Fitness Gimmicks: Buyer Beware

There are multiple fitness gimmicks launched and sold every year promising immediate weight loss, six-pack abs and profound results without having to do any work.  Every product launched stands to make millions because the general public desperately wants to believe in quick-fix promises.  Reflecting back, I can recall multiple products enjoying a successful sales cycle of about two years. This is just long enough to sell millions, and approximately how long it takes for real consumer feedback to disseminate and confirm the fact that these products do not make good on their promises. 

Buyer beware, these miracle products tiptoe around false advertising with total precision.  New gimmicks are brought to market often for the simple reason that people keep buying them.  The infomercials are slick, and the fitness models in them are attractive and convincing.  No one seems to pay much attention to the small disclaimer print on the bottom of the TV screen where things like "Results May Vary" or  "Results Not Typical" are always stated.  Take notice of what gimmicks are available for purchase today, two years from now they will be gone.  New products will have taken their place, with even more remarkable claims.

If you can manage to not fall under the spell of slick advertising and beautiful models, you may realize the following basic truths:

1. Exercise equipment does not force you to exercise, you must choose to use it.
2. Nearly every person doing consistent abdominal work has six-pack abs.  Six-pack muscle definition, however, cannot be seen if there is significant body fat covering the muscles.
3. Yes, certain detox diets & cleanses provide weight loss, but it is NOT due to the product, it is due to the reduction of calories being consumed over the process of detox/cleanse. Results are temporary!
4. Yes, weight loss can be achieved via unique exercise/dance type videos, but it is NOT due to the specific video/program format.  Weight loss has much more to do with the fact that one is moving/exercising and burning calories than the fact that it involves a stripper pole, Latin dance rhythms, etc.
5. If something sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

Please be responsible with your health & fitness purchases. Before buying the next greatest thing on the market, ask yourself if you have seen something similar before.  Chances are good that you have as many ideas are recycled over time. Understand that gimmicks do not withstand the test of time.  What does withstand the test of time is the truth.  The truth is that within the past century or so, we have learned that proper diet and exercise provide the real promise of optimal health.  Proper diet and exercise require real thought, effort and commitment.  Sadly, there stands to be no money made on this basic concept, therefore, it will not be advertised to you anytime soon.

Ironman: Lessons Learned

I watched TV coverage of the the Ironman 2010 this past weekend. Many of the participating triathletes had incredible stories to tell, and tears streamed down my face as I watched many of them cross the finish line.  One was a self-described junkie that survived an attempted suicide in prison.  Another man in his seventies was there with his daughter as his supporting wing-man .  Every year, this incredible triathlon brings together individuals from different parts of the world for different reasons.  One common denominator, however,  is that they all share a willingness to endure extreme physical punishment that includes a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike leg, and a 26-mile run to the finish line.

I fell in love with the people who had survived cancer, car accidents and previous race defeats.  The stand-out part for me was the pure resiliency of the human spirit.  We all possess a certain mental toughness we don't even know we have.  Most of us, living comfortably, don't ever tap into it. Should you, however, ever want or need to move beyond status quo, know that this toughness exists.  Once the body fully breaks down, the mind must take over, and the situation becomes mind over muscle.  Survival depends on it.  What does one do at the breaking point?  Crumble and quit, or search deep within and tap into the survivalist?  The bottom line is you have to want to do it.  The reasons why and the particulars as to how are personal and individual.

Most of us are not in touch with our inner-selves.  We tend to identify ourselves through our every day roles as wife, mother, employee, friend, volunteer, etc.  Honestly, these roles are not who we are.  The truth lies somewhere within the question "who were we born to be?"  Unfortunately, most of us do not pursue that personal truth as we have become so complacent playing everyday roles.  Ego can also hinder such pursuits, as ego will always try to attach itself to what is desired most by others.

Interestingly, many of the Ironman participants were operating far beyond ego. It didn't matter if they had to walk to the finish line, if they were disqualified due to finish time restrictions, or if they had to submit to quitting without finishing due to injury.  Every racer was taking themselves as far as they could humanly go despite unknown outcomes.  Beyond the pure discipline of training and achievement of incredible fitness for such an event, lies an incredible opportunity to more about one's self.  Do you know what extraordinary efforts you are capable of?  As the saying goes, without risk, there is no reward.

When we always play it safe, and when we don't seek out new challenges or strive for personal growth, we deny ourselves opportunity to better know who we are.  We are capable of so much more than we realize.  If we really understood this, wouldn't we all try to do more or work a little harder?  Although we may be deeply attached to outcomes, outcomes do not define us.  Instead, what we learn in the journey does.     

     

Emotional Association & Exercise

Over the past five years, I have worked with some serious exercise haters.  Initially, across the board, the mental state of mind is the same.  There is complaining, clock watching, eye-rolling and dread over whatever I would like them to do next in the way of exercise.    Thankfully, there is a mental progression with this. 

