ERF 1,046: How to Spot Fake Fitness Advice on Social Media

What is BS and what is not BS on the internet? Well, in this episode of the Eric Roberts Fitness Podcast, we're gonna be covering some viral videos and you're gonna get my initial reaction and also break down an explanation of if it's true, if it's not true, what you can take from it, what you shouldn't take from it, and what is BS and what is not so that you can be less overwhelmed by the information that you see on the internet and know what is right and what is wrong. So that's what we'll be doing today. Before we get to that, of course, on Fridays we have co-host Sophie. What's going on, Soph?

Hi. Congrats on your race. Heard you were like, what, were you like 3 minutes over? I think you said from what you wanted.

2 and a half, 2 and a half minutes over.

Dude, that's awesome. I mean, come on, 2 minutes?

Yeah, not good enough, but it's okay. It's all right.

I think I was talking to Tara and she was like, Eric just looked disappointed afterwards.

Is that true? It was funny because all the people there, Tara was there, Jen and her friends were there, and I guess her friends were very much like, that's so awesome! And Jen and Tara were like, No, no, he's not. He's— no. And they're like, why isn't he, like, happy that he finished? And they're just like, yeah, he's not.

He's fucking pissed. I know. That's why I didn't text you congrats, 'cause I was like, he's just not gonna like it.

But honestly, what did I tell you on the last podcast? I said if I don't hit the time, I'll be even more motivated and like legit.

Yeah.

Like now I'm just like—

You're set now.

Fucking gonna train like a maniac. So, um, yeah, overall it was a really good experience and, uh, you know, there, there was some good things. The outcome wasn't what I wanted, but there was some good things. Like, you know, in the podcast, if people listen to it, you know, I got first in my age group in a couple of the stations. I got second in one of the stations. Um, so like, you know, there were some good things, but I didn't hit the time. And so, but now I know exactly what I need to do to improve and get better for the next time. So I hope by the time Miami comes around, like, I will have made some pretty substantial progress and just gonna obsess over it for the next, you know, whatever it is, 6 months here. So it should be exciting. Should be fun.

That's fun. Are you gonna change the way you train?

Yeah, I'm gonna have to.

Yeah? Yeah.

I was—

You're gonna change?

I'm still debating on exactly what it's gonna look like, but what I think it's gonna be is Monday, lower body lift plus 30-minute zone 2 bike ride. Tuesday, upper body lift plus speed work. So sprints, like 20 seconds all out, 90-second recovery, do that like 6 to 10 times. Wednesday, so today, what I did today was 60 minutes of a zone 2 run. So just run for an hour straight, zone 2. So I ran like 5, 5.2 miles today.

Nice.

So that's Wednesday. Thursday is gonna be lower body, probably no cardio tomorrow. Friday will probably be my HYROX-specific day. So that'll be runs in the stations. Probably faster runs, probably not full 1,000-meter runs, probably like 600 to 800-meter runs with some of the stations worked in. Saturday will be upper body plus a run. And then Sunday will probably be a long run. So like 90 minutes or something like that. So, yeah.

Like, no full-on rest day? No, still?

No.

No rest day. Well, because the runs— so today's run, it was zone 2. So it's not high intensity, and I don't even really— I did something, but I don't feel like— and who knows? I may need to change this, 'cause I've never— the amount of running that I'm about to start doing, I've never ran this much in my entire life. So I might have to pull back on a little bit. I'm not sure. So we'll see. But yeah, for now, that's the schedule, that's the plan. And yeah, like I said, just gonna train like crazy and get after it.

Awesome.

That's awesome, dude. It's so crazy 'cause I remember when, just like back in the day, like you used to not run.

Dude, if I didn't do—

It's crazy that we're here.

Yeah. If I didn't do this race, I wouldn't be. But I was thinking about that today when I was— 'cause what the fuck else do you do? Which is interesting to me because I can lift for an hour and it's fine, but I'm running for an hour, I'm like, what the fuck do I do, man? Holy shit. So I'm just with my own thoughts and I'm like, yeah, and it is interesting that I never used to run or do cardio, but this is how obsessed I am going to be with hitting this goal. Like I, and this is, I think I said this in the previous podcast, but this, I always try to apply the lessons to everybody in everything, which is like, yeah, dude, when I crossed the finish line, I was fucking disappointed. Like I wasn't happy. I wasn't proud. I wasn't, and everybody's gonna, you know, people are gonna hear that and take that however they want. And I appreciate the kind words. And there's a lot of people who are like, but Eric, you did really great. It was your first time. I don't care. Like, I crossed the finish line and I didn't hit my goal and that made me disappointed. So like, but how my brain works is I'm just gonna do everything I humanly possibly can to not feel that way next time. So like, it's fine. Everything's okay. Like I said, it's honestly probably motivated me more. So like, I can't wait to then do it again.

Wow.

Cross the finish line. Do like, know that I got my goal and that's what I set out to do. Will I be ecstatic? Probably not, but I won't be disappointed. So I'll be like, cool, this is better than the first time. So yeah, man, it was, like I said, it was a good experience and Tara crushed it too. So like shout out to Coach Tara. She did incredible, absolutely crushed her first one. And you know, she's gonna train really hard for her next one. You know, she's also doing Miami.

Yep.

So we're all just gonna be down there vibing. We got some more coaches. I'm like recruiting the people in my gym that I'm working out with 'cause a lot of the people that go to my gym, they did the HYROX this weekend as well. And we were all talking and I'm like, hey, Miami, next one. And they're all like, well, the weather's really nice there. I'm like, exactly, I know, come on down.

So yeah.

Trying to recruit everyone here. Yeah, I know, I know. But yeah, all around a good experience. And so although I didn't hit my goal, it's all good.

