Shiny Trends and Quick Fixes: A Filter

Every industry has a next big thing. In fitness the waves come fast and loud, with a new protocol, supplement, gadget or recovery ritual every month, each one promising faster and easier results than the last. If you've been trying to lose weight for a while, you've probably bought a few.

My job as a coach includes a filter for this stuff, and the filter works for you too. It has three questions, and most trends fail at least one of them.

Where did you hear about it, and what do they sell

The first question is where the idea came from. A supplement company's page, a creator with a discount code and a friend who started it last Tuesday are all sources with a reason to be excited. They can still be right. The burden of proof sits with them, though, and a before-and-after photo is thin proof.

Supplements in particular deserve a hard look, because in the US they don't need to prove they work before going on sale. The label can say almost anything short of a disease claim. A review from the International Society of Sports Nutrition walks through how that regulation works, and the short version is that the shelf isn't pre-screened for you.

What would it have to beat

The second question is what the trend has to beat to earn a place in your week. For weight loss it has to beat the same four things every time, which are a calorie deficit with enough protein, 150 to 300 minutes of movement a week with two strength days, seven hours of sleep, and the habit of staying out of your own way when a week falls apart. Those are the 4 Boring Pillars, and almost nothing that trends outperforms them.

A quick way to check a trend is to ask whether it adds to those four or replaces one of them. A walking pad under the desk adds movement. A detox tea adds nothing. A 30-day challenge with six training days and 1,200 calories replaces sleep and sanity with intensity, and it ends on day 31 by design.

Has it been tested on people like you

Plenty of trends start with a real study. The trouble is who the study was on and what it measured. Recovery tools that matter for a professional athlete training twice a day may do nothing for someone lifting three times a week. A finding in mice or in a dish is a reason for scientists to look closer, and no reason for you to spend money yet.

The research has already sorted out two popular examples.

BCAAs were the darling of the supplement aisle for a decade. A 2017 review went looking for a single human study showing that BCAAs on their own build muscle, and found none. You need all the essential amino acids to build tissue, which is another way of saying eat enough protein. Enough protein from food already covers it.

Cold plunges feel great and are everywhere right now. A 2022 meta-analysis of ten studies found that cold-water immersion after lifting slightly reduced strength gains when the trained limbs were cooled. If you enjoy the plunge for how it makes you feel, keep it, and do it away from your lifting sessions rather than right after. If you bought the tub to build muscle faster, the evidence runs the other way.

What I do with a trend

When a client asks about something new, I ask them the three questions above, then I try it myself first if it passes. I want to see what it does over weeks, where it fits, and whether it fits at all, before anyone spends money or attention on it. Most of the time the answer is that it's harmless and unnecessary, and the attention it would take is better spent on the pillar that has slipped.

That's the cost of trends. They're rarely dangerous. They cost attention, and a busy person has the least of that. Every week spent dialing in a new supplement stack is a week not spent getting protein and steps right, and those two will still be working in six months when the stack is in the back of the cupboard.

If you're already hitting protein, steps, sleep and a weekly deficit you can live with, and you still want to experiment, go ahead. Change one thing at a time and keep a notebook, so that in a month you can tell whether it did anything at all.

Sources

1. Wolfe, Journal of the ISSN, 2017. Branched-chain amino acids and muscle protein synthesis in humans: myth or reality?. No human study shows BCAAs alone build muscle; the claim is described as unwarranted.
2. Grgic, European Journal of Sport Science, 2022. Effects of post-exercise cold-water immersion on resistance training-induced gains in muscular strength: a meta-analysis. Ten studies: cold plunges after lifting slightly reduced strength gains when applied to the trained limbs.
3. Antonio et al., Journal of the ISSN, 2025. Common questions and misconceptions about dietary supplements and the industry. How supplements are regulated in the US and what that means for claims on the label.
4. Piercy et al., JAMA, 2018. The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans