“Can you tell broscience from real science? | A closer look at exercise and fitness advice” — Quartz, 2019, 8:04 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmgw1RqhgsM
Fitness advice on the Internet ranges from credible to bizarre with much of the later coming from fitness influencers. Since having a great body is the primary way we evaluate authorities on fitness, non-experts can easily make their personal routines appear as exercise science. Part of the reason for this, according to sociologist Joe Krupnick, is that there is no readily identifiable or accessible authority on fitness, health, or exercise advice. Instead of getting fitness advice from a vetted authority, “bros” tend to exchange tips/tricks with one another at the gym. Another reason could be that exercise and diet companies conduct their own research (with profits in mind) and these findings end up being accepted by non-scientists as fact. The video also talks about the reproducibility crisis where prior research cannot be replicated while yielding the same conclusions. This could be due to bad statistical analysis, small sample sizes, errors in procedure, or many other faults, but regardless of the reason, prior results cannot be replicated by modern, reliable methods.
Where do you get your fitness or health advice from, and is it from a (non-profit) scientific source? How would you evaluate credibility or authority when receiving exercise advice? What other areas or topics have similar problems with non-expert advice or crises in reproducibility?
From the video’s description: Online fitness advice is notoriously bad. So why is it so popular? Exercise gurus and fitness influencers are all over social media with supplements and research claims. Broscience is in your feed telling you about fad diets and free weights — but how much is actually supported by science? Quartz News speaks with scientists, researchers, and fitness experts about the sources and research behind the proliferating stream of advice online. (Along the way, we offer some commentary on the most absurd tips we've come across during our research).