I understand. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a good lesson for everyone that it's not a bad idea to be just very, very obsessive with your goal at the beginning, even though, I mean, I look at it and I'm like, goddamn, you're doing something every single day. I don't understand that, but it's gonna get you there. So it's not a bad lesson for people to just be a little bit obsessive in the beginning. It's not a bad thing.

Yeah, I also, I have a lot of ground to catch up, especially in like the cardio side, 'cause I didn't do a lot of this, right? So, and it's much like if somebody's never tracked calories, they're probably gonna have to spend a lot of time learning how to track calories, 'cause you don't have the base foundation, you don't have the background, you haven't done it this entire time, whereas, The more you do it, maybe the less obsessive I will have to be about it. But like right now, it's just—I mean, it's just full steam ahead. Like I fucking got this goddamn watch. You know, I—I got for everybody.

I know. You can tell I'm like not a runner because I saw you post that and I was just like, "What? What is this?" Like I don't. And I'm like, "Wow!

Clearly, I don't know anything about this." Yeah, I—I still don't know.

Clearly, I'm not—I'm not about this because I don't know what that is. Bro, trust me. Is it like an Apple Watch?

No, that's, so I didn't want anything that had like notifications or synced to my phone or anything.

Yeah.

I didn't want that. I just want it for my runs, my recovery, and my sleep. It's all I want it for. I don't want it for anything else. So yeah, so that's basically what I set it up as. It's just, it'll track the runs. So it was, so today, for example, when I was doing, I was supposed to stay in zone 2. So like zone 2 heart rate. And so it knows, it tracks my heart rate, it knows my heart rate. And so there were a couple times where I thought I was, you know, I was, I could tell I was like trying hard kind of, but like my heart rate was 160 and it should have been around 150. And I'm like, okay, well I'll just slightly pull back to make sure I stay in zone 2. So it was nice for that aspect. It was also interesting because the, the how much it, how many miles it tracked here versus the treadmill was like pretty big difference. This was like a mile, 1.25 miles less. I think it's 'cause I'm taller, so I don't, I think, cover as much, like— I don't know exactly why. I was kind of reading, trying to figure out why. Yet again, I'm not a runner, so I don't fucking know. But, um, but yeah, so it was a difference in the amount of miles. Um, and then also it'll track, like, on a weekly basis, how much am I, like, straining my body and all that sort of stuff. So, like, it'll track recovery. Um, I already track, like, HRV and sleep with my Eight Sleep mattress, but this will track it too. So just, like, one more thing to look at there.

Yeah.

But, um, yeah, the reason that it's gonna be helpful is also for my pace. So, when I was doing the race, when I was doing my runs, I thought I was on pace where I needed to be. And I fucking was not, clearly, 'cause I didn't hit my fucking time. And it's funny, 'cause one of the girls that was at the HYROX, like, she did really— she got like an hour and 16 minutes. She did really, really well. And she's like, she crushed it. And we were talking, and she was like, uh, yeah, so, like, you know, when you were running during your runs, what was your pace?

Mmhmm.

Oh, I don't know. She's like, well, what did your watch say? I'm like, I've never worn a watch in my fucking life. And she's like, what the fuck are you talking about? Like, how do you know? She's like, you're just running off of vibes? Like, how do you know? I'm like, basically, yeah. That's all I'm doing. And, uh, so I think it'll really help because I'll be able to look down and be like, oh, I'm at a 9-minute pace. I need to be at an 8:30 pace. Pick it the fuck up, Eric.

Interesting.

Yeah. So interesting.

Yeah. I've been thinking to, to bring out my Apple Watch out of retirement because I love my Oura Ring, but it's not, it's not as like descriptive as the Apple Watch is. Um, so, and then I have to pull out the app and I'm just like, okay, I need to, I need to bring her out. Um, but I also like what you said about you not wanting to have any notifications or anything like that. I just, I was at Target the other day, dude. I was at Target the other day and we were trying out the, the Meta glasses and I was just saying to Marcelo, I'm just like, bro, we're going too far. Like, this is just too much. It's too much, dude. We don't need this much. Like, the technology is just too integrated with everything. I just like, we, we need, we're losing the plot. No, no, no, dude.

I, that's why I said like, I, I didn't want an Apple Watch or I didn't want any, 'cause I don't want, it was like, sync to your phone for no, I'm like, no. No, I don't want you to say to me no. I just wanna run. Like, when I'm running, I don't need to be looking at my fucking phone. Like, what are we doing? No, that's the whole point of why— like, yeah, I'm— I really do try to actively put myself in situations where I don't have as much of those, like, on my phone, notifications. I mean, my phone's already on D&D all day long anyway, so, like, I try to control it.

I know. Anytime I try to call you, you just go, Sif, what's up?

It's not coming through, dude. I don't know what to tell you.

It's awesome. It's awesome.

Fuck. I mean, yeah. So, so yeah, all in all, it was good, man. But, you know, on to the next. And, you know, already got started training, so it'll be, it'll be good.

That's awesome, dude. Well, keep us posted on how that goes.

For sure.

Cool. Anything else you want to share? Should we get started? Yeah.

I mean, it's rock and roll.

Okay, cool. So I have 3 viral videos, and so I'm gonna share my screen. Hopefully this translates well on audio. If not, I'll just fix it. Um, and yeah, we'll get your reaction. You did not watch his videos, did you?

I did not. These are live reactions.

Perf. All right, let's see if this works. Video number 1.

This is the leg of a 30-year-old woman who lifts weights. This is the leg of a 30-year-old woman who does not lift weight. Now watch what happens. This is the leg of a 70-year-old woman who lifts weights, and this is the leg of a 70-year-old woman who does not lift weights. The difference is massive. I hear from people all the time, I don't want to get old, I want to die early. But imagine if you got into your 70-year-old years and you had that muscle mass. Imagine being able to keep your balance. Imagine being able to have the strength To go up the stairs, to go hike with your grandkids. Imagine the wisdom you can leave your kids, your grandkids, because you can actually live to an old enough age and you have your mind to do it. That's what resistance training and eating healthy can do for you. It really doesn't take that much. We're talking eat more protein, eat less sugar, and do some resistance training.

