Our airwaves have always been filled to the brim with advertisers looking to get our hard earned money. And let’s face it, people are just downright gullible, and in some instances, uninformed.
How many times have you seen an ad for something that looks too good to be true? I know I have. And in the health and fitness industry, misleading ads are more popular than ever.
Take a pill so you aren’t hungry for several hours? Check.
Strap on some girdle looking device to give you a thinner waist and wider hips like the Kardashian’s? Check.
Run with a parachute on your back to make you faster and stronger? Check.
It’s been a couple months since Daman Strength Training owner Rick Daman imparted his knowledge on the readers of Your Beaver County. With that being said, Rick is going to dispel quite a few myths that are prevalent today for our readers.
Top 5 Fitness Fads To Avoid
Before we get into the “why” you should not waste your money on these products I first want to say before I started to read, apply, and use food for fuel I made many mistakes in my health.
I wasted hundreds of dollars on the most ridiculous supplements. It’s embarrassing to even think about now.
Not only did I waste money on supplements, I was always looking for an edge with training and thought gimmicks and gadgets would help. I was wrong again. But I was young and needed to grow mentally to really learn and believe in what I was doing.
I have been on both sides of the fence. I strongly believe in food as your fuel and believing in a training program that will work for YOU and try to NOT fall into the marketing guru’s world of fitness. So with that, here are the Top 5 fitness fads to avoid and why.
1. The Parachute
DST Coach Shawn Moody breaks down the parachute training myths and why you should avoid using this gimmick.
The utilization of parachutes in speed training for athletes has gained extreme popularity over the years. This of course makes sense, largely to the fact that we have become enamored by the expression that “more is better.”
I mean, if lifting weights has the potential to make one stronger, why wouldn’t adding an external resistance to a sprinting motion make one faster? Sounds reasonable. But I am here to tell you NOT to fall for the marketing nonsense, and the gurus who implement such gadgets.
The “sprint chute” as it was originally named was developed by the Soviet Coach Ben Tabachnik. He was in search of a means to increase the intensity of his sprinters. He also made the assumption that the greater the resistance the greater the training effect. His evaluations where that of elite level sprinters within an indoor facility.
Here is where the correspondence drops off.
First the age, maturation level, and sprinting skill mechanics of the athlete play a vital role in the application of any resistance added to a training program. If a young athlete does not possess refined mechanics (which should be practiced over years of training), the coach is only strengthening poor biomechanics, and possibly contributing to future joint tissue injuries.
Second, when applying external resistance to a young athlete that is not capable of generating the force necessary to carry the drag, you are shifting away from a speed mechanism because the coach has increased the ground contact time, hence actually making the athlete slower. Bottom line here is that not all modalities pushed by big marketing companies truly have a place in the “proper” development of a training program for young athletes.
Ready to Give Up the Gimmicks and Start Training with DST?
2. Waist Trainers
You Breathe, the Belt Doesn’t
Every so often I see one of these pop out on someone. These “waist trimmers” have been around for a long time. They continue to sell because people believe that they are losing body fat from the midsection. The belief is that you don’t have to change your nutritional intake but only wear this gimmick and you’ll eventually have abs. Nothing can be further from the truth than that.
A waist-trimmer belt made of non-porous synthetic rubber won’t breathe at all. As you train the sweat gets trapped in belt from the velcro strap. You aren’t actually perspiring any more than you would without the belt, but the perspiration you generate will collect and pool until you take the garment off.
You may experience a momentary insignificant reduction of water weight, not belly fat, and that will only last until you rehydrate with your next beverage. Water weight loss is simply the reduction in body weight, NOT body fat, and is caused from the loss of bodily fluids.
This is a big difference between body fat vs. bodily fluids. When you take the belt off you feel like you have “lost” more fat in that area because of all of the sweat that just poured out of the belt.
The problem with the waist trimmer is the marketing fools us to think we’ll look the model who is representing the company, like Kim K. or her sister, Kylie Jenner.
That model looks great. They look great because they train and follow a great nutritional lifestyle. That waist trimmer belt didn’t turn them into a model with 9% body fat. If you want a smaller waist line and less body fat you’re going to have to move more and eat some veggies! That will surely work!
