---
title: 'What a Decade of Fitness YouTube *Actually* Taught Me'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=gmyO7WC5aBQ'
video_id: 'gmyO7WC5aBQ'
date: 2026-06-29
duration_sec: 340
---

# What a Decade of Fitness YouTube *Actually* Taught Me

> Source: [What a Decade of Fitness YouTube *Actually* Taught Me](https://youtube.com/watch?v=gmyO7WC5aBQ)

## Summary

The creator reflects on a decade of making fitness content on YouTube, sharing three key lessons that have shaped their approach to fitness and content creation, aiming to help viewers approach fitness more mindfully.

### Key Points

- **The 'It Depends' Philosophy** [0:23] — The creator's goal is to provide objective fitness information, leading to the 'it depends' answer, which allows presenting multiple perspectives rather than a single answer that may not work for everyone.
- **Simplicity Can Be Harder** [0:47] — Simplifying fitness advice, like 'eat less, move more', can ignore real factors like hormones, genetics, and stress, causing confusion and frustration.
- **Science as a Starting Point, Not an Endpoint** [3:14] — Science provides averages and direction (like a map), but individual variability, obstacles (genetics, stress, injuries), and personal experience ultimately determine what works for each person.

### Conclusion

The creator values science as a guide but emphasizes personal experience as the final answer for fitness; they appreciate their audience's support over the years.

## Transcript

Ten years
of making fitness content on YouTube.
No doubt
I picked up many lessons
along the way
that shaped my views
of the fitness world,
which in turn shaped
how I create content for you guys.
So I want to share
three of the biggest lessons
I've learned the past
ten years as a fitness creator.
Lessons that I think
can help you approach fitness
a bit more mindfully as well.
When I first decided to make videos,
my goal was and still is,
to provide
as objective fitness information
as I possibly can.
And this essentially led to the birth of,
I guess, kind of the biggest meme
of picture fitness.
And that's me repeatedly
answering questions with.
It depends,
but the need to answer questions with it
depends is undoubtedly
one of the most important lessons
I've learned over the years.
Now, I know some of you.
And yeah,
even other fitness creators
would say that
giving straight answers
is better and saying it
depends is just a cop out.
Well, to me
it actually feels more like a cop out
to just give straight answers
all the time.
The whole point of it
depends is to allow me to present
as many perspectives
for a question as possible.
If I just provide one straight answer,
then I'm not doing my due diligence
because that answer isn't guaranteed
to work for everyone.
For example,
if you ask me
how many reps of bicep curls to do.
My answer will be it depends.
It depends on your goals.
For strength,
go for 2 to 5
reps with heavy weights for muscle,
focus on volume and effort
and use the rep range to help
you do the most.
This to me is how to approach
fitness,
especially as a fitness influencer
with a large audience.
Otherwise,
if you were to just shoot it straight,
then the only reasonable advice
and you fitness creator
can offer is to eat right.
Stay active and sleep well.
But even this seemingly simple
recommendation can have people
wondering what exactly
does eating right mean?
Well it depends.
Now, just as much as I try
to keep my content objective,
I also try to keep things simple.
Especially since fitness science
can get pretty complicated.
But another lesson I learned
is that sometimes
simplifying things
actually makes things harder.
This happens when simplicity leaves out
way too much context
that can lead to confusion,
misinterpretations, and even frustration.
Perhaps the clearest example of
this is the classic
simple weight loss
advice to eat less and move more.
And yeah, if we're talking
simple science,
using more energy than you
consume leads to weight loss.
But here's the catch
if it was that simple, then
me and every other fitness creator
would have been out of a job
a long time ago.
The thing is,
we can't just ignore all the real factors
that can easily influence
our ability to both eat
less and lose more.
Real factors like hormones,
genetics environment
stress everything.
Now, of course,
some people like to dismiss
all this
and simply say
that people gotta stop being so lazy.
Well, okay, let's just say that's true.
How often do we stop being lazy?
To sincerely answer that,
we'll just end up
right back at those factors
we so quickly dismissed.
So as I continue to simplify my content,
I'm also listening to you guys
to make sure
the information is as complete
and clear as possible.
Speaking of information, it's
no secret that my content is quite
heavy on science,
despite potential conflicts
and sometimes messy data.
I do believe that science,
with its randomizing,
controlling and blinding,
is the most objective
information out there.
But if we're going to use science,
we need to understand
what it actually tells us.
So the third biggest lesson
I learned is
that science is a great place to start,
but not always the best place to end.
You see, science mostly works
by reporting results based on averages.
For example,
let's say you study
claims a new supplement
is great for strength
because on average,
eight subjects increase their one
rep max by 15%.
Sounds great on the surface,
but let's take a closer
look at the subjects.
Two of them had way
above average increases,
two were right on the average,
and four saw essentially no gains.
Now apply this to the real world.
Half the people buying
this new supplements
just wasted their money.
We can basically apply this concept
to everything else in science.
The fact is,
individual variability
always exists and averages
don't tell the full story.
Sometimes you'll fall
right on the average,
but sometimes you'll fall far from it.
So instead of completely
sticking to science,
I think a better way is to treat it
more like a map
that can give us some direction.
But looking at the map is one thing.
Actually moving to
our destination is another,
and when we do, we're going to run
into unexpected obstacles
like genetics,
rough weather,
like stress and detours like injuries.
And maybe we'll find an even better,
quicker path that's not on the map.
So as great as science can be,
and it will always guide
much of my content.
The final answer for
you will be your own experience.
And that's the three
major lessons
I learned over the last ten years.
If you've been here
since the beginning,
I genuinely appreciate
you supporting me all these years.
And even if you've only been here
for a little while,
I appreciate you
for giving a triangular cartoon
character a chance to help you
with your goals.
Other than that,
if you enjoyed this video, then please
give it a dependable thumbs up
and share it with your lesson
loving friends.
Subscribe for more
and let me know what you think
in the comments!
As always,
thank you for watching and don't
forget to get your protein.