Be sure to follow. Initial thoughts? Yeah.

Um, I have a couple of initial thoughts that aren't Really related to the video. Um, so I don't know if I should share them, but, uh, number one, do people say— do people say they want to die early? I've never heard that. Is that like a real— have you heard people say that?

I thought I— no, I think he said people don't want to die early, right?

Oh, I don't know. Maybe I, maybe I heard it wrong. No, I think he said— no, I, no, I think he said people will tell him they want to die early because they don't want to get old and like, like have like—

Oh, you're right. I think they did say that.

Yeah. So I don't know. I guess people— I've never heard people say that, but actually I lie. There was a client of— we had a client one time. Go ahead.

No, I, I do think people say that. I do think people— it's like me saying I don't wanna be 30 or me saying I never wanna turn 50. I think people see getting older as like a bad thing. Yeah. Yeah. So I do think people say that.

Yeah. We had a client one time sign up. He might still be a client of— actually, no, he stopped coaching for Different reasons. But yeah, when he signed up, he was like, I think late 50s. And I was like, yeah, man, like, you know, when you get into like your 70s and your 80s, he goes, no, no, no, Eric, after 70, I'm done. I'm like, Jesus Christ, bro. I was like, this is when we're at the retreat. He signed up when we were at the retreat, actually. I was like, holy shit, man. Well, fuck, we got about 12 years left.

So let's make them great.

Yeah, I was like, geez. That's number one. Number 2, that video has been copied by so— I think I think his name is Tony Trainbloom. I think he was the first one to make that. That video has just been copied a fucking million times. That's just a side note, but I'm just so—

This one has like 8 million views, I think, or something.

Yeah. I'm just so sick of social media, and everybody just copies everybody. Like, it's just so annoying, dude. It's so lame. Like, I can't even begin to express— Like, somebody— I was trying to— I was actually trying to find videos to react to today, and I came across a video where somebody just Stole my exact thing word for word. And it's like, whatever, I don't care. But I'm like, we— everybody just does the same shit. It's like, it's just annoying. So that's just me bitching. That's number 2. Um, 3rd thought of the actual video, which is, I mean, yeah, I agree with the video. I, I think people just get so obsessed with the aesthetics of losing fat and building muscle and They very often forget about why we actually do this in the first place, which is to keep the quality and longevity of your life. So even me doing these HYROX races, this started because I— all of this started because I knew I was getting on TRT and I'm turning 30. And so I'm like, I have the knowledge to know how important cardio is. I've been— I strength train, I lift weights, I eat high protein, I eat healthy, I get sleep, I stay hydrated. I do all the things, but I wasn't fucking doing cardio. So the only reason I started doing cardio is 'cause I knew for my heart health and my longevity, well, I gotta start doing like cardio to make sure I can maximize that. And again, the way my brain works is I need something like a HYROX race to actually make me do it 'cause I fucking hate it. So it's like, do the hardest fucking shit and like just, yeah, that's how my brain works. So, but it's because of the longevity. It's because of I want to live a healthy life when I'm 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 plus, God willing, years old. And so I know that time is gonna come. It's, it, Lord willing, it won't be for a while, but it's gonna come at some point. So I'm just trying to stay ahead of it. And so I think when People think about their fitness journey, it's so short-minded and short-sighted to, well, my scale hasn't gone down this week. Okay, like, who fucking cares? Like, the video just played, if you're watching on YouTube, showed the actual, like, bone and muscle and what it actually looks like. And so, cool, your scale didn't go down this week, but When you're 70 years old, because you've lifted weights— right now you're 30 or 40 or 50— because you've lifted weights, you're gonna be able to still live a high-quality life. And there's actually, I think, data to show this. Even if people are slightly overweight in their body weight, if they resistance train, if they exercise, if they do cardio, you will actually be healthier than somebody who's skinnier and less weight, but doesn't exercise and doesn't lift weights and doesn't, you know, do the things that make you a healthy human being. So I think it's just another reminder of not being so shortsighted in the way that we think about our fitness. And you have to constantly remind yourself of these things. You know, it's funny, our team meeting this past Tuesday with myself and all of our coaches, it was centered around goal setting for behavior change specifically. Because what we focus on as coaches in our program is a lot of behavior change. You're never gonna truly sustain a healthy lifestyle and your weight loss unless you change your behavior long-term. So we were, we're overly focusing this month on goals, specifically behavior change, but goal setting. So we're trying to figure out ways where we can continue to help our clients set goals that are going to force the behavior change that they need to not only reach that goal, but sustain that goal. And what we were kind of referring to is remind— people need to be reminded of these goals and reminded of their why over and over and over and over and over and over again. Like, I, I found this when this first started happening. This is probably back in 2021, 2022, but especially in the last couple of years since we've been doing— there was a period of time where we didn't sign up as many one-on-one clients. That was just for various reasons, the roster capacity wasn't there, so on and so forth. But now, like, people will hop on calls and people will sign up and somebody will schedule a call on Sunday. And I'll text them on Sunday, and I'll say, hey, just wanna confirm we have the right time. I'll text them Monday morning. I'll be like, hey, again, just wanna confirm at 3:00 PM we're chatting. And they're like, who's this? What call is this? And I'm like, it's Eric. I just talked to you yesterday about the call you booked yesterday. And they're like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. OK, I forgot. I'm like... Holy shit. So, like, people are in different worlds on A Saturday versus a Monday, for example. And so people need to be reminded of these things more than they need to be taught of these things. And bringing it full circle, that's what we were— that's what we were covering in our training, which is not only learning how to set better goals to create behavior change, but also in your weekly check-ins throughout the course of the week, in the monthly progress report, like where we have all these areas where you need to remind your client of these goals, they need to be reminded of these things. things more than they need to be taught new things, for example. So I think those are my initial reactions. What's up guys? Sorry to interrupt this episode. You know, I don't run ads on the podcast, but I want to let you listen to what one of our Clubhouse members had to say about joining our app and experiencing the Clubhouse.

