As a pro writer who’s also done some editing, I’m all too familiar with the most common mistakes fitness pros make when writing about health and fitness. If I’m being honest, I’ve probably made these mistakes myself somewhere along the way!
See below for three of the most pervasive problems. You’ll also find solutions to improve your fitness writing and make any piece of health and fitness writing more attention-worthy. These tips can help you excel at educating and inspiring your readers.
1) Buried Lead
Problem: Burying the article’s lead in the second, third or fourth paragraph.
The most compelling, tell-me-more information, or a scenario that readers can relate to, should appear in the very first, attention-grabbing paragraph(s) (called the lead).
Solution to Improve Your Fitness Writing
Avoid warming up with chit-chat or unnecessary info at the beginning of your articles or blog posts. Get right to the point.
Write your first draft then comb your writing for the most relevant lead sentences (they’re quite often buried a few paragraphs from the top). If needed, rework those sentences to fit front and center. This increases your chances of retaining readers beyond your opening line.
2) Vague Advice
Problem: Introducing fitness terms or concepts without defining what you mean (even if they seem straightforward and commonplace to you).
Many fitness pros offer the following generalized tips, but readers might not understand specifically what to do:
- Work out more intensely
- Drink enough water
- Eat sensibly
- Be active every day
Solution to Improve Your Fitness Writing
Offer one or two concrete, but brief, examples so your tips make sense to readers. For example, you could explain that working out more intensely means aiming for certain feelings and physical responses based on rating of perceived exertion (RPE) or talk test.
Like this: Work out more intensely. You should be breathing heavily enough so you’re only able to speak in short sentences.
3) No Breaks
Problem: Writing an article, blog post or social media caption that turns into one giant text block.
It’s no use writing content that no one wants to read because it looks so unappealing. Luckily, it’s easy enough to improve your fitness writing with basic formatting.
Solution to Improve Your Fitness Writing
As you write, consider how to logically organize your information. For social captions, create multiple short paragraphs—some paragraphs might contain only a few words.
Adding an occasional one-line paragraph really makes your message stand out.
For articles and blog posts, include relevant subheads to break up text. In fact, you can write the subheads first if you want, filling in the space under each subhead as you go.
Breaking up text—especially for anything you write online or on social media—is a simple way to make your writing more enticing and informative for readers.
For more in-depth guidance on how to write about health and fitness in a way that engages readers and gets the results you want, check out my e-book Anatomy of an Article.
