The Internal War of Artistic Fitness Journalism
Summary: Writing creative yet accurate fitness content is really hard, so hard that it makes you want to procrastinate and take the easy route out. Write well, respect the scientific metholodology, and change the fitness industry.
In the fitness industry, journalism varies between two poles: evidence and experience. Most of the content is a blend of the two, existing somewhere on the spectrum. Some more towards experiential, and some more towards the evidence end. Both have their merits, but I think the majority would agree that if the aim of an article is to showcase and inform on a health or fitness concept, their should be at least some evidence involved in the process.
Telling a story around a fitness concept to teach your audience, as an educated academic, is really hard.
It’s wonderful to see the number of evidence-based fitness professionals creating well researched, creative, and entertaining pieces, helping people navigate through their own fitness journey.
However, for the creative fitness writer, the task has it’s own occupational hazards. Finding the balance between work that you’re satisfied with, and work that holds up to your own standards, can be paralysing.
Creative writing, or the art of writing with an entertaining flair, demands embellishment. The writer must understand what makes the reader engaged, and ultimately be interesting enough for [them] to continue. We naturally connect with stories, (likely) one of the oldest forms of communication, because they allow us to experience the richness and complexities of its core teachings. Stories that connect evoke the perculiar response of placing ourselves within that reality. We become the protagonist, lending us the power to learn, internalise and change perception around those things that are correlary in our life to its core message.
With great power comes great responsibility — Voltaire
Writing stories to teach, that rely on the ethical use of science, often too temptingly allow the writer to paint beyond the lines. Crafting a message that informs, entrenched in evidence-based fitness, outside of the stringent and dispassionate barries of academic writing becomes a constant internal conflict between creating good art, and respected truthful teachings. We have a responsibility to both devils; research and art. If we’re to improve the state of the industry, it’s imperative that we use our power (knowledge of the research) judiciously, rather than with a wide-sweeping brush.
After all, reporting research outside the context of its controlled experimental variables, without stating your inferences, isn’t science.
I believe to reach the hearts and minds of the people we serve, that we need to be writing compelling stuff. However, how we write and convey that message is by far the hardest part. There are an (almost) infinite number of ways to write and structure an article.
When talking about a study, do we just report the facts as they exist.
If we’re writing creatively, should we be sure to regurgitate the exact methodolgy of the study.
Embellishment comes at a cost of more likely being wrong about the evidence.
I’ve been thinking about how a writer might respect their audience, by choosing the representation and facts wisely, and matching them to the lesson or objective of the article.
- Don’t write in absolutes (unless its data). Brad Schoenfeld has a quote for the Epic Fitness Summit that is similar to this point. When writing about a specific topic, it can be easy to say that X is better than Y. Period. Or intervention A is 9 times better at metabolising…
The more you read and understand research, the less inclined you are to speak in absolutes — Brad Schoenfeld
2. Satisfy your inner critic. Neil Strauss has mentioned that his final edit is for the critic. I’ve found that evidence-based trainers, writing creative work are their own biggest critic, because they feel the conflict between truth and sassy. Just make sure you put in the necessary disclaimers and respect rule #1 in your final edit.
3. Be upfront. When using a piece or body of research, write in a way that the reader knows what is descriptive of the research, and your own inferences. E.g. there is a big difference between: Occlusion training will increase bicep hypertrophy by 10%, than, In the study the training led to 10% improvements in upper arm circumference, in 20-yr old males.
In the end, what we write impacts both the people we aim to serve, and the future of the industry, on much larger scales than we realise. When we’re seeing more similar content in our search results and social media feeds than ever before, it becomes more important that we continue to demand diverse, helpful, and truthful information.
Some recent resources behind this post
The Fitness Industry is Failing by Jon Goodman — Layne Norton’s
Journal Bans Significance Testing
Neil Strauss Interview with Tim Ferriss
