I’m kinda thinking he likes it…I’m going to be straight with you: I’ve been grading SAT essays until midnight every night for the past week. Spending that much time with the profundities of high schoolers has made me crabby and bitter. I’m thisclose to grabbing the next teenager I see and screaming, “SURELY YOU CAN COME UP WITH BETTER SUBJECT MATTER THAN THE KARDASHIANS FOR YOUR COLLEGE ENTRANCE EXAMS!!!” You’d be amazed at how often reality TV stars come up on this test. Although I shouldn’t complain; at least it saves me from the 500 nearly identical essays on The Scarlet Letter.
Anyhow, all this bitterness (read: exhaustion) has spilled over into my everyday pursuits and consequently every health & fitness article I’ve read in the past week has crawled under my skin and irritated me like so many baby spiders waiting to be born by scratching my arm with a fork. (What? You never heard that urban legend?!) Anyone else ever notice how health & fitness mags seem to recycle the same 5 stories over and over again? Yeah.
5 Fitness Trends I Wish Would Die Already
1. Superfoods. Avocados, acai berries, fish – hey, do you read the stickers on your bananas? – everything is a “superfood” these days. The funny thing is that most often they are the simplest foods we have. Fruits, veggies, seeds and other natural goodies have finally gotten the scientific stamp of approval and boy those scientists are letting us know. I like to feel good about what I eat as much as the next health nut but I object to the word “superfood.” I think we all pretty much know that if it comes out of the ground it’s good and if it comes out of a box, then it’s not as good – enough with the false distinctions and hyperbole already. When my banana grows a cape and rescues my toddler from a speeding bullet, then you can slap a sticker on it and call it super.
2. Treadmill workouts. Why is it that every single cardio workout listed in a magazine is on the treadmill? First, it is the world’s most boring piece of fitness equipment ever. Yes, I use one but only when I have no other options and certainly not every day. No wonder people think they don’t like to workout. Second, it is the world’s simplest piece of fitness equipment. You can change the speed and you can change the incline. On really fancy ones you can make it run backwards. Everything else like preprogrammed “fat burning” workouts are just changeups of the speed and incline. Does anyone really do those workouts that say “Jog 1 minute at speed 5. Run 1 minute at speed 6, incline 2. Repeat 8 times.”? Try intramural soccer or play co-ed dodgeball – there’s intervals for you and you’ll be having so much fun that you won’t even worry about what your calorie burn is!
3. The “uniform.” In a world with Nike Dance Line, Athleta, Puma and Richard Simmons, you’d think fitness models would get to wear something besides a teeny-tiny cami in a bright color with spandex booty shorts in an equally bright yet contrasting color. (Yeah, yeah, I read that one article that one time about running skirts too.) There is a whole world of fun workout stuff out there! Bring on the maternity gear! The tennis dresses! The ironic t-shirts!! And somebody please please bring back sweatbands. I’m serious on this one. They’re so functional! And my face gets so sweaty! My other pet peeve is the ubiquity of the Perfect Ponytail. It’s always the same Pony in the same spot on the back of the model’s head. Even when she is demonstrating Pilates techniques thereby making the rest of us feel really sorry for her because you can’t lay flat on your back if you have a ponytail sticking straight out of your head. What I wouldn’t pay to see a model with a high side pony a la Deb on Napolean Dynamite!
4. The “Lose 10 Pounds” Diets. Don’t get me wrong on this one – I have gotten many a good recipe from health & fitness articles. What bugs me are those spreads where they plan out every bite you eat for a week (or a month or a lifetime). It’s not that they exist – certainly there is a need for that kind of detailed instruction especially when you are first starting out – but it’s that they are in every. single. mag. every. single. month. Oh, and they also bug me because the only way anyone would ever lose 10 pounds on them is if they represent a radical change to your current diet. Why waste 20 useable pages every month when you could write about something we haven’t heard about a million times – like trapeze workouts or rock climbing or, be still my heart, actual research!
