Social media has gotten a little wild… We know things are clickbaity, but also everyone has suddenly become an expert on things that simply are not their domain of expertise.
I get pretty frustrated when I see dancers (who are probably well-meaning) attempting to make content around injury “prevention” (which is also a very nebulous term, because we CANNOT prevent all injuries) and management.
Here are some tips on how to spot misinformation around fitness and injury on social media.
There is a lot of mis-and dis-information on social media, and it can be hard to spot! Because often those presenting misinformation are loud, confident, and appeal to your fears.
Their arguments sound convincing! Especially if you don’t have extensive knowledge in the field they’re proclaiming to be an expert in.
Not only am I a professional raqs sharqi dancer, I am also an exercise scientist who has been working in elite sport for >5 years, and spent several years working in academic and rehabilitation settings before that.
Let me tell you how I spot misinformation about exercise and injury.
Three Red Flags to Help You Spot Misinformation about Exercise and Injury
1. “Never do this” or “Always do this”
A key sign that someone is either misinformed at best, or a grifter as worst (trying to profit off your fears to sell you something): speaking in absolutes.
The human body is extremely adaptable. Unless we’re saying things like “NEVER intentionally get run over by a car…” It’s a red flag.
2. Attributing injury to one single factor
If someone claims to know exactly why they (or you) got injured, this is not a sign of expertise.
It’s a sign that they’re not educated in the realm of injury / rehabilitation science at all. Why? ALL injuries are multi-factorial.
We cannot confidently determine one single cause of injury when so many factors influence it – check out the injury model in the image below to see what I mean.
This is just one potential model for how injury occurs (and is quite old now, there are newer, better models). BUT I’ve included it so you can see how multifactorial injury always is.
3. An overemphasis on perfect technique
I’ve heard dancers confidently say “technique is fluid,” when it comes to raqs sharqi or fusion stylisation… But believe technique should be rigid and fixed for other movements, like strength training.
To say “perfect technique” will always protect you from injury, or to always blame a technical fault for injury is missing the fact that there are always multiple factors involved in injury occurrence, as we’ve already talked about.
There may be more efficient technique for certain movements, but human biomechanics are also inherently variable – it’s literally impossible to perform a movement the exact same way every time (even if you can’t see the variance with the human eye!).
It’s more about gradually progressing load (like weight lifted or repetitions completed) over time. It’s not usually the technique that’s the issue, but a sudden jump in the demands that you’re asking of your body (in combination with many other factors!).
Did you learn something new about spotting fitness misinformation online?
My name is Siobhan Camille.
I’m an exercise scientist and a professional dancer.
I love helping dancers get better, stronger, and more resilient.
If you want to get stronger with me, there are two main ways to work with me:
- I run the Dance Strong 6 Week Online Fitness Challenge 4-5 times a year
- I offer year-round gym based programming for dancers!
Plus, you can always jump on my mailing list to get education like this in your inbox!