3. The Baseball Bat Parachute
Coach Shawn Moody goes over one of our favorites.
The Baseball Bat Parachute. Come on, Dad. You’re better than that!
Preparation for the diamond has become a year-long process. And early specialization within sports has festered into our society, but that is a topic for another day. The requirements placed on young players have forced the search for the magic solution, the great gadget to make one a better ball player.
One great gadget that should be closely evaluated is the utilization of the baseball bat chute. The purpose of the chute is to create external resistance to a sporting movement. This is where the gadget can fail within the correspondence of the sport action. Swinging a baseball or softball bat and striking a ball is a skillful art and requires many qualities from the athlete. And ensuring unison and coordination of the skill takes many years to accomplish.
The swing can be broken down into six phases: stance, stride, coiling, swing initiation, swing acceleration, and follow-through, each requiring various levels of biomechanical actions. The marketing giants and the professionals who endorse these glamorous gadgets will have you believing that if the young players strap external resistance to the sporting action he or she will become a better hitter.
There is a risk. Application of such a device can lead to the breakdown in the skill.
This resistance may not match the kinematics of the swing, and will lead to strengthening of an improper plane of motion. If you believe the “swing” is initiated and generated from the trunk or “core” of the body you should re-watch the classic Bruce Lee movies.
Each year I re-read Geoffrey Dyson’s “The Mechanics of Athletics” (first published 1962) to revisit the biomechanics and sequencing involved in sporting actions. And each year I am mystified by the new release of a shiny gadget luring away the money of an eager athlete or parent looking to gain an athletic edge.
There are many modalities and exercise movements available to a young athlete looking to increase the level of his or her game on the diamond. Please seek out an informative performance coach with the sport exposure and experience. And my highest recommendation would be advising young athletes to inquire about a qualified hitting coach. They won’t have you strapped to anything.
Ready to Give Up the Gimmicks and Start Training with DST?
4. Garcinia Cambogia
The first thing you should do is just google this product and you’ll be surprised at what you read. This product really irritated me, especially when Dr. Oz decided he was going to push it on every TV show across America. Eventually the “big dogs” got to him and told him to “stop lying.” If something was so good to use and had as many benefits as this product promised to have don’t you think it would cost more than $19.95 a bottle?
What is Garcinia Cambogia?
Garcinia Cambogia is an exotic fruit that grows in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and West and Central Africa. Garcinia Cambogia is used to make a soup that is eaten before meals for weight loss purposes because of Garcinia’s appetite-blocking properties. Garcinia Camboga is also a great alternative for dieters because it helps with “emotional eating.” It has been used traditionally to promote a happier and calmer mood and improve sleeping patterns.
The worst thing about these products is that we are NOT educating ourselves on the products before we even waste our hard earned money on them. We’re just hoping this is the next big thing to help with weight loss. We have to understand that what we consume on a daily basis will and always will determine our health and appearance.
5. Sauna Suits
I decided to go with this one because the sauna suits have been used for a long time for certain instances, such as prior to a sporting event that requires a certain body weight to participate. There is a fine line I believe when using one of these.
If an athlete is properly hydrated and a few pounds away then you have a case. But I have seen coaches make football player wear these through out practice with the goal of the player making playing weight. The problem is that the player might be 15-25 lbs over weight. This can pose a serious issue. Parents need to NOT let this happen, for the sake of your child and not the coach.
If the football coach is telling you that your son “needs to lose 30 lbs to make weight,” you should probably turn around and instantly walk away. If they aren’t qualified to give you advice I wouldn’t take any advice from them.
Your body sweats to cool itself while participating in an activity. When you wear a sauna suit your body traps the heat and causes you to sweat more. This is water weight being lost and NOT body weight. While you’re losing water weight and sweating you’re also losing electrolytes. In turn if you are not able to replace liquids in the body faster than losing them you are in potential dangers of becoming dehydrated.
If you’re really interested in losing weight and becoming healthy you do not need a sauna suit. You’ll simply need to work to instill better nutritional habits and a proper workout regime.
Our goal with this article was to help open up some eyes and ears with athletics and fitness. Sometimes you’re just going to have to put in the time and effort!
Ready to Give Up the Gimmicks and Start Training with DST?
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