RTE fitness guru Karl: Page Why the online ‘experts’ are bad for your health
OPERATION Transformation fitness expert Karl Henry has spoken out about the danger of following advice from ‘social media experts’.
He raised concerns about people giving out nutrition and fitness tips without the relevant knowledge or qualifications.
‘It’s a scary area and it’s only getting worse,’ the TV star said. ‘It’s the Insta-expert brigade. It’s scary because the advice has been put on there in terms of food and in terms of exercise and most of it is unqualified.
‘It’s glamorised and made look fantastic but there’s not a whole lot behind it unfortunately and people are being led by it.’
The Operation Transformation panellist, who has been with the hit RTÉ show for seven years, believes people need to pay attention to the qualifications of those offering exercise tips.
‘I think if people are looking for advice, it has to be qualified for a start, ideally with a degree course or something that’s taken longer than a weekend or a couple of weekends,’ said the exercise guru who is the co-owner of the Pat and Karl Henry Fitness Centre.
‘Obviously it’s got to be insured. A big thing with the bloggers is the fact that when you’re giving out advice, if you haven’t got insurance behind you, you leave yourself very open. For example, any advice we give has got an insurance company behind it.’
And the fitness expert, who has a BSc (Hons) in sports management from UCD along with two personal training qualifications, is not afraid to speak out against the trend.
‘The blogger thing is a big soapbox of mine and it has been for a long time, but it just seems to be getting worse,’ he said.
‘It’s a scary area. If you’re looking for advice it has to be through someone who is very qualified and has got experience and who has testimonials or clients who will stand behind them as well.’
Operation Transformation is due back on our screens in January and the programme is currently selecting its five leaders from 19 hopefuls.
Henry revealed: ‘In terms of the show, there’s a lot more behind the scenes coming as far as I know: the things that people don’t generally get to see in terms of the production, what happens behind the scenes at the weigh-ins. And lots more social media planned, like live workouts on Instagram and Facebook.’
‘It seems to be getting worse’