My name's Kathleen and I've been in the Clubhouse for about 2 and a half years and I've lost over 100 pounds. Before I joined, I was really unhealthy. I had been overweight for most of my life and very inactive. As I was approaching 50, that inactivity and that unhealthy lifestyle really started to take a toll on my body. I had high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, needed to do something and I needed to do it now. I decided to join the Clubhouse. I was afraid of failing again because I had 30+ years of failures trying to lose weight and get healthy and nothing seemed to work. I feel so much better than I did 3 years ago. My life is so much healthier than it was. I, I get daily movements and I didn't do that before. I've lost a lot of weight. I don't have to take medication anymore for blood pressure or for diabetes. And I know it's because of the mindset and the habits and the strength that I built in the clubhouse. Doesn't matter how old you are. It doesn't matter how much you weigh. It doesn't matter your current physical capabilities, that there's a place for you in the clubhouse.

And so you heard it directly from them. If that sounds like something that you think could benefit you and your progress, you can click the link in the description of the podcast below to be able to learn more and officially join us inside of the Clubhouse. Now let's get back to the episode.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's funny because you said you started off by saying that you don't think, or it pisses you off that people copy each other, and I can understand why. I think in this scenario, this is probably good if this kind of info has been more spread out, especially for older women. Because I feel like— I think that more of my friends now are interested in strength training, or they understand that they need to do it. But I think the older generation, not so much. At least my experience, right? I can only speak for myself. Um, but I think, like, just thinking about my mom in particular, um, I think she only really starting to understand these concepts now, but I don't think she had really up until this point made the connection of, oh, lifting weights is not just to be healthy and build muscle or just be skinnier. It like literally will improve your bone health. Like, I don't think that they really necessarily understand that. And I think it's sad because a lot of the older generation, I don't think— You know, it's necessarily working at that. Um, and so I think in this case it's good, or social media can be good if it's spreading out information like this so there is more awareness around the topic. And speaking of that, I have a specific question. Can you explain why the bone looking like the better bone from that video, why is that specifically better? Like, I understand the concept of that's better for like If you fall and things like that. But can you explain why is that the case?

Why, why it looks the way it does, or—

Why does the stronger bone— because like it looks like it's like more filled. Like, I'm just trying to understand why is that better. So that might be a little sciency, but—

No.

Is it because that bone is stronger, so if you fall, your bone is like less likely to So, I've told this story in the podcast before, but I will tell it again.

When I went to Turks and Caicos in February, it was on a— you know, I stayed at this private island. On the far, far, far end on the island, it was on a cliff, there was this mansion. And there was, like, 3 different houses that the mansion had. It was crazy. In the middle, there was, like, a fucking 60-foot pool. It was nuts. But it was abandoned. And so you could, like, tour it. And so we went up there with, like, the tour guide. And this, again, it's on this private island. It's like this beautiful view. I mean, it's crazy that it's still abandoned and nobody's, you know, bought it and redid anything. But when I went up to it, I was like, how? What the fuck happened? Like, why did somebody abandon this? And it's like, it's torn down, like half torn down. And it was like, oh, well, like a hurricane. came through. And I'm like, okay, like, yeah, but like, I mean, fuck, how bad was the fucking hurricane? And he was like, it wasn't about the hurricane. And I'm like, okay. And then so he goes and walks up next to the house and he peels a part off. And under like the whatever you put on the outside of a house, I don't know what it's called, to be very transparent. I think it's maybe stucco or I don't know what the fuck it's called, but underneath it.

Stucco.

It was literally built out of Styrofoam. That's what these houses were built out of. And there's a big backstory to this. Like, they got screwed. The guy was like a— it was a shady deal. It was a huge backstory. And so they told us all the things, but the hurricane fucked up that house because what it was made out of was so frail and fragile. Whereas if it had been made out of brick or stone or whatever, anything better than Styrofoam, it would've withheld. That hurricane. And so your bones are the similar concept. Like if you have frail Styrofoam bones, when you bump your elbow, when you fall, when you do anything, you have a much higher risk of breaking your hip, breaking your ribs, breaking your lower back, your cervical spine. Like you have a much greater risk of doing that, which then when that happens, well then people fall and break a hip. And then they have to check into the hospital. And because they broke a hip, now they're not as active and some other complications start to happen because of it. So there's just a negative downward spiral versus just like that house, if it had been built out of brick, it would've been able to withstand a lot more and probably still be standing to this day. And it would've been an incredible mansion for someone to live in, but it wasn't that because of how it was built. So it's just the fragility of it. You're anti- fragile. You are strong, you're sturdy, and you're able to withstand a lot of these things. And also, you're still able to upkeep and put into your bones the proper nutrients like calcium and these other things that require your bones. You're still able to do that when you have a healthy, strong bone versus if you don't. Okay, cool. Now you can't intake as much calcium. And then if you have too much calcium, that causes a problem. If you have too little calcium, 'cause your bones don't need it, that's also a problem. So there's just so many negative cascades that could come from you not having adequate healthy bone density.

Yeah, that makes sense. That kind of reminded me of, did you hear, I think it was, I don't know when it was, but the building in Miami that collapsed, did you hear about that?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I think they had a similar issue, like something was wrong with the structure or there were cracks. Um, so very cool. Yeah, that was crazy.

