Ask one question to filter health advice

Often there will be personal training or fitness bootcamp clients who come up to me and say "I read that XYZ is good for reducing the risk of cancer", or "My friend said that ABC is better for helping me lose weight", or any of a long list of possible good or bad things.

If we followed every one of these "bits" of advice, we would be jumping all over the place with little to no results to show for our efforts.

Sometimes the most damaging information can be passed on by the most well meaning people. But when it comes to your health, your fitness and your results, it can be hard to tell the truth from the fakes especially if the intentions of the source are good.

But here is a quick question that has helped me a lot in both business situations and in the murky waters of fitness and health information. I learned it first on a audio program by the late personal development author Napoleon Hill.

Whenever somebody gives an opinion (and it is increasingly easy to hear hundreds of differing opinions on the Internet), simply ask them this one question...

Here it is…

How do you know?

There. It is simple; just four words.

Whenever somebody with questionable intentions or knowledge is presented with this question, they will usually struggle to answer (watch them squirm, it is entertaining…). It is a lot easier to tell if they are trying to pull a quick on on you by listening to their answer to this question, than by listening to their (perhaps rehearsed) initial statement or opinion.

If you are not convinced, ask again "How do you know that?" until you get a satisfactory answer.

If all you get in reply is: "I read it in a magazine" or "I saw it on my friend's facebook status update" then continue checking and doing your own research

If you get "I'm a health professional. It was published in a non commercially sponsored, peer reviewed study, and it works for a large proportion of my large client base who's progress has been tracked for months" then its a lot more likely to be correct information and advice for you.

Try it on shady salespeople, Internet forum "gurus" who are just giving you their (usually uninformed) opinion or even a friend who may a great friend but may not be in the best position to help you get results.

Especially in the age of Internet where opinions abound but facts are hard to find, I like the point made by author Isaac Asimov. "Democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge".

So even though we live in a democracy (especially online!) make sure you are getting information from those who are informed.

For the best fitness boot camp program, ExpressFIT program in the CBD, and personal training in Singapore visit www.genesisgym.com.sg or the Genesis Gym facebook page. Or visit Coach Jonathan's homepage and blog at www.coachjon.com