FITNESS MYTHS and EXCUSES YOU CAN'T STAND!!!

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The only time I can think of to "suck it up and deal with the pain" is when I did a really hard workout and my muscles are sore. If I feel as though ANY of my joints are going to blow apart when doing an activity I typically err on the side of caution and stop.
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When my muscles are sore from a hard workout .. I poke at them all day. I dunno. I like that pain.

You have to analyze your pain. Feel it, experience it .. I ask my boys (14 & 16 yrs aol, hockey and lacrosse players) "Are you hurt or are you injured?" If you're not injured, then suck it up and get out there for your next shift.

That's my point.

To say that anyone with an injury or who has excruciating pain when they do certain exercises should just "suck it up and work through it" is rather ridiculous IMO. That's just asking someone to hurt themselves further. My husband has what he calls a glass shoulder. It bothers him a LOT when he does certain shoulder exercises so he doesn't do those exercises that cause him to have sharp, shooting pains in his shoulder which brings him to his knees.

That is unfortunately, the point.

Chronic tendon pain (which is the vast majority of chronic knee or shoulder pain) is chronic because the body has stopped healing it.

Reinjuring it in a controlled manner to force inflammation (inflammation = healing) prompts the body to heal and strengthen the problem parts.

Study the research, the same stuff doctors study (if on the up and up with current research), single leg squats done on an angled surface is the best exercise there is for chronic knee pain. The point of the angled surface is to make it hurt more, to increase the load on problem tendons. You are supposed to work through pain.

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/how-science-is-catching-up-with-chronic-front-of-knee-pain-39583

2) I actually heard this: "I can't squat because I have bad knees.... besides, it's not like i use that in my everyday life."

WHAAT?! No. You have bad knees BECAUSE you don't squat.

No, I have bad knees after 10 years of playing football, followed by 35 years of officiating the sport.
Due to a side impact injury while officiating a game back in 2000, I have several screws holding my R knee together -- actually the top section of my lower leg was broken off.
So, eliminate this one from your list of myths.
You may not be capable of enduring the combination of words, but the condition is definitely NOT a myth.
Sorry.

I can't stand "muscle weighs more than fat" Drives me nuts. 1 pound = 1 pound regardless of what it is made of. Muscle is denser than fat so 1 pound of muscle takes up less space than 1 pound of fat!

Biggest pet peeve in excuses? "I'm scared" WTF is there to be scared of? Being fit, being thin, living longer?

But muscle does weigh more than fat. If you took the same volume of each, muscle would weigh more.

The response "No, muscle doesn't weigh more than fat because 1 lb = 1 lb" is a pet peeve of mine (which has nothing to do with fitness). Seriously, I can't decide if it's more rude, pretentious or ignorant.

I am BIG boned and genetically challenged...

I have learned that my big bones are surrounded by fat. That makes them look even bigger...

LOVE THIS!!! I am not even sure if I am big boned as the fat around them makes it hard to tell...

..on a side note, not really a myth/excuse but as I never post, throwing something out just as I am. I hate when people say - just don't eat that or just don't drink that or just exercise every day. In theory, they are right but I didn't get fat by being known for my willpower!!!

I can't stand "muscle weighs more than fat" Drives me nuts. 1 pound = 1 pound regardless of what it is made of. Muscle is denser than fat so 1 pound of muscle takes up less space than 1 pound of fat!

Biggest pet peeve in excuses? "I'm scared" WTF is there to be scared of? Being fit, being thin, living longer?

But muscle does weigh more than fat. If you took the same volume of each, muscle would weigh more.

Thank you! Thank you!

If the argument is that 1 lb of muscle = 1 lb of fat then, I guess everything in the world weighs the same.

ok, sorry, the science teacher in me is screaming here. 1 pound is 1 pound is 1 pound. 1 pound of feathers = 1 pound concrete. Volume is NOT the same as weight. Take the feathers and concrete as an example, if you fill a five gallon bucket with feathers and another with concrete, then yes, the concrete is heavier. However, saying that a pound of one thing weighs more than a pound of another is crazy talk. /end rant

THANK YOU.

2) I actually heard this: "I can't squat because I have bad knees.... besides, it's not like i use that in my everyday life."

WHAAT?! No. You have bad knees BECAUSE you don't squat.

This is so wrong. There may be perhaps SOME cases this may be true but people, believe it or not, can actually have problems with their knees where it is astounding they can walk and someone just telling them 'it is BECAUSE you don't squat' is clearly not the answer.

Excuses 'I am trying my hardest but I keep messing up' ... then no, you aren't trying your hardest.

Knee injuries can certainly keep a person from some types of exercises. My husband injured his knee years ago, and while he can ride a bike 12+ hours a day (for work), he can't do lunges. It's not an excuse. It's reality.

As for "Not trying your hardest," no. You wouldn't tell a turtle he's not trying his hardest to fly because he's not succeeded yet, would you? There are some types of exercise I literally cannot do no matter how hard I try -- anything dance-related, for example. I just can't. I can do all kinds of other things -- and do, wholeheartedly -- but I can't do anything that requires rhythm because I'm a putz. *shrug* It's not because I'm not trying hard. But I won't keep trying to do something I can't do when there are other workouts that I CAN do and get a better workout doing them -- things I enjoy and that don't make me feel like a putz. I'm not a failure. I'm a realist.