5. The Advertorials. I saved this one for last because I hate nothing more than to get a magazine in the mail only to discover the headline: “Top 100 Fitness Products!” or “We tested 500 products and tell you what’s hot and what’s not!” or my personal fave, “The Health Products You Can’t Live Without!” (Well, I’m not using your product now and last I checked I’m still alive…) It might as well say, “Companies give us a lot of free swag and we pay back the favor by telling you to buy their really expensive stuff with page after page of glossy pictures of things that you don’t need, can’t afford and aren’t as good as we say they are anyhow.” Is there anyone out there who has really bought a pair of running shoes because they read in a mag that it was the best for their foot type? Why would you do that when you could go to an actual running store and have an actual person watch your gait and then recommend an actual shoe for you to try on? A close second on my hate list are the “gift lists” that come out for every conceivable holiday. I have never once looked at “25 things your mom will love this mother’s day” and seen anything my mom would like for a price I could afford.
Well, okay, then. I’ve probably alienated about half of you – feel free to rant back at me in the comments – but I must say, I do feel better. Anyone else have a health or fitness trend that they think is way overdone?
Ohm Hon, I am with you!! These are some of the many reasons I stopped reading "fitness" magazines.
Some others: Perky 19 year-old models in "Banish Your Cellulite" articles, ads for dangerous fat burners or other "health supplements," "success" stories that make it sound SO easy to lose weight (just give up soda and walk your dog!), fad diet tips, articles about folks whose lives are SO MUCH BETTER because they're THIN! ("I lost 50 pounds and became a better person! In fact, I'm nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year!")…well, I could go on. And on. And on and on, but I won't. I'm sure many others will have their magazine pet peeves.
Thank you. Good article.
SKINNY.
(replaced by STRONG. "Get STRONG in SIX WEEK!!" (30 DAYS TO THE STRONGEST BODY YOUVE EVER HAD!!")
Great list!
And I'm cracking up about that pilates pony tail observation, since I not being a pilates person I never would have caught that.
The thing I hate are when respectable fitness mags that should know better keep pushing the idea that you can spot reduce fat off your arms or belly or thighs by doing certain exercises. YOU CAN'T SPOT REDUCE!
However, I am a sucker for superfoods. I love the idea that some foods are so packed full of nutrients that they'll drastically reduce my chances of getting cancer or save me from Alzheimers or give me x-ray vision.
Okay, this isn't going to be popular – the carseat. I am absolutely for keeping your child safe in a carseat. What I am tired of is self-righteous mothers who turn the details into a moral issue. I read an online forum for moms and today I read one mom berating another because she bought a carseat at a garage sale and was concerned about it's safety. This other mother called her "immoral" for buying it in the first place.
A few months back – same forum. A mom asked if she could get a safe and economical carseat because she didn't have $400 to buy the latest Britax. Every response was some form of "If you really loved you child, you would buy it." I posted that there were safe seats out there for less and I had 16 replies to my comment that were nothing short of hostile. I even had one mom send me a personal message saying I needed to keep my mouth shut because I was endangering the lives of other people's children.
I guess I am just tired of mothers who react to those of us who let their 6 year olds be in a $50 booster – not a $400 5 point harness as if we were dangling our children off the balcony by their ankles. I think the "health and safety" concern is a false pretense. I think it's about pride and superiority in parenting and I wish the trend would die.
Great post, Charlotte! I can count on one hand the number of really good things I have saved/remembered from some 30 years of reading magazines. One was a terrific recipe for home-cooked beans…… dang, now I can't remember the other one.
And a note to Shellie and her comment regarding car seats. How on earth did humanity survive all these years without those expensive carseats? Sounds to me as though some of the women on that forum must be employees of Britax!!!!
I don't know if I should really comment today since I'm sure most of the high school kids produce better prose than any attempt I take on.
I tend to walk away from any magazine these days and get my take on the world from many different points of view. Newspaper articles from the NY Times, Washington Post as well as the BBC helps give me a basic sense of what's happening. If a story looks interesting, I dig a little deeper with places like ABC News, Fox News or CBS News. They all produce a different spin on just about any story.