Yeah, Michelle Stroh told me about that when we were having dinner one night. Really? Yeah.

Just like a random fact. Cool, dude. Um, well, you ready for the next video or anything else you want to talk about? Okay. Okay. I don't think this one has any words, so we're gonna have to describe it. Before you say anything, do you want to describe it so the people listening understand? Yeah, there were no words.

It was basically— well, number one, they should be watching on YouTube, so come over and you're right, watch on YouTube. Come on YouTube. There you go. Exactly. That's right. Um, and then number two is basically just a video saying how to go from snatched, or how to go from fat to snatched, and it was just a bunch of Core exercises, basically.

Exercises.

Yeah.

It's like a new video too. It has millions of views. I was like, oh no.

Well, my first initial reaction is for as much as I have talked about all of this stuff for the past 10 years of my life now, people are still just oblivious and ignorant. And this is not in a mean way by any means, but I see that, and I'm like, there's no way people think it's actually gonna work. Like, there's no— why is there so many likes? Why is there so many views? And then I'm like, I guess people do. Like, there's just so many people in the world who don't— who are ignorant to the science of— the science behind fitness and fat loss and workouts and all these things. And— So that's my first initial reaction. My second reaction is... I don't know if that— whoever made that video, 'cause she looked pretty young, if I'm not—

like, she looked in her—

Yeah.

Maybe like 18, 19, 20, maybe somewhere around there, right? Quite frankly, she probably doesn't even fucking know what the fuck is going— like, she's probably making that video thinking, like, yeah, like, this is how I went from fat to snatched. And, like, she's not correlating the fact that she ate healthier and stopped drinking full-sugar sodas or whatever she did along the way. Like, it wasn't just your core workout routine. So, I think that's number 2. I don't know if she's doing— and by the way, I don't know, maybe she is doing it maliciously, because, I don't know, maybe she does know that people are ignorant and they can be easily influenced to get something that they want, which is a snatched waist. So maybe she sells some sort of product to benefit off of.

Yeah.

I have no clue, so I'm not saying she does or doesn't do this, but it's a possibility. Because a lot of people do do that. Um, so I guess that's my second one. And then my third reaction is just like, like I said, obviously that won't work. Like, I, I mean, that's just— I mean, how the fuck could you believe that? But obviously people do believe that. And I think also people know that it's actually not true, but then there's also just that sliver of like, well, well, maybe it is. Like, if, if that's what she's saying she did, Maybe it's true. All I have to do is do this routine. All I have to do is do this workout routine and I'll get snatched. I don't gotta change my eating. I don't gotta go to sleep on time. I don't have to stop drinking alcohol. I just have to do this workout routine. I'll try it. Maybe it'll work for me. And like, they just keep that hope up when like deep down they know they're going out to fucking Five Guys and, you know, eating a burger and fries on top of just drinking alcohol and doing all these— which, by the way, Five Guys is great. Go have it, but you gotta have your calories.

I've never been to Five Guys.

Really?

Yeah, I've never... It's funny you said that. I was like, oh, I've been meaning to go, 'cause I've never been.

Bro, you— now that you— yeah, you should definitely. It's fucking good. I mean, it's— their fries are really good. Dude, I used to have— speaking of being a fat fuck, I used to have, uh, 2 Five Guys burgers and fries and a milkshake at, like, 8:00 p.m. when I got off training people. So, because I would have to go to sleep right away, so I got off at, like, 8:00. I would stop at Five Guys, eat 2 burgers, fries, and a milkshake, and go right to bed. Holy shit. No wonder my sleep was fucked. I didn't know what I know now. But, like, I would go right to sleep. I'd wake up at 3:30, and I would go back training people. And that's what I did.

Damn.

Um, Yeah, it's good. You should try it. But it's a lot of calories, obviously. But yeah, so—

Yeah.

I mean, they just like, I think they hold out hope that this is gonna be the thing. And like every time it's not. And then it's unfortunate because every time they try something like this, it just makes them feel worse and worse about themselves. It just makes 'em feel like, well, she did it, but I didn't. There's something wrong with me. There's something wrong with my body. I can't get snatched. I can't lose fat. My stomach fat is gonna be here forever. Why can she do it but I can't? She didn't do it. She did many other things along with that to get that, you know, physique and/or body that she has. So yeah, I think it's just an educate— a gap in education. But I could tell somebody who watched that video, who liked it and shared it and is gonna start doing it, I could tell them to their face, this is not gonna work and here's what's gonna work instead. And some people are still gonna be like, nope. I'm going to try it anyway. I'm going to try it and hopefully this will work for me. And I'll be like, okay, have at it, have fun. So, I mean, this isn't to say you shouldn't do core exercises. Like, of course you should do core exercises, but they're not going to spot reduce fat in a certain area of your body.

Yeah. Well, and I feel like there's better ways to do core exercises too, where you can add weights and you can progressively overload. The weight too. Um, but yeah, I mean, I agree. It's crazy to see that videos like that are going viral today. You wouldn't think. Um, but I, they're still out there. I do. I, I, I like to believe that it's gotten better, but whenever I see comments on the podcast TikTok, like I'm baffled because some of the things that people say, I'm just like, what? But then I also see people. Like on the other side. So like if we posted a video about, you know, maybe like you shouldn't eat 1,200 calories, like there will be people, or you should, whatever the case may be. I'll see people saying like, no, I can eat more. Or else I'll see people like, well, if you're just eating like 1,300 and you keep it consistently, and if you're short or whatever. So I'm just like, okay. Like I feel like we're moving in the right direction. But, and I think also the problem is that there's so much content in social media. that prompts you to take action that I feel like it's really easy for someone to see a video multiple times a day and be like, oh, okay, like let me share and save this. Like this is something I'm gonna do later. Like lack of knowledge and thinking like, oh, like doing core exercises, especially if it's someone that's already skinny and they think like, oh, this is gonna make my abs pop.

