Funny things actually-fit people say

Amerek412

I really enjoy seeing/reading the woo people post on social media and other fitness platforms, which is why I frequent the fitbit community page. It's especially eyebrow-raising when it comes from people who already seem fit and have a least most of it figured out.

This girl posted pictures of her very impressively muscled legs with the caption "It's leg day! I usually hit them on Saturday but sometimes you need to confuse your body to break that plateau" I post a comment asking if she is just joking, or does she really think her body is aware of what day of the week she works a body part, to which she replies "lol no I'm serious. If you stick to the same routine & hitting them on the same day your body will reach a plateau. Consequently, your body will NOT (her capitalization) show results to your hard work. Therefore you need to switch everything around to confuse the body."

Oy vey...I know some people like to change up the specific exercises in their routine every few weeks, but this just takes it to such a silly level lol

Francl27

Read a MFP article just last week about how you need to mix up workouts for weight loss. Lol.

Fitnessgirl0913

I saw a personal trainer last year to get some advice on recomp (and that's it) and she tried to talk me into purchasing a personalized macro and meal plan from them too. Their whole big thing was you should eat 6 times a day at the same time every day so your body can "rev up your metabolism" because it knows when to expect food and will prepare for it. So much woo it was hard for me to politely decline.

Purplebunnysarah

Francl27 wrote: »

Read a MFP article just last week about how you need to mix up workouts for weight loss. Lol.

I mean, if mixing it up helps with adherence to calorie goals somehow...

saragd012

I was chastised recently by someone I occasionally workout with (small group training) because I mentioned I usually only eat two meals a day on the weekends, apparently I was destroying my metabolism by not eating every 4 hours.

Amerek412

Francl27 wrote: »

Read a MFP article just last week about how you need to mix up workouts for weight loss. Lol.

The MFP articles are sadly pretty woo-filled most of the time. While I love MFP and happily pay for pro in order to support them for providing "the real deal" with all essential features for free, it just goes to show everyone will spew the woo to make a buck

cmriverside

One of the best parts of weight loss was learning how much I DIDN'T want to listen to other peoples' "suggestions."

It has transferred over into all other aspects of my life and I'm much more willing to not engage with them over stuff that is uninteresting or unimportant to me. I far prefer to live and let live and not get into arguments about stuff that doesn't matter, but to each their own I guess.

Her statement is kind of like any other irrational marketing plan.

ninerbuff

It's even more funny to me as a trainer. Working in the industry for decades now, I've pretty much heard it all and A LOT of it from my peers. Of course I'll challenge them to a debate on the ideas they believe to be true and usually ask them where they obtained their information and it's usually the same source.................fitness magazines and articles and the gym. Glad I'm one of those trainers that DON'T believe nor adhere to a lot of the broscience that's out there.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

quiksylver296

I posted this in another thread yesterday. The manager of the Anytime Fitness I use had a female
in a side room, playing a VR video game, to get her heart rate up into the "fat burning zone."

MelanieCN77

I wish my Anytime Fitness had VR video games.

CarvedTones

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I posted this in another thread yesterday. The manager of the Anytime Fitness I use had a female
in a side room, playing a VR video game, to get her heart rate up into the "fat burning zone."

In other words, more than zero...

JMcGee2018

CarvedTones wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I posted this in another thread yesterday. The manager of the Anytime Fitness I use had a female
in a side room, playing a VR video game, to get her heart rate up into the "fat burning zone."

In other words, more than zero...

Sitting at my desk has me in a pretty solid fat burning zone. If I was sleeping I'd be burning an even higher percentage of fat, though, so looks like I better take a nap when I get home instead of doing cardio at the gym tonight!

quiksylver296

JMcGee2018 wrote: »

CarvedTones wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I posted this in another thread yesterday. The manager of the Anytime Fitness I use had a female
in a side room, playing a VR video game, to get her heart rate up into the "fat burning zone."

In other words, more than zero...

Sitting at my desk has me in a pretty solid fat burning zone. If I was sleeping I'd be burning an even higher percentage of fat, though, so looks like I better take a nap when I get home instead of doing cardio at the gym tonight!

I like how you think.