As for health and fitness stuff, I stay with the blogs since here's where I'll get the "real stuff".
And Shellie I think you're just be over protective. When I was I kid I was tossed in the back seat with my other brothers and sisters without seatbelts on a slick vinyl seats with a hump in the middle.
Shellie, try planning a wedding. The planning and etiquette board of the knot is the most hate-filled place I've ever been. I made the mistake of saying that I wasn't paying for my wedding, and was flamed like you wouldn't believe. Then I realized that, if a poster was liked by two or three other posters (who had been married for at least a year already and were hanging around a wedding planning site. When I expressed surprise at that, I became hated.), that person would be praised for whatever she did, while a less-popular commenter would be flamed for the same thing.
So I did an experiment. One day, I asked about registry stuff, wanting to know if I should make sure everyone could afford everything on the registry, and if I needed to come up with something for every guest or not, and was flamed, the posters telling me that no one "needed" to bring a gift, and that I was tacky and too immature to get married, so I should cancel the whole thing (nice).
A week later, I posted a question about how guests should be thanked if they didn't bring a gift (none of these gifted intellectual beings realized that my wedding was over a year away, despite my having a wedding ticker in my signature). I asked if I should thank the guests for their presence at the wedding. The genral thought was that I should send those guests a flaming bag of dog poop, as it's tacky to go to a wedding without a gift. So it's tacky to expect a guest to bring a gift but tacky for a guest not to bring anything, according to an etiquette board.
I stopped using the site the next day.
Charlotte! You're becoming positively… Cranky here 😉
(That kind of thing happens if you hang around Crabby a lot.)
Great post!
Awesome list! The only change I'd make would be to expand "lose 10 pounds diets" to anything that promises a "bikini body"—especially anything that promises a "bikini body" within a set timeframe. I'm ready to shove a bikini up the butt of the next person who tries to tell me that this or that diet/exercise program will get me "bikini ready."
I totally agree on the "superfoods" fad. It's like they just showed up today on the Earth.
Pomegranates is the other thing that drives me bonkers. Now it's mixed in everything. You got pomegranates in my peanut butter!
Superfoods – I hear ya. It's like someone says something is good for you in a researcha rticle and then it get marketed to death. The whole moderation thing just never seems to make it's way through. It made it easier to get pomogranate juice so I can't complain too much… 🙂
My peeve is the "all natural and healthy" suppliments. I am a lab rat and I often get friends and family telling me about products and health regimes and they ask me to lok into them for them before they take them…and most of them are not FDA approved and some are downright dangerous or just a waste of money. Everyone looks for the magic quick fix pill for health…and these magazines just keep trying to give it to them…
I mostly read running magazines, but I'm always amazed that they can keep coming up with new training plans to advertise like "5 weeks to your fastest 5K" and "run your best 10K this summer" etc. It's the same variety of workouts in a different order with a paragraph or two about which famous runner recently won a certain race following this magical schedule.
You definitely didn't alienate me. Everything you mentioned bugs me too. Of course I avoid it by never reading those mags anyway. That goes for all those similar books out there too.
Cream puff articles, endless bullet points and lists, cookie cutter, same old same old said over and over again in different and not so different ways. Stuff that is either flat out incorrect, or exercises that are way too advanced (even though the mag may be perceived to be for "everybody". Endless ads. The fashion (as you mentioned) AND the mags are not cheap!
Not to mention studies that don't prove anything!
When I train people I do my best to stay away from this kind of thinking…. period!
A while back I switched from the Glamor/Cosmo type magazines to Fitness/Shape. By a while back, I mean 15 years or so…
Recently, I'd started looking at them and thinking how they weren't really much different. Replace some of the words and they are the same articles.
"10 moves for the best sex you've ever had."
"10 moves for the best body you've ever had."
I agree with Tom Rooney… I go to the blogs for the "real stuff". You (and others like Miz Fit) offer better information, better researched articles, wider variety of topics and you make me laugh on a regular basis.
