Research
How to Read Scientific-Sounding Fitness Blogs
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in The FASTER Sports Scientist programme →
In short: Treat a scientific-sounding fitness blog as a route to evidence, not evidence itself: identify what the author is really saying, spot the subtext, and check each claim against multiple sources.
This is an opinion post for personal trainers. I want to give you a simple way to look at a so-called scientific blog and break it into its useful parts, if any exist at all. Trainers who want to be seen as industry leaders increasingly use these posts to convince people they are on the right side of an argument.
Most of what I write is based on the science I have read, but it is clearly opinion. My goal is to get you to go away, read the research and form your own view.
Why science rarely gives you a clean answer
Science measures the precise, so it has to report in the vague. It is unusual to find a definitive answer. Usually the answer is a weighted statistical result, which is then assessed for its actual impact. Blogs and weak journals do not hold themselves to that standard. Reading more papers, and recent papers that replicate well-designed earlier ones, is a good way to answer a question, but first you need a good question, and that is half the battle.
The problem with "scientific" posts
A blog post is not scrutinised the way a paper is, and it often carries an underlying agenda. Some of these even get published in less reputable journals, where the agenda belongs to the author, the journal, or both. If you have done one of our specialist courses, the Motor Skills Application Specialist or the Injury to Performance Specialist, you will already use these articles as a route to your evidence, not as the evidence itself.
How to break a post down
- What is the author actually saying? Right now I am saying that scientific-sounding blog posts are mainly opinion, propped up by a few papers and the author's name.
- What is the subtext? Mine is that I am annoyed with pretend-science posts trying to convince good trainers they are learning from gurus.
- Check each important statement against multiple sources. If a claim is not backed up, it is opinion. This article is clearly built on my opinion of the posts written in our industry.
- Look at the claims each statement sets up. Look at my third paragraph. It could easily be challenged. It is clearly my opinion and lacking references, so at that point I am building on opinion.
- Examine the research itself. Is it balanced? Do the counterclaims have research too? I once read a piece in an NSCA journal, dressed up as a paper, that took two pages of unreferenced statements to reach any actual research, and then leaned on one to three papers only to counter points it had invented. Without referencing the claims it says the industry makes, the argument falls apart.
Do all that, and you will usually see the conclusion coming. Still, read the conclusion carefully, looking for the real message and the subtext beneath it.
I will be honest: this post is as much about me getting frustrated with bad experts as it is about reading content. I hope it helps you all the same.
You just read one answer. The course is all of them.
The FASTER Sports Scientist programme: every answer marked by a real tutor, with free return access for life. The price is on the page, payment plans at checkout, no sales calls.
What every FASTER student gets
Built around you, not around the course
- A real person marks every answerEvery answer is read and marked by a tutor, with written feedback.
- Marked as you goEach teaching point is marked as you answer it, not at the end of the module.
- Dictate instead of typeA microphone on every written answer: say your answer and it types it for you (Chrome, Edge and Safari).
- Listen to the lessonsVoice-overs on the lessons, and the audio to download.
- Built for the way your brain worksShort lessons, one point at a time, marked as you go, with the choice to listen, read, print or speak your answers.
- Streaks that never punish youYou set how many days a week you want to study. Miss a day and your streak pauses; it is never lost.
- Accessible to WCAG AA, with an AAA optionEvery page measured against the WCAG accessibility standard: no faults at level A or AA, with a skip link, screen-reader labels and pages that hold together zoomed to 400%. A high-contrast option takes it to AAA.
- Keep it plainOne switch turns off the extras, the streaks, the badges, the celebrations and the movement, so the site stays plain and calm. Switch them back on whenever you like.
- Bigger text and wider spacingTwo steps of bigger text, and more room between lines, words and letters, on every page.
- Calmer motionOne switch stops animations and videos that play on their own. It is on already if your phone or computer asks for reduced motion.
- A personal video lessonWhen an answer needs real explaining, your marker records a video that lands in your course.
- A note before you sendBefore you send, the page tells you if your answer copies the lesson word for word, so you can put it in your own words.
- The skeleton and muscle labsTap any bone on the skeleton, and see the muscles light up on the model.
- Print the notesPrint the lessons and go old school.
- Case studies on your phoneBuilt into the site, saved as you go, there on your laptop when you sit down.
- Pin it to your home screenNo App Store and no Google Play. It is just there.
- No resit feesWork sent back is a chance to add more, with no resit fee.
- Return access for lifeQualify once and come back to the content whenever you need it.
- PT Manager from day onePT Manager is yours to learn on from the day you sign up. Using it with real clients comes once you hold your Level 3 and are listed on the FASTER Trainer Register.
- The FASTER Trainer RegisterA free listing on the Register once you qualify.
- Your certificates in one placeEvery course and its certificate on one page.
- Ask JohnThe Ask John button on every page, and his WhatsApp.
