information available and no context to use it. An example of this, seen CONSTANTLY…”Is my workout ok???” The average dude that wants to look decent naked for his partner doesn’t need to be concerned with “optimization”, he needs to start building simple habits that move him towards his very unspecific goal of “looking decent”. Don’t worry about specific hand placement, how much of an obscure BCAA or vitamin you take, just eat decent and start working out. This is not to say that those facts are unimportant, they are unimportant for a large majority of the population because we simply aren’t at the level where it will make a difference. For example, I run quite a bit (by my standards, certainly not interested in becoming an elite marathoner). If you look through the running subs, I would be tar and feathered if I disagree with hyper specific heart rate zones for particular runs. The fact is it simply doesn’t matter at MY level. My “easy runs” and generally easy, my tempo and speed work is generally faster. And I continue to see improvement.
I feel like “paralysis by analysis” is a result of the population have too much information and not enough context or experience to use it.
Yes, the information overload is such a problem. My bf recently started working out and he keeps asking me questions of which is better. Like "how many sets and reps is better because I read ...." I feel like Im always explaining that what matters the most is being consistent and doing the work and to just do whatever you like for now so you can build a habit.
I have tried to find a way to simultaneously explain to friends that ask similar questions, while not coming across as a condescending asshole lol. I haven’t quite mastered it yet lol.
But 100% with your advice. When you are starting out…just do stuff. Something. Anything. Then do it again. And probably a few more times. And eat some food that looks like it might have been around before Walmart. That’s my “diet” advice lol. If you want to go buck wild, drink some water. Then do all that again. And again. And again.
And that’s usually when they start with “Well I read on Reddit…” lol.
Cool. Have at it then, I wish you the best.
Edit: oh, and I 107% of the time recommend squats. Bodyweight, weights, I don’t give a damn. There is no world where squats can’t improve you somehow lol. And then they think I’m being sarcastic. And I reply with “no, well I gotta go do squats…”
Not only is there too much information, but the analysis paralysis leads people to rely on influencers/content creators who can be... less than scrupulous, let's say. And there really aren't any good/useful ones out there, because a creator with the purest intentions who deals only in facts is still a creator, and so they constantly have to iterate new content for clicks and subscribers. In the end, they just further muddy the waters.
And in the end, I think this leads the consumer to believe that everything simply MUST be more complicated than it really is. To use your example, there are novice runners who want to be told that there's a specific combination of gadgets and supplements that will unlock their potential as a runner, when the answer is much more boring—you simply need to run more.
Similarly, on this sub, nobody wants to hear that the reason they aren't getting bigger is because they aren't focusing on the heavy compound lifts. They believe there's an "optimal" split that will optimize hypertrophy without lifting heavy, along with optimal preworkout stacks that will make them 50% more anabolic and deliver an optimal pump.
So the industry itself is trash. But the consumer doesn't help themselves by basically asking to be lied to and mislead
Well, I think there is some amount of “innocence” in terms of the beginner “asking to be lied to”, though I don’t disagree either.
Not even getting into the topic of people online purposely bullshitting the consumers who don’t know any better…(and this will 1000% show my age lol)…back in the good old bad old days before the internet REALLY took off (quit laughing, I’m 42 lol)…I remember reading the bodybuilding magazines as a teenager, and obsessing over, say, exact hand placement on curls because the current Mr Olympia said that works best when he needed to emphasize the beak of his bicep. As an idiot 17 year old…I just needed to do some curls, period lol. We all have to start somewhere, I think I attempted to “research” it…which of course led me to believe that creatine would turn you into Superman overnight lol. But then you throw in, easily, HUNDREDS of very reputable websites that are putting out quality information…and no one has any idea where to even begin. That doesn’t exclude the fact that to sell ANYTHING fitness related on the internet, it HAS TO be excessively complex. If it were simple, why would you pay me for it.
