How we write these guides

Last updated 20 August 2026

Health-adjacent writing gets a lot of latitude on the internet and probably should not. This page sets out the standard we hold ourselves to, so you can judge whether we meet it.

Where our claims come from

We work from a source hierarchy, in this order:

1. Guidance from national and international public-health bodies — for example the World Health Organization's physical activity guidance.
2. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses in peer-reviewed journals.
3. Individual controlled trials, treated as suggestive rather than settled.
4. Professional-body position stands from recognised sports-science and physiotherapy organisations.

Anecdote, personal testimony, and "what worked for me" do not establish a claim. Where evidence is genuinely mixed, we say it is mixed rather than picking the more interesting side.

What we will not publish

• Calorie targets, weight-loss programmes, or restrictive eating plans.
• Content that frames exercise as punishment, or food as something to be earned.
• Supplement claims that are not supported by the sources above.
• Rehabilitation protocols for specific injuries — that requires someone who can examine you.
• Before-and-after body imagery.
• Anything aimed at getting a specific result faster at the cost of a reader's health.

Review and expertise

Name the person who writes and the person who reviews, with their real credentials, and show both on every guide. If nobody on the team holds a relevant qualification, the honest options are to commission a qualified reviewer or to state plainly that the site compiles and cites published guidance rather than offering expert judgement.

Replace this section with your actual arrangement before launch. Inventing credentials is both a misrepresentation problem and the fastest way to lose an advertising account.

Dating and updating

Every guide shows when it was last reviewed. We revisit each one at least annually, and sooner if the underlying guidance changes. We update the existing page rather than publishing a near-duplicate.

Corrections

If we get something wrong we fix it, and where the error was material we note the correction at the foot of the page with its date. We do not quietly edit and pretend it always said that. Report an error to contact@gameshapehq.com.

Commercial independence

Advertising and affiliate relationships are handled separately from editorial decisions. Nobody can pay for a mention, a ranking, or a favourable line. See the affiliate disclosure.

Use of AI tools

State plainly whether AI tools are used in drafting, and what human review every guide receives before publication. Readers increasingly ask, and search platforms increasingly care about the review step rather than the drafting tool.