May 6, 2022 • 12 mins
On this Fit Tip, Tom uses a recent example of bad fitness advice plucked directly from his social media feed to illustrate how to spot bunk fitness information when it comes at you so that you can get the most out of your exercise and remain injury free while doing it!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio.
I am Tom Holland and this is Fitness Disrupted alright,
time for a quick fit tip bad fitness advice. I
(00:23):
was thinking I could probably do all my fit tips
based on bad fitness advice, specifically social media, specifically Instagram, Instagram,
my fee at least, and I'm sure many of yours,
because you are into fitness and they feed us. What
we look at Instagram is just filled with workouts and
(00:47):
advice and videos telling you what you should and shouldn't do.
The incredible thing about these videos now and changes like
week to week with what's being pushed out there as
far as the tools that people have to make these
videos and the graphics, I mean pretty incredible. So they
(01:10):
look really good, and that's part of the confusion. You go,
oh my gosh, this is this guy. This guy looks professional.
He must be right. And I would argue that another
layer of that problem is oftentimes they are right. Sometimes
there is good advice, but then when they throw in
(01:30):
that bad piece, you're more likely to believe it. And
sometimes the bad piece is just going to keep you
from getting your results. And then at the very other end,
of the spectrum, it's gonna hurt you. And I've seen
both of those every day for a long time now,
(01:51):
and so this quick fit tip is something I saw
on Instagram came across my feed. These are great talking
points because what you're looking at and it's what's confusing you. Alright,
so bad fitness advice. I think we're gonna call this
part one. I've done other similarly themed shows fit tips,
(02:12):
but I think this may be recurring topic, so we'll
call it part one. All right, So great, really well
produced video. I've seen this person do others. It's of
the time that I've seen a video from this person.
(02:33):
Innocuous at best. In other words, pretty right, not a
big deal, and this one isn't a huge deal, but
it's it's an example of something that's gonna keep you
from getting your best results and being your best self.
So it was all about do it this way not
that way. Right. That's a common theme. There's do this
(02:58):
not that, and then there's do it this way. You're
doing it wrong. And the vast majority people putting out
these videos have little to no training, no education, and
that's a problem. And so for this one, it was
chest press and it was shoulder press, and what the
(03:20):
advice was is essentially do a half rap for both
chess press. You're lying on your back. You got dumbbells,
and this is what dumbbells is. What was being demonstrated,
do a half rep and come back down. And oftentimes,
as in this video, they have the red X on
(03:44):
how not to do it. And this trainer was doing
a full range of motion chess press and that was
an X, and then they were doing a full range
of motion overhead shoulder press red X. What was the
reason for not doing it that way? To keep the
(04:08):
max tension on the muscle. And so this person was saying,
don't lock out. Don't lock out because when you lock out,
you are releasing tension on the muscle and you're not
getting the most out of the lift. This is a
perfect example of having a little bit of knowledge and
twisting it and making it unscientific. So this is a
(04:32):
fit tip, not gonna get super into it. There are
different strength curves, and I love this stuff. If you
study biomechanics and nautilus machines and things like that, there's basically, well,
for argument's sake, ascending strength curve descending and bell shaped.
This is an example bench press, shoulder press ascending strength curve.
(04:53):
Their hardest at the bottom and they get easier as
you go. So this person is not wrong in insinuating that,
well not even insinuating yes, as you go up it
gets easier. But first of all, this is a perfect
(05:13):
example as well of saying this is the one way.
Are you a bodybuilder? That's different somewhat, but saying this
is the one way to do it. This is the
right way. The other way is the wrong way. Well,
it's not. It's not. And that's a huge problem with
(05:34):
all of these type of videos and type of advice. Okay,
so yes, think about doing a bench press. You're on
your back. It's the hardest at the bottom, right, and
as you get going easier and easier. And at the top, yes,
that's where it's the easiest. But let's just argue or
or not argue if you're using dumbbells, especially big dumbells.
(06:00):
Is these type of people who give this type of
advice tend to use even if you touch them together.
