Stop Buying Into Fads and Gimmicks

Fads and Gimmicks

The fitness industry is absolutely full of fads and gimmicks. Infomercials, gurus, personal trainers, magazines, supplement companies and retailers - just some of the people and things you might find are trying to sell you bullshit products and concepts.

Chances are we have all bought into something (perhaps many things) that was rubbish either financially or conceptually at some point in time. I know I've been there and done it. I've walked into supplement stores and been sold a heap of supplements. I've spoken to the "big guy" in the gym and asked for training advice. I've read bodybuilding magazines and articles without questioning the information. I can't say that I've bought a whole bunch of fitness equipment that has been gimmicky at least so that is something.

The thing is fads have always existed in the fitness industry and they always will exist. Me writing this blog post won't do anything to change that. So if we can't change the problem, what can we change to create a solution? We need to change ourselves and the way we respond to marketing and information.

How to avoid being a sucker

1. Educate yourself - This is the most important thing you can do. The difficulty of course being that it's difficult to decifer what is true from what is false. Some suggestions for learning - follow those who practice evidence based fitness, seek out and read journal articles, read reputable and referenced articles, watch videos, listen to podcasts, read books and ebooks, attend seminars, subscribed to evidence based research reviews, work with a good coach, join evidence based fitness groups. The more you learn, the better position you will be in to make informed decisions. You will start recognising what is garbage, what is useful and what you are still unsure about.

2. Use logic - Whilst using logic doesn't always work because logical things are not always necessarily true it is a reasonably good way to do things. This is especially true when combined with a good knowledge base. A logical mind is a powerful tool. More often than not people do things that aren't ideal simply because they didn't think things through logically.

3. Question everything - When you learn something new, you need to ask yourself how valid that piece of information is. Does it have any evidence backing it up? How reputable are the sources of that evidence? Secondarily, does it make sense? In other words do your research and check whether things are evidence based rather than blindly following what you are told or what you read.

4. Stop thinking physique = knowledge - Separate the two. Lots of factors go into building a good physique that can be completely outside of knowledge eg drugs, genetics. Someone can have a good physique and poor knowledge, a good physique and good knowledge, a poor physique and good knowledge or a poor physique and poor knowledge. So stop looking at someone's physique and associating that with their knowledge of fitness.

5. Avoid looking for the golden ticket - It doesn't exist (well outside of drugs). But drugs aside, there really are no "secrets" to building muscle. If you want to build muscle do these things: eat a surplus of calories, eat enough protein, apply progressive overload to your training, be consistent, be patient. Guess what? Those are the main things you need to do! But it seems either nobody wants to hear it because it's boring or people expect unrealistically fast results. Natural bodybuilding is a long and gradual process. You need to be patient. Once you get to the advanced level, strength and physique progress can become extremely slow. Of all the people that started lifting at the same time I did, hardly any of them are still lifting and only a couple are still natural. To me that says a lot about how much patience and dedication natural bodybuilding requires in order to be successful.

6. Use your knowledge and experience to expand on the basics - If you can develop a pretty good base for your training and nutrition then use what you have learned to fine tune or improve what you are doing (or at least to experiment). This might include things like tweaking macronutrient ratios, adjusting calorie targets, implementing strategies to manage recovery, structuring training variables within cycles of a training program etc. Some of these things can make a big difference to your progress but you really need to have a basic structure in place first before you start playing with the pieces of the puzzle.

7. Think long term - Today I saw someone post on facebook that they were going to try an eight hour arm workout because he had seen Rich Piana doing it. Not only is this a waste of time but it's likely to cause a lot of unnecessary soreness and fatigue that will affect one's ability to work out for days following. Additionally it carries a high risk of injury. My point in mentioning this is it's always better to think long term. If doing something now could affect you negatively this week, in a month or down the track and the risk/reward ratio is high then you probably shouldn't do that thing. Consider longevity and create a plan for long term success.

If you can implement these seven things to the best of your ability I think you'll generally be on a pretty good course to getting where you want to go without getting bogged down in bullshit. I hope you have found this helpful. If you disagree with me on any of these points or have any more ideas for navagating through fitness industry fads be sure to let me know.

Remember you can get in touch with me or follow me via the following avenues.

Email - info@muscleacademy.com.au
Website - www.muscleacademy.com.au
Facebook - www.facebook.com/MuscleAcademy
Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon

- Evan