I have a real love/hate relationship with social media. I was in graduate school when Facebook first came on the scene, and I don’t think anyone (including me) could have imagined what it would lead to, for better or worse. On one hand, I think social media has created amazing opportunities for our generation that we could have never imagined. Take communication for example – the ease and speed with which we can disseminate information and the reach people and businesses can now have is pretty incredible. On the other hand, I think we all know that social media has a darker side.

As you scroll social media, how often do you see accounts for influencers and coaches that are providing health, wellness, or fitness information? How often do you stop to consider whether the person behind that account really knows what they are talking about?

That leads me to today’s topic: how do you know if that coach or influencer is the real deal? This one has been on my mind for a long time, but it wasn’t until I recently watched a video on one of the IG accounts I follow: biolayne (link to the video I’m talking about below) that I felt inspired to write a post.

Social media has created an explosion of non-expert “experts” who are out there giving advice about everything and anything. This is rampant in the health and fitness industry, mental health world, and too many other areas to count. Just think about it: anyone can hop online, call themselves an influencer or a ‘coach’, take pretty pictures of themselves and… BAM! 100K followers later, they’re now considered an expert. MLM’s have used this to their advantage by recruiting people with zero experience in a field, calling them a coach or an influencer, giving them lackluster training in said field, and then sending them out to recruit more people. For the record, I’m not against all MLMs, I’m just against BS… especially when it comes to people’s money and health.

I hear a lot of people that complain about how much professionals charge. I mean, why would someone pay a certified professional a high hourly rate when they can just hop online and get that information for less, or even free? Why not go to the cheaper franchised fitness studio when the independent fitness studio charges higher prices?

I’ll tell you why. Education, credentials, experience, and personalization. Those four words should drive all of your decisions when it comes to your health, fitness, and mental well-being needs. (Notice I did NOT say appearance, physique, number of followers, or quality of instagram images.)

Why these four words are so important when evaluating health and wellness professionals:

• Education: First and foremost, you should always verify that the person you are going to work with has a legitimate education in whatever they are advising you on. I’ve been amazed by the number of times I’ve found an IG account that seemed legit only to click over to their website and find completely unrelated credentials, or worse yet, no credentials at all. When it comes to your health and fitness, taking advice from influencers who have zero education can be downright dangerous. I have seen “coaches” from MLMs and fitness influencers that give out blatantly eating-disordered information and that promote unhealthy body image ideals. Most of them do not have degrees in the fields they are doling out advice in. While I’m a huge fan of the growth of the coaching industry (obviously), I also am genuinely concerned by it. We have created a mass of pseudo-professionals that are unregulated and have extremely varied levels of education. Self-guided learning is great, but picking a book up at Barnes and Noble is not the same as formal schooling. Your mental and physical health should not be left up to a keyboard warrior with a pretty IG grid. Double check their education.
• Credentials: The beauty of credentials are that someone, other than the person themselves, has vouched for the fact that this individual knows something. The other beauty of credentials is that most of the time they require recertification every few years. Some require proof of continuing education and some require ongoing examinations. Regardless of the hurdle, the point is that most people with credentials have to re-prove themselves over and over again and to do that, they need to continue learning, growing, and staying up-to-date on research and information related to their specialty.
• Experience: I’ve heard this thrown out as being superior to an education. The example I have heard used was: “wouldn’t you rather see a surgeon with 10 years of experience under his belt vs. a first year med student?” Here’s the kicker with that analogy… both had to get an education BEFORE they could start accruing experience. Do you want a surgeon without a medical degree? I sure don’t! With that said, experience is important. Someone who has worked in or around the industry long enough to have gained the agility to problem solve on the fly and utilize past successes and failures as drivers of decision-making is tremendously valuable. But I don’t want you to rule out the person that is just getting started either. Sometimes they bring a fresh perspective and energy to the table that someone who has been in the industry for a long time lacks. Just be sure they have legitimate credentials and have some sort of mentor or supervisor that is working with them to avoid the always-present blindspots of a newbie.
• Personalization: Here are some words you don’t ever want to hear from a professional in the health and wellness field: “this worked for me, so you should do it too.” Unless that opinion is backed by education and science, that is NOT an appropriate reason to be doling out advice to others. (I’m not suggesting that people shouldn’t share products they love; although even then I think we should be careful – but I’m talking more about coaching programs, or weight loss programs, or nutrition plans, etc.) Yet, this is all too common online. This is, perhaps, the biggest downfall of social media influencers, coaching certification-mills, and cookie-cutter franchised businesses. No two people are alike; therefore no exercise program, nutritional program, or mental health program will work the same for every person. Someone who lacks the appropriate education and training will give you either what’s worked for them or a cut-and-paste program to follow. A professional should be able to personally evaluate your situation and then take a structured, empirically validated program and customize it to your needs, goals, and concerns. And they should be able to explain to you the how’s and why’s of what they are doing.

Finally, keep in mind that for someone to have the four qualities I listed above, it takes an incredible investment of time and money to get educated, certified, and stay that way. As an example, I currently have to complete separate continuing education requirements and recertification programs in psychology, health coaching, group fitness, barre… and hopefully soon Pilates as well (for more about my background, click here). When a professional sits down to set pricing, that is (or should be) taken into account. If you find someone who will give you information for free and/or for a cheap rate, remember that you often get what you pay for. Beware that you run the risk of not only paying the fake professional, but then also having to pay a real professional later so that they can fix the mistakes of the fake.

The video from Dr. Layne Norton below discusses a fitness influencer who ended up in hot water because she lacked the four qualities I described above (** WARNING: Dr. Norton does not mince words and there is cussing. Skip the video if that makes you uncomfortable).

Unfortunately, influencers and coaches like this are everywhere on social media. It can be hard not to get drawn into the false image they create of themselves online. Please be vigilant about who you pay to take care of your mental and physical needs and double check the four qualities I listed above. It may take you some extra time, but it will be well worth it to avoid taking bad advice that hurts your well-being.

As always, Stay Healthy as Heck, KH