The Worst Fitness Advice on the Internet Right Now (Stop Believing This)

Gerry: Do you drink a lot of coffee?

Ramy: I drink coffee, yeah. I drink coffee every day. I love it. I’m a big coffee guy.

Gerry: Well, how do you drink it?

Ramy: I blend it with MCT oil and grass-fed butter every morning. A little biohack over here. I don’t like to eat breakfast because I just can’t eat in the morning, so the healthy fats help keep me full for a little bit. The caffeine releases a little slower, so I don’t get the caffeine crash.

Gerry: Ten minutes of sunlight at 07:00 sharp?

Ramy: No, I don’t. That’s probably the only biohacking thing I do. It’s an easy and delicious biohack, so it makes the coffee taste good.

Gerry: Is it delicious?

Ramy: It tastes like a cappuccino or something. Yeah, it’s really, really good.

Gerry: I know nothing about coffee. So when people talk to me… I don’t even know what a cappuccino is. What even is that?

Ramy: It’s espresso with foamed milk at the top, right? So all different coffee drinks are based on that. You drink drip coffee, right? You see the machine dripping. In Europe and most of the world, they drink espresso, like in Italy you’re going to get espresso. So yeah, every coffee drink is basically a certain amount of coffee and milk. Do you wake up and drink tea, or what?

Gerry: I drink green tea. That’s all I drink is green tea. Anything else will make me all jittery and wired.

Ramy: You’re sensitive to caffeine.

Gerry: Super sensitive. But green tea, sometimes a black tea. I like the taste of coffee, but usually it’s jittery like I said, or it makes me anxious.

Ramy: So like an energy drink could probably have you…

Gerry: I drink half of one sometimes, like a half of Celsius, and I’m okay. More than that, I’m again anxious or…

Ramy: Really? Okay. That’s about a hundred milligrams of caffeine in half a Celsius, which is a little bit over a cup of coffee. So that’s interesting that you could drink that, but a cup of coffee gets you more jittery than a Celsius.

Gerry: I’d say so.

Ramy: Oh, that’s interesting. Okay.

Gerry: Celsius… Oh, we’re shouting out different brands.

Ramy: They’re not paying you, are they?

Gerry: Nope.

Ramy: Soon, they will.

Gerry: They’ll pay us both. But anyways, welcome back to the podcast. I’m Dr. Gerry, that’s Coach Ramy. Today we’re going to talk about how Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube shorts have ruined fitness advice. But I wanted to play a little game. Do you have your phone on you?

Ramy: I do.

Gerry: What’s the first thing that pops up in your algorithm when you go on the Instagram Explore page? And we’ll kind of do it together. I’m just curious.

Ramy: Ronda Rousey shadow boxing, like some anime character fighting in some MMA event.

Gerry: Getting those too, really? Mine is WWE stuff, so there’s Roman Reigns.

Ramy: Shout out to the Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns.

Gerry: Probably the UFC is in here somewhere too. More WWE, Dragon Ball Z, rehab stuff. That’s all I got, really.

Ramy: Mine’s a lot of sparring, a lot of clips of submissions.

Gerry: That’s what I would think yours is. Is that from your business page or your personal page?

Ramy: That was my personal page. On my business page, it’s all combat sports and MMA.

Gerry: My business page, which is @aptphysicaltherapy on Instagram, has all sports rehab stuff: bios, knee pain, don’t stretch a torn muscle, why would I give you exercise for tendon rehab that’s not pain. All these are meant to grab your attention, right? What do you think dominates the fitness algorithm on social media? Like what things get the most hits or views? What would you say?

Ramy: Anything that’s “Three Secrets to…” or “Here’s Three Ways You’re Doing This Wrong.” Something that’s going to startle you because they want that emotional response right away. You feel defensive, like “Three Ways You’re Throwing Your Cross Wrong” or “10 Things You Could Do to Have a Better Sparring Session.” Because we’re going to scroll past it if it’s not immediately capturing our attention.

Gerry: Yeah. So I boiled it down to three things. The first one is prioritizing aesthetics or look over feeling good. The second one is all-or-nothing challenges, like the 30-day hard challenges—extreme dieting, extreme fitness, running a zillion miles—and people love that stuff. And then the third one I put was complex optimization strategies or protocols that nobody can ever follow because we’re all super busy and stressed. The good thing about those is they get you thinking about your health, but the way they throw it at you isn’t very good. Do you agree with that?

Ramy: I tend to agree. Coming from a combat sports line, they can be very absolute, and there’s not room for nuance when you’re trying to convey information in thirty seconds. Like “Oh, you should never throw your cross like this. This is the way to throw your cross.” And it’s not true. There is no absolute rule in combat sports. That’s what I don’t like about these pages that present themselves as authority figures. I think that can confuse people. People who are seeing real coaches will see conflicting information in a thirty-second reel and wonder if they’re learning wrong.

Gerry: How do you decipher what’s good for your students and what’s not good?

Ramy: I learn stuff from watching coaches all over the world, so it’s not like I’m against that. I worry more about somebody who can’t decipher what’s bad info and what’s just for views and clicks. Sometimes the flashiest, coolest video can have the most inaccurate information. They’re just really good at making videos. Doesn’t mean they know what they’re talking about when it comes to coaching.

Gerry: It is hard to decipher what’s real or good advice. That’s on us as experts to figure out what is good for my patients or your clients. When I get a new person with back pain and they tell me they saw something on TikTok, 90% of the time I say it’s bad advice because it’s not tailored to them for their specific pain or surgery. It’s on us to tell them this does not apply to you. Thankfully, we’re the experts to actually get them on the right track.