He said, don't touch them, you still have tension on
the muscle. Is it as much as lower in the
left no, but there's tension on the muscle. We want
natural range of motion. For most people, you want to
(06:21):
work your muscles through a natural range of motion. I
have watched this, by the way, for years. I'm gonna
be really honest. Many people who are taking performance dancing drugs, steroids, bodybuilders,
they do these type of reps. They have different goals
and the drugs help in a different way. They don't
necessarily and can't always do full reps. They don't have
(06:42):
to because the drugs are doing a lot of what
people who aren't on drugs need to do naturally. In
generally speaking, that's worked through a natural range of motion.
So even if you lock out, which isn't locking out.
So this person was using the term incorrectly, saying lock
out and don't touch the weights, don't lock out, well,
locking out, I think of a leg press. I'm going
(07:04):
to discuss all that, but think of locking out your knees. Right.
There's a difference with dumbbells, with touching them together at
the top of a overhead press, at the top of
a chess press, it's not truly locked out unless you
have your palms facing each other, and even then, depending
on the dumbells you're using more than likely you're not
(07:27):
fully locking out. Okay, so we want to work our bodies,
most of us. Again depends on your goals. With the
vast majority of people who want to look better, feel better,
live longer, prevent injury, do better in their daily activities,
play their recreational sports better. We want to work three
natural range of motion, not a half range of motion
(07:48):
that can cause problems if you do that enough. Strength
is very specific to how we train it, and so yes,
bench press, shoulder press, ascending strength curve hardest at the
bottom of the movement. But we also want time under tension.
Let me finish with this when you go slower, as
(08:08):
I talk about one of the ways in which I
have achieved my success, when we go a little lighter
and a little slower and keep the tension on the
muscle the whole time. I'm all about time under tension.
But that's taking momentum out of it. That's using lighter weights,
and you can still go through a full range of
motion while keeping the tension on the muscle. And if
(08:32):
you go slower and you go a little farther, can
we make the argument that the time under tension is
longer that when that repetition is over, you've gone slower.
You've kept the tension on the muscle longer through that
full range of motion. That is more natural, and if
you do it correctly, with the right amount of weight,
(08:52):
with good form, you're gonna get the most out of it.
I've never done half reps. I plan on doing half reps,
but you can. I'm not against it, but I would
say mix it up. You want to try this, and
you're working on trying out different things, and you know,
playing around with the strength curve, good on you. But
(09:16):
for the vast majority of people who want to have
the goals and the results that I just outlined, full
range of motion, time under tension, the whole time. When
you use good form, use proper tempo, use the correct
amount of weight, you can do it with that full repetition.
(09:42):
You can touch the weights. You want to bang the weights,
but you can touch them together. Okay, perfect example, and
Amanda with this. Oftentimes it's that these people are using
ridiculously heavy weight. You're gonna call it what. It is
often harder for them to actually go through that full
(10:06):
range of motion. Your bodybuilder, you're taking other things. This
fit tips not for you. All right, there you go,
bad fitness advice Part one. Be careful what you watch,
be careful what you believe. Just because it looks really
professional these videos and just because the the person looks
(10:31):
good doesn't mean you're not gonna have issues down the
road or right away. Okay, if you have questions about
anything you've seen or heard, let me know. Tom h
Fit is Instagram, Tom h Fit is Twitter. Direct message
me you love to hear from you, questions, comments. You
can also email me at fitness disrupted dot com. Follow
(10:54):
the show, subscribe. Whatever you can do now changes weekly.
My most recent book is Micro Workout Plan. Working on
my next one, my first non prescriptive book might tell all.
I've been working on this for decade or more. My
goal was to give you the best advice so you
(11:14):
can stop wasting time, stop wasting your money, and live
your best life. That's it. Based on science, based on experience,
and based on common sense, evolution, empirical evidence, and what
you can do in your everyday life. All right, enough,
fit tipp done, Thank you for listening. I am exercise
(11:34):
physiologists and certified sports nutritionist Tom Holland. Remember there are
three things we all control. How much we move, what
we put into our mouths, in our state of mind,
and that is awesome. Thank you for listening, and believe
in yourself. Fitness Disrupted is a production of I heart Radio.
