Don’t be a smart ass. Contribute value and positivity.

The movie Highlander is about Immortals that can only die by being decapitated by another Immortal. When this happens, the killer gains the life force of his victim.

Some people in the evidence-based fitness community try to use a similar approach. They attack others in an attempt to look smart.

Why do a research study, if you can just make a 5-minute post about what’s wrong with someone else’s study? That way you show how much smarter you are than the actual researchers. Clearly, you’re a fitness guru and everyone should follow you and buy your products….[sarcasm].

These people usually have little to no background in science.  They may even truly believe they’re smarter than the researchers, but usually, they’re just ignorant.

Studies cannot be perfect. Researchers often know how their own study could be ‘better’, that doesn’t mean they had the option to do so (e.g. money, time, willing subjects, ethical boards, etc).

In addition, the loudest mouth are often the most ignorant. Suggestions are made that the study should have been done differently, but they don’t understand all the implications (e.g. measurements are no longer legit under the suggested conditions, the impact on statistics, etc).

More practically: why would you follow or support someone like that? Do you really think such a person wakes up in the morning with the mindset: I want to help a lot of people in the fitness world? How can I be of value to the community? Or are they just looking to boost their own self esteem?

In Dutch we have a saying: ‘the best skippers are standing on the shore’. Don’t be a captain hindsight: there are no awards for saying how something would have been better.

Critical, respectful debate about a study and speculating what would happen with alternative designs is useful. You can usually easily see by someone’s tone what their intentions are. Contribute something of value and contribute positivity. Anything else if just online flexing looking to be more than you actually are.