Why You Should NOT Trust Fitness & Health Influencers — or Most “Personal Trainers” — With Your Body

If you are over 40 and getting health or fitness advice from TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook, you are gambling with your body.

That is not hyperbole. That is reality.

What you are seeing online is not health education. It is entertainment monetized through misinformation — and it is actively injuring people.

The Uncomfortable Truth: Most Fitness Influencers Are Unqualified and Dangerous

Let’s start with facts.

Most Influencers:

• Have no degree in exercise science, physiology, nutrition, or medicine

• Have never studied anatomy, biomechanics, pathology, or pharmacology

• Have no clinical training with injuries, aging, or chronic disease

• Are paid to push supplements, programs, and products

  
  

Looking “in shape” does not qualify someone to advise you on:

• joint health

• spine safety

• cardiovascular risk

• metabolic disease

• hormone function

• injury prevention

• aging physiology

Abs do not equal education.

The Data:

Health Misinformation Online Is Rampant

Multiple peer-reviewed analyses of social media health content show:

• 20–50% of health-related videos on short-form platforms contain false, misleading, or unsupported claims

• The majority of misleading content is produced by non-credentialed influencers

• Engagement is highest for the least accurate content

Why? Because algorithms reward confidence and controversy, not correctness.

The most reckless advice spreads the fastest.

This Isn’t Just “Bad Advice" It’s Causing Real Harm

1. Supplements Pushed by Influencers Are Sending People to the Emergency room

Large-scale medical data shows:

• ~23,000 emergency department visits per year in the U.S. are linked to dietary supplements

• Thousands of these cases result in hospitalization

• The most common causes:

  • “fat burners”

  • energy products

  • testosterone boosters

  • detoxes

These are the exact products influencers promote daily.

They rarely mention:

• drug interactions

• cardiovascular strain

• liver toxicity

• blood pressure spikes

• arrhythmias

Because warning you doesn’t sell products.

2. “Natural” Does NOT Mean Safe

There are hundreds of documented cases of serious liver injury — including liver failure — linked to:

• concentrated herbal extracts

• green tea extracts

• multi-ingredient “metabolic” supplements

Your liver does not care if something is “plant-based.” It cares about dose, toxicity, and metabolism — concepts influencers do not understand.

3. People's Bodies Are Getting Destroyed by Influencer-driven Training

Influencer workouts are typically:

• high impact

• high volume

• poorly progressed

• spine-hostile

• fatigue-driven

  
  

They ignore:

• disc degeneration

• osteoarthritis

• tendon aging

• recovery capacity

• prior injuries

• medication effects

  
  

The result?

• chronic back pain

• disc herniations

• shoulder tears

• knee degeneration

• overuse injuries

• people quitting exercise entirely

That’s not motivation. That’s malpractice without accountability.

Now Let’s Talk About “Personal Trainers” — This Is Where It Gets Worse

Personal training is largely unregulated.

There is no universal licensing, no standardized education requirement, and no clinical oversight.

Many so-called “personal trainers”:

• complete online certifications in days or weeks

• pass open-book or non-proctored exams

• receive no hands-on clinical training

• are taught how to sell sessions, not manage risk

  
  

Some certifications require less education than a CPR course.

And yet these individuals are working with:

• people with disc herniations

• clients with heart disease

• older adults with osteoporosis

• people on blood pressure or diabetes medications

This is not just irresponsible — it is dangerous.

The Most Dangerous Myth:

“If They’re Fit, They Must Know What They’re Doing”

This belief is destroying people.

Being fit means:

• good genetics

• personal tolerance

• youth

• time to train

• favorable recovery

  
  

It does NOT mean:

• understanding pathology

• recognizing contraindications

• knowing when not to train

• understanding long-term joint preservation

• managing pain and injury risk

  
  

Someone can be "buff" and still have no idea how to keep YOU safe.

Why You Should Trust Me

I am not an influencer. I am not a weekend-certified trainer.

I am a PhD in Exercise Physiology and a clinical exercise professional.

That means:

• I understand how aging changes your physiology

• I know what exercises harm spines, joints, and nerves

• I know how medications affect exercise response

• I know how to train around injuries — not through them

• I know when exercise is helping vs harming

• I am trained to reduce risk, not chase trends

My credibility comes from education, evidence, and accountability, not aesthetics or algorithms.

If You’re Over 40, This Is Non-Negotiable

Your body is not a test subject. Your health is not a marketing funnel.

If someone:

• sells "cure-all" supplements

• avoids credentials

• speaks in absolutes

• ignores risks

• promises fast results

• never says “this depends”

They are not looking out for you.

The Bottom Line

(Read This Twice)

Fitness influencers and underqualified trainers are:

• spreading misinformation

• normalizing unsafe practices

• profiting from ignorance

• causing preventable injuries

  
  

If you are serious about staying strong, pain-free, and functional for life, you need education, not hype.

That’s what I provide.