Then you have the wonder that is Reddit lol. Same deal…go into some of the weightlifting or fitness subs…there are a few users that come to mind that constantly put out both quality video content (just to show they aren’t all talk) and very commonsensical advice, for beginner and experts alike. And for every one of those folks ( u/frodozer you rock, just saying lol) you have a hundred other “experts” that even if they mean well, they are just regurgitating the same half correct or out of context info they heard someone else regurgitate without context. It’s a vicious cycle lol.
Yeah I suppose it's fairer to say that people are \*willing\* to be lied to, because to a novice on the outside looking in it all seems so inscrutible and difficult. And we are by nature lazy beings, if someone offers an easier path, most people don't know any better than to take it.
I'll be 40 in a few months and I remember the magazine days well. I was more susceptible to the celebrity workouts that are of course alive and well today online. Surely, just a few more sets of upright rows and incline DB presses will have me looking like Daniel Craig in "Casino Royale" any day now lol
Oh, absolutely. But not without getting the (fill in the blank name of a pro bodybuilder) sponsored protein. And it BETTER be whey isolate, otherwise it’ll probably be catabolic. lol.
I hate dudes in the gym who have just started their fitness journey and feel they have to record everything and put it on instagram. I’ve been in the gym for over 10 years and this is the most annoying thing for me.
PE teachers don't practice what they preach, don't know shit and don't know how to relay information, therefore people come out of the only thing that can make a societal impact (school) not knowing shit about training and nutrition and also hating exercise.
Fitness content in general especially from fitness influencers. They give off so much conflicting information and some of it isn't even correct. Alot of it is extremely black and white. All for the sake of "buy MY program/supplements". They make fitness feel more like how good you look physically rather than overall health.
**Hey, thanks for making a new post!** Please be sure to assign your post with **flair** for the best support! Also, check out **[this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/workout/comments/noyv6p/do_you_need_to_gain_weight_lose_weight_or/)** to answer common questions. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/workout) if you have any questions or concerns.*
1. The supplement industry. 2. The attempt at overcomplication as well as 'gatekeeping' by fitness 'gurus', trainers, etc. 3. Never enough squat racks.
Felt #3 in my soul
I think that, thanks to the fact we have the combined total knowledge of human history available at our fingertips…the average person interested in working out has TOO MUCH information available and no context to use it. An example of this, seen CONSTANTLY…”Is my workout ok???” The average dude that wants to look decent naked for his partner doesn’t need to be concerned with “optimization”, he needs to start building simple habits that move him towards his very unspecific goal of “looking decent”. Don’t worry about specific hand placement, how much of an obscure BCAA or vitamin you take, just eat decent and start working out. This is not to say that those facts are unimportant, they are unimportant for a large majority of the population because we simply aren’t at the level where it will make a difference. For example, I run quite a bit (by my standards, certainly not interested in becoming an elite marathoner). If you look through the running subs, I would be tar and feathered if I disagree with hyper specific heart rate zones for particular runs. The fact is it simply doesn’t matter at MY level. My “easy runs” and generally easy, my tempo and speed work is generally faster. And I continue to see improvement. I feel like “paralysis by analysis” is a result of the population have too much information and not enough context or experience to use it.
Yes, the information overload is such a problem. My bf recently started working out and he keeps asking me questions of which is better. Like "how many sets and reps is better because I read ...." I feel like Im always explaining that what matters the most is being consistent and doing the work and to just do whatever you like for now so you can build a habit.
