Spend time in any crowded gym locker room in America and you will hear someone dispensing health and fitness advice. All it takes is someone who has had any short-term success with weight loss or improved fitness and suddenly everyone is looking to her (or him, I suppose) as an authority. I think the reason for this is that people are always looking for the "magic bullet". The one simple thing that this individual did that made it all happen.
Of course the unsexy truth of it all is that getting in shape and staying that way is never (and can never be) the result of one single thing. It has ALWAYS been (and will always be) the result of some combination of eating healthfully, working out properly -- and being CONSISTENT about it.
And yet, folks still give out fitness advice regardless of their qualifications to do so -- and people keep following it. Some of this advice is actually pretty good and some of it is really off-base at best, potentially very dangerous at worse.
That's why I thought I would share some of the worst fitness advice that I've ever heard:
Don't Eat Carbs! Wrong!! Thank you, Dr. Atkins (who, by the way, was an obese man with a heart condition - hmmm...kawinky dink? I think not.) Carbs are not the enemy. Carbs portions big enough for a family of 8 -- and carbs with poor nutritional value are.
The fact is, your body fuels your muscles and your brain with glucose, which comes from the breakdown of carbs. In fact, glucose is so essential to human survival that the body will actually breakdown muscle tissue to make glucose if you don't take in enough carbohydrates. The important thing is NOT to eat highly-processed, refined carbohydrates such as white breads and pastas, processed cereals (Hello, Fruity Pebbles!) and baked goods (donuts, pastry, cakes, cookies).
Whole grains on the other hand are key for good health. The purer and closer to Mother Nature the better. Whole grain breads, cereals (the fewer ingredients the better), brown rice, whole grain pasta (Barilla Plus, for example). These important carbs don't have the nutrition stripped out of them. Not only do you get more nutrition and they are also high in fiber which helps regulate your blood sugar, makes you feel fuller longer and (of course) acts as "nature's broom".
Running is the best way to lose weight! Wrong!! I think I've here mentioned before that my friend Chris (whom I think was channeling Yogi Berra at the time) said, "Running: if it ain't bad for ya -- it's good for ya". I was just about to call him an "idiot" when he said that, but then I thought about it and realized -- he's right!
Running is a great exercise for cardiovascular conditioning and burning calories (and therefore, fat). That said, it also is VERY rough workout for your musculoskeletal system.
Each time you run you hit the ground with a force 2 1/2 to 3 times your body weight. So for example, I typically weight about 140 lbs, that means I hit the ground with between 350-420 lbs of force when I run. Think about it -- that's like me running with Oprah and Dr. Phil on my back. So unfortunately, if you don't build up to it VERY gradually -- and many times even if you do (due to your structure) you will have some kind of overuse injury. It's just a matter of which one, how bad and when.
Here's a partial list of some of the things folks get (sooner rather than later when they start running or run too much): shin splints, plantar fasciitis, heel spurs, ITB friction syndrome, patello-femoral syndrome, Achilles tendinitis....shall I go on?
Look, I'm certainly not bashing running. I run a few times a week myself. But if I don't mix it up with other activities such as biking or the elliptical -- I will start to get an injury (for me it's either shin splints or plantar fasciitis). Walking on the other hand, typically creates 1.5 times body weight in force (and other low-impact activities) would be a smarter focus of anyone's cardio program -- especially for folks just starting out. By choosing low-impact cardio you can do the recommended 3-5 days per week to take care of your heart, get and stay trim and not run the risk of hurting yourself.
Also keep in mind, going a mile burns roughly 100 calories...it doesn't matter if you are running or power walking. The only difference is that with walking it will take longer to go that same mile -- but you'll get there with a lot less chance of injury!
Incidentally, many people think that they can't get a workout with walking. Believe me, walking can kick your butt -- you just need know the technique. (I'm going to post a video of it here in the next day or two to show you how.)
Pilates and Yoga Are The Best Way To Build Long Lean Muscles. To increase your muscle tone, you need more muscle and resistance training is the best way to do that. Women resist using weights because they don't want to get "big and bulky" and start looking like those freaky side of beef chicks in the body building magazine.
That is a ridiculous fear-- kind of like saying everyone who has plastic surgery ends up looking like the love child of Michael Jackson and Joan Rivers. That look is not the result of normal resistance training, rather It's a freakish distortion by folks who are working out for hours AND (BIG "AND" HERE!) are taking steroids. Natural bodybuilders trying to get that way working out all day can't get that big as hard as they may try.
Pilates and yoga are great for improving flexibility, mobility, core strength, body awareness, however resistance training (with body weight, machines or free weights) is more effective in helping you create calorie-burning, sexy-body sculpting, strength-enhancing muscle. If you are strength training, eating properly and doing cardiovascular exercise -- you cannot get "big and bulky" from doing 2-3 sets of 8-15 reps. It's just not going to happen.
Well, I could go on and on (and probably will at a later date:-) but those are the big three. Again, at the end of the day as much as I would LOVE to be able to tell you that X is the secret to getting in great shape and staying that way -- there is no one thing. It's not easy, doesn't happen overnight and it requires a complete change in:
- The way you eat
- How you think about your health
- How much (and often) you move.
Geralyn Coopersmith, MA, CSCS is an exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer and the creator of The Best Me Ever, a comprehensive weight loss and wellness system just for women
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