And PT Manager, free
51 tools to run your business, with no monthly fee and no cut of your money
PT Manager is yours to learn on from the day you sign up. Using it with real clients comes once you hold your Level 3 and are listed on the FASTER Trainer Register.
See all 51 tools
Set-up
- Import clients Bring a whole client list across in one go.
- My quotes Daily lines your clients see — yours, not stock.
- Programme templates The programme shapes you reuse — a session or twelve weeks. Pick one for a client, get your own copy.
- Exercise library Every exercise with FASTER coaching detail.
- Money Products, payments and who owes what.
- Send from your own email Connect your own email service so invites arrive from you, on your domain.
- My brand & client view What your clients see when they walk in — views, header, accent, logo.
- Your enrolment pack What every new client gets the moment you enrol them — your forms, ours, or a mix.
- Products and services What you sell — blocks, packages, memberships and one-offs, with their prices.
- Insurance Your policy on record — provider and expiry. Client features unlock while it is valid.
- My menu Switch any tool on or off — for your menu, your home and your whole account.
- Your website A free website on your own web address, filled from PT Manager. Or just the client sign-in door on your domain.
- Your public page Your verified Trainer Register listing, linking out to your own site and socials.
Business day to day
- Clients Your client list — invite, open a client, manage their space.
- Clubs Group your clients — a board they share, a programme or a monthly price if you want one.
- Challenges A dated push everyone logs against — for everyone you train, or for one club.
- Calendar Sessions, classes, capacity and bookings.
- Reminders The dates your business can't let lapse — insurance and first aid, nagged ahead of time.
- Nudges Who needs a nudge today — opportunities, one tap each.
- Who needs chasing Every conversation about money, in the order to work through them.
- What needs doing Your own list, in your own words — the jobs you keep meaning to get to.
- Till Sell at the desk — cash, card or on their phone — and download the sales sheet.
- What you are making What is coming in every month, what was paid in the last 30 days, and what sells.
Templates and systems
- Forms & interviews PAR-Q, consent, consultations and your own forms.
- Coaching room The coaching tools shelf — wheels, journeys and resources in one place.
- Radar wheels Build a life or performance wheel a client fills in — see change over time.
- Nutrition by FASTER Nutrition sheets and habits without meal-plan pretence.
- Pathways Automated coaching journeys you assign to clients.
- Programmes Start a programme — a session, a month, 12 weeks or a season — and find the ones you have built.
- Games & drills planner Build game-based sessions and drills.
- Sport screens Pick a sport — the shots to film, the analyser, and a ready-made radar of the qualities that matter.
- Movement screen → radar Read joint angles off the analyser — they auto-score and fill a radar wheel.
- Assessment builder Build and run client assessments and re-tests.
- Tag analytics Every tag across your clips, grouped and exportable.
Client
- AI prompts Your reusable prompt library for coaching copy.
- Before & after Side-by-side progress comparisons.
Trainer tools
- Exercise generator Fresh exercise ideas from constraints you set.
- FASTER dice & wheel Spin-and-roll session variety for groups and games.
- Movement demonstrator A 3D model of the FASTER movement patterns — body or skeleton view, prime movers lit up, live joint angles.
- Client video analysis Your media library — client folders and your own. Pick a clip to analyse.
- Movement by FASTER (HMAC) Human movement analysis charts — see how a client moves.
- Live analysis Mount your phone and coach live — skeleton, reps, angles and depth in real time.
- Tell a group One thing, to the right people — and you see exactly who it reaches first.
Media centre
- Video builder Reels, stories and client report videos, in your own branding.
- Image builder Branded posts and cards for your socials, at the right size.
- Shot list builder Every shot with its size, angle, lens, location, people, kit and sound; sorted into shooting order, ticked off on the day, printed or sent as a sheet.
- Storyboard builder Plan a video shot by shot: what the camera sees, what is said, the move and the cut.
- Script writer Write what you will say, with the word count and how long it takes to say.
- Teleprompter Read your script off the screen at your speed, and film yourself behind it.
- Video and image organiser Everything you have made and every source you can pull from.
- Ad builder Make your own ads, coached as you go, in your branding. As many as you like, no fee, no cap.
Frequently asked
Are fitness blogs the same as scientific research?
No. Most so-called scientific blogs are opinion using a few papers and the author's name to claim authority, without peer scrutiny.
How do I judge a fitness blog's claims?
Look for each important statement and check it is backed by multiple sources. If it is not, it is opinion, however confident it sounds.
Why does science rarely give definite answers?
Science measures the precise but reports in the vague, usually as a weighted statistical answer that is then judged for real-world impact.
How should trainers use blogs?
As a starting point on the way to the evidence, not as the evidence itself. Read the papers and form your own view.
Reading this for your own training? Every trainer on the FASTER register has been assessed by us — search by town or speciality, free.
Find a FASTER trainer →
