Exercise is more difficult for disabled people than it is for non-disabled people because fitness is not accessible, and disabled people have more limitations than non-disabled people. If you are disabled, it is just as important to take care of your physical health as it would be for a non-disabled person because improved health benefits everyone. Fitness channels are convenient for non-disabled people, but often are necessary for disabled people because a lot of disabled people don’t know how to exercise and need someone to guide them. I have been using fitness channels to exercise since I graduated high school, which was over ten years ago, and have learned so much from them. Fitness channels can be so helpful for disabled people because it teaches you different exercises that you would not have thought of on your own, but not all fitness channels are created equal. I recommend fitness channels for anyone who can’t afford to pay a personal trainer, but because anyone can start a YouTube channel, there are some things you should look out for to get better results. What do I look for in a fitness channel? In this post, I am going to talk about a few red flags that you should look out for before using a fitness channel.
Is your trainer certified?- Before subscribing to a fitness channel I always check to make sure that the person guiding me is a certified personal trainer because anyone can get online and create a fitness video, and you don’t need any kind of certification to do it. You can get results by working out with someone who is not a personal trainer, because most people have some kind of fitness knowledge, but I personally prefer to exercise with people who have a personal training certification at the bare minimum. I prefer to exercise with someone who is certified because you are less likely to get injured when your trainer has some kind of credential and knows what they are talking about. When I am exercising, my trainers always tell me where I should be feeling it and what not to do, which is something you might not get if the person exercising with you is not certified, because they would likely not know what muscles you are working. You are less likely to get injured when your instructor is a certified personal trainer and knows what they are doing, which is so important to me because I want to improve my health, not spend weeks recovering from an avoidable injury. How do you know your instructor is a certified personal trainer? You can usually find it in their bio, and most trainers will make it very clear in their fitness videos because you can’t say you are a personal trainer when you are not one. An instructor who is not certified is a red flag for me because you won’t get as good results when your trainer doesn’t know what exercises are effective and which ones are a waste of time.
Are they trying to sell you an expensive program- There is nothing wrong with paying for a fitness app, and I personally just don’t do it because a vast majority of the time, I can only do some of the videos, and it would be a waste of money for me. Fitness apps are convenient, and when you pay for a fitness app, you will have more options than someone who only wants free content. If you want to pay a lot of money for a fitness app, that is your choice, but it is a red flag for me when someone is trying to sell me an expensive program and tries to tell me that I can’t get results without it. You can buy an expensive program if you choose to do so, but you don’t need to buy an expensive fitness app to get results, and there are a lot of free videos online that will get you the results you are looking for. Fitness channels should make you feel motivated and good about yourself, and if they make you feel bad for not buying a program, it might be a toxic fitness channel and be a sign to go elsewhere.
Are they promoting vanity?– There are so many fitness channels out there that promote the idea that you need to exercise to get abs and have to do extreme workouts several days a week to get results. Exercise has a lot of health benefits, and it shouldn’t be used as a form of self-hatred but rather as a form of self-care because movement should be about what your body can do, not a punishment for all the food you ate. Working out for vanity reasons is sadly so normalized, and a lot of fitness channels have a lot of content where the creator takes pictures of their abs and will tell people that they need to look like them. All personal trainers with fitness channels will have posts that tell you how to get abs because that is their job, and there is nothing wrong with doing that, but there comes a point when it becomes harmful. Before subscribing to a fitness channel, I think it is so important that you look at the messages that the creator is promoting, because if you have a poor relationship with exercise, you don’t want to follow someone who encourages extreme workouts and says you need to restrict yourself so you can fit in a size zero. Don’t support people who are all about vanity because these channels often aren’t about improving your health, and they just want you to shrink your body as small as possible, which is not always healthy.
Are they promising quick fixes?- A good personal trainer will know that it takes time and consistency to get results and will not try to sell you quick fixes. Anyone who makes you think you can get a full body transformation in two weeks with little effort is full of themselves. Run!
What kind of nutrition advice are they giving?- Personal trainers are fitness experts, and although they may have some nutrition knowledge, I would never take nutrition advice from a personal trainer unless they had extra nutrition training. Most fitness channels will promote some kind of nutrition plan, and it is okay to follow these plans, but I would take nutrition advice from a personal trainer like a grain of salt because a lot of these plans are not healthy. I very rarely take nutrition advice from a personal trainer online because a lot of the trainers I use tell people that they need to be drinking smoothies all day long, which is not healthy to do long-term. If you need nutrition help, please seek the advice of a dietician or nutritionist who has had extensive nutrition training, because not all trainers have nutrition knowledge and will make you fear food more. A personal trainer who gives bad nutrition advice isn’t a reason not to use them, but you should most definitely question it because it can be harmful to take advice from anyone who is encouraging anything other than a well-balanced diet.
Fitness channels can give you great results, but they can be toxic because a lot of people are stuck in diet culture and create content for views. When working out with a personal trainer online, you should feel inspired to start your fitness journey, and if it is negatively affecting your relationship with exercise, it might be a sign to find a new fitness channel. Anyone can start a fitness channel, and you don’t need any credentials to start making workout videos, and the only thing you need is a disclaimer, which is why it can be difficult to find an expert who knows what they are doing. I have been working out with fitness channels for several years and have gotten great results from it, but I don’t subscribe to every fitness channel online because not everyone creates content I would benefit from, and sometimes people promote messages I don’t want to support. Fitness channels can be helpful for disabled people, and it is so important that you find someone who supports your goals. These are a few things that I ask myself before subscribing to a fitness channel, but even though someone may be stuck in diet culture, it doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t use that fitness channel, and I base my decision on whether or not I think that person can get me results. What do you look for before subscribing to a fitness channel? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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My Rockin Disabled Life 
Excellent tips!💕
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