TRAINER TUESDAYS

TRAINER TUESDAYS

Hey All, thanks for checking in! Welcome back to our weekly post on Trainer Tuesdays. Make sure to check back to our blog every Tuesday evening to learn the expertise of our great staff. Aside from being fantastic exercise coaches, they are also extremely knowledgeable in many aspects of health and fitness; so, it's time that you get to know them a little better! Each week, we will post a frequently asked, or sometimes just a fun fitness related question followed by the answers of each of the trainers at Fitness Together Brecksville.

What is the scariest fitness trend or trick that you have seen?

Adam May:

This one is easy. Supplements. In 1994 the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act made dietary supplements unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as long as they state on their product "This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease." Since they are unregulated, many companies are not truthful on their label as to what is in the product. Furthermore, companies put ingredients in their product that can be very harmful to the human body, and claim it will enhance performance without substantial research to back that claim. I recently read an article about a supplement called Jack 3d and how it contains an ingredient called DMAA. It was linked to the death of three American soldiers that took the product before training. Even after this happened retail stores continue to sell products that contain DMAA. The bottom line is unsafe supplements are currently being sold in retail stores, and products that appear to be safe may be unsafe due to the limited accountability on what they claim on their labels. At Fitness Together we promote Advocare products because they voluntarily have their products tested by a 3rd party, and only use ingredients that research shows are safe. I highly recommend watching this short video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU-OlVEA_cA

Justin Traft:

NEVER stand on a stability ball!

One of the scariest fitness trends I have seen has to be crazy extreme workouts that are too extreme for most individuals. It’s key to push yourself in the gym to achieve the results you want. In fact, you should push yourself. What’s not so good is to push yourself to destroyable limits. It’s a quick way to get injured. But in fitness environments these practices are trending. The idea is that you work yourself to complete exhaustion no matter how horrible your form gets. At the end of your workout you will feel satisfaction knowing you gave it your all. 

But here's the problem with all this: Any good trainer knows that as fatigue starts to set in during an exercise, your form starts to falter. Your body starts to compensate altering the muscle fibers that are recruited as well as delaying reflexes. In return you overload on your joints and soft-tissues, which makes fatigue a key component of injury potential. So in the end, good form is everything. Never sacrifice form for weight.

Adam Teplitz:

The major exercise trends that get all the attention always seem to be the most extreme. Everyone should push themselves when they workout. However, there are some workouts that are so extreme, they push you beyond your limits.

An example would be doing intense exercises such as plyometrics or long distance running in order to lose weight. This can have an extremely negative effect on your body, especially if you're just starting out.  These types of workouts require movements that put extensive pressure on your lower joints and muscles. If you're overweight, this can increase the risk of injury. Jumping and running are actually very advanced movements. If you're not in proper shape prior to performing them, injuries are likely to occur.

The same can be said for weightlifting. Working yourself to complete exhaustion, a trend we see all too often, is extremely dangerous. As the body and muscles fatigue, your form can become sloppy and you can lose control over the weight. Poor form in addition to the lack of control only increases the risk of injury.
We love to push ourselves to the limit, but it's important to keep proper form at all times.