You're also cheap and easy. And I mean that in the best most respectful way!!
I am with you all the way on this one. I read them to try to help motivate me, but they truly are repeating the same stuff over and over. And over.
I will go insane if I ever see another headline about "Walk away the weight." I've got nothing against walking, but it's like the "Lose 10 Pounds" thing: Every. Single. Issue. And seriously, do people need instructions on how to walk? Brilliant observations like "Increase your distance each week"?
Can I chime back in on the mothering sites?
AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!!!!
It's all about status, not safety. These same women who spend all their time online blasting other moms for not loving their children enough are the same ones who hire multiple nannies to raise their kids.
A few years ago we were in Mexico, and there were NO car seats used! Drivers were,-GASP- CONSIDERATE of one another!!!!!
Ok, on the whole child carseat thing, there is actually evidence to support that they're not as necessary as you think they are. Watch this link, it's like 20m long, but it is very very interesting, especially if you're in need of some support for not deciding to buy your child the most new-fangled, high-tech booster seat available. Really, it seems long, but it's worth the watch.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/steven_levitt_on_child_carseats.html
Great post. I hate the advertorials. They are just the worst and I hate the fact that they prey on people's weaknesses.
The link didn't seem to publish properly in the first comment, here it is as a tinyURL!
http://tiny.cc/3vJ24
I'm a new reader and love your blog!
I can't stand that 1/2 of the mags (esp. Oxygen) are filled with the supplement ads and "before and after" photos-page after page. (a super ripped friend told me someone from one of those companies asked her to gain 30 pounds for $10,000 and be in an ad- they reverse the "before and after" Gasp!!!
I'm also getting a little bit sick of Robert Kennedy (publisher of Oxygen and husband of Tosca Reno) pimping EVERYTHING about her and her products and accomplishments. I mean, she's an impressive near-50 year old with a great story, but still!!
I'm a new reader and love your blog!
I can't stand that 1/2 of the mags (esp. Oxygen) are filled with the supplement ads and "before and after" photos-page after page. (a super ripped friend told me someone from one of those companies asked her to gain 30 pounds for $10,000 and be in an ad- they reverse the "before and after" Gasp!!!
I'm also getting a little bit sick of Robert Kennedy (publisher of Oxygen and husband of Tosca Reno) pimping EVERYTHING about her and her products and accomplishments. I mean, she's an impressive near-50 year old with a great story, but still!!
Also while I'm irked, those "banish your cellulite" articles (per azusmom)have models that you KNOW popped out of the womb rail thin who never have been able to squeeze one dimple anywhere on their bodies!
With you for sure. Magazines are insane. And yet I continue to buy them. It's ridiculous.
Lots of good points! I hate to say but I use the treadmill & just do everything manually so I can program in whatever I want from steady state, to HIIT to incline jog or walk or backwards walking or side stepping or lunges so I do think you can make it different. BUT, it would be nice to see more other machine workouts. I have seen more lately but not anything compared to the treadmill. I guess because more people use it.
I hate the pharmaceutical ads in the mags these days! Too many. I also don't like how some fitnmess mags have turned to mostly beauty stuff. I do like to read or look at them though just to find new exercise options. I do like Oxygen for that reason since I am a weights person BUT I do agree with the other commenter on Robert Kennedy pushing all his wife's books & products. I also like to see food recipes but not necessarily plans. I do know that some people need the "play by play" so I am sure that is for those readers.
As for superfoods, I just like reading what certain foods can & can't do for us but I don't eat something just because if I don't like it!
I really hate the whole spot reduce thing too. Drives me crazy!
I love that you are putting this out there. Why not!
When I became interested in fitness last year, I started buying fitness magazines. I stopped after about six months, since I found them inane and no help at all.
First of all, I am obese. There is no way on earth I could do half of the things the models in these articles were doing. This can be very discouraging for fat people, who really are intimidated by the whole idea of exercise to begin with.
