Sydney, Caroline, and FitnessBlender, to name a few, are enormous fitness creators who post free workout videos and never used clickbait titles or thumbnails. They all offer pretty good science based info in their videos and descriptions as well. So, swearing the use of clickbait for the algorithm drives me batty. I was following Rachel Gulotta Fitness for awhile before she got really sick and had to stop posting content, but she started doing the clickbaity thing too… and I got really ticked off about it. “It’s for the algorithm.” Call it what it is… It’s lying. It’s false advertising.
As you said, we should stop accepting it as "but we have to" and start saying "here's how I'm gonna do better" Cause there ARE ways to do better, you just have to find them
I absolutely love your no nonsense take on fitness content providers. You are a big dose of common sense that is so needed. It’s sad that click baity titles have become part of the norm but it get it. From a business perspective, the title of “Get a teeny tiny waist” will always get more hits than “How to Successfully Reduce Your Midsection (it won’t be quick)”. Although for me, I’d click on the second title because I want success for the long haul. Keep making great content Justina!
Wowww, Chloe's disclaimer though... So passive aggressive wow.... And she addresses it to people who have been calling her out, not her direct audience (which makes no sense to me). Poor girl... I started my fitness journey with her, so no matter how nasty she titles her videos, I will forever be grateful to her for kicking my butt initially and giving me the impulse to exercise regularly. But at the same time, I am a bit disappointed she did not learn anything all these years...
The TH-camr I do most of my weight training with used a clickbait title like “Get Rid of Batwings!” once and I thought WTF? This isn’t like her! But then you start the video and she says something like “Okay I lied to you. You can’t get rid of batwings. Even fit people have batwings. But now that you’re here, let’s learn what we CAN do.” I LOVE that! She’s competing with all this clickbait and it’s SO hard to break through without it.
I will admit I was a sucker for these when I first started working out. The brain and the body like the idea of a quick fix, no long term workout plan. Luckaly i fell in love with fitness and realize it's not a quick fix but a lifestyle. I can see how this could be disappointing to many when the results you expected aren't there. As for a disclaimer, I never read them.
Great video as always!! In a happy coincidence, I was looking at setting up my workouts for tomorrow, one of which has the title "10 Min Ab Complex - Total Abs Workout". A non-click bait title, and below are the second thru fourth paragraphs of the workout description: "Please remember... ab specific workouts will not reduce fat from the tummy area. Ab and core workouts strengthen the entire core and allow for improved definition depending on body fat levels and where fat is stored. "I know you have all heard abs are made in the kitchen...rather they are revealed relating to your body fat percentage and this can be different for everyone. In regards ‘the kitchen’ this relates to your calorie intake versus calories burned. To lose body fat, you must be burn more than you intake; this can be done through your nutritional intake... "It is better to reduce calories very slightly so you have energy to continue to train." There are some good ones out there!! (The above is from a Caroline Girvan workout.)
I've never read Chloe Ting's disclaimer, even while doing some of her workouts, but if I had I would have dropped her immediately. That level of defensiveness makes me feel like you aren't confident enough in your work and audience for your content to stand on its own. That being said, I also watch TH-cam on mobile, mostly my phone, so the description is collapsed and you need to be very intentional about opening it. It's safe to assume that most people aren't going to read the description, so if you feel the need to disclaim the fact that your title and even earlier in the description are just wrong, maybe change instead. Also, the sheer audacity of Blogilates never fails to astound me, because I know she hears criticism because she responds to it, but she doesn't really change. I am not knowledgeable enough to question her bona fides as a fitness professional, but as someone who consumes fitness content she absolutely rubs me the wrong way.
I totally agree with your stance on the matter. In my opinion, if you put a disclaimer, then do it. But if you have to put a disclaimer saying that your title is wrong, or implying something unachieveable, you shouldn't even put the disclaimer, you should change the title. End of story. I slso think that there are much better ways of writing a clickbait title than promising something thay they might not get. Maybe they should just take a few hours out of their week and think of ways that you can intrigue your viewer without making false claims that you have to disclaim later on...