Wow, this is the most judgemental posting zone I've seen here in a long time! Did this turn into MyFitnessTroll?

Perhaps it would be a little more helpful to those who are starting/struggling/not quite got their shxt together on the fitness bandwagon if people would share the myths and excuses THEY PERSONALLY relied on and HOW THEY OVERCAME THEM!

Complaining because someone else says they "don't have the time" only makes those of us who are currently struggling feel more on the outside --- like theres a river between us and I can't find the bridge.

I haven't always been obese. I spent the first 40 years of my struggling because I was Under-Weight. I wasn't a gym rat but I was athletic and heathy. I put on a few "happiness pounds" in my early forties and then surgical menopause trashed my body in 18 mos.

I am 60 pounds overweight despite eating at or slightly below my target calorie goal for months (I have not neither gained nor lost more than 5 pounds in the last 2 years). I am not a junk-food junkie --- most of my meals are homecooked from fresh ingredients. I choose to drink water at meals so that my calories are saved for nutrition. My major indulgence is a large diet soda with breakfast. I choose to eat healthy whether I'm at home or traveling for work. I'm not a big veggie eater but I try to hide veggies in my food as often as I can.

As for exercize......it's a two-edged sword......I would feel better if I exercized more AND I would exercize more if I could feel better.

I wake at 5:30am every morning to get ready for work --- 30 minute commute and at work at 7:00am. I put in a full day (unfortunately mostly at a desk), eating soup or healthy leftovers for lunch. I am out of the office between 4:00pm and 5:00pm and drive to the grocery store to plan dinner for my family. Dinner is usually on the table around 6:30pm and I sit with my family and we eat for about 45min. (I have teenagers.....they need the time). After dinner, I clear the table, clean up the cooking mess, and then it's off to bed.
I am so exhausted by normal activity that I go to bed by 8:00pm. There is no "watching tv, playing on the internet, or talking on the phone." Weekends are a repeat of the above except when I'm not at a school function or volunteer activity, I'm trying to clean my house. Carrying all this extra weight has made the normal activities of life miserable and overwhelming.

I have tried going to the gym at 5:30am (when the gym opens) ---- I feel like crap the rest of the day and my boss complains.
I have tried going to the gym at 5:30pm (right after work) --- we end up eating dinner out and my husband complains.
I don't have a "lunch hour" in which I can go workout --- I eat at my desk and they don't care if I complain.

Fourteen months ago I did the gym 5 days a week (including two zumba classes); an unexplained change in health status took that away from me ---- I can barely do 30 minutes of light walking on the treadmill now. I've been to the doctors who just say, "you're fine, you just need to eat less and move more". I don't want a diet pill. I don't want surgery. I don't expect a quick fix. What I'm trying to find is a way to get things moving in the right direction so that I can lose enough weight that I can work out alittle and lose more weight so I can work out a little more ad infinitum. This isn't a joke or a vanity thing for me --- I spent Halloween week in the hospital with angina and shortness of breath. They can't find anything wrong with me except that I weigh 200 f'ing pounds.

So I take the old tact that "It's not just what you're eating, it's what's eating you" and log into the message boards to see what experience, strength, and hope I can find to help me move forward just a baby step today.

And what do I find --- hostility and judgementalism. This is supposed to be a community where we pull together and pull for each other. Would it kill one person out there to talk about how they overcame their own excuses and barriers? That's what is really going to help other people.

Wow, this is the most judgemental posting zone I've seen here in a long time! Did this turn into MyFitnessTroll?

Perhaps it would be a little more helpful to those who are starting/struggling/not quite got their shxt together on the fitness bandwagon if people would share the myths and excuses THEY PERSONALLY relied on and HOW THEY OVERCAME THEM!

Complaining because someone else says they "don't have the time" only makes those of us who are currently struggling feel more on the outside --- like theres a river between us and I can't find the bridge.

I haven't always been obese. I spent the first 40 years of my struggling because I was Under-Weight. I wasn't a gym rat but I was athletic and heathy. I put on a few "happiness pounds" in my early forties and then surgical menopause trashed my body in 18 mos.

I am 60 pounds overweight despite eating at or slightly below my target calorie goal for months (I have not neither gained nor lost more than 5 pounds in the last 2 years). I am not a junk-food junkie --- most of my meals are homecooked from fresh ingredients. I choose to drink water at meals so that my calories are saved for nutrition. My major indulgence is a large diet soda with breakfast. I choose to eat healthy whether I'm at home or traveling for work. I'm not a big veggie eater but I try to hide veggies in my food as often as I can.

As for exercize......it's a two-edged sword......I would feel better if I exercized more AND I would exercize more if I could feel better.

