DISTRACTIONS: The Ludicrous Shit on Men’s Fitness Websites & Blogs

I get it, I have a blog where I present my views — but I never tell people they must do, or must not do, this or that. I also understand after decades of training people that most DO INDEED want — crave even — to be told what to do. As a certain Twitter abuser likes to tweet, “Sad!”

I also know from training people that most of them desperately want some answer, some method, something magical other than “find yourself a challenging workout and stop eating crap.” There is none. There is no other answer, or supplement, or celebrity secret. 

Men’s fitness magazine websites are all about offering “NEW.” There is no new. There are some new ideas about doing the same old thing, such as planking, which is welcome for variety’s sake, but ab work is still all about performing challenging ab exercises.

The fitness magazines are in the business of selling product, and they are dedicated to baiting us with things new and different, but more especially “instant.” Washboard Abs In Three Weeks!” “Ten Dangerous Machines At Your Gym!” “Five Exercises Sabotaging Your Muscle Gains!”

Ask yourself, "Who writes this crap?" We never see their shirtless pictures proving whether they actually work out themselves. That should be a given: the fact that it is not should tell you how worthless these articles are. Often, as seen in the screen shot above, the "advice" isn't even attributed to any actual person.

The fault lies with the reader taking the bait — actually, the reader who rejects the tried and true, claiming it’s unpleasant or hard or boring, the reader looking for something easier and quicker than just putting his or her nose to the grindstone. The reader, unwilling to do what needs to be done, looking for some distraction.