Yeah.

I mean, I try to stay out of comment sections as much as it just makes me lose faith in humanity. So I try to, I try to avoid those at all costs, to be honest with you. But, Yeah, man. It's worthless out there. I mean, honestly, people's people's IQ is just like I don't.

Dude, I think there are people that create. This is sad. I think people create fake accounts just so they can do yeah leave hate comments. Um, I'm like what like what do you mean there are people that do that? Like that's crazy.

Somebody somebody replied to one of my emails today and said something like. Bro, your hairline or your goatee or something is like— you look like a fucking idiot. And I'm like... I just unsubscribe and block it and then just move on with my day. Like, I should— I don't have the bandwidth to be dealing with you guys, to be honest with you. I lost that back in, like, 2021, so I don't know. I can only tell you that far.

Ship has sailed.

Yeah. But yeah, I mean, to those videos, again, you know... And I also think it's unfortunate, because I'm trying to think of the avatar who is watching that video, it's probably girls who are 14 to 18 years old, or, like, 40 to 55-year-old, to be honest with you, who, again, just don't know. Whereas I think the 20 to 35-year-old, they watch that video and they're like, that's fucking not true. Like, what are we doing? But then, like, super young girls who don't know any better, who are on TikTok, Or older women who, again, just don't know any better, 'cause like you said about your mom, they've never been taught. They see something and they're like, oh, this is how it works? She must know. She has the results. Cool. I'll do that. It's almost like if somebody— it's like if somebody has a lot of money and they're going on private jets and they buy cars and they take these trips and they're giving you financial advice. But like, come to find out, they were just like a trust fund kid and they didn't do anything. They just have a lot of money 'cause they had a trust fund. Not saying it's inherently bad, but like, they don't know how to tell you how to get money or have financial advice 'cause they, they've never done it. They just got it inherited to them. And so, you know, it's just, you have to be cognizant, like I said, last week's podcast, man, like you gotta be cognizant of the people who you listen to and, and who you choose to, who you choose to trust.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. And to be fair, there are a lot of situations where I might take my friend's advice based on something that they did and apply it to myself. And so like, I think naturally people are gonna wanna do that. But to your point, like, who are you listening to? But I mean, I can think of like, I don't know, something not super related, but with my sister, she'll give me a lot of dog training advice and I'll take it without, I'm not gonna do any research. I just like kind of listen to her cuz I'm like, oh, okay, that worked for her. So if that makes sense. So I think sometimes like naturally. Yeah.

Meanwhile, Bruno's barking in the background.

So clearly that is Lucho. That is not— that is Marcelo's dog who's barking. I was gonna say like not the right time. Yeah, bad timing there.

Um, no, I mean, I get it. But, but also like, again, that's fine. But when it comes to something like this, you got to be mindful of The advice that you are listening to. Yeah.

So agreed. Cool. Let's do the last video. Maybe this one's a little bit similar, but it's an older lady. So maybe on this one we can talk about what people can do. Okay.

That's an AI video.

That was the first thing. That's why I wanted to— I wanted to— I picked this video. Okay, that is like— I did it on purpose because I was like, this is a good talking, uh, point for Eric. It has millions of views too.

Yeah, I mean, I could tell from the get that was an— that's why I leaned in. I was like, that's clearly a fucking AI video. But again, people aren't gonna know. The average person is not gonna know that.

Describe The video, Eric, first of all.

Oh, yeah, sorry.

Sorry.

It was this AI woman who is, uh, on her knees.

Older lady.

Yeah, older lady. She said she was 72. I don't know how AI people can be aged, but whatever. Um, she was on her knees, and her hands were out in front of her, and she was doing some various exercises to, uh— it said 2 things. It said lift her boobs.

She was doing, like, child's It looked like she was going back and forth between chest pose.

Yeah, she's doing something to— the first part said it was gonna raise her boobs, and the second part said it was gonna— I know. Which was like— but then the second part was like, it'll get rid of back fat. And then, yeah, it was abs. It was all 3. And get your boobs bigger, too.

Yeah, I know. Yeah, what the fuck?

Like, what are we doing here? But again, I mean, people just don't fucking know. Like, they just don't know. any better. Um, so I think that the AI video part— I'm trying to think of how I was able to, like, clearly see that. The— right now, at least— this won't be the case forever, because AI is just gonna keep getting better.

Right.

But right now, the way I can tell the AI video is just, like, the skin complexion of these AI people is just a little bit off, and the background of the videos are also just like too curated and a little bit blurry. Like I reacted to an AI video recently on my Instagram and people were like, holy fuck, like that's actually kind of crazy how much that looks like it's real. But then like pointed out why it was AI and people are like, oh shit, yeah, you're right. So yeah, it's only, it's only going to get worse. Um, in that specific account, was not flat. That video I saw at the bottom at the very end there said this contains AI content, but a lot of videos don't contain or don't have that flag to it. So like you won't really know. So once again, you gotta be mindful of who you're listening to. So that's number one.

Right.

Number 2, just kind of going back to the same thing that we just were mentioning, but like whatever that AI person was doing is not going to do what was said. Like, it's not gonna do any of the things that it said it was going to do. It's not gonna— Especially recent ones. Give you a boob job.

Definitely not that.

