Polarising polarised sunglass wearing jiu jitsu loving man boy (i'll explain later) fitness guru James Smith has been filling my social media home feed and email inbox lately with a deluge of entertaining fitness and lifestyle content.
What has been abundantly clear in viewing his material is that he is a hugely popular figure but also a highly divisive character.
Who and why James Smith?
Described as the "Gordon Ramsey" of fitness James Smith is a loud, opinionated, crude, vulgar, funny, entertaining, controversial, attention seeking, successful, consistent, wholesome and above all never dull personal trainer who has gained a huge following through approaching the world with a bullish, no nonsense direct approach.
His popularity lies in the fact that he caters to the masses (this is a positive!) and eschews the "safe" online position which most companies and top professionals are compelled to take.
But let's be honest it would be boring to simply write a positive piece celebrating the good work done and amplifying the success stories of his fitness clients. Or championing the successful business model he has created. You came here for the piping hot tea and so that's what I'm going to deliver to you. Let's get into it.
Why you hate James Smith... the science
He's not for you...
This to me is the most obvious one. And I know it is the case because I fall into this category myself on occasion! However once I remind myself that I'm not the target market of his product (his PT app) I quickly fall back out of it and can step back and admire the business acumen.
Here's an example - You probably came across his content the way I did (someone messaged saying this lad is funny and takes the p*ss out of roided up health influencers)
Now all of sudden you have a video of him telling you about how much he loves ketamine and that Coke is good for you...
Now when he preaches the positive benefits of Diet Coke I want to throw my phone at the wall because as Ronaldo said not 2 weeks ago at the Euros - drink water not coke as coke is straight up poison from a health perspective (albeit tasty excellent poison). Shut up James Smith ya f*ckwit and stop trying to convince people it's healthy to drink Coke.
However...
It's all relative isn't it. And it's horses for courses.
To someone on a new fitness journey who up until now has been drinking Coke everyday of their life since their youth, the transition from Coca Cola to a Diet Coke might result in a (relative) huge improvement in their overall health.
So in this instance. He's not for me.
He's for the person who's lifestyle habits might be improved overall by switching from a high sugar content drink to one with less of an energy (I promised I wouldn't use the c*lorie word in this article for fun). So they can have a realistic chance at forming and maintaining new more healthy habits!
Courting controversy
This one makes sense.
The man is gaining free advertising across a variety of platforms by addressing hot controversial topics or by deliberately framing arguments in a controversial and entertaining fashion.
And nothing gets us going as humans more than being irritated!!
Inciting ire is an excellent way to ensure interaction (the alliteration in this sentence alone would make my old English teacher weep)
So bear that in mind. He's deliberately attempting to push buttons because he knows it will get a response and in the business he's in a response equals more eyes on the product and equals more sales.
So before you reach to hate/anger at the prolific use of the word c*nt it might be a good idea to assess what is actually been said about the controversial topic and whether it is a sensible argument being framed in a controversial manner or actually something worth stirring up your anger for.
You think he's going to ride your missus
He does have that look about him. A sneaky fella. I can get on board with this one as being a legitimate reason to hate him.
Or does this speak more about insecurities in my own relationship?
Nah... We'll stick with he's a sneaky fella on this one.
He Can't Lose
I must tip my hat to the mans genius levels of framing. He has set himself up to be in a position wherein he can't actually lose. Because when/if he does lose, he frames it as an opportunity for learning and therefore wins so for those hoping desperately for him to get his comeuppance are left with a bitter taste in the mouth!
Doesn't have abs and is a PT? Well most of the world doesn't have abs so sell to them instead of selling to the 5% of the population that has abs (95 is a bigger number than 5)
Lose an argument to a new bit of information? Excellent, assimilate the information and make another post demonstrating humility by including the new information. More free advertising.
Does drugs and steroids and then has the gall to talk about fitness? Sweet. Talk openly about it rather than pretending to be perfect and therefore gaining trust of people all of whom have little dark secrets they don't want out in the open
The prick can't lose and it's bloody irritating (if impressive!)
Consistency
This one is legitimate. A very legitimate reason to dislike the guy. He's relentlessly consistent and driven. It's bloody annoying and exposes my own lack of consistency and work ethic which makes me even angrier
The man is a walking talking advert for the application of hard work and consistency resulting in success over talent and natural aptitude. In confidence and consistency over sporadic excellence.
The richest people in the world are the ones who control the mundane things that we rely on daily. The consistent needs.
The Man Boy Syndrome
They say hatred is the off spring of jealousy.
So it's very easy to hate someone who gets to wear shorts every day and hang out and make videos with their friends whilst I have to "work" for my money.
Obviously I've just greatly disparaged the entire creative and fitness industry with that one sentence but I'm framing this accordingly to make sure my point is successful.
Where does jealousy end and legitimate hatred begin!?
The Big Summary
If you think you hate James Smith
I've got the solutions to all your problems right here and now.
In reality his actions will have little to no realistic impact on the day you have ahead of you...
Read that one again.
Why waste energy getting mad about it!
You can just unfollow.
Or you can dislike some of the stuff he does and can enjoy other bits he does
Or you can enjoy hating him as long as you realise why your buttons are being pushed
It really doesn't matter
Just don't let him near your missus
Stephen
P.S. The Nuts Conundrum
A small minority of people are deathly allergic to nuts
This is common knowledge. Everyone knows it.
The vast majority of people alive and who have ever lived are NOT deathly allergic to nuts
We don't ban nuts because a small vocal minority are allergic to nuts