I wake at 5:30am every morning to get ready for work --- 30 minute commute and at work at 7:00am. I put in a full day (unfortunately mostly at a desk), eating soup or healthy leftovers for lunch. I am out of the office between 4:00pm and 5:00pm and drive to the grocery store to plan dinner for my family. Dinner is usually on the table around 6:30pm and I sit with my family and we eat for about 45min. (I have teenagers.....they need the time). After dinner, I clear the table, clean up the cooking mess, and then it's off to bed.
I am so exhausted by normal activity that I go to bed by 8:00pm. There is no "watching tv, playing on the internet, or talking on the phone." Weekends are a repeat of the above except when I'm not at a school function or volunteer activity, I'm trying to clean my house. Carrying all this extra weight has made the normal activities of life miserable and overwhelming.

I have tried going to the gym at 5:30am (when the gym opens) ---- I feel like crap the rest of the day and my boss complains.
I have tried going to the gym at 5:30pm (right after work) --- we end up eating dinner out and my husband complains.
I don't have a "lunch hour" in which I can go workout --- I eat at my desk and they don't care if I complain.

Fourteen months ago I did the gym 5 days a week (including two zumba classes); an unexplained change in health status took that away from me ---- I can barely do 30 minutes of light walking on the treadmill now. I've been to the doctors who just say, "you're fine, you just need to eat less and move more". I don't want a diet pill. I don't want surgery. I don't expect a quick fix. What I'm trying to find is a way to get things moving in the right direction so that I can lose enough weight that I can work out alittle and lose more weight so I can work out a little more ad infinitum. This isn't a joke or a vanity thing for me --- I spent Halloween week in the hospital with angina and shortness of breath. They can't find anything wrong with me except that I weigh 200 f'ing pounds.

So I take the old tact that "It's not just what you're eating, it's what's eating you" and log into the message boards to see what experience, strength, and hope I can find to help me move forward just a baby step today.

And what do I find --- hostility and judgementalism. This is supposed to be a community where we pull together and pull for each other. Would it kill one person out there to talk about how they overcame their own excuses and barriers? That's what is really going to help other people.

Epic. I think you covered every excuse people have given in this thread. Hats off.

...
The only time I can think of to "suck it up and deal with the pain" is when I did a really hard workout and my muscles are sore. If I feel as though ANY of my joints are going to blow apart when doing an activity I typically err on the side of caution and stop.
...

When my muscles are sore from a hard workout .. I poke at them all day. I dunno. I like that pain.

You have to analyze your pain. Feel it, experience it .. I ask my boys (14 & 16 yrs aol, hockey and lacrosse players) "Are you hurt or are you injured?" If you're not injured, then suck it up and get out there for your next shift.

That's my point.

To say that anyone with an injury or who has excruciating pain when they do certain exercises should just "suck it up and work through it" is rather ridiculous IMO. That's just asking someone to hurt themselves further. My husband has what he calls a glass shoulder. It bothers him a LOT when he does certain shoulder exercises so he doesn't do those exercises that cause him to have sharp, shooting pains in his shoulder which brings him to his knees.

That is unfortunately, the point.

Chronic tendon pain (which is the vast majority of chronic knee or shoulder pain) is chronic because the body has stopped healing it.

Reinjuring it in a controlled manner to force inflammation (inflammation = healing) prompts the body to heal and strengthen the problem parts.

Study the research, the same stuff doctors study (if on the up and up with current research), single leg squats done on an angled surface is the best exercise there is for chronic knee pain. The point of the angled surface is to make it hurt more, to increase the load on problem tendons. You are supposed to work through pain.

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/how-science-is-catching-up-with-chronic-front-of-knee-pain-39583

Thanks but if, god forbid I ever blow my knees out in some unforeseen accident I think I'll take my sports physician/physical therapist's advice and opinion first. flowerforyou:

The one where you eat just enough to fuel your normal bodily functions plus your workouts, usually above 1200 cals, ugh! so stupid!!

1) LIFTING WEIGHTS WILL MAKE WOMEN BULKY.... NOO!!!!!:explode:


2) I actually heard this: "I can't squat because I have bad knees.... besides, it's not like i use that in my everyday life."

WHAAT?! No. You have bad knees BECAUSE you don't squat.

And if you don't think you use it in everyday life, i'd like to know how you get on and off the toilet. :huh:


What are some of the "myths" and excuses you can't stand to hear????

Myths: Weight training will make women bulky
Excuses: I don't have time.
^Hate that excuse cause ain't nobody got time for dat!

I have a full-time day job, part-time photography job, and 3 kids (3 kids within 4 years)....I take them with me (bundled up this time of year) to the Y Child Watch. You definitely have to make working out a priority.

2) I actually heard this: "I can't squat because I have bad knees.... besides, it's not like i use that in my everyday life."

WHAAT?! No. You have bad knees BECAUSE you don't squat.

Not true. I have arthritis so squats and I never got along. This was true when I weighed 130 pounds and hasn't changed to this day - the level of discomfort was never weight-dependent. Plenty of knee injuries will make squats an uncomfortable exercise.

"I have kids so I don't have time" this is made worse when it's coming from someone that does not also have an outside the home job. Make time. And before you crucify me, I'm currently pregnant with my third child, have a job, and am in school.