Of the most common New Year’s resolutions in the UK, 38% of those polled reported that they hope to exercise more, with 33% stating that they want to lose weight and nearly a quarter hoping to take a more active approach to their health. While this is a great time of year to assess your fitness goals and get on track to a healthier you, it’s also the time of year in which thousands of fitness scams will be operated trying to prey on those with New Year’s Resolutions fresh on their minds. To avoid falling prey to some of the most popular fitness scams in the UK, however, you’ll need to be aware of them first.
Pyramid Schemes You Have to Pay For
Paying to become certified as a personal trainer or nutritionist is not only highly recommended but also beneficial as part of a long-term career goal. Paying to be a part of a pyramid scheme that forces you to shell out money to retain membership while peddling snake oil supplements and other questionable health supplements, however, should be avoided. Fitness pyramid schemes, in general, should be avoided. However, paying to market and sell supplements is especially dangerous as many of these supplements have questionable ingredients that aren’t federally approved or even safe. As part of this type of scam, it’s also important to be mindful of the supplements that you’re purchasing in general so as not to take anything that might be harmful to your body, your training or your overall health.
Anything That’s a Quick Fix
If a workout is claimed as being able to help you lose a stone in just two weeks, it’s likely a scam. Also be wary of workout programs that claim they can help you lose weight by working out just ten minutes a day. Ten minutes is barely enough to get your heart rate up to where it needs to be to start burning fat, so you can bet that’s a scam from the get-go. The way that these scams seem to provide people with real results is through the intense dieting aspect of their programs. While people are only working out ten minutes a day, they’re also only eating 1,000 calories, which is simply not adequate enough to sustain an adult’s metabolism and energy levels. Having to starve yourself for quick results is never going to work, and you shouldn’t feel like that’s the only option for weight loss.
Nothing Replaces Hard Work
If you’re not sure whether or not something is a scam, try asking if you could achieve the same results without it, if it uses scammy marketing tactics such as paid advertising with social media influencers or if it focuses on how easy it is to achieve results with the product. These will help you distinguish a great fitness tool from a scam. Always remember, however, that nothing replaces hard work and time spent focusing on proper nutrition and exercise.