Gerry: But this episode is brought to you by Thorne Supplements. I’m a proud partner of Thorne. You can use my link in the description for 10% off. Thorne products are backed by science and trusted by health professionals and athletes. Many Thorne products are NSF certified for sport, meaning what’s on the label is actually in the bottle. Thorne focuses on high-quality ingredients, clinical purity, and potency. Thorne offers personalized health solutions across nutrition, sleep, focus, energy, and recovery, which is perfect for my podcast. So Thorne Supplements, thanks for sponsoring. Link is in the description for 10% off. Check it out. Thank you again to Thorne.

Gerry: It’s tough because the internet throws so much stuff at you at once. People nowadays just go scrolling and forget about something the next hour. But try not to believe everything you see on the internet. For a fighter or someone trying to learn combat sports, what are the fundamentals they should learn first?

Ramy: Regardless of the combat sport, you should learn the fundamentals first. I see it most in Jiu-Jitsu: someone’s a beginner learning the basics like triangle, armbar, balance, but then they’ll see a flashy move and want to try it. I want them to try challenging techniques, but I don’t want them to hit the fast-forward button or replace a solid foundation. Muhammad Ali famously fought with his hands low, but his coach didn’t start him like that. He learned the fundamentals first: elbows, point your shoulder. You have to learn the fundamentals, and then you can break the rules once you have them. You can break these rules, but only once you understand those rules can you begin to break them.

Gerry: Master the fundamentals first before adding on anything fancy, tricky, or weird you see on social media, and that will get you super far.

Ramy: You’ll be better at the fancy techniques if you have solid fundamentals to fall back on. Landing a solid jab isn’t going to get views, but when you jump off the cage and land a punch like Anthony Pettis, it’s going to go viral. But you can’t build your game around a once-in-a-while technique. That’s where social media can be misleading.

Gerry: So hands up is the fundamental. What else?

Ramy: Elbows in. In MMA, you’re learning several forms of combat sports, so advice can be conflicting. In wrestling, you’re front-leg heavy and low. In striking, you want to be more back-leg heavy. You learn all these fundamentals, and then for MMA, you adjust. In boxing, you don’t want your feet on the same line for balance. You want your hands by your eyebrows first. Later on, if you can be Anderson Silva, slip and dodge every punch. But at the beginning, you need to be guarded. Also, eyes at the chest or neck. When people start, they look at the hands or feet. Balance is something you feel, not something you see.

Gerry: When I’m teaching band exercises, patients are always looking down. I tell them don’t look down, there’s nothing down there.

Ramy: Exactly. When you look at the chest or neck, you see everything with peripheral vision, and there’s no emotion behind it. You’re just seeing information. So the fundamentals are so important, but some people don’t have the patience for that.

Gerry: That’s why social media is so popular—people are looking for that quick fix. But when you realize life doesn’t work instantly, that’s how you grow as a person. Mastering the fundamentals takes time and patience.

Gerry: I want to go through what I call the Four Horsemen of fitness noise on social media:

Gerry: 1. The Optimization Trap. Optimizing everything, having a 100-step morning routine. Nobody has time to do that. This morning I got up, ate a granola bar, and went to work. It’s okay to have off days. If 70% to 80%, even 60% of the time you’re doing things correctly, you’re doing awesome. Perfection is the enemy of progress.

Ramy: I agree. That’s a luxury lifestyle portrayal that very few people can actually do.

Gerry: 2. Mobility Overload. There’s too much mobility stuff online. Remember Conor McGregor’s movement coach doing drills? To me, it gave scam vibes. Mobility is important, but progressive overload is king. You build strength and tissue resilience by working through full ranges of motion with weight, not just doing passive stretching routines.

Ramy: Right. Gymnasts and sprinters have huge muscles and are extremely strong, but they’re also super flexible and explosive. It kills the narrative that muscle makes you tight.

Gerry: 3. Challenge Burnout. Social media is full of 30-day extreme challenges, fasting for days, or extreme workouts. People jump in deconditioned with unprogrammed volume and end up burnt out, miserable, or injured.

Ramy: I don’t like anything that’s one-size-fits-all. A 20-year-old athlete and a 60-year-old beginner shouldn’t be doing the exact same workout of the day. Training needs to be tailored to the individual.

Gerry: 4. The Supplement Game. Influencers claiming a magic pill gave them results. Supplements are meant to supplement your diet. If your sleep, nutrition, and hydration suck, no supplement will save you.

Ramy: There is no secret supplement that drastically changes performance. Everyone is just looking for a shortcut to success.

Gerry: Stick to the basics: Creatine, Vitamin D, Fish Oil, Multivitamin, and Protein Powder. That’s pretty much all you need.

Gerry: To recap the fundamentals of fitness and exercise:
1. Master the five fundamental movement patterns: Push, Pull, Hinge, Carry, Squat.
2. Get stronger with smart progressive overload.
3. Work through full ranges of motion during resistance training.
4. Respect your recovery: prioritize sleep, nutrition, hydration, and stress management.

Ramy: The simple basics are tried and true. When I get a good night’s sleep, it feels like a cheat code for performance.

Gerry: What should we talk about on the next podcast?

Ramy: I’m open to anything. Always good discussions.

Ramy: Shout out to my team, Phoenix Sports Empire! If you’re in the Naperville area, come train with us. Shout out to Coach Brooks, Coach Jaime, Coach Enrique, Asha, and all my students at PSE. Website: phoenixsportsempire.com. Instagram: @phoenixsportsempire and @ramythegiant.

Gerry: If you’re in the Naperville area and have any pain or injury, come see me at Art of PT, sports and performance PT. Website and booking link are in the description. I also do virtual rehab coaching worldwide via Google Meet. Check out my newsletter, The PT Handbook, sent out every other week. Instagram: @aptdoctorg and @aptphysicaltherapy.

Gerry: We’ll see you guys next time. Adios.

Ramy: Peace.