Francl27

Most of my friends still believe that you have to eat breakfast and can't eat too late at night, and that's it's bad to skip meals. And one thinks that eating gluten free will help her kid with attention issues (I'm quite sure the pediatrician is actually responsible for that one).

There's so much misinformation out there and so little real education about health, it's not really surprising. Especially as health professionals don't seem to have any nutrition education either.

RMaxwell90

Francl27 wrote: »

Most of my friends still believe that you have to eat breakfast and can't eat too late at night, and that's it's bad to skip meals. And one thinks that eating gluten free will help her kid with attention issues (I'm quite sure the pediatrician is actually responsible for that one).

I find the can't eat too late claim hilarious. I eat my dinner typically around 9pm (due to training schedule) and am in bed by 11pm most nights... And have lost ~20 lbs. In the last 5 months.

JMcGee2018

To be fair to the "don't eat too late" people, a lot of people gain weight due to those late night snacks consumed as they sit and watch TV. If they stop eating at 6 or 7, they aren't eating hundreds of calories in chips and ice cream and wondering how they're gaining weight even though they only had a salad for dinner. It's the same as the people who think they are losing weight because of IF, instead of due to the moderation that comes with IF when done properly.

...which reminds me that I need to get back to doing IF instead of wasting all of those calories on breakfast.

Bry_Fitness70

I still hear/read things like "starvation mode" and "no late night eating" and the dreaded "slow metabolism" from fit people who should know better.

Bry_Fitness70

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I posted this in another thread yesterday. The manager of the Anytime Fitness I use had a female
in a side room, playing a VR video game, to get her heart rate up into the "fat burning zone."

Maybe an effective PT technique would be to sneak up behind your clients while they are working out and blast an air horn by their heads, that would spike their HR and burn a ton of extra calories!

Aaron_K123

It is not necessarily a requirement to understand something in order to accomplish it. Being fit requires discipline more than it requires an understanding of physiology.

Bry_Fitness70

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

It is not necessarily a requirement to understand something in order to accomplish it. Being fit requires discipline more than it requires an understanding of physiology.

I agree, but the problem arises when a fit person who doesn't understand something perpetuates their failure to understand something to less fit people as sound advice.

For example, if a person tosses and turns all night because he is hungry but won't eat because he didn't get his calories in before 8 pm and some trainer told him that if he ate these calories after dark they would magically make him gain more weight than if he ate them at 5 pm (even though his eating plan permitted more calories that day), this isn't helpful and is a reason why some people crash and burn with their fitness regimen.

Amerek412

Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

It is not necessarily a requirement to understand something in order to accomplish it. Being fit requires discipline more than it requires an understanding of physiology.

I agree, but the problem arises when a fit person who doesn't understand something perpetuates their failure to understand something to less fit people as sound advice.

For example, if a person tosses and turns all night because he is hungry but won't eat because he didn't get his calories in before 8 pm and some trainer told him that if he ate these calories after dark they would magically make him gain more weight than if he ate them at 5 pm (even though his eating plan permitted more calories that day), this isn't helpful and is a reason why some people crash and burn with their fitness regimen.

I agree with both of you. It annoyed me that I knew if I tried to argue with the girl further, everyone would go "well look at those legs, clearly she knows what she's talking about" As though she got those results from periodically switching leg day from Saturday to 2 days earlier on Thursday (think about that lol), and NOT because she has been dedicated in the gym for an extended period of time regardless of which days she does which muscle groups.

So people who are currently struggling with a "plateau" reading that might try switching their leg day, instead of, say, reanalyzing their reps, rate of weight increase, daily calories and macros, etc.

fitoverfortymom

quiksylver296 wrote: »

JMcGee2018 wrote: »

CarvedTones wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I posted this in another thread yesterday. The manager of the Anytime Fitness I use had a female
in a side room, playing a VR video game, to get her heart rate up into the "fat burning zone."

In other words, more than zero...

Sitting at my desk has me in a pretty solid fat burning zone. If I was sleeping I'd be burning an even higher percentage of fat, though, so looks like I better take a nap when I get home instead of doing cardio at the gym tonight!

I like how you think.