You are my fitness BS detector! Thx for sharing this. I am bothered by fitness content creators who claim to advocate healthy approach to body image and fitness goals; but put out content like "Muffin top massacre" or "Silent death fat melting cardio" or "x min beautiful booty" workout, and drop the disclaimer to protect themselves and defend their brands. How irresponsible and misleading is this!
I really appreciate that people like you are calling out this harmful fitness marketing language. I understand that creators need to title their videos a certain way to get views but some of this stuff is so over the top. I remember being a teen in the early 2000s and trying to do hundreds of sit-ups or crunches a day because magazines I read would say that was how to get a smaller waist. It was SO harmful to me as an adolescent thinking there was something wrong with me because I wasn't having the results I was "supposed to" have. I feel like these clickbait-y titles are the reincarnation of the late 90s/early 2000s diet culture.
I wish more people would speak on this, instead of leaving it as "well they put a disclaimer! " or "but the SEO!", so thank you. Here's the thing, as an adult who has also learned a fair bit about fitness over time, I'm not really taking the time to read any disclaimers, so I'd bet my life that younger, more impressionable, and less knowledgeable people sure as shit aren't, either! Such a facade 🙄
Yes!! This is one of my biggest pet peeves. And damn, the passive aggression in Chloe's disclaimer 😂 On a slightly different note: We should never crap on people's language skills, no matter if it's the first language or not. The standardisation of languages is a very effective tool of oppression and has a long history of racism, classism and ableism. It really doesn't matter whether or not someone's grammar or spelling is "correct" as long as we understand what is meant. And if we don't understand it, we ask kindly. :) I'm a language teacher and that's also what I tell my students and they usually appreciate it. It takes a lot of pressure and elitism out of language learning 🙂
Great, informative video! I barely even read description boxes, let alone disclaimers. I prefer YT workouts that don't give false claims or use clickbait.
I agree. Cardio is for your heart for sure. It's also good for mental health. That really sucks she shows some photoshopped body to try to sell this bullshit. If you want abs, you lose weight. I don't do any ab exercises. Barbell squats and other compound exercises that engage my core are enough to have six pack for me.
Generally, I'm fine with click bait titles. However, I have issues with problematic titles (eg. Get abs in 14 days) with disclaimers in the description without mentioning it in the video. Imo, these creators are putting disclaimer not for the viewers to read. The reason they are doing this is because when something happens (eg. Backlash) , they can blame their viewers for not reading the description. Here is the thing, if they can mention any money making content (merchandise, codes) in their video. Why can't they mention the disclaimers in their video? It shows what is important to them. Personally, I do not read description of a video. There is reason why I watch video instead of reading workout plan. The only time I will read a description is when the title is unclear. Titles like "getting abs in 14 days" are clearly telling me the video is about getting abs in 14 days. One of the content creators that I really admire is Abbey Sharp, she always tells her viewers to read her disclaimer.
Chloe's disclaimer is really salty BUT I do think she's received a disproportionate amount of criticism because of how much she blew up during lockdown, especially from men on youtube. I don't think fitness folk should be using click-baity titles and I tend to follow the folks with certification and no nonsense approach anyway.
I think Chloe's workouts are fun and enjoyable, but the clickbait is quite damaging to me. I have body image issues and I find the titles quite triggering, especially because they only promote one body type (hourglass figure with small waist and big butt). I used to do her workout programs but would feel sad since I wouldn't get the expected results despite doing the exercises in good form and being in a caloric deficit. Now I prefer to just do her workouts standalone in addition to other creators' videos rather than doing her programs, and I do them for fun rather than to look a certain way. I find it quite shitty though how she just uses SEO as an excuse for her clickbait, as there are many other fitness creators who are successful without relying on clickbait or promoting toxic beauty standards.
Look, I think I might be able to tolerate SOME clickbaiting if the TH-cam channel in question was a brand new/super tiny one, and thus if its creator was still in the process of gaining an audience. I'm a long time Fitness Blender user, and I remember that many years ago (I'm talking about 2013/2014) Kelli and Daniel used to go with titles such as: "Get incredible legs like Carry Underwood!" or even: "Get bustier/get an hourglass figure"; those obnoxious titles were then promptly followed by a disclaimer that negated the previous statements, in a very similar way to the examples you showed in the video. When Fitness Blender got huge, though, those kind of things suddenly stopped and now you hardly see anything "weird" with their contents. So how can someone like Chloe Ting, who's even bigger than Kelli and Daniel, justify the need of those titles on the basis that it's the only way to attract new people? Girl, you literally have millions of subscribers! It's the right time to start educating your followers, not lure in new ones with the same old false advertisement! Anyway, those were just my useless two cents. The important thing around here is Zooey, and nothing else. I hope the queen is doing great, and that you are alright too, Justina! Thank you for the great video, as always!
