What a Decade of Fitness YouTube *Actually* Taught Me

[00:00] Ten years

[00:01] of making fitness content on YouTube.

[00:04] No doubt

[00:05] I picked up many lessons

[00:06] along the way

[00:07] that shaped my views

[00:08] of the fitness world,

[00:09] which in turn shaped

[00:10] how I create content for you guys.

[00:12] So I want to share

[00:13] three of the biggest lessons

[00:15] I've learned the past

[00:16] ten years as a fitness creator.

[00:18] Lessons that I think

[00:19] can help you approach fitness

[00:21] a bit more mindfully as well.

[00:23] When I first decided to make videos,

[00:24] my goal was and still is,

[00:26] to provide

[00:27] as objective fitness information

[00:29] as I possibly can.

[00:30] And this essentially led to the birth of,

[00:33] I guess, kind of the biggest meme

[00:34] of picture fitness.

[00:35] And that's me repeatedly

[00:37] answering questions with.

[00:38] It depends,

[00:39] but the need to answer questions with it

[00:42] depends is undoubtedly

[00:44] one of the most important lessons

[00:45] I've learned over the years.

[00:47] Now, I know some of you.

[00:48] And yeah,

[00:49] even other fitness creators

[00:50] would say that

[00:51] giving straight answers

[00:53] is better and saying it

[00:54] depends is just a cop out.

[00:56] Well, to me

[00:57] it actually feels more like a cop out

[00:59] to just give straight answers

[01:01] all the time.

[01:02] The whole point of it

[01:03] depends is to allow me to present

[01:04] as many perspectives

[01:06] for a question as possible.

[01:08] If I just provide one straight answer,

[01:09] then I'm not doing my due diligence

[01:11] because that answer isn't guaranteed

[01:13] to work for everyone.

[01:14] For example,

[01:15] if you ask me

[01:16] how many reps of bicep curls to do.

[01:18] My answer will be it depends.

[01:20] It depends on your goals.

[01:22] For strength,

[01:22] go for 2 to 5

[01:23] reps with heavy weights for muscle,

[01:25] focus on volume and effort

[01:26] and use the rep range to help

[01:27] you do the most.

[01:28] This to me is how to approach

[01:30] fitness,

[01:31] especially as a fitness influencer

[01:33] with a large audience.

[01:35] Otherwise,

[01:35] if you were to just shoot it straight,

[01:37] then the only reasonable advice

[01:39] and you fitness creator

[01:40] can offer is to eat right.

[01:42] Stay active and sleep well.

[01:44] But even this seemingly simple

[01:46] recommendation can have people

[01:47] wondering what exactly

[01:49] does eating right mean?

[01:50] Well it depends.

[01:52] Now, just as much as I try

[01:54] to keep my content objective,

[01:55] I also try to keep things simple.

[01:57] Especially since fitness science

[01:59] can get pretty complicated.

[02:00] But another lesson I learned

[02:02] is that sometimes

[02:03] simplifying things

[02:04] actually makes things harder.

[02:06] This happens when simplicity leaves out

[02:09] way too much context

[02:10] that can lead to confusion,

[02:12] misinterpretations, and even frustration.

[02:14] Perhaps the clearest example of

[02:16] this is the classic

[02:18] simple weight loss

[02:19] advice to eat less and move more.

[02:22] And yeah, if we're talking

[02:23] simple science,

[02:24] using more energy than you

[02:25] consume leads to weight loss.

[02:27] But here's the catch

[02:28] if it was that simple, then

[02:30] me and every other fitness creator

[02:32] would have been out of a job

[02:33] a long time ago.

[02:34] The thing is,

[02:34] we can't just ignore all the real factors

[02:37] that can easily influence

[02:39] our ability to both eat

[02:40] less and lose more.

[02:41] Real factors like hormones,

[02:43] genetics environment

[02:44] stress everything.

[02:45] Now, of course,

[02:46] some people like to dismiss

[02:47] all this

[02:48] and simply say

[02:49] that people gotta stop being so lazy.

[02:52] Well, okay, let's just say that's true.

[02:55] How often do we stop being lazy?

[02:58] To sincerely answer that,

[03:00] we'll just end up

[03:01] right back at those factors

[03:03] we so quickly dismissed.

[03:04] So as I continue to simplify my content,

[03:07] I'm also listening to you guys

[03:09] to make sure

[03:09] the information is as complete

[03:11] and clear as possible.

[03:13] Speaking of information, it's

[03:14] no secret that my content is quite

[03:17] heavy on science,

[03:18] despite potential conflicts

[03:20] and sometimes messy data.

[03:22] I do believe that science,

[03:23] with its randomizing,

[03:24] controlling and blinding,

[03:26] is the most objective

[03:27] information out there.

[03:29] But if we're going to use science,

[03:30] we need to understand

[03:32] what it actually tells us.

[03:34] So the third biggest lesson

[03:35] I learned is

[03:36] that science is a great place to start,

[03:38] but not always the best place to end.

[03:41] You see, science mostly works

[03:43] by reporting results based on averages.

[03:46] For example,

[03:46] let's say you study

[03:47] claims a new supplement

[03:48] is great for strength

[03:50] because on average,

[03:51] eight subjects increase their one

[03:53] rep max by 15%.

[03:55] Sounds great on the surface,

[03:56] but let's take a closer

[03:57] look at the subjects.

[03:58] Two of them had way

[04:00] above average increases,

[04:02] two were right on the average,

[04:03] and four saw essentially no gains.

[04:06] Now apply this to the real world.

[04:08] Half the people buying

[04:09] this new supplements

[04:10] just wasted their money.

[04:11] We can basically apply this concept

[04:13] to everything else in science.

[04:15] The fact is,

[04:16] individual variability

[04:18] always exists and averages

[04:20] don't tell the full story.

[04:22] Sometimes you'll fall

[04:23] right on the average,

[04:24] but sometimes you'll fall far from it.

[04:26] So instead of completely

[04:27] sticking to science,

[04:29] I think a better way is to treat it

[04:31] more like a map

[04:32] that can give us some direction.

[04:34] But looking at the map is one thing.

[04:36] Actually moving to

[04:37] our destination is another,

[04:39] and when we do, we're going to run

[04:40] into unexpected obstacles

[04:42] like genetics,

[04:43] rough weather,

[04:44] like stress and detours like injuries.

[04:46] And maybe we'll find an even better,

[04:49] quicker path that's not on the map.

[04:51] So as great as science can be,

[04:52] and it will always guide

[04:54] much of my content.

[04:55] The final answer for

[04:56] you will be your own experience.

[05:00] And that's the three

[05:01] major lessons

[05:02] I learned over the last ten years.

[05:04] If you've been here

[05:05] since the beginning,

[05:06] I genuinely appreciate

[05:08] you supporting me all these years.

[05:09] And even if you've only been here

[05:11] for a little while,

[05:12] I appreciate you

[05:13] for giving a triangular cartoon

[05:15] character a chance to help you

[05:17] with your goals.

[05:18] Other than that,

[05:19] if you enjoyed this video, then please

[05:20] give it a dependable thumbs up

[05:22] and share it with your lesson

[05:23] loving friends.

[05:24] Subscribe for more

[05:25] and let me know what you think

[05:26] in the comments!

[05:27] As always,

[05:28] thank you for watching and don't

[05:29] forget to get your protein.