I'm a big proponent of napping the fat away.

not_a_runner

I started lifting with a friend who was a PT/recreational bodybuilder. Looked great and was quite strong. I learned a lot and would definitely not be where I am today without him.. However he said some "bro science" which I think back and laugh about.
-If you do cardio (running) you'll lose gains. Only walk if you must cardio.
-You shouldn't train legs twice a week. If you are able to train them again you obviously didn't go hard enough the first time!!
-You absolutely CANNOT train for strength AND hypertrophy at the same time!! If you want to powerlift you have to powerlift only.

There is probably more that I forgot, but those were some of the best.

ladyhusker39

fitoverfortymom wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

JMcGee2018 wrote: »

CarvedTones wrote: »

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I posted this in another thread yesterday. The manager of the Anytime Fitness I use had a female
in a side room, playing a VR video game, to get her heart rate up into the "fat burning zone."

In other words, more than zero...

Sitting at my desk has me in a pretty solid fat burning zone. If I was sleeping I'd be burning an even higher percentage of fat, though, so looks like I better take a nap when I get home instead of doing cardio at the gym tonight!

I like how you think.

I'm a big proponent of napping the fat away.

I see a book idea in there somewhere. You guys should collaborate.

alyssa_rest

"never eat bread or pasta. all other carbs are okay. then you don't need to count your calories"
"don't eat after 6pm or the food sits there and becomes fat"

I like bread and pasta... I've lost 13 lbs eating bread and pasta.
I typically don't eat until 8:30pm... magically, it has not added fat.

This is from my super fit friend. I mean, she's ripped. Had a hard time trying to explain to her what works for her, doesn't always work for others.

AnvilHead

Some people succeed in spite of what they do rather than because of what they do.

There's a lot of broscience woo that isn't actually going to hurt anything, per se, but it doesn't help like people think it does either. Eating eight meals a day (or one meal a day), drinking a protein shake immediately after a workout because of the "anabolic window", taking BCAAs (or any other useless woo supplement), not eating after 7:00 pm (or whatever arbitrary hour), drinking a gallon of water per day - within the context of an appropriate diet and good exercise program, none of those things are going to have a negative effect. But they're also not going to have any more of a positive effect than the appropriate diet and exercise program would in the first place (except maybe if they provided you the psychological motivation to stick to your program).

So you lost 80 pounds and got to 8% bodyfat doing a bro split, sipping BCAAs intra-workout, eating ten meals of dry chicken breast, brown rice and broccoli a day and making sure to slam your brotein shake and waxy maize no more than 2.5 minutes after you finished your workout. Great job, but the truth is that your success came from the fact that you stayed in a calorie deficit, had adequate protein intake and worked your butt off in the gym.

CJ_Holmes

I didn't know what "Woo" was until reading this thread. I thought that button was "Whoo Hoo!" or something similar. I apologize to anyone I have insulted in the past...

fitoverfortymom

@CJ_Holmes I think it can be used either way when using the button. "Woo" as a concept (not the button) is the #fakenews of the weight loss and fitness world. I mean, what's NOT confusing about that?

rbfdac

I'm confused about why this is funny... The body becomes incredibly efficient at doing the same thing every day, so if she were to continue the same workout routine every day and every week, her body would eventually become "used" to it and would not continue to show results.

I re-read the post and it seems like you read it as she had to switch the DAYS around to confuse the body, but I read it as she has to switch the ROUTINE around to "confuse the body", which is essentially true.

So yes, I suppose it's dumb if she thinks the day she does it on makes a difference, but if she's literally talking about switching up routine, she is correct.

stanmann571

rbfdac wrote: »

I'm confused about why this is funny... The body becomes incredibly efficient at doing the same thing every day, so if she were to continue the same workout routine every day and every week, her body would eventually become "used" to it and would not continue to show results.

I re-read the post and it seems like you read it as she had to switch the DAYS around to confuse the body, but I read it as she has to switch the ROUTINE around to "confuse the body", which is essentially true.

So yes, I suppose it's dumb if she thinks the day she does it on makes a difference, but if she's literally talking about switching up routine, she is correct.

No it doesn't work that way.

Powerlifters at the elite competition level don't adjust their routines to "confuse the body" They do it to induce progressive overload and to ensure adequate rest.

ceiswyn

Every time I see someone talking about how you mustn’t eat late at night, I wonder whether they may have watched the movie Gremlins a few too many times at an impressionable age.