I am pretty wishy-washy about my opinions on click bait titles on videos. I like what you said at the end about using click bait to get people to click and then teach them why the click bait title doesn't work. I also get that people do need to game the system to get clicks. I think I'm cool with it as long as they aren't reinforcing the click bait in the video, like you said. Though, I'd like to see all of the bs fitness claims completely disappear and those people are contributing to the myths.
Chloe's disclaimer has increased 20x in size. I appreciate that she did delete some of her wrong videos and trimmed others. That is rare for a channel her size. Athlean X has still not removed the video about breathing out before squatting 😂 Still, Chloe's new description is very bogus.
I appreciate your honesty and myth busting so much, but cardio is not just for cv health, in my personal experience it helps depression without meds and for some an adjunct treatment for mood disorders too. If you burn calories in the meantime fabulous.
Hey! Exercise of all sorts can absolutely help people with their mental health. I just didn’t mention it because that’s not what this video is about :)
Hi Justina! I LOVE your content and your exercise philosophy. You've really helped re-shape the way I think about exercise and I've come to love movement and exercise for its own sake and not just how I could potentially look when I workout and eat a certain way. I'm considering doing the NASM-CPT certification because I want to grow in my knowledge of fitness and exercise. Would you be willing to make a video talking about different personal training certifications? Why did you become certified in some certs and not others? Why not ISSA or ACE etc? Do you know trainers who have these certifications/ are they successful?
Hey Lilly, I actually already made a video about my certs! Since then I’ve done the Precision Nutrition L1 and CFSC L1. I would say if you already have a lot of knowledge, skip NASM or ACE or ISSA and go right for something more challenging like CFSC. Or you could go really intense and do CSCS. But if you feel like you’re more at a beginner level, NASM is definitely my recommendation :)
😂😂😂 or at least stay in her lane. She’s an INCREDIBLE designer and business woman. But she doesn’t have a single certification and needs to stop selling products and giving advice about health and nutrition.
I just get irritated with any sort of "flat abs" click bait! It implies that abs that are not flat are unattractive. For any woman who has ever had a baby and has diastasis recti it may be anatomically impossible to get flat abs. Also there are organs under your stomach that need protecting so it's ok if there is a little fluff! 😉
I don't even think women's abs are supposed to be flat. Women store more fat than us men. It's normal. We're all being sold bullshit about bodies. Genetics, gender, hormone levels, and age all play a role. It can make a woman underweight if she tries to get flat abs.
Sydney, Caroline, and FitnessBlender, to name a few, are enormous fitness creators who post free workout videos and never used clickbait titles or thumbnails. They all offer pretty good science based info in their videos and descriptions as well. So, swearing the use of clickbait for the algorithm drives me batty. I was following Rachel Gulotta Fitness for awhile before she got really sick and had to stop posting content, but she started doing the clickbaity thing too… and I got really ticked off about it. “It’s for the algorithm.”
Call it what it is… It’s lying. It’s false advertising.
As you said, we should stop accepting it as "but we have to" and start saying "here's how I'm gonna do better"
Cause there ARE ways to do better, you just have to find them
Right? Sydney’s old thumbnails were a little bit clickbaity but now they’re fantastic
YES! That’s what drives me crazy. It’s possible to grow without tricking people.
I absolutely love your no nonsense take on fitness content providers. You are a big dose of common sense that is so needed. It’s sad that click baity titles have become part of the norm but it get it. From a business perspective, the title of “Get a teeny tiny waist” will always get more hits than “How to Successfully Reduce Your Midsection (it won’t be quick)”. Although for me, I’d click on the second title because I want success for the long haul. Keep making great content Justina!
Thank you so much for watching!
Wowww, Chloe's disclaimer though... So passive aggressive wow.... And she addresses it to people who have been calling her out, not her direct audience (which makes no sense to me). Poor girl...