First, I see the instant gratification of someone completing their first workout.  New clients often share with me how much they were dreading it, but how happy they felt upon completion. After a few weeks time, I see improved moods in my clients thanks to the positive stimulation of brain chemicals.  I also hear about the improvement of sleep patterns. I am unsure if this is related to "feel good" chemicals being released into the body, or if it stems from stress reduction, where the mind can fall better into a relaxed state for sleep. Further down the road, I see clients progress to feeling great about their accomplishments, and being more energized.  Often, they fit and feel better in their clothes and others in their social circle see the positive changes as well.  This is where motivation kicks into high gear and exercise becomes a lot less like pulling teeth.

A point I cannot emphasize enough, is that for good things to happen, people must feel successful about their efforts along the way.  If initially, I am too demanding, or introduce too much difficulty to quickly, I run the risk of alienating the participant. Every meeting I have with a client is an opportunity to learn about them, their psychological make-up and what potential barriers exist in the way of their success. I take my job rather seriously this way, and I ask a lot of loaded questions as part of my fact finding.  The more I understand my client, then the better I can direct them towards success.  Every person is a unique puzzle and although nearly all share the same desired outcomes, the emotional perceptions, aversions and challenges among them can vary greatly.   There is no universal plan, or cookie-cutter approach to fitness.   

I am always up front with my clients about the progression they are going to experience, and how I am going to walk them through it.  I have seen eyes glaze over with my lectures during one-on-one sessions, but eventually once it is internalized and felt firsthand, they understand exactly what I had once been lecturing about.  I share that the direction is always forward, and that they will always be a fitness work-in-progress, but to also reflect back to celebrate where they started and how far they've come.  A common misconception is that it takes forever to get in good shape. The truth is it happens rather quickly with consistency.  The journey is every bit as mental as it is physical.

Why Aquatic Exercise?

Aquatic exercise opens up the exercise world to populations that otherwise might not be allowed to participate in exercise.  I, personally, love my landlubber workouts.  I, however, do not have any physical limitations dictating what type of exercise I can or can't perform. Thousands of others are not so fortunate.


Water exercise makes for a great workout, and at the same time, spares unnecessary stress on bones, joints and connective tissues.  Overweight individuals that have carried around excessive weight gain for years, may suffer from degenerative joint issues. Others may be one more step beyond having undergone hip or knee replacement surgery. 


The beauty of aquatic exercise is that water provides some resistance, but also some buoyancy.  Load/resistance can be added gradually to mitigate risk of injury to the lower extremities.  Buoyancy allows the exerciser to perform movements that defy gravity, and water, itself, provides a chance to increase the range-of-motion with many movements.  There is aerobic benefit to aquatic workouts and a wide variety of exercises can be geared towards shallow or deep water.  More exercise variety can be added via use of specialized equipment.  Such equipment might include aquabells (dumbbells for water), webbed gloves, kick boards, etc. 


As a professional participating in an aquatic workout, I notice the generalized resistance that water provides.  There is less muscle specificity with this type of workout than traditional resistance training.  I also notice a generalized, yet thorough fatigue once bearing my full body weight out of the water.  There is a certain delay in perceiving muscle fatigue in the water thanks to the gravity defying environment.  In other words, you do not realize your butt has been kicked until you journey out of the pool.

A well designed aquatic workout is thorough and will accomplish everything achievable in a typical gym environment.  Aquatic fitness classes can benefit seniors, arthritis sufferers, rehabilitation patients, overweight populations or those just seriously deconditioned. I firmly believe that there is some type of exercise enjoyable for everyone, and this is a great avenue for any exercise-hater to pursue.  Sadly, one can only fall in love with things through exposure to them and trying new things is often scary to creatures of habit.  Continue to "spread your fitness wings" by trying new things.  At minimum, help a newbie grow their fitness wings through consistent encouragement and by being a program of attraction for a healthy lifestyle. 

Orthorexia Nervosa: The New Eating Disorder

The October 2010 edition of The Idea Fitness Journal for A.C.E. Certified Professionals had a very interesting article on this newly recognized eating disorder. In summary, this eating disorder involves an extreme amount of self-discipline with a feeling of superiority over others less disciplined.  Suffering  individuals are attracted to a restricted or complicated diet that leads to an imbalanced diet.  The imbalance is due to extreme restriction or elimination of major food components.