(11:58):
For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio.
I am Tom Holland and this is Fitness Disrupted alright,
time for a quick fit tip bad fitness advice. I
(00:23):
was thinking I could probably do all my fit tips
based on bad fitness advice, specifically social media, specifically Instagram, Instagram,
my fee at least, and I'm sure many of yours,
because you are into fitness and they feed us. What
we look at Instagram is just filled with workouts and
(00:47):
advice and videos telling you what you should and shouldn't do.
The incredible thing about these videos now and changes like
week to week with what's being pushed out there as
far as the tools that people have to make these
videos and the graphics, I mean pretty incredible. So they
(01:10):
look really good, and that's part of the confusion. You go,
oh my gosh, this is this guy. This guy looks professional.
He must be right. And I would argue that another
layer of that problem is oftentimes they are right. Sometimes
there is good advice, but then when they throw in
(01:30):
that bad piece, you're more likely to believe it. And
sometimes the bad piece is just going to keep you
from getting your results. And then at the very other end,
of the spectrum, it's gonna hurt you. And I've seen
both of those every day for a long time now,
(01:51):
and so this quick fit tip is something I saw
on Instagram came across my feed. These are great talking
points because what you're looking at and it's what's confusing you. Alright,
so bad fitness advice. I think we're gonna call this
part one. I've done other similarly themed shows fit tips,
(02:12):
but I think this may be recurring topic, so we'll
call it part one. All right, So great, really well
produced video. I've seen this person do others. It's of
the time that I've seen a video from this person.
(02:33):
Innocuous at best. In other words, pretty right, not a
big deal, and this one isn't a huge deal, but
it's it's an example of something that's gonna keep you
from getting your best results and being your best self.
So it was all about do it this way not
that way. Right. That's a common theme. There's do this
(02:58):
not that, and then there's do it this way. You're
doing it wrong. And the vast majority people putting out
these videos have little to no training, no education, and
that's a problem. And so for this one, it was
chest press and it was shoulder press, and what the
(03:20):
advice was is essentially do a half rap for both
chess press. You're lying on your back. You got dumbbells,
and this is what dumbbells is. What was being demonstrated,
do a half rep and come back down. And oftentimes,
as in this video, they have the red X on
(03:44):
how not to do it. And this trainer was doing
a full range of motion chess press and that was
an X, and then they were doing a full range
of motion overhead shoulder press red X. What was the
reason for not doing it that way? To keep the
(04:08):
max tension on the muscle. And so this person was saying,
don't lock out. Don't lock out because when you lock out,
you are releasing tension on the muscle and you're not
getting the most out of the lift. This is a
perfect example of having a little bit of knowledge and
twisting it and making it unscientific. So this is a
(04:32):
fit tip, not gonna get super into it. There are
different strength curves, and I love this stuff. If you
study biomechanics and nautilus machines and things like that, there's basically, well,
for argument's sake, ascending strength curve descending and bell shaped.
This is an example bench press, shoulder press ascending strength curve.
(04:53):
Their hardest at the bottom and they get easier as
you go. So this person is not wrong in insinuating that,
well not even insinuating yes, as you go up it
gets easier. But first of all, this is a perfect
(05:13):
example as well of saying this is the one way.
Are you a bodybuilder? That's different somewhat, but saying this
is the one way to do it. This is the
right way. The other way is the wrong way. Well,
it's not. It's not. And that's a huge problem with
(05:34):
all of these type of videos and type of advice. Okay,
so yes, think about doing a bench press. You're on
your back. It's the hardest at the bottom, right, and
as you get going easier and easier. And at the top, yes,
that's where it's the easiest. But let's just argue or
or not argue if you're using dumbbells, especially big dumbells.
(06:00):
Is these type of people who give this type of
advice tend to use even if you touch them together.
