India is a country which runs of beliefs. People instantly attach faith to anyone proclaiming to get you out of your problems. Even if we leave other aside and talk of doctors, how many of you enquired and researched about the doctor’s authenticity when yours and your family’s health depends upon it, in fact, life depends on it? The answer is evident. Very few conscious people do that. There is this make-believe factor in the word ‘doctor’ that you will find people asking a Ph.D. scholar in some other subject about the treatment of some disease!
Well, same thing is happening with them when it comes to consulting fitness gurus or trainers. The branding of a fitness trainer as a ‘guru’ dates back to the era of Vedic India. Guru is a person who trains you in some art, profession, teaches you a subject and guides you as a philosopher bringing lifestyle solutions for your existing problems in life. Guru’s used to run Gurukuls and there were many Gurukuls which existed in different formats, taught different sciences and not only preached sermons. Lifestyle and disciplinary changes were the fundamental part of these gurukuls and hence, for fitness, a different school was not required.
In 21st century, there are self proclaimed Fitness Gurus who are cashing on the blind belief system in which Indian people dwell in. If you are a beginner, fitness industry is a difficult place to navigate because there are a number of gurus who claim that they have the ultimate solution or secret to getting ripped. Have you heard the following contradictory statements?
Some advice to eat bland ‘clean’ food to get ripped while others say that you don’t need to cut off junk-food and deprive yourself.
Some say to take high-protein diet while other say it’s not that important.
Some tell you have to eat meals every few hours, others say meal frequency is irrelevant.
Some say genetics play a huge role while others say they don’t matter much.
Now, the question arises, who would you follow? What is the right path for you?
In this article we will share with you some of the criteria which you can use to judge whether a said Fitness Guru is worth trusting or not.
If a fitness guru claims to have revolutionary dietary or exercise routine, they are telling a white lie
Anyone who claims to have found special shortcuts to getting muscular, lean or strong is not worth an ounce of your attention. The more special they claim their methods, the more likely they are lying even more. If they tell you about any ‘discovery’ which is going to revolutionize the industry then they are definitely lying because if that’s a ‘discovery’ you are going to be the experimental guinea pig for that!
Human brain is wired such that if someone speaks out against things ‘everyone knows’, it grabs your attention. This is called contrarian marketing and it really works. The more contrarian a guru’s pitch is (against the things which you already know through proven facts), the more likely he or she is not worth trusting.
Let’s what all you can be told by these fraudsters:
They often tell you that traditional methods of building muscles and getting lean don’t work or work well.
They will tell you that bulking and cutting doesn’t work, calorie counting doesn’t work, traditional strength and hypertrophy training doesn’t work, etc.
They often talk about strange tips and tricks that help you building muscle and get lean. Not only this, they promise fast and easy results!
To sell their technique and idea, they will go to the extent of sharing ‘transformation stories’
They can even try to prove it that there has been a scientific research that proves it and might cite sources from the internet which probably, belong to similar self-proclaimed gurus like them!
They can invent names with a scientific feel for selling their training and dietary theories
Many people do train or eat incorrectly and thus, make poor progress, there are no magic bullets or unbelievable secrets. Now, let’s talk about the diet part.
It all boils down to right energy balance and macronutrient balance. If you are weightlifting, it all about intensity and frequency, exercise selection and progressive overload. Proper training is much simpler than most of the fitness gurus want you to believe.
A Fitness Guru must have good scientific knowledge and understanding of the subject. If your fitness guru doesn’t demonstrate such understanding, he or she will definitely land you in trouble.
The fitness industry runs on ‘bhai’ culture or gym kinship, where all kinds of myths and fallacies are spread through word of mouth. You go to the extent of playing with your health and experimenting different kinds of supplements on the recommendation of someone who is training with you in the gym.
Bloggers, buddies, magazines, gym-buddies, trainers and just about anyone else that cares enough about fitness can be found discussing subjects like:
Losing weight requires ‘clean eating which means restricting all kinds of foods
You have to eat absurd amounts of protein every day to build muscle
You will lose muscle if you don’t have protein every few hours
Eating at night causes fat storage
Well, they are all false. Anything which doesn’t bring out a live proof and following research cannot be categorized as authentic. So if a fitness guru makes no reference whatsoever to scientific studies, you have to be careful about the tall claims! Regular scientific citations are a very good sign. If a fitness guru doesn’t have good client success stories, there’s probably a reason. Just because you yourself are in a good shape doesn’t give you license to recommend anything absurd, moreover, sell it! That is what is happening in the industry right now. You might end up unbalancing the whole system of someone’s body, the ship of life for someone. To check the authenticity of the transformation pictures, always reverse check on the internet.
A good fitness guru always follows what he/she preaches and asks you to do. A fitness guru is educated in the field of his/her expertise, has a sound understanding of the facts and have authentic certifications related to their specialization. If a fitness guru is an athlete and looks too good, claims that you can be like him or her then you must know that he or she might be on steroids and that changes the whole equation, a normal person can’t mass up that bulk or look that ripped without steroids. A large number of people on social media and internet are making a living out of their physique as the certification of their training knowledge. This fact should be understood. They can motivate you but you have to get a certified trainer, consult medical practitioners to make your fitness goal a reality. And yes, your goals should be realistic and help your trainer set it for you instead.
Last but not the least, a good certified trainer can change your life. You just have to be smart enough and understand your body before going to the one. An trained, authentic and certified trainer is what you have to look for who can make a difficult journey into a comfortable path for you! There are absolutely no shortcuts in fitness. Also, before bowing down to pay respect to the person, you must know how knowledgeable, how humble, giving and deserving your trainer-guru is. Faith is good but blind faith is poison.
About The Author
Rajul Tiwari is the Editor-in-Chief at bodyandstrenth.com and has 18 years of experience in media, content, publishing and education. She has worked with media houses like Daini..
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