An interesting tidbit about my job is that not only do I have to understand who I can work with as a client, but I must also have solid grasp on who I cannot work with.  The scope of my practice is clear, but the history of the person I consult with may not be.  Eating disorders fall outside the scope of my practice, so proper screening is required.  This new eating disorder is intriguing to me as two things clearly differentiate this from other disorders like anorexia or bulimia.  Orthoexia Nervosa sufferers have no fear of weight gain.  Second, it is as equally pervasive among males as it is females.  There are, however, common similarities between this and the other more historically recognized disorders.  Please click on the link to read the complete article:  http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/orthorexia-nervosa-a-primer?sourcecode=ACEIFJ
One thing clear is that where moderation isn't involved in a lifestyle, the potential for trouble lurks.  This could mean excessive exercise, extreme dieting or relationships being adversely affected as a result of such extreme behavior(s).  Extreme behaviors do not lead to balance or optimal health.  If any of these behaviors sound like yours, please be open to discussing with your physician.  Efforts to embrace a healthier lifestyle can turn extreme and the desired objective of positive effects can be lost. 

S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Right now, many people are contemplating their 2011 New Year's resolutions. Many fitness resolutions die within the first four weeks of a new year for many different reasons.  One obvious reason behind such failures is that the goals behind these resolutions are not S.M.A.R.T. in nature.  A powerful tool to use when attempting goals involving health & fitness is to make sure that the goal(s) created are S.M.A.R.T. 
This can be defined as follows:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound

Goals set without these five parameters tend to be poorly defined and therefore, proper direction and focus towards attainment is lost.  Breaking down each component more specifically means:

Specific goals recognize why it is being created, the benefits of it, who is involved, what needs to be accomplished and where it will be accomplished.

Measurable means that with progression towards the goal, there should be a means to monitor progress.  If there is no measurement procedure, then it is difficult to tell if one is on track to meet the goal, or if efforts have to be redirected.

Attainable means that the goal being set forth must be achievable. Many failed attempts to reach a goal surround the fact that it was not realistic in nature.  When an attainable goal is set, it is much easier to visualize attainment, stay motivated and persevere in the efforts required.  Think about the person you know that swears they are going to hit the gym every day for two hour workouts.  That is not achievable for most and will lead to certain burnout.  Less really is more as consistent, realistic progress leads to success.  Remember that smaller goals always add up to bigger ones.

Relevant means that the goal should surround the needs and abilities of the person attempting it.  If you find yourself to be rather uncoordinated, then perhaps stay away from heavily choreographed group fitness or dance classes.  If you love cycling, then include group cycling classes, stationary bike or other cycling activities to keep things relevant. 

Time-bound means that there should be a time fence established on the goal.  If one wishes to lose 5 lbs, but does not define a time frame for doing so, then incremental steps to achieving it cannot be clearly established.  Making efforts time-bound helps build in accountability.

If you are gearing up to an improved you next year, then try the S.M.A.R.T. strategy and improve your chances of success. 

     

Physical Fitness Components

Physical fitness has four major components and industry experts are looking ahead into the possibility of a fifth that might include mind/body vitality.  I believe a quality fitness program will include focus on all of the components, not just one.  It may be relatively easy for an individual to achieve muscular strength or solid cardiovascular endurance, but those that work towards development of all four major components will become wickedly strong and healthy.  What are the four basic components?

Muscular strength
This is one component of muscular fitness. it is the maximal force that a muscle or muscle group can exert during a contraction. This strength is necessary for everyday functioning as we lift and carry items nearly every day.  The second component is muscular endurance, which is the ability of a muscle or muscle group to exert force against resistance over a sustained period. It represents the duration or number of repetitions that can be performed without fatigue.

Cardiovascular endurance
This is the maximal capacity of the heart, blood vessels and lungs to deliver oxygen and nutrients to working muscles so energy can be produced.  The higher one's cardio endurance, the more physical work can be performed before fatigue.

Flexibility
The ability to move joints though their normal full range of motion.  Good flexibility helps prevent musculoskeletal injuries, assists with good posture and provides functional movement.

Body composition
This refers to the body makeup and what portion of the body is lean body mass vs. body fat.  Lean body mass includes muscles, bones, nervous tissue, skin, blood and organs. These items positively contribute to a good metabolic rate and contribute to physical performance.  Body fat can be broken down further into essential fat and storage fat.  Essential body fat is thought to be necessary for maintenance of life and reproduction and is thought to be about 2 - 5% for men, 10 - 13% for women.  Storage fat has no real value and excess is associated with health issues including hypertension, type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease.

If you want to embrace the "total health package", then solid emphasis should be put on all of the physical fitness components.  Consultations and workouts I bring to my clients will include all.  I do not desire for my clients to get into good shape, I want them to get into great shape. The group fitness classes I teach also include these elements as I want every class participant to experience a complete workout and feel exhilarated throughout. 

Try not to settle into the rut of concentrating on one or two activities that develop only one or two components of fitness.  Instead, challenge yourself to develop further by taking your fitness to the next level. Widen your scope of efforts and experience better health.