He said, don't touch them, you still have tension on
the muscle. Is it as much as lower in the
left no, but there's tension on the muscle. We want
natural range of motion. For most people, you want to
(06:21):
work your muscles through a natural range of motion. I
have watched this, by the way, for years. I'm gonna
be really honest. Many people who are taking performance dancing drugs, steroids, bodybuilders,
they do these type of reps. They have different goals
and the drugs help in a different way. They don't
necessarily and can't always do full reps. They don't have
(06:42):
to because the drugs are doing a lot of what
people who aren't on drugs need to do naturally. In
generally speaking, that's worked through a natural range of motion.
So even if you lock out, which isn't locking out.
So this person was using the term incorrectly, saying lock
out and don't touch the weights, don't lock out, well,
locking out, I think of a leg press. I'm going
(07:04):
to discuss all that, but think of locking out your knees. Right.
There's a difference with dumbbells, with touching them together at
the top of a overhead press, at the top of
a chess press, it's not truly locked out unless you
have your palms facing each other, and even then, depending
on the dumbells you're using more than likely you're not
(07:27):
fully locking out. Okay, so we want to work our bodies,
most of us. Again depends on your goals. With the
vast majority of people who want to look better, feel better,
live longer, prevent injury, do better in their daily activities,
play their recreational sports better. We want to work three
natural range of motion, not a half range of motion
(07:48):
that can cause problems if you do that enough. Strength
is very specific to how we train it, and so yes,
bench press, shoulder press, ascending strength curve hardest at the
bottom of the movement. But we also want time under tension.
Let me finish with this when you go slower, as
(08:08):
I talk about one of the ways in which I
have achieved my success, when we go a little lighter
and a little slower and keep the tension on the
muscle the whole time. I'm all about time under tension.
But that's taking momentum out of it. That's using lighter weights,
and you can still go through a full range of
motion while keeping the tension on the muscle. And if
(08:32):
you go slower and you go a little farther, can
we make the argument that the time under tension is
longer that when that repetition is over, you've gone slower.
You've kept the tension on the muscle longer through that
full range of motion. That is more natural, and if
you do it correctly, with the right amount of weight,
(08:52):
with good form, you're gonna get the most out of it.
I've never done half reps. I plan on doing half reps,
but you can. I'm not against it, but I would
say mix it up. You want to try this, and
you're working on trying out different things, and you know,
playing around with the strength curve, good on you. But
(09:16):
for the vast majority of people who want to have
the goals and the results that I just outlined, full
range of motion, time under tension, the whole time. When
you use good form, use proper tempo, use the correct
amount of weight, you can do it with that full repetition.
(09:42):
You can touch the weights. You want to bang the weights,
but you can touch them together. Okay, perfect example, and
Amanda with this. Oftentimes it's that these people are using
ridiculously heavy weight. You're gonna call it what. It is
often harder for them to actually go through that full
(10:06):
range of motion. Your bodybuilder, you're taking other things. This
fit tips not for you. All right, there you go,
bad fitness advice Part one. Be careful what you watch,
be careful what you believe. Just because it looks really
professional these videos and just because the the person looks
(10:31):
good doesn't mean you're not gonna have issues down the
road or right away. Okay, if you have questions about
anything you've seen or heard, let me know. Tom h
Fit is Instagram, Tom h Fit is Twitter. Direct message
me you love to hear from you, questions, comments. You
can also email me at fitness disrupted dot com. Follow
(10:54):
the show, subscribe. Whatever you can do now changes weekly.
My most recent book is Micro Workout Plan. Working on
my next one, my first non prescriptive book might tell all.
I've been working on this for decade or more. My
goal was to give you the best advice so you
(11:14):
can stop wasting time, stop wasting your money, and live
your best life. That's it. Based on science, based on experience,
and based on common sense, evolution, empirical evidence, and what
you can do in your everyday life. All right, enough,
fit tipp done, Thank you for listening. I am exercise
(11:34):
physiologists and certified sports nutritionist Tom Holland. Remember there are
three things we all control. How much we move, what
we put into our mouths, in our state of mind,
and that is awesome. Thank you for listening, and believe
in yourself. Fitness Disrupted is a production of I heart Radio.
(11:58):
For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i
heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
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