He needs to be 22 with an 8-pack. She needs to be thin with a big booty. And tan.  As long as they demonstrate proficiency in these crucial areas, they are absolutely qualified to dole out fitness advice. Right. Riiiiiight.

 Social media has created a space where fitness information readily available. Never before has it been so easy to learn about the mechanisms of muscle growth and the science behind nutritional breakthroughs. It has also never been easier to become a fitness celebrity without actually having any idea what you are talking about.

 I wont waste your time, or attention span, complaining about the internet and its genetically blessed fitness celebrities. I am here to kick some knowledge on what to consider when taking fitness advice from the talking heads of Instagram.

 1) Experience training people. In my early 20s I was training for an hour and a half per day, 5 days per week. I had very little life stress aside from how I was getting home from the bar on a Saturday night, and I pretty much only ate oatmeal, chicken, eggs, veggies and pancakes. I was in pretty good shape but I didn’t have a friggin clue how to get you in shape. I could have given you my exact program but I would not have known how to progress/regress the training intensity based on your training experience and abilities. I wouldn’t know how to account for the recovery needs of a 35 year old vs that of a 22 year old. If you did not know how to perform an exercise correctly, I wouldn’t know how to coach you into the right positions in 2 to 3 simple cues. This is coaching and this knowledge only comes through experience. If “Derek the Great” does not have a list of clients he has helped, how is he going to help you? Go back to sleep, Derek.

 2) Readily available client testimonials. “Becky the Glute goddess” might have the most “goals” worthy set of glutes on the net, but if no one can vouch for her abilities as a trainer how do you know she can help you? Written testimonials, before and after pictures and/or a large client list indicate an experienced trainer with the chops to help you reach your goals. If Becky has not helped anyone else with her “Booty Burn” circuit of 80 different exercises, you probably shouldn’t waste your money on it.

 3) Experience/Science backed programs. This is an extension of the first two points but it is worth noting. A trainer does not need to be a physicist but he or she should know the basic science behind muscle growth and strength development. A quick peek through Instagram would indicate that many of these bozo’s do not. But, they are very nice to look at.

 Social media has made it exceptionally easy to skip the developmental stages of training people for a living. Before you spend your gym time or money invested in a fitness celeb’s advice, take the time to research their background and experience in helping people from your walk of life. Time is precious and you don’t want to waste any of it on some douchebag with abs and an Instagram account.