Then, the models depicted in these magazines are always sculpted to within an inch of their lives… Why not show some (well-groomed, of course) larger models demonstrating some exercises? We are left with the idea that unless you look like that, you shouldn't exercise in public!
I do love the treadmill… Not as much as the great outdoors for walking/running, but in winter it's a godsend. I mostly work on my speed and do intervals. Great workout and I'm getting good results.
The thing that bugs me is the fascination with technology. These monitors that measure heart rate and calories burned (what nonsense) just alienate us further from our bodies. How about monitoring the intensity of your workout by your breathing and perceptions? And no piece of equipment can tell you how much calories you've just burned. That is determined by much much more than what these devices can measure, like how well your body is functioning, your acidity, how hydrated you are and your body temperature. Our bodies are highly individual and these things fluctuate wildly, not only from one person to the next, but from one hour to the next! Yet, people are transfixed by these fictional numbers!
Like some of the previous commentors said, I get my fitness info from bloggers and I'm doing just great now.
Okay, I have to be honest. I've actually bought some of the stuff that have been on those "lists" of the "best" whatevers. I like to read reviews of say, workout DVDs or a particular shoe. My current workout/running (when I bother, that is!) shoes were recommended in a mag for overpronaters–when I got to the store, they couldn't show me a SINGLE shoe for my problem. So I was super happy I paid attention.
Oh, and when I used to have the gym membership, I often tried the funny workouts from the mags, cuz I got bored! And I'm not a "groupie" type of person.
But I do hear ya and understand where you're coming from. Esp. the diet-for-a-month menus–who can stick with those? They are expensive and often have weird foods I don't keep in my house! Plus, we do occasionally like to go out to a restaurant!
I have another story of a "before and after" model…
my mom's friend was in one of those and had a COMPLETELY altered pic of her pushing her stomach out as the "before" in bad lighting… and the "after" was a picture of her, after using this "miracle pill"… while in fact this woman has been working her bum off and dieting for about 50 years straight… bleh…
1. Yeah, seriously. I mean I'm all for getting people to eat healthy but when they call something like avocado a "superfood", people like my mom down a bunch of it, not paying attention to calories, and then wonder why they've gained 5 lbs.
2. I never knew how bored I was on the treadmill before I started running outside. When I started, I was new to running and got a kick out of it that I *could* run. Now I dread when I miss my morning window before work and have to hit the gym after.
The rest, I agree with, but don't have anything useful to add. I've been having a stressful few weeks at work and I find myself, normally a calm driver, with some road rage lately….hmmm…
Your cynacism is apparent. I agree about the workout wear on the fitness models though. I heart my running skirts and think that a tennis outfit would be a wicked thing to showcase. The lose 10 pounds workout is an industry staple that takes up atleast 8 pages and as you've proven doesn't work. Sigh.
My Pilates Goddess, Patience Owens, loves for her students to wear ponytails because when properly placed, they help us lie flat on our backs. She was student of Ramona and has been voted "best of" in Philadelphia. If ponytails facilitate Patience, then I say Pilates & ponytails are like hair and holder.
My favorite over-priced "inexpensive must have" fitness item was a large yellow leather bag/purse that cost around 400 hundred dollars.
I guess I wish more people would work out outside. There's something great about the out-of-doors that reaches more than just our muscles.
That's it. Great list, Charlotte!
Hi! I'm new to your blog but so far I'm loving it! I'm actually a newbie: this week will be my 4th consecutive week of working out atleast 5 times per week and gradually working on healthier food intake. My question is: do you drink any protein shakes or any of those protein related products? Would you recommend this? I've never touched any of this stuff and I'm not sure if I should…
Thanks!
Dre
I definitely buy the things I see in magazines…and on the gift lists! I agree with all your other observations, but I love hearing about new products. I still do my research to find out more before I buy, but I love knowing what's out there.
Dre – Welcome and thanks for reading! For the long answer to your protein question, check out my post "How Much Protein Do You Need?" The short answer is no, I don't like protein powders. They're too processed for me:)
I always hated the Runner