Yeah, it's not gonna, it's not gonna give you a boob job. It's not going to burn fat. It's not gonna burn fat off your back. Like, you know, again, I just, I, I don't know. I don't know what else to say. Like, I think this is pretty self-explanatory, but I'm trying to think of a different kind of angle that we could take this with, which is, When you— a lot of times when you see viral videos, not all the time, but a lot of times, especially with videos like that, I'm trying to tell you from like how the algorithm works perspective, those videos are going viral. And again, I'm not trying to be mean at all. That's not what I mean when I say what I'm about to say, but those videos are going viral because people who are uneducated and ignorant are watching the videos for a long period of time to figure out the secret of what they should do because they truly think that's what they should be doing. And then they're sharing them with people who also don't know what they are doing. So the algorithm says, oh, There's people who are watching this whole video and they're sending it to the people that they know on the app. This video must be really good. Let's get this in front of more people. But the reason it went viral in the first place is because it's people who don't know what to do sharing it with other people who don't know what to do. So then it comes across maybe somebody's feed who maybe they do know better, but they're like, fuck, this video has 5 million views. It has 100,000 likes on it. Like, maybe it is the secret. Maybe this does work. Maybe I should try this. You know, you almost kind of like second-guess yourself. But remember why it's going viral. Like, those are the reasons why it's going viral. So yeah, just understand that when you come across videos like this, or just, I mean, really videos in general, you should like think about the context behind them. But yeah, I mean, that's maybe another angle that I could take with it to hopefully educate people a bit more.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's crazy because I feel like me when I was 15 probably would have listened to that and the other video too. And I remember like I would Google videos and I would do all these crazy workouts because I thought, right, it's so easy to be like, you just don't know, let me research. Yeah, let me research how to reduce my belly fat on YouTube and there's hundreds of videos that are specifically tell— or even back in the day, like I used to look at Pinterest and they had like workout plans on Pinterest. Like it was a way for me to access information that I thought at the time was right. You know, another thing I used to do, this is something my grandma taught me. She told me that if I had a ribbon tied around my waist, that it would make me have a smaller waist. So I would literally walk around. With like a tie, like a ribbon around my waist all day, like for hours. And like, I would used to do like the waist trainers. I like thought that that was helping me.

Um, that's crazy.

Yeah, I mean, I know, I know it did not do what it promised to do, but you know, whatever. But yeah, I mean, I think that there's still a lot of people out there. It's just crazy to think that it's still a thing, especially now with the amount of info Um, but I wanted to talk about too, about the fact that it's an AI video and I'm trying, 'cause I don't think necessarily just because it's a video, it's AI, it's necessarily a bad thing. But what are your thoughts on that? Is it like we should be watching because maybe it's people trying to sell things, um, and lying because they're making AI videos? Like, why should we be careful with that? Like, what risks? What else do you see or predict could happen?

Well, I think there's a couple of things. Number one, the video that I reacted to, it was basically saying you have back fat, you have face fat, you have arm fat, not because of your discipline or your willpower or this.

Wait, that was AI?

Yeah.

I remember this video that you posted. What?

Yeah, dude, that was AI. Yeah. So, so, and then it went— that video then went on to be like, it's because you don't have these specific nutrients. And then, like, the rest of the video was, here's what it does, here's why it does it, and then here's our product that has all these nutrients. So, like, that, quite frankly, that's marketing 101. That's sales and marketing 101. It's like, There's a problem. Here's all, here's all the things that could, that will solve it. But oh, and by the way, I have a product that solves it. I mean, that's just, I mean, that's as basic as you can get. So like, yeah, the only reason that account was created was to sell their hydration digestion product, which is going to do nothing for your stomach fat. But so, I mean, that's just like, they're, they're lying. Yeah. I mean, they're, they're lying. And then also— I don't actually know the legality around this quite just yet, but they can't be liable for any— I mean, maybe they can, I don't know, but I don't think they can be liable for any sort of— because there's specific laws about advertising and what you need to disclose that this is an advertisement. Well, if it's an AI person, what are you going to do? Sue an AI person? There's no legality. And again, maybe there is, I don't know. There's definitely a concern there with people lying and having AI videos be a part of that. And I think just beyond, I mean, those are 2 ones. The 3rd one is not really one, but it's more of like a moral one for me, where it's like you were saying earlier, you're like, we've lost the plot. Technology, it's going too far, man. Like, this is too much.

Yeah.

And so for me, it's like, I don't know, are we gonna start, like— and quite frankly, at some point, we are. We're gonna start supporting AI influencers. It's already happening. People are already doing it. This is already a real thing. Like, people are supporting and following AI influencers who are not—

It's just crazy to think about.

And so, like, I don't know, for me— so I'll take this past weekend as an example. I was really grateful that, I mean, and obviously like I was at the HYROX and so like it's a fitness event. So like I'm a fitness person, people have seen my content before. And so I had a lot of people, like a lot, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, every day I was there, a lot of people came up to me and they were just like, dude, your content's awesome. I follow you. Your videos are awesome. You've helped me so much. I watch every single one. And so, like, I don't know. Like, to me, it makes me feel good that I am a human being helping other human beings, and they have been impacted enough to come up to me and shake my hand and give me a hug and tell me that I've helped them. Like, I don't know. Are you gonna do that to a fucking AI influencer? Like, you're never gonna— it's not a real thing. You're never gonna meet this person in real life. And, like, I don't know. It's just different to me. Like, I was about to start I went at 11 o'clock, and somebody—they have like every 10 minutes—they had a new start wave. And the guy who was going at 10:50, he like knew who I was, and he came up to me, and he was just like, "Dude, this is my first one. I'm so excited." Da da da. His name was Grant, and I was like, "That's awesome, Grant. Like fucking kill it, bro. Like I'm super stoked for you." But like, I don't know. Like to me, morally and ethically speaking, like I think we should like support human beings. Like I don't know. Like I think that should be the. The correct thing. And again, like, I mean, I don't, I don't know when this is going to happen, but just very transparently, um, inside of my Clubhouse app, I am building an Eric AI. So for those of you who are inside the Clubhouse, that is, uh, that is currently getting built. And, you know, it's being trained on everything I know and all of my knowledge and all of my experience and all of my content and all these things. But like, I know you're still supporting me if you choose to be in the Clubhouse. Like, you're still like saying, I want to sign up with Eric because of XYZ reasons. So I don't know. I think it's just important to like support human beings. I think, yeah, I don't wanna go too far into the AI world, to be honest with you.