I started my fitness journey with her, so no matter how nasty she titles her videos, I will forever be grateful to her for kicking my butt initially and giving me the impulse to exercise regularly. But at the same time, I am a bit disappointed she did not learn anything all these years...
And that’s totally fair! These situations aren’t black and white. I absolutely still think it’s amazing how many people she got active.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of Chloe's click baity titles either. However I do enjoy her workouts.
I'm not a chloe fan at all.
I found her workouts extreme in that I felt like I was going to hurt myself.
Sydney is amazing though.
The TH-camr I do most of my weight training with used a clickbait title like “Get Rid of Batwings!” once and I thought WTF? This isn’t like her! But then you start the video and she says something like “Okay I lied to you. You can’t get rid of batwings. Even fit people have batwings. But now that you’re here, let’s learn what we CAN do.” I LOVE that! She’s competing with all this clickbait and it’s SO hard to break through without it.
If you really have to clickbait people to take advantage of the ~ algorithm ~, this really sounds like the best way to do it haha!!
OMG IM SCREAMING AT CHLOE TINGS DISCLAIMER 😂
I WAS SHOCKED
I will admit I was a sucker for these when I first started working out. The brain and the body like the idea of a quick fix, no long term workout plan. Luckaly i fell in love with fitness and realize it's not a quick fix but a lifestyle. I can see how this could be disappointing to many when the results you expected aren't there. As for a disclaimer, I never read them.
I never do either!
Great video as always!!
In a happy coincidence, I was looking at setting up my workouts for tomorrow, one of which has the title "10 Min Ab Complex - Total Abs Workout". A non-click bait title, and below are the second thru fourth paragraphs of the workout description:
"Please remember... ab specific workouts will not reduce fat from the tummy area. Ab and core workouts strengthen the entire core and allow for improved definition depending on body fat levels and where fat is stored.
"I know you have all heard abs are made in the kitchen...rather they are revealed relating to your body fat percentage and this can be different for everyone. In regards ‘the kitchen’ this relates to your calorie intake versus calories burned. To lose body fat, you must be burn more than you intake; this can be done through your nutritional intake...
"It is better to reduce calories very slightly so you have energy to continue to train."
There are some good ones out there!! (The above is from a Caroline Girvan workout.)
Love that description!
I've never read Chloe Ting's disclaimer, even while doing some of her workouts, but if I had I would have dropped her immediately. That level of defensiveness makes me feel like you aren't confident enough in your work and audience for your content to stand on its own. That being said, I also watch TH-cam on mobile, mostly my phone, so the description is collapsed and you need to be very intentional about opening it. It's safe to assume that most people aren't going to read the description, so if you feel the need to disclaim the fact that your title and even earlier in the description are just wrong, maybe change instead.
Also, the sheer audacity of Blogilates never fails to astound me, because I know she hears criticism because she responds to it, but she doesn't really change. I am not knowledgeable enough to question her bona fides as a fitness professional, but as someone who consumes fitness content she absolutely rubs me the wrong way.
Same on blogilates...ready for her to go away now.
Agreed 100%!
I totally agree with your stance on the matter.
In my opinion, if you put a disclaimer, then do it. But if you have to put a disclaimer saying that your title is wrong, or implying something unachieveable, you shouldn't even put the disclaimer, you should change the title. End of story.
I slso think that there are much better ways of writing a clickbait title than promising something thay they might not get. Maybe they should just take a few hours out of their week and think of ways that you can intrigue your viewer without making false claims that you have to disclaim later on...
Yes! They are acting like there's no backspace!
Agreed!
You are my fitness BS detector! Thx for sharing this. I am bothered by fitness content creators who claim to advocate healthy approach to body image and fitness goals; but put out content like "Muffin top massacre" or "Silent death fat melting cardio" or "x min beautiful booty" workout, and drop the disclaimer to protect themselves and defend their brands. How irresponsible and misleading is this!
It’s SO irresponsible!
