I Refuse To Be A Fitness Influencer

The fitness internet is getting louder, meaner, and weirder, and it’s exhausting. Today Mike flies solo and says the quiet part out loud: platforms don’t reward the most helpful coach, they reward the most shareable fear. If your feed is full of seed oil panic, sunscreen paranoia, “miracle” peptides, and comment-section cruelty, you’re not imagining the shift.

We talk through what that does to real people trying to lose weight or get in shape, especially beginners who already feel exposed. Mike breaks down why fitness is one of the only “learning” spaces where newcomers get mocked for not already being good, and why that ugliness rarely shows up the same way in real life. The fix is not another hack. It’s community, context, and a return to human-to-human communication.

So we get practical and concrete: Third Space is evolving into more in-person connection, including walks, runs, hikes, and a sanctioned 5K planned for mid-November around World Kindness Day. Mike also shares a big long-term vision: building a physical gym location targeted for early 2027, plus “Project Lifeboat,” a push to move people off fragile algorithms and into more stable resources like groups and newsletters. Along the way, he shares a run-club story, how to test your baseline safely, and why “week one shouldn’t look very different from week zero.”

If you’re tired of the noise but still want real progress, hit play, subscribe, and share this with someone who needs a kinder path. After you listen, leave a review and tell us: what would help you feel more supported in your health journey?

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