The 5 Dumbest Fitness Myths I Fell For

As an established “expert” — aka the revered “guru” of all things fitness — the desire to share only those stories that place oneself in the best possible light is totally understandable.

No one is eager to look the part of the fool especially these days in the “I’m so cool” world of social media.

Yet, you don’t spend three decades in any field — especially health and fitness — without a developing a running list of silly, embarrassing and downright stupid mistakes along the way.

I can assure you I am no exception to falling for myths and misunderstanding that look nothing short of asinine in the rear view mirror of life. Given the time I have no doubt this list of the foolhardy moves I’ve made could go on and on.

Yet, one has to start somewhere in documenting the dark-side of three decades in fitness.

So, without further adieu, here are 5 of the damned dumbest fitness myths I’ve made the mistake of falling for over the years.

(While you’re reading, if you have one of your own rise up, please share it at the bottom. It’ll be fun to build a long list of all the stuff we can come up with)

1. Low fat makes for low body fat

Three things you can always be sure of: Death, taxes and the diet of dejour.

Low carb, high carb, high protein, high fat… etc. Rest assured the arguments and energy of whatever is hot now will pass too.

Yet, it is safe to say that I trust the extreme low fat diet practices of the late 80’s and early 90’s will never, ever rise again.

The thinking was simple — truly simplistic. Fat makes you fat. Thus, if you want to get lean eat single digit fat. Like near to none!

Hell, I recall writing bad stuff about avocados and salmon. Seriously. Go ahead, read that again.

Did I get lean? Hell yes. But was it healthy? Hell no. I’m surprised my eyes didn’t stick shut and my skin crack off.

I survived it but in hindsight, knowing what we know about the essential nature of fats for overall health, including hormones and brain function, I can assure you I never ever wanna do that again.

Now, this doesn’t mean I think 80% fat keto like model is the answer… But certainly a healthy amount of fat in your diet is vitally important.

2. Wide grip pulldowns make for a wide back

Once again, a trick of simple thinking that continues to fuel this false belief: Want a wide back use a wide grip. Right?

Wrong.

Truth is the wide grip style pulldowns actually shortens the range of motion while placing excessive and unnatural stress on the shoulder.

I’m not sure when i finally figured this out — probably sometime in my 20’s while I was building the science of PowerBuilding.

But once you actually understand that a narrow grip actually increases the range of motion, improves the muscle stimulus and allows you to lift more weight — you never ever will go back to the limiting wide grip style. I promise. Never.

3. Cardio Eats Muscle Like a Hungry T-Rex

Oh man… When you’re a young wanna be bodybuilder it’s all about muscle, muscle and more muscle. Anything that might rob you of an ounce of muscle is nothing short of evil. And this includes the dreaded cardio.

Hence, for the first decade of my muscle building life, walking from the car to the gym was my version of cardio.

As I’ve come to cure myself of the muscle devouring myths of cardio, I’ve come to embrace not just the pleasure and fat burning benefits but the joy of having true endurance capacity.

Lesson: Stop panicking about losing muscle and embrace the joy of being truly fit.

4. PowerLifting Squats are essential to growth

I loved squatting. And I hated it.

I loved it because it fit my body well and my legs developed fast and strong.

I hated it because it was always a balls to the wall challenge event. In the early days it looked like a 90 minute powerlifting contest. Bars bending, nose bleeding. Knees wrapped, two belts on. Insanity.

Fact is I didn’t need to go this big and heavy to develop my legs fully. I more likely did it because it was good for the ego.

And in the long run this heavy, heavy training has done more damage to my discs and lower back that can never be undone than I care to see on the MRI.

There are a lot of ways to train legs to considerable size that don’t involve twice weekly powerlifting sessions.

Wish I’d had this advice 30 years ago.

5. A Vertically Striped Spandex Bodysuit is Cool Training Attire

Like I said, I’ve made a lot of mistakes but none more obnoxiously loud and absurd than the era of vertically striped, Hot Skins, one piece bodysuits for training.

No excuses need to be made. Just one photo should serve to adequately punish me for this fashion faux pa. Oh my… :0

(see above photo with ex-pro Tony Pearson)

There are mine. How about yours?

Well, there’s five of my dumbest mistakes over the decades. Fact is we all make mistakes.

What is one of yours?

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