The way I just KNEW the first example would be Lily Sabri lmao
Haha you weren’t wrong
I really appreciate that people like you are calling out this harmful fitness marketing language. I understand that creators need to title their videos a certain way to get views but some of this stuff is so over the top. I remember being a teen in the early 2000s and trying to do hundreds of sit-ups or crunches a day because magazines I read would say that was how to get a smaller waist. It was SO harmful to me as an adolescent thinking there was something wrong with me because I wasn't having the results I was "supposed to" have. I feel like these clickbait-y titles are the reincarnation of the late 90s/early 2000s diet culture.
Absolutely!
I really dislike the "I know and don't care" attitude.
Same.
yeah, and sadly it is so prevalent in the fitness industry these days :(
I love videos like this. Keep going! There needs to be more coaches who don't care just about the money.
Thank you :)
I wish more people would speak on this, instead of leaving it as "well they put a disclaimer! " or "but the SEO!", so thank you.
Here's the thing, as an adult who has also learned a fair bit about fitness over time, I'm not really taking the time to read any disclaimers, so I'd bet my life that younger, more impressionable, and less knowledgeable people sure as shit aren't, either! Such a facade 🙄
100%!
Yes!! This is one of my biggest pet peeves. And damn, the passive aggression in Chloe's disclaimer 😂
On a slightly different note: We should never crap on people's language skills, no matter if it's the first language or not. The standardisation of languages is a very effective tool of oppression and has a long history of racism, classism and ableism. It really doesn't matter whether or not someone's grammar or spelling is "correct" as long as we understand what is meant. And if we don't understand it, we ask kindly. :) I'm a language teacher and that's also what I tell my students and they usually appreciate it. It takes a lot of pressure and elitism out of language learning 🙂
That's such a great perspective on language - thank you! Definitely shifted my views :)
Great, informative video! I barely even read description boxes, let alone disclaimers. I prefer YT workouts that don't give false claims or use clickbait.
Me too!
Thank God you exist to help educate people to not fall for any bullshit from these fitness influencers.
:)
I agree. Cardio is for your heart for sure. It's also good for mental health. That really sucks she shows some photoshopped body to try to sell this bullshit. If you want abs, you lose weight. I don't do any ab exercises. Barbell squats and other compound exercises that engage my core are enough to have six pack for me.
For some people it absolutely is good for mental health!
Generally, I'm fine with click bait titles. However, I have issues with problematic titles (eg. Get abs in 14 days) with disclaimers in the description without mentioning it in the video. Imo, these creators are putting disclaimer not for the viewers to read. The reason they are doing this is because when something happens (eg. Backlash) , they can blame their viewers for not reading the description. Here is the thing, if they can mention any money making content (merchandise, codes) in their video. Why can't they mention the disclaimers in their video? It shows what is important to them.
Personally, I do not read description of a video. There is reason why I watch video instead of reading workout plan. The only time I will read a description is when the title is unclear. Titles like "getting abs in 14 days" are clearly telling me the video is about getting abs in 14 days.
One of the content creators that I really admire is Abbey Sharp, she always tells her viewers to read her disclaimer.
Yes yes exactly!
Chloe's disclaimer is really salty BUT I do think she's received a disproportionate amount of criticism because of how much she blew up during lockdown, especially from men on youtube. I don't think fitness folk should be using click-baity titles and I tend to follow the folks with certification and no nonsense approach anyway.
Oh she 100% did!
@@JustinaErcole I think that's why she's so salty tbh! But agree that it's not helpful for most folk.
It's so strange to watch them back themselves into a corner and then try to fight out of it.
Right??
Wow, Chloe's disclaimer is just...wow 😳
I was SHOCKED
Such an insightful video, I've learned so much! Is there a way to make marketing better to compliment the disclaimers??
I’m not sure! I think there needs to be a huge shift in the industry.
I just love your no BS personality XD 💕💕
Haha thank you!
Thank you 😊
You're welcome 😊
I think Chloe's workouts are fun and enjoyable, but the clickbait is quite damaging to me. I have body image issues and I find the titles quite triggering, especially because they only promote one body type (hourglass figure with small waist and big butt). I used to do her workout programs but would feel sad since I wouldn't get the expected results despite doing the exercises in good form and being in a caloric deficit. Now I prefer to just do her workouts standalone in addition to other creators' videos rather than doing her programs, and I do them for fun rather than to look a certain way. I find it quite shitty though how she just uses SEO as an excuse for her clickbait, as there are many other fitness creators who are successful without relying on clickbait or promoting toxic beauty standards.
