In the past couple of years I have developed a fondness for fitness. It all stemmed after I quit smoking and wanted to start mountain biking again after having left it some 15 years ago. Since then I have rekindled my love for mountain biking as well as starting to do weight lifting, trail running, etc... I also started to look into what the so called “experts” have to say is the “proper way” of nutrition and exercise. I then found that if there was ever a place for the woo to breed, it's within the fitness community. There are so many supplements and methods that you don't know if you are reading about nutrition or the script of some new sci-fi film.
It seems that what is good for you one day is going to kill you the next. Sure, there are some tried and true methods of getting the most out of fitness but there are still those that are just plain quackery. These are the ones that are titled as such things as "John Smith's Way of Exercising" which goes into a whole slew of crazy exercises and magic potions to "get you ripped". Within the book you might find that there's no scientific evidence to backup what this person is trying to sell you. Instead it is filled with plain and simple hog wash. There are some definite supplements that do work for your benefit. However, these have been proven with controlled studies and given scientific evidence of their benefits. Such items as whey protein have been shown to aid in muscle recovery, but there are always those items that are only talked about on websites solely devoted to body building.
I can't say that what I do as far as exercises and nutrition is the perfect way. But I do steer clear of any supplements that are not proven to aid. I also refuse to do an exercise that requires machinery that looks like it came from the Spanish Inquisition. What I have found that does work and is proven is that getting fit and remaining to be fit is simple. But it's not easy. It takes discipline to maintain a healthy lifestyle. But it does come down to a simple formula. Eat right and exercise.
Showing posts with label woo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label woo. Show all posts
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
No Effort Required!
No Effort Required!
An observation of the woo with fitness
Around 3 years ago, I stopped smoking, and then a little less than 2 years ago I made the effort of becoming more fit. I first started doing small general workouts until a friend of mine introduced me to Tony Horton’s P90X. Being a skeptic I was hesitant about such a routine that was advertised as much as it is on Sunday morning TV. But, I gave it a go and quickly fell in love with the workouts. Not just the workouts, but the methods of gradual progression on how to do the workouts. During the moves, Tony goes through and explains the proper method of how to do these workouts as well as modify them if you are not used to working out. Great idea! Since I started “getting fit”, I have completed P90X twice and have now moved on to other self tailored workouts with the help from my friend that introduced me to P90X to being with. But this is not about P90X.
Here is my problem. I was watching TV the other morning while eating breakfast like I always do, when a commercial came on advertising a new “Spa” that opened up. This spa is filled with all of the weight loss woo that any skeptic can have a hey-day with. They have “Body Wraps”, “NuCell-u-Smooth”, “NuLazer Lipo” as well as “NuWave Lipo”. Their website even makes the claim “Imagine yourself with a new body. Imagine losing 12 to 39 inches in just one hour... without dieting and without exercise!”. Without dieting and without exercise...
There are many things that I find fault with this spa. Among them being the lack of information on what they actually “do”. Probably in part because it really does nothing. If we look at one of the treatments they offer “Nu Lipo-Ex”, it states that it “uses a safe and painless bi-polar and mono-polar radio frequency technology”. Well, that’s pretty vague really. “...radio frequency technology”??? What technology? Radio Frequencies?
But there is a deeper frustration with this type of advertising besides it just leading people to believe that they can loose weight and become a fit person without working. I spend an hour to an hour and a half five days a week exercising as well as two to four hours on a weekend biking to keep fit. Also, I have adjusted my eating so that I am not eating processed foods and tons of sweets. It’s a lot of work at first but it becomes a life style after a while. This is not “doing nothing”. It is a shame that companies actually have the audacity to take money from people telling them that they don’t have to do anything but sit and the weight will just fall off. Just so that two weeks later the weight comes right back and the customer makes another appointment to achieve the same result. Ending is a vicious cycle.
It has become my goal to learn as much as I can against these types of treatments. I feel it necessary that people know the truth about “Nu-Light” and “Radio Frequency Treatments” and the such. No, I am not a scientist, but I do know this is nothing but another scam and weight-loss woo.
An observation of the woo with fitness
Around 3 years ago, I stopped smoking, and then a little less than 2 years ago I made the effort of becoming more fit. I first started doing small general workouts until a friend of mine introduced me to Tony Horton’s P90X. Being a skeptic I was hesitant about such a routine that was advertised as much as it is on Sunday morning TV. But, I gave it a go and quickly fell in love with the workouts. Not just the workouts, but the methods of gradual progression on how to do the workouts. During the moves, Tony goes through and explains the proper method of how to do these workouts as well as modify them if you are not used to working out. Great idea! Since I started “getting fit”, I have completed P90X twice and have now moved on to other self tailored workouts with the help from my friend that introduced me to P90X to being with. But this is not about P90X.
Here is my problem. I was watching TV the other morning while eating breakfast like I always do, when a commercial came on advertising a new “Spa” that opened up. This spa is filled with all of the weight loss woo that any skeptic can have a hey-day with. They have “Body Wraps”, “NuCell-u-Smooth”, “NuLazer Lipo” as well as “NuWave Lipo”. Their website even makes the claim “Imagine yourself with a new body. Imagine losing 12 to 39 inches in just one hour... without dieting and without exercise!”. Without dieting and without exercise...
There are many things that I find fault with this spa. Among them being the lack of information on what they actually “do”. Probably in part because it really does nothing. If we look at one of the treatments they offer “Nu Lipo-Ex”, it states that it “uses a safe and painless bi-polar and mono-polar radio frequency technology”. Well, that’s pretty vague really. “...radio frequency technology”??? What technology? Radio Frequencies?
But there is a deeper frustration with this type of advertising besides it just leading people to believe that they can loose weight and become a fit person without working. I spend an hour to an hour and a half five days a week exercising as well as two to four hours on a weekend biking to keep fit. Also, I have adjusted my eating so that I am not eating processed foods and tons of sweets. It’s a lot of work at first but it becomes a life style after a while. This is not “doing nothing”. It is a shame that companies actually have the audacity to take money from people telling them that they don’t have to do anything but sit and the weight will just fall off. Just so that two weeks later the weight comes right back and the customer makes another appointment to achieve the same result. Ending is a vicious cycle.
It has become my goal to learn as much as I can against these types of treatments. I feel it necessary that people know the truth about “Nu-Light” and “Radio Frequency Treatments” and the such. No, I am not a scientist, but I do know this is nothing but another scam and weight-loss woo.
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