Learning Through New Mediums

While Weider's magazines such as Flex, Muscle and Fitness, Men's Fitness, and Shape are still major publications today, people can look elsewhere for more information on building muscle. Today, we have Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and various forums and blogs that allow anybody with a keyboard to voice their opinion and beliefs. Regarding fitness and muscle building, never before have we seen so many theories. The ever popular bodybuilding.com is a supplement website that features member profiles, forums and blogs through their bodyspace section.

This is just one example of many fitness sites that promote people discussing fitness and theories on how to improve their bodies. The owners of this site make their money selling supplements and do not spend their times on the boards pushing any products. There are many articles written by trainers, as well as training regiments featured on the site. The downside to a site like this is that everyone with a keyboard and a screen name can claim to be an authority. Someone browsing a site like this needs to be able to determine what source is credible and what one isn't.

Another medium that has gained notoriety in the fitness community is Youtube. Many trainers and bodybuilders have started channels on this site to either promote their ideas and themselves in order to gain clients or even endorsements. This site gets a little trickier, however, because it can be very easy to follow someone's fitness channel who isn't necessarily credible, but is entertaining to watch or have a good body. I know that there are some channels I watch because I enjoy listening to the person for entertainment purposes, but wouldn't take their advice.

Here is a video from CampbellFitness on Youtube. In this video, he is demonstrating his workout, following the Wendler 5/3/1 training method. In previous videos, he discusses what the method is and provides more information on his Twitter and Facebook accounts. He is someone who has a career in something outside of personal training and bodybuilding, yet has an abundance of knowledge and gives safe and sound advice. He is somebody who I would say is very knowledgeable about fitness and working out and would trust the advice he gives, despite no "real" credentials.

Twinmuscleworkout is another fitness channel that features two twins giving workout, diet and supplementation advice. These guys are incredibly popular, but don't have any "real" credentials either. They largely give advice on what works for them and will briefly read about a topic and speak about it. In their defense, they never claim to be an authority and will always say at the end of their video, "It's just advice, do whatever the f*ck you want to do." This is a fitness channel that I personally will watch for entertainment purposes only because they are funny guys, but take what they say with a grain of salt.