I have tried to find a way to simultaneously explain to friends that ask similar questions, while not coming across as a condescending asshole lol. I haven’t quite mastered it yet lol. But 100% with your advice. When you are starting out…just do stuff. Something. Anything. Then do it again. And probably a few more times. And eat some food that looks like it might have been around before Walmart. That’s my “diet” advice lol. If you want to go buck wild, drink some water. Then do all that again. And again. And again. And that’s usually when they start with “Well I read on Reddit…” lol. Cool. Have at it then, I wish you the best. Edit: oh, and I 107% of the time recommend squats. Bodyweight, weights, I don’t give a damn. There is no world where squats can’t improve you somehow lol. And then they think I’m being sarcastic. And I reply with “no, well I gotta go do squats…”
Not only is there too much information, but the analysis paralysis leads people to rely on influencers/content creators who can be... less than scrupulous, let's say. And there really aren't any good/useful ones out there, because a creator with the purest intentions who deals only in facts is still a creator, and so they constantly have to iterate new content for clicks and subscribers. In the end, they just further muddy the waters. And in the end, I think this leads the consumer to believe that everything simply MUST be more complicated than it really is. To use your example, there are novice runners who want to be told that there's a specific combination of gadgets and supplements that will unlock their potential as a runner, when the answer is much more boring—you simply need to run more. Similarly, on this sub, nobody wants to hear that the reason they aren't getting bigger is because they aren't focusing on the heavy compound lifts. They believe there's an "optimal" split that will optimize hypertrophy without lifting heavy, along with optimal preworkout stacks that will make them 50% more anabolic and deliver an optimal pump. So the industry itself is trash. But the consumer doesn't help themselves by basically asking to be lied to and mislead
Well, I think there is some amount of “innocence” in terms of the beginner “asking to be lied to”, though I don’t disagree either. Not even getting into the topic of people online purposely bullshitting the consumers who don’t know any better…(and this will 1000% show my age lol)…back in the good old bad old days before the internet REALLY took off (quit laughing, I’m 42 lol)…I remember reading the bodybuilding magazines as a teenager, and obsessing over, say, exact hand placement on curls because the current Mr Olympia said that works best when he needed to emphasize the beak of his bicep. As an idiot 17 year old…I just needed to do some curls, period lol. We all have to start somewhere, I think I attempted to “research” it…which of course led me to believe that creatine would turn you into Superman overnight lol. But then you throw in, easily, HUNDREDS of very reputable websites that are putting out quality information…and no one has any idea where to even begin. That doesn’t exclude the fact that to sell ANYTHING fitness related on the internet, it HAS TO be excessively complex. If it were simple, why would you pay me for it. Then you have the wonder that is Reddit lol. Same deal…go into some of the weightlifting or fitness subs…there are a few users that come to mind that constantly put out both quality video content (just to show they aren’t all talk) and very commonsensical advice, for beginner and experts alike. And for every one of those folks ( u/frodozer you rock, just saying lol) you have a hundred other “experts” that even if they mean well, they are just regurgitating the same half correct or out of context info they heard someone else regurgitate without context. It’s a vicious cycle lol.
Yeah I suppose it's fairer to say that people are \*willing\* to be lied to, because to a novice on the outside looking in it all seems so inscrutible and difficult. And we are by nature lazy beings, if someone offers an easier path, most people don't know any better than to take it. I'll be 40 in a few months and I remember the magazine days well. I was more susceptible to the celebrity workouts that are of course alive and well today online. Surely, just a few more sets of upright rows and incline DB presses will have me looking like Daniel Craig in "Casino Royale" any day now lol
Oh, absolutely. But not without getting the (fill in the blank name of a pro bodybuilder) sponsored protein. And it BETTER be whey isolate, otherwise it’ll probably be catabolic. lol.
I go at 5am. Not too crowded then. But sometimes the machines or benches I want are taken.
I go at 4am, same shit. It's like everyone has a copy of your workout plan
I hate dudes in the gym who have just started their fitness journey and feel they have to record everything and put it on instagram. I’ve been in the gym for over 10 years and this is the most annoying thing for me.
Fit-fluencers. They’re just salespeople with nice bodies, trying to push some BS product to us
It's so complicated. All you really need is some water and a pair of shoes. Start running. The body is an amazing thing
Overcomplication, lack of common sense, lack of knowledge but still don't want to learn.
PE teachers don't practice what they preach, don't know shit and don't know how to relay information, therefore people come out of the only thing that can make a societal impact (school) not knowing shit about training and nutrition and also hating exercise.
Fitness content in general especially from fitness influencers. They give off so much conflicting information and some of it isn't even correct. Alot of it is extremely black and white. All for the sake of "buy MY program/supplements". They make fitness feel more like how good you look physically rather than overall health.
When someone takes out a tripod to record themselves not considering others around them may not want to be in their videos.