Everyone loves to scream about “misinformation” on social media. Coaches, PhDs, influencers — they’ve all decided it’s their new favorite word. The irony? Many of them are guilty of spreading misinformation themselves, just dressed up in fancier language or a slick infographic.
It’s time to break this down. What is misinformation, how does it actually show up in women’s health and fitness, and why is it doing more harm than good?
What Misinformation Actually Is
Misinformation isn’t just lies. It’s:
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Oversimplification of something complex (think: “calories in, calories out, period”).
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Taking one study out of context and pretending it’s the whole truth.
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Ignoring entire groups of people in research, then acting like the conclusions apply to everyone.
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Dismissing lived experience because it doesn’t fit a neat model.
That’s not science. That’s what control looks like.
The Control Problem
This is where power and control sneak in (hello, Steve Magness fans). Many PhDs and coaches don’t actually want to help people navigate the messy reality of training in midlife, menopause, or beyond. They want to control the narrative. They want to be the authority.
That’s why you see the same tired lines over and over:
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“Hormones don’t matter.”
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“It’s just about discipline.”
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“Cortisol doesn’t cause weight gain.”
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“Women don’t need to train any differently after 40.”
These are the social media equivalent of slamming a gavel. They shut down curiosity, nuance, and conversation. And they do nothing to actually support the athletes reading them.
Receipts: How It Shows Up
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One male Threads coach's favorite play: reduce every conversation about menopause and weight to “just eat less.” That’s not nuance. That’s a recycled diet meme.
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One PhD's pink + purple infographics: cherry-pick a study about men and use it to declare what women “do not need to change” in training at 40+. Men don’t go through menopause, so maybe we shouldn’t draw hard lines there?
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One aggressive male personal trainer's tactic: demand “PMIDs or it didn’t happen,” then dismiss any evidence presented as low quality while calling coaches “grifters, dipshit, peanut, sunshine” while outright bullying them. That’s not science. That’s gatekeeping.
Why This Harms Athletes
Here’s what this misinformation actually does to the people it’s supposed to serve:
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Creates confusion — athletes don’t know who to trust, because the experts contradict each other constantly.
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Fuels self-blame — if CICO is always the answer, any failure becomes the athlete’s fault.
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Dismisses lived experience — symptoms like fatigue, disrupted recovery, or shifting body composition get brushed off as “excuses.”
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Delays real solutions — athletes waste time chasing cookie-cutter advice instead of strategies that actually fit their lives and physiology.
What Real Coaching Looks Like
Coaching isn’t about controlling the narrative. It’s about building autonomy. That means:
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Asking better questions before prescribing answers.
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Pairing research with real-world context.
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Seeing athletes as individuals, not “cases.”
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Leaving room for the “n=1” — the truth that every body responds differently.
Real coaches don’t weaponize science to feel superior. They use it to help people thrive.
The loudest voices online love to shout about misinformation. But here’s the truth: most of what they’re shouting is misinformation in disguise. If your coach or favorite PhD isn’t willing to admit nuance, ask questions, or listen to lived experience, they’re not helping.
They’re preaching.
And you deserve better than sermons.
If you’re tired of wading through the noise, this is your permission slip to seek out coaches who listen, not lecture. The ones who see you as a whole human — not just a study subject or a calorie equation.