Yeah, no, I agree. I don't think it's necessarily a good way of using AI. It's just, it's crazy. It, it, the fact that it's happening this way and that it just feels not genuine. And it's kind of scary to think that I feel like a lot of people are losing their creativity and just all of the magic that comes with that when they do content. Um, but yeah, it'll be interesting to see what kind of laws and regulations pass because that definitely will happen. I feel like it's a problem for musicians and like artists and like all of this. Like, yeah, like that's a big problem, I think.

But I mean, at the end of the day, like you have to, like, no matter what, you have to adapt. Like as much as I may not want to use AI, like there's gonna be some instances where if I don't adapt to it, then it's, you know, it's gonna put me outta business. So, you know, I have to do what I do. But that's why I say like, if there's enough, the market will always determine all of this. So if people go out of their way to support human beings, then okay, cool, it's gonna be good. But if not, then the human beings are gonna have to then adapt to the environment that the consumer wants. So It's really all up to the consumer at the end of the day. That's how capitalism works. So.

Yeah. Yep. Agreed. Cool, dude. Well, those are the 3 videos I had for you today.

Perfect. Let's go. Yeah. Yeah. That was a good one. So hopefully people, again, if you haven't, if you're not watching on YouTube, you can come over and watch the videos for the 2 that we weren't able to have the audio. Well, we did have audio for, but there was no speaking. And so, yeah, if you guys like this, then we will, uh, try to do it some more. Do it again.

Eric needs a nap.

Tired from my run, apparently. So, um, oh, that was something that we can maybe end with. This is just a complete off-topic. Um, yeah, I woke up at like 4:15 today just, uh, just because I woke up. I don't know, I was just up. Um, and I was thinking about this, dude, and I know you, you can relate to this too, so maybe we can just really quickly Talk about it. I woke up and I was like, because I'm up, like I'm I'm up. I'm not gonna go back to sleep. I'm up. What the fuck would I do if I couldn't get up and just go straight to work? Like I don't I don't even know what do people do who like like you know me like what the fuck would I do or like what would I do at night when I'm just sitting here doing nothing? Like I don't know what people do. Other than, like—

I think about that often, actually. I always think, like, if I just got laid off my job, what would I do all day?

I don't understand. Like, if I didn't go into work until 9:00 a.m., or I worked from home and I started at 9:00, that's 5 hours of my day. Like, what the fuck would I do all day? Like, what would I do? I don't even— it doesn't make any sense, dude. I have no clue. I think about this very often, where I'm like, what do normal people...? Like, what would a normal person do in a situation like that? Like, I don't know, would they get up and clean the house? Would they like meal prep? Like, I don't know what the fuck. Would they just watch TV? Like, I don't know what the fuck people would do, man. It's, it's interesting.

Hopefully like get up and go on a walk, clean the house, run some errands.

It's 4 in the morning. Where are you going for a walk at?

I guess, well, outside, you know?

I don't know.

I don't know, dude. I don't know. So yeah, and I'm thinking about it too early.

Yeah. That one is a little too early.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, dude, I don't know. And then I'm thinking, like, you know, after we record this podcast, it'll be 5:00 PM where we are, and, like... do people get home? Like, do they? I don't know. And also, too, I'm thinking of myself, who, like, you know, I don't have family. I don't have kids. Like, I know people are— they're like, Eric, I take my kids everywhere. I fucking gotta get dinner ready. I gotta clean the house.

And so I get it, but, like, Yeah, I, I get, I, I'm a normal human. I mean, I do work more than the average person probably, but whenever I have free time, you know, I will go on a walk or like I went to the pool the other day. I was reading my book. I, I'm watching Ted Lasso, really good show. So I'll watch it like an hour before going to bed and then I'll go to sleep. So, you know, things like that. Yeah. Like cleaning and cooking take a long time too. Like I've been cooking a lot and that one. I mean, that is time consuming. I think a lot of people spend a lot of time cooking, actually.

Yeah, dude. That's why I've fucking quit cooking.

Plenty to do, you know? Plenty to do after work. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, uh, yeah, that was just my, my random thought for the day. I'm like, what the fuck do people do? Like, I don't know what I would do if I didn't get up and just go straight to work. Like, I, I, I, I have no clue. So, um, but yeah, that's all, that's all I, uh, that's all I got for the podcast. So, um, guys, hope you, uh, hope you enjoyed the episode today. Um, if you did, as always, Please feel free to leave a 5-star rating and review. Definitely low on those. So I'm kind of just kind of giving up on those, but I'll say it right here. So if you want to help the podcast grow, you can leave a 5-star rating and review. You can share the podcast with somebody who you think it is good. If you know one of these people who are just uneducated and don't really know a lot about fitness, and maybe they fall for some of the videos that we said today, you can send them this. Podcast and get them educated, 'cause that is the best thing I can give to you is my knowledge, education, and experience to help you in your journey. And then last but not least, as always, if you are thinking about getting some extra help with your fitness and you want somebody to build you a plan, we just had a ton of people sign up for the 8-week challenge. And so thank you to everybody who did do that. Super thankful and super excited to get rocking and rolling with everybody. And if you are excited or if you are interested in getting excited about your fitness goals and having someone help you, you can click the link in the show notes of the podcast to learn more about my 8-week fat loss challenge. So I hope you guys have a great weekend or weekday whenever you listen to this, and we will chat next time.