Old vs. New

I was recently chatting with a colleague of mine who has been working in the fitness industry for over 30 years now. We discovered that we share a professional trait that is rarely found in our field of work: genuine interest in educating the public about health and fitness. We talked a lot about our frustrations with many big names (and small names) in the industry taking advantage of people, and how we sometimes feel embarrassed to be associated with it. Somehow the word “health” is now linked to words like “diet”, “beauty”, and “supplements” when many of those things are far from healthy practices. Just because a product makes your teeth whiter, your skin smoother, or your waist smaller, doesn’t make it healthy. Using the “new and improved” tread-climber won’t burn calories three times faster than the traditional treadmill, and using the shake-weight 5 minutes a day won’t tone your arms like the models in the commercial. The reason the “health & fitness” industry (and I use those terms lightly) is a multi-billion dollar industry today is because preys on the misinformed and is doing a pretty good job of it.

I urge everyone to be critically minded of the claims made on fitness equipment, exercises, supplements, and diets. Improving your health doesn’t mean you have to spend money, and it certainly doesn’t mean you need to get the latest gizmos on the market. I often get patrons at the gym suggesting that we need to get new equipment that they saw at another gym or on a TV show about what actors use. At this point in the conversation I tend to see images of Rocky IV flash through my head of Stallone pulling a sleigh in the snow, chopping trees, and punching slaughtered meat in a montage mixed with Lundgren being monitored by high-tech equipment and taking steroids. Both competitors are doing similar training (cardiovascular, strength, sport specific exercises) but they do it in different ways with different equipment. It is a classic story of Old versus New and guess who wins.

The science behind fitness is simple but not entirely understood. There are a lot of grey areas when it comes to training individuals, and that’s why the industry has been able to take advantage of that by proposing new and better solutions. What provides gains to a certain person may or may not provide the same gains to someone else. Living healthfully really isn’t as confusing as marketing makes it look. Start by making small additions (walk more) or subtractions (eat less sugar), be aware of buzz words such as “core training”, and make informed decisions about how you invest in yourself. And remember: if you are not having fun, then you won’t adhere to it, and what’s the point in that?