- They share great content from peer-reviewed sources (not just made up fluff)
- They publish their own unique ideas for others to explore
- They are great at interacting with their followers
- In some way, shape, or form they have changed my mind about something in fitness, nutrition, medicine, etc.
- They’re not guys named Neil DeGrasse Tyson or other big names that you probably already know and follow. So let’s get to it.
Here’s my Top 10 Favorite Twitter Handles:
10. Dan Ogborn – @danogborn – Dan is a twitter handle that I’ve only started to follow more recently, but I’ve yet to be disappointed. For people who are looking for a layperson’s breakdown of scientific studies on weight trianing and hypertrophy, you might be disappointed. Dan is a scientist and he writes like a scientist, with references and citations all around.
I really enjoyed his articles about some of the misinformation about training to failure and his T-Nation article about needing to address your slow-twitch muscle fibers in trianing.
He’ll also throw around some funny quips and comics about the struggles of being an academic, and the struggles with dealing with people who want free training in exchange for before and after pics.
Offering to pose for before/after pics is not an acceptable form of payment for online training services — Dan Ogborn, PhD (@DanOgborn) May 31, 2015
9. Brian Tiu – @drbriantiu – There might be some bias in plugging Brian because he’s a good friend of mine, but I think he’s earned his Twitter following regardless. I would say many of the strength and nutrition experts that I follow now are due in large part because he shares all of their interesting posts.
Dr. Tiu is like myself in that he practices Structural Chiropractic, but he is a wealth of information when it comes to strength, exercise, and nutrition. He will even take his knowledge of movement and joint biomechanics to provide timely and rational tips on exercise like he did on his most recent blog post. Probably the best part about following Brian is that there’s a near 100% chance of him responding to you if you tag him, and give you additional resources to explore further.
8. Jose Antonio – @joseantoniophd – Dr. Jose Antonio is one of the world’s experts in Sports Nutrition. If you’re a follower of my podcast Heal Yourself Radio, he put on one of my FAVORITE interviews that I’ve ever done. You can check that out here. He is a mythbusting machine when it comes to evidence-based sports nutrition. On his Twitter, you’ll see daily tweets about current studies in sports science and sports nutrition. You can also see his work on sites like Bodybuilding.com and other fitness sites where he tackles a lot of training mythology.
7. Bill Lagaskos – @caloriesproper – Bill has a PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry and has a large focus on the science behind obesity. He’s the author of The Poor, Misunderstood Calorie and has his own interesting blog that’s changed my perspective on a variety of nutrition topics. What I appreciate about Bill’s writing and social media posts are that works hard to break people from nutritional dogma. He tackles calorie counting, Keto/Paleo evangelism, and more. He’s also started to share a lot of interesting work on how sleep, electronic devices, and light can impact obesity. He’s also no stranger to an occasional witty quip.
Young and athletic? you can eat ALL THE PIZZAS https://t.co/WX74T2YJgy — Bill Lagakos (@CaloriesProper) August 21, 2015
6. Tad Seifert – @neurodoctad – Dr. Tad Seifert is a neurologist with a special interest in head injury in sports. He also stopped by my podcast and did a great job breaking down some important issues in sports and concussion care. You can check out that episode here. Tad is a major player in the world of head injury and sports medicine. He’s been a featured expert to discuss brain injury for MMA and NFL. He also tweets away sharing really cool info from headache and sports medicine conferences. Even more than his information, Tad brings a rational look at head injury and sports medicine. He acknowledges the seriousness that comes with the territory of studying the human brain, but he recognizes that sports are supposed to be a fun way to stay fit and healthy.
5. Nash Anderson – @sportsmednews – Nash is a chiropractor, but is also a sports medicine research junky. He scours through open access sources and helps people find free resources to become better practitioners and more informed patients. He’s also challenged me to think about chiropractic studies, and what some of them may or may not mean. He’s my poster boy for Twitter being a filter for the realm of research. Thousands of studies are published everyday, but we need reliable filters to help us find out what’s important, and what will translate well into the real world. Nash’s website sportsmednews.com helps to make that happen.
4. Yann Le Meur – @YLMsportScience – I don’t really know who he is, or why he does what he does, but his Twitter handle is fantastic for one reason. Infographics He takes scientific abstracts, and turns them into images that I can actually consume and digest. Here’s an example:
Supplements for explosive sports which may work:
Creatine
http://t.co/lkol00oh59 pic.twitter.com/rJaPbhTHIg — Yann Le Meur (@YLMSportScience) August 27, 2015
3. Grace Liu – @gut_goddess – She’s gone from being a practicing pharmacist to a functional medicine expert with a passion for bacteria. Grace has the most popular episode on my podcast and it’s well-deserved. She is OBSESSED with the study of the human microbiome, and is devoted to helping people learn to make their work better. Grace is dorky, witty, and extremely charming, but it does nothing to overshadow her brilliance. She spouts out bacterial species and functions like they are the names of her best friends. She will frequently share and discuss issues with the human gut, and microbiome research with joy. You can catch her at thegutinstitue.com where she has her own podcast and other resources. You can also see her as a featured speaker at places like paleoF(x). Don’t be afraid to tweet at her questions about the Gut and Microbiome. She will happily tweet you back with an internet hug.
2. Adam Meakins – @adammeakins – It probably seems strange that I would have Adam on the list considering his well known and established views on spinal manipulation and manual therapy. Why on earth would he be on a chiropractor’s top 10 list for Twitter? Adam is blunt, unfiltered, and extremely sharp in his Twitter and blog posts. While some people will say that he’s just one of those angry skeptic types, I don’t really see him in that same mold. Adam isn’t critical and skeptical for the sake of being critical and skeptical. Adam comes down on chiropractors, PT’s, osteopaths, and MD’s alike. I believe his criticism stems from a desire to see people demand more from their healthcare professionals. While I don’t agree with all of his views (and I’m sure he would rip a part some of the verbiage on my own website), I think he is spot on with his point that health care providers have a poor tendency to overtreat and oversell. I also agree with his stance that evidence for a lot of the procedures we do every day is just insufficient. If we want to take care of people, we need the data to justify our procedures. More than anything else. Adam’s appeal is that he encourages people to think and to abandon the idea of sacred cows and guruism. He also brings some wit to his posts which I can always appreciate.
Do we tell people they have degenerative face disease or wear & tear of the scalp for wrinkles & baldness which is just normal ageing?— The Sports Physio (@AdamMeakins) August 19, 2015
1. Rhonda Patrick – @foundmyfitness – Rhonda has been making circles in a lot of my favorite podcasts. She’s been a featured expert on the Tim Ferriss Show, Barbell Shrugged, and Joe Rogan Experience where she’s frequently brought in to talk about biochemistry and how it relates to fitness and longevity. Even though she’s been featured on these mediums, and her podcast has hit #1 in iTunes for health, there’s still a lot of people who have no idea who she is. It won’t take long for you to figure out that this woman is extremely bright, and often gets heavy into scientific jargon that will go over most heads. However, within her explanations, you can tease out gems and information that is easy to take action on. Her ability to sift through scientific publications and find things that are useful for people is pretty remarkable. Whenever she posts something that pops into my newsfeed, it will almost always get retweeted. She’s also very accessible and answers questions about a lot of the things that she posts.
Who’s Your Top 10? That’s my top 10. What do you guys think? Who else do you think deserves a spot on this list? Let me know on my Twitter handle @drjonathanchung