Not many tho
Look, I think I might be able to tolerate SOME clickbaiting if the TH-cam channel in question was a brand new/super tiny one, and thus if its creator was still in the process of gaining an audience. I'm a long time Fitness Blender user, and I remember that many years ago (I'm talking about 2013/2014) Kelli and Daniel used to go with titles such as: "Get incredible legs like Carry Underwood!" or even: "Get bustier/get an hourglass figure"; those obnoxious titles were then promptly followed by a disclaimer that negated the previous statements, in a very similar way to the examples you showed in the video. When Fitness Blender got huge, though, those kind of things suddenly stopped and now you hardly see anything "weird" with their contents. So how can someone like Chloe Ting, who's even bigger than Kelli and Daniel, justify the need of those titles on the basis that it's the only way to attract new people? Girl, you literally have millions of subscribers! It's the right time to start educating your followers, not lure in new ones with the same old false advertisement!
Anyway, those were just my useless two cents. The important thing around here is Zooey, and nothing else. I hope the queen is doing great, and that you are alright too, Justina! Thank you for the great video, as always!
Zooey says hi!
I am pretty wishy-washy about my opinions on click bait titles on videos. I like what you said at the end about using click bait to get people to click and then teach them why the click bait title doesn't work. I also get that people do need to game the system to get clicks. I think I'm cool with it as long as they aren't reinforcing the click bait in the video, like you said. Though, I'd like to see all of the bs fitness claims completely disappear and those people are contributing to the myths.
Agreed!
Chloe's disclaimer has increased 20x in size.
I appreciate that she did delete some of her wrong videos and trimmed others. That is rare for a channel her size. Athlean X has still not removed the video about breathing out before squatting 😂
Still, Chloe's new description is very bogus.
Agreed!
I appreciate your honesty and myth busting so much, but cardio is not just for cv health, in my personal experience it helps depression without meds and for some an adjunct treatment for mood disorders too. If you burn calories in the meantime fabulous.
Hey! Exercise of all sorts can absolutely help people with their mental health. I just didn’t mention it because that’s not what this video is about :)
Hi Justina! I LOVE your content and your exercise philosophy. You've really helped re-shape the way I think about exercise and I've come to love movement and exercise for its own sake and not just how I could potentially look when I workout and eat a certain way. I'm considering doing the NASM-CPT certification because I want to grow in my knowledge of fitness and exercise. Would you be willing to make a video talking about different personal training certifications? Why did you become certified in some certs and not others? Why not ISSA or ACE etc? Do you know trainers who have these certifications/ are they successful?
Hey Lilly, I actually already made a video about my certs! Since then I’ve done the Precision Nutrition L1 and CFSC L1. I would say if you already have a lot of knowledge, skip NASM or ACE or ISSA and go right for something more challenging like CFSC. Or you could go really intense and do CSCS. But if you feel like you’re more at a beginner level, NASM is definitely my recommendation :)
The level of pettiness in Chloe's disclaimer. Still on the floor.
It actually shocked me. I didn’t read it fully until filming 😂
Dammmnnnn. That made me laugh! Wow, this is crazy.
Right??
SNARKY comment: can blogilates just go away now?
😂😂😂 or at least stay in her lane. She’s an INCREDIBLE designer and business woman. But she doesn’t have a single certification and needs to stop selling products and giving advice about health and nutrition.
@@JustinaErcole yes to all that!!!
Eh I do like her workouts. But yeah there are def aspects of her that are problematic
I looove her workouts tbh @@sparkle0859
I just get irritated with any sort of "flat abs" click bait! It implies that abs that are not flat are unattractive. For any woman who has ever had a baby and has diastasis recti it may be anatomically impossible to get flat abs. Also there are organs under your stomach that need protecting so it's ok if there is a little fluff! 😉
Yep!
I don't even think women's abs are supposed to be flat. Women store more fat than us men. It's normal. We're all being sold bullshit about bodies. Genetics, gender, hormone levels, and age all play a role. It can make a woman underweight if she tries to get flat abs.
@@rd-lw4td so true!!
Hi😜😍😳☺😄😘