Navigating Fitness Advice

 3/21/2025 Issue #12


“A lifelong learner will want to take care that most of life’s spare moments are not cannibalized by mere mindless entertainment.” - David Mathis


Welcome back readers. This one was sent out a little later in the day because I was busy welcoming my third child! Time to stay durable to take care of this growing pack of daughters we have.

Last Friday you got my take on fasting and were challenged with a shoulder mobility test. I strongly recommend building some mobility work into your workouts, especially if these mobility tests are challenging for you. It does not have to be long, complicated work. It can often simply be strength training with intention: using good form and full range of motion. 



Fit Tip: Navigating Fitness Advice

The world of health and fitness has expanded over recent years which means there are a lot of people with a lot of opinions offering information out there. The internet is so flooded with fitness advice, it can be hard to know what to trust. Here are a few tips to help you weed through all the information.

  1. Watch out for anyone trying to sell something. Do not get your advice from an ad. The shirtless VShredz guy who eats pizza and stays jacked has nothing special to offer you. There is no ONE exercise, piece of equipment, biohack, or supplement that will make a dramatic impact on your fitness journey; only consistently doing the simple things: lifting, eating well, moving, and sleeping. 

  2. Be wary of clickbait. If you are finding health and fitness advice online, you will come across a lot of “STOP doing this wrong!” type of clips or thumbnails. They are just playing the game of getting clicks. It is not necessarily bad advice every time, just be aware that this is the kind of approach that gets clicks and that is why the content creators use it. The content I linked in the next section is a perfect example of useful information that has a click-bait title that has almost nothing to do with the video. 

  3. Avoid the temptation to major in the minors. Many influencers love to dive into the minutia of health or performance. Most likely, this is not the info you need. Why stress about the optimal timing of your protein intake when you have never even consistently got enough protein anyway? Why delve into the research behind cold plunging when you have never gone 3 months consistently working out 3 days a week? Master the things that make the biggest difference before being sold on trivialities. 

  4. Watch out for media or professionals who always have the answer. Everyone is different and the body is complicated. Some exercises can be done several different ways. There are so many factors to fitness that often an answer should begin with, “it depends.”

  5. Transparency and accuracy also belong on this short list. Good advice should have some scientific backing and those offering it should explain the rationale behind their recommendations. 




Content: YouTube Clip on Running I HATED Running… Until I Learned This One Trick! If You Run & Don't Do This, Start Now!

First, let me clarify my opinion on running and other cardio. Many people assume I am anti-running because I am constantly preaching weight-lifting. Untrue. Running is great. I often think of running as one of the most basic survival skills. I am simply anti-only-running. This video explains well why only running causes you to miss out on a lot more potential health benefits and even makes you more likely to be injured. This short YouTube clip is taken from a great podcast episode about exercise and how it relates to long-term health affecting even the brain and bones. 



Challenge for the Week: Take a Tech Break


You know your vices better than I do. Whether it is doom scrolling on your phone or autopilotting to the couch each night for Netflix, choose a screen to take a break from this next week. You set the limit, but make it challenging yet achievable for the week. Also be very specific. (Example: I am setting a 10 minute timer via the settings on my phone for my social media, and I will heed to that timer strictly for the week.) Start now; why wait until Monday when you can…

Win the weekend!


Brad


Durable Dad Training

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cereal is Dessert, Change My Mind

 #24 "What a blessing it is to be tired in the pursuit of a challenge of your own choosing" Fit Tip: There is No Specific Exercise You NEED Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned lifter, there is no one exercise that you MUST include. There are certainly exercises that are fantastic and may provide a lot more benefit than other moves. If these are intimidating and keeping you from lifting weights at all, then relax and forget about them. I also bring this up as a popular social media tactic is to post a short video with this kind of message: "The ONE exercise you need to be doing!" These kind of taglines can make you feel like you are far from optimal and maybe even wasting your time training. Remember, they are just fishing for clicks . If you simply have goals of getting stronger and healthier (aesthetics naturally follow) then no one specific exercise is going to keep you from that. Do what you are comfortable with for a while and progress to other moves as you...
Read more

Core Memories

Issue #14  Core Memories If you want to choose the pleasure of growth, prepare yourself for some pain . -Irvin Yalom Welcome back. I hope this Friday’s fit tip changes the way you workout your core. I have dedicated a fair amount of time to building a strong core, and an equal amount of time avoiding crunches. Recently I have even made a workout plan that completely revolves around strengthening the core. The Iron Core workout (name open to change) has zero traditional situps and is fun and challenging even for an intermediate or advanced weight lifter. Fit Tip: How to Effectively Work the Core Traditional exercises that work the abdominals are often uncomfortable and dreaded by most. The only time I do a crunch is if it is followed by ... wrap supreme . Not only are the endless situps and crunches annoying, they are also ineffective at training the core. Many are using their hip flexors instead of engaging the core when doing situps. Your abs are more than just a poolside aesthet...
Read more

Cold Case

Image
  #18 "Man cannot remake himself without suffering for he is both the marble and the sculptor" C.S. Lewis     Fit Tip: Get Uncomfortable Sometimes There are a lot of things about our convenient modern life that we have found to cause poor health: our lack of manual labor that allows for a sedentary lifestyle, our highly-processed hyper-palatable foods, our smart phones that support a lifestyle lacking real social interactions or moments of boredom. One often overlooked modern convenience is our temperature regulation . We can move from one perfectly conditioned room to a conditioned car to another temperature regulated building every day. Much like hard physical work, our bodies were made to adapt according to conditions far outside of 72 degrees. Your body should be able to regulate temperature well enough that you are not reaching for a blanket if it falls below 65 degrees. While saunas and cold plunges are becoming all the rage, there is proof that even something as si...
Read more