How to Find Holy Grail Fitness Information Online
The internet is exploding with information. 99.99999% of it is free information that you can reach with a simple search of a few words…this is amazing, and nothing new.
Unfortunately it is also horrible because, a simple search can bring up literally millions of options for you in less than a second.
A google search for “NUTRITION INFORMATION FOR FAT LOSS AND LEAN MUSCLE MASS” brings you over 9 million results.
This shouldn’t be that big of a revelation for you if you have ever used a search engine before but, it might be a frustrating reminder that it is hard to find good information through the bad or old information.
Do You Know Research?
We have to face the facts here. The overwhelming majority of people searching for fitness information online are not skilled at reading research articles, and meta analysis studies where the newest information comes from. This isn’t just an issue within the general population, or novice exerciser but, also within the fitness industry. Not every strength coach, certified personal trainer, yoga instructor or nutritionist etc. are experts at reading, performing analysis, and comprehending research articles. Believe it or not when it comes to differentiating good info from the bad, some fitness pros are just as inexperienced as someone who stepped in the gym for first time yesterday.
Dissecting research is not taught in any fitness certification, and most bachelor level degrees in Kinesiology have little to no exposure to breaking down a research study for analysis. That is not the main purpose of a bachelor level program, and if there is a class on research analysis, it is probably an elective course or more of a statistics class.
So, finding information by looking at the “results section” of research studies is essentially a waste of time simply because you may not be able to understand the findings. Yes, even if the article title, and abstract seem straight forward.
How Not to Find Good Fitness Info
The information is out there in plain sight, and it is usually free; you just need to know how to look for it better. If you don’t know how, then you can easily be mislead by some pretty amazing marketing. We all remember the Shape Ups and Quick Trim scandals.
#DontBelieveTheKardashians
Don’t Always Trust Top Search Results
A search can bring you millions of results because, that is what search is good at — providing results. The content at the top of these searches are usually ads that pay for top of page placement. Below the ads are usually links that do well with the search terms (SEO), and popular websites that have a lot of written content that matches one or more of your search terms. The Amount of Shares on social media also affects what will reach the first page of results. If a webpage has ranked well for a long period of time then it will also be listed higher even though the information on the page can be 1–10+ years old and, we all know how frequently information changes in the fitness industry. You could be reading content that was either proved wrong, or in need of a major update and not even know it simply because it is a top result.
Did you know that your search information is tracked and analyzed to show or introduce you to you similar pieces of information? This makes it difficult to find information that you do not already agree with or, find new information. It is called a Filter Bubble. It is not always bad but it can keep you isolated if you don’t know how to search around it.
This happens in sites and browsers like: Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and pretty much any other popular way to search or social media site. They are doing this to help you but in the case where you want a new perspective it can be hard get out of your own bubble.
Avoid website Forums and Reddit
Community forums, and sites like Reddit are good for somethings, but the cream does not always rise to the top in terms of information quality. I once had a client tell me they specifically look for their information on Reddit and said that the quality answers will get upvoted and the shitty answers will get pushed down. This might be true for somethings, but there are a lot more fitness hobbyists, and enthusiasts reciting information they think is correct using these sites then there are fitness experts or even professionals. It is also very hard to check credentials with users that are pretty much anonymous behind a username like “YogaIsLife” or “ILiftWeightsBro”.
The Most “liked” or “upvoted” answers are not necessarily a notation of accuracy, and relevance just popularity. Unfortunately, popular information does not always mean good information; just look at what happened in the Mean Girls Movie. Cady ended up OK in the end but I don’t think Gretchen or the young plastics learned from the experience. You don’t want to end up like them trust me.
Understand The Bias Skews The View
Bias Defined:
prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.
cause to feel or show inclination or prejudice for or against someone or something.
Since we can not understand the research ourselves we rely on those who can, to read it and break it down for us.
Unless an author or website you are reading expresses outright that the content is written without bias, we have to assume that message behind the text is with bias and even has an agenda. It is not a bad thing to have a bias opinion but, it only provides a one-sided view of the information you are looking for. If I was looking for the benefits of detoxing my body through sweating, the top google results on my page were:
First, A Benefits of sweating page on the site of a Sweat Lodge Facility in California that sold sweating sessions and skin care products to aid in detoxification.
Second, Natural health community website that totes the natural cures and Non-GMO over western medicine and the food industry. They also sell products associated with their message.
Funny enough both founders of the site have no training in the health and fitness industry and their own site disclaimer states they don’t endorse their freelance authors views and tell you not to take the information published as fact.
It is safe to say that all the information on these sites will be bias toward their agenda.
Think of Politics when you are trying to understand Bias better.
Liberals vs. Conservatives.
Or even better, think Yankees Vs. Red Sox.
You may not want to hear it but this applies to pretty much everyone; this website and even your favorite fitness expert.
How to Separate The Good From The Irrelevant Info
Develop Your Team of Industry Experts
We need to make the internet smaller. This way we can narrow down those 40 Gazillion search results to only a few well-rounded answers to your problem.
You will need to make sure your Team includes people or “schools of thought” that you agree with and even disagree with; no matter how much you might hate their opinions. The power of having a team behind your searching is to not only make the internet smaller for your but, it also allows you to do an easy analysis or comparison across multiple viewpoints. I suggest making your team an uneven number of experts like 5 or 9. This way there is always going to be a majority, a minority and, a general outlier when breaking down and comparing information. Lets take a look at an example to make this visually understandable.
Let’s say You are looking for: Nutrition Information for Fat Loss and Lean Muscle Mass. You could get 9+ million random results and never actually find your answer. So, I picked 5 of the most talked about diet styles available that would create a nice spectrum of practices and bias philosophies that you can compare.
Step 1: Develop your team of experts and or philosophies
Step 2: Read and record the basic ideas behind each school of thought.
Step 3: Embrace The Information HOLY GRAIL Within Your Team
The Holy Grail is where the most relevant answers to your questions rest. This little speck of info is where all the members of your team will agree with one another. I know it sounds like words from a crazy person but, it is true. There is always going to be something that everyone agrees on when comparing information all relating to the same root topic. The “Holy Grail” is the mutually agreed upon information and, it is safe to say that if the team you put together (consisting of opposing views) can agree, you should jump on board. The “Holy Grail” information might surprise you or, it could be something you already know.
For example, The Information Holy Grail between dentists would be that you need to brush your teeth. It is not always going to be mind-blowing information but it is the solid foundation in which you should build upon.
In our example for Nutrition Fat Loss/Muscle Building the Holy Grail Information would be
Choose Quality Food Items Over poor quality food item
Drink A lot of Water
Eat Enough to sustain performance and enhance recovery
Analyze/ Adjust your food intake based on your progress and goals.
Step 4: Where is the Majority, Minority and weird shit in the Information
We talked about a section considered the “Holy Grail” and that is where you want to start and build from. The rest of the info is on a spectrum of agreement/disagreement all the way to the other end of the spectrum from the “Holy Grail” where the weird shit is.
The Majority & The Minority
The Holy Grail is our Base and, you could theoretically stop there if the information satisfied you.
If you are looking for more, than you need to build on top of your foundation with the information that the majority of your team agrees on. Remember, these are not cherry picked dentists saying trident gum was recommended by 4 out of 5 dentists. Your team is people who have different opinions and bias on a single topic. The information majority is going to be a bit more specific and narrow but still have a place in most of your teams philosophies.
In our example for Nutrition FatLoss/Muscle Building the Majority Information would be:
Controlled Portion Sizes
Count Calories and or Macros
Eat Complete nutrient Meals over incomplete nutrient meals
Reduce the consumption of a specific food group or type
To further build your system the information minority is going to your finishing point. Most of your team will not agree but there is still a small group that find this information relevant. The goal with including this minority view is to one of three things; add in some more specifics, support the information you have found in the Holy Grail and Majority or disprove it.
In our example for Nutrition Fat Loss/Muscle Building the Minority Information would be:
Constraints on nutrient timing
Meal Preparation requirements
Food Group and Caloric Restrictions
Supplement Recommendations
It might sound weird that you want or need to support/disprove pieces in your foundation but, there are cases where newer information and findings have yet to be analyzed and possibly adopted by all the parties in your team.
The Weird Shit
This is where the information that only fits with one expert’s opinion lives.
Some of it may sound legitimate and you could even question why all the other experts on your team don’t agree. Being an outlier doesn’t necessarily mean they are wrong but, it would be smart to initially take this information with a grain of salt. Once you Embrace the “Holy Grail” stir in the majority and sprinkle in a bit of the minority info you probably won’t have room to work the Weird Shit it into a complete system. So, putting a pin in it or throw it out completely can and will make things easier for your to understand.
In our example for Nutrition FatLoss/Muscle Building the Weird Shit Information would be:
Specific “bad” Food item elimination
Meal Composition based on the timing of your meals to your workouts
Required Cheat Days
Weekly Macronutrient Cycling
Required Supplement Routines
Weekly Caloric Intake Cycling
The Weird Shit can be compared to someone on HGTV’s House Hunters complaining that the house would be perfect if the walls weren’t a certain paint color or wishing it had crown molding in the living room. They are useless and minute details that don’t have anything to do with the overall quality of the house.
When you are able to look at all 4 sections of the information you collect you can easily find the answers to your problems. It will be easier to identify bias or information that is not supported outside of an opinion. You can also look at the certain majority and minority details further to justify your reasons for including or excluding them in your final answers.
If you take these simple tips and steps when looking for information to help you along your fitness journey(Fitness professional education or exercise enthusiast) you will be in a better place for progress. Not only have you built your own system but, you have done your own simplified version of research and analysis without having to know any technical jargon or rely on The Kardashians for the new trends.
Originally published at fitletes.com
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