Youtuber Chloe Ting’s million-viewed workouts: fluke or formidable?
If you are into building up abs and achieving fat-loss while at home during the circuit breaker, chances are you have already watched one or two of Chloe Ting’s fitness videos on her Youtube channel.
Due to restrictions placed to combat COVID-19 infections, gyms were closed in the past two months and looked to remain so for the near future. Many had taken up at-home fitness programs to keep fit, turning to fitspo videos and causing a boom in Youtube views for easy-to-follow exercise routines.
With 9.95 million subscribers to her Youtube channel, Chloe’s videos feature routines that utilise little to no equipment, making it easy even for beginners to pick up.
A post shared by Chloe Ting (@chloe_t) on
Her 2 Weeks Shred Challenge, which started the #ChloeTingChallenge on TikTok and Instagram, came with mixed reviews with fans posting successful results online but yet drawing flack from bodybuilders and fitness trainers.
Greg Doucette, the world record holder for powerlifting, debunked one of Chloe’s most viewed videos, “Get Abs in 2 Weeks”, which to date drew a total of 145 million views on Youtube.
Sharing that while the workout is great, it does not shred fat like what Chloe claims as the focus is solely on a targeted area. He had also called out the Youtuber for her wrong nutritional advice such as lessening fruit intake to lose weight.
The thought is echoed by Singapore competitive bodybuilder Chin Nian Kang, who goes by the handle @dinokang on Instagram.
Rebuking Chloe’s claims that “fructose acts quite different from glucose and too much fructose is gonna be stored as fat”, Chin adds on that “fructose takes a longer pathway than glucose in metabolism but the energy it provides is the same.” Chin calls on Chloe to “stop confusing people unnecessarily,” and that “too much anything is gonna be stored as fat”.
An ACE (American Council on Exercise) certified trainer, Chin pointed out that Chloe is not a fitness trainer nor an athlete, but simply a Youtuber with a following. His 62 Instagram stories, dedicated to debunking Chloe’s videos and claims, were mostly focused on the incorrect nutritional and scientific facts that were shared and how clickbaity the videos are.
Many who had commented on both Chloe’s Instagram posts and on Chin’s call-out post that the former’s videos, thanks to how easy it is to follow, made them start to exercise.
Chloe’s supporters have also called out Chin on his own clickbait hashtags used in his Instagram posts and claimed that he is using Chloe for clout.
Fellow Youtuber MattDoesFitness also tried out the two-week abs program, setting himself to complete the routine in a day. The bodybuilder shared that the biggest problem of the program “is just boredom, I'm doing the same thing over and over again”, a thought echoed by some who had tried out the workout.
A post shared by Chloe Ting (@chloe_t) on
The success under the #ChloeTingChallenge proved that the program fits certain people, but might not be sustainable for the long term. Contrary to what Chloe said in her videos, some shared that they do not see results as they are not eating healthy throughout the challenge.
A sports science major, Niña Alvia, also warned on her TikTok platform earlier that Chloe’s exercises could make people prone to injuries due to the imbalances in the routines and are not the best long-term workout routines.
Whether Chloe’s workout routines are a success or a fluke, she is just one of the hundreds of fitness “trainers” on Youtube. It is always important to double-check on the facts shared by these influencers before jumping headfirst into an exercise and diet regime that might do more harm than good for your body type.
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