There’s a particular type of “expert” who shows up in the women’s fitness space. You’ve seen him. He’s confident. Convincing. Calmly delivers hot takes with just enough clinical jargon to sound legit. He claims to be the antidote to misinformation — but what he’s really doing is repackaging old biases in a new container.
Let’s look at how this dynamic plays out through a composite character we’ll call “The Chad Type.”
Who Is 'The Chad Type'?
He’s a former athlete or clinician who now coaches women, often midlife women. He speaks in simple soundbites that make complex physiology sound black and white. He isn’t wrong all the time, but he is rarely right in context.
Most importantly: he doesn’t coach with women. He coaches at them.
Why He Focuses on Women (and Not Men)
Let’s not pretend this is a values-based choice. It's a business model. Here's why:
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Women are conditioned to defer to perceived experts — especially when talking about their own bodies.
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Women buy more. Courses, plans, supplements, hormone tests. He knows his audience.
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Men challenge authority, women internalize critique. One is harder to coach than the other.
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He gets to play the savior in a space where confusion and fear are high.
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He avoids peer-level scrutiny. Male peers in the space might call him out — women are more likely to give him the benefit of the doubt.
This isn’t a man who stumbled into a women’s coaching space. He sought it out. It's where he could sound smart, sell certainty, and rarely be questioned.
His Favorite Moves
Here are some of the most common tactics he uses:
1. Oversimplified Hormone Narratives
He reduces entire physiological systems to catchphrases like “low estrogen = bad sleep” or “you’re not broken, it’s your hormones.” That last one sounds helpful — until you realize he follows it up with a product pitch.
2. Weaponized Empathy
He mimics the language of care — “I understand what you're going through” — but it’s surface-level. Real empathy includes humility. He offers none.
3. Blame Wrapped in Reassurance
He tells women they’re not the problem… but they are misinformed, undisciplined, or misguided if they don’t follow his plan. If they fail, it’s because they didn’t do it right. Not because the method lacked nuance.
4. Borrowed Authority
He leads with credentials from past lives — “clinical background,” “former department head,” “decades in the field” — but doesn’t actually cite quality research or engage with experts who disagree.
5. Dodges Accountability with Vagueness
He never says anything specific enough to be disproven. He dances around claims like a pro: “Just something to think about,” “I’ve seen this a lot,” “Not medical advice, but…”
The Impact on Women
This type of coaching doesn’t build women up. It wears them down — slowly and subtly. The real harm comes not from one post or one video, but from the accumulation:
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Women feel gaslit. They start to doubt their lived experience when it doesn’t match his framework.
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They delay getting real help. Because they’re trying to “fix” themselves with his advice first.
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They stop trusting their bodies. Again. And again.
Why This Matters in the Coaching World
If you’re a coach, educator, or professional who works with women, this matters because Chads are filling a gap we should be filling with better care and more curiosity.
He’s not thriving because his ideas are revolutionary. He’s thriving because:
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The bar is low.
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Women are desperate for support.
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And too many of us are afraid to speak up when someone like him sounds “mostly fine.”
What Better Looks Like
Real coaching isn’t clean. It’s not built on certainty. It asks more questions than it answers.
Better coaching:
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Honors lived experience and emerging research.
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Uses plain language without dumbing things down.
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Encourages experimentation and autonomy.
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Knows the difference between confidence and competence.
We don’t need more men “fixing” women.
We need more people holding space for nuance, listening deeply, and coaching like it’s a collaboration — not a campaign.
The Chad Type isn’t just a guy online. He’s a symbol of what happens when we let confidence override context.
And the best way to counter that isn’t to shout louder.
It’s to teach better. Show up differently. And keep reminding women that their bodies don’t need a guru — they need respect.