Even though magazine articles are written three to six months before publica-
tion, they’re often more up-to-date than newspapers. Many newspapers get
their exercise ideas from reading fitness magazines. So, if you’re looking for
articles about fitness trends, training techniques, and exercise equipment,
mainstream fitness magazines tend to be better sources than daily papers.The Internet
Surfing the Internet for fitness information is a bit like entering into automated-
phone-system hell: You press one key after another, and pretty soon, you’re
either totally lost or back where you started. You may have the intention of
finding out how to train your abdominals, but with a few unwitting clicks of
the mouse, you’re downloading porn. Still, if you have the time and patience
to look around, you can get some great fitness information online — from
descriptions of the major yoga poses to the complete Surgeon General’s
Report on Physical Activity and Health.However, you also can get plenty of hogwash. In general, you’ll come across
more misleading and biased fitness information online than in mainstream
fitness publications printed on paper. So perusing health and fitness Web
sites with a particularly critical eye is important. Keep in mind that the line
between advertising and editorial is particularly blurry on the Internet.In addition, the “experts” quoted in online fitness articles may not be experts
at all. Often, they’re people with products to sell. When a mainstream maga-
zine publishes an article on heart-rate monitors, the story typically quotes
coaches or university professors. But on one fitness Web site, we found a
heart-rate-monitor article that quoted the executive assistant to the president
of a heart-rate monitor manufacturer! “Anyone who is concerned about their
weight, improved fitness, or athletic competition... can benefit from using a
heart-rate monitor,” said the assistant. We agree, but the information doesn’t
have a heckuva lot of credibility coming from someone who has a financial
stake in the product.Finally, watch out for outdated information. You may think of the Internet as
the most up-to-date of all media, but the Internet often doesn’t live up to its
potential as the best source for late-breaking information. In an attempt to get
Web sites up and running quickly — and to appear loaded with “content” —
many sites are cluttered with ancient material.Use fitness Web sites as a starting point for educating yourself, but remember
that the Internet is full of misinformation. Be sure to compare what you read
online with what you read in magazines and newspapers.Appendix: Educating Yourself 391