The fitness "influencers" these days like to give people the notion of getting fit in order to look pleasing when in reality, the only thing that looks good is how they "apply" exercises that only takes a person so far and only makes it work in the gym. These men and women who most of the time on Social Media either show off their ass or how bad ass they look doing exercises that in more ways than one are way too advanced for the average person. Basics and Simplicity are thrown out the window faster than Superman.
What really gets to me at times is that these kids (Yeah I' am reaching THAT age) don't have the slightest clue on how to apply any real training that is sustainable let alone understand the old school methods and folks in classic books. I'm all for wanting to make a living and promoting yourself and others but there's a breaking point. You don't want to cross that line where it becomes more of a fantasy than what it really is. If you're going to teach others how to train, I believe in teaching not only the basics but the ideals and realistic approaches to training no matter where a person works out, not just in the gym itself.
I'm not the best on how to teach people in a gym because I don't train in one very much anymore as it is but I do know the basics and how to use certain equipment because I learned how to use them and studied the old school training tools. I do however prefer the minimal equipment (Sandbags, Hammers, Cables, Wheels etc.) and use equipment that are utilized regardless if you're at home or traveling. You learn to use what's available even if it's your own bodyweight. I say to this day, if you can put a gym into a small corner that is cost effective, you're golden. You don't need machines that cost thousands of dollars a piece, hell the most expensive piece of equipment I have cost less than 350 dollars and can do more than a 2000 dollar machine can ever do.
A gym doesn't even need to be surrounded in a corner, it can be put into a small traveling bag like for resistance cables and Isometric Straps. Less than 5 pounds worth and you can still get the workout of your life in. Some guys like to have barbells and dumbbells set up in their garage which is awesome because Strength Training wise, they can be the best pieces you have and even more so if you use Fat Gripz attached to them, I'm all for that but many in the fitness world have a one track mind and don't think 4th Dimensionally (Like Doc Brown tells Marty in Back To The Future 3). When you start thinking unconventionally with an imagination along with being as safe yet challenged, there's a whole world that can be opened up and you don't have to think like the gym is the only place to go to train.
Some people see the gym as a therapeutic entity which I understand and I'm all for wanting to better yourself and getting out there and doing what you want to do for your physical and mental health but most of the time, people are conditioned to believe that a building full of equipment is the only way to train and outside of that, very little will work which is complete bullshit. I've reached a point in my life where if I wanted to workout at gym, I'll know exactly the type of equipment to use or adapt very fast to ones I've never done before and make it work but I don't have to do that out of necessity, I can come up with a workout in any environment I choose and that's what I want to help people understand. It doesn't matter if you have a 10 x 10 space or have a wilderness to use, exercise can be done anywhere you choose with the right knowledge and mechanics. I like the gym in a corner because I can pick out what I want and just roll with it and get something awesome out of it.
Training is about self discovery, being creative and having the discipline & drive to train with anything you set your mind to. There's always a way to train but it starts in the mind first and then making the effort to use what's available whether it's just you or a fucking boulder in front of you. Do we need "influencers", in some cases yes because they can be teachers of what not to do and learn from the original influencers that didn't even use supplements let alone steroids. Seriously, I'll take someone like Brooks Kubik or Matt Schifferle & Bud Jeffries over just about 95% of the "trainers" today.
Be amazingly awesome and absorb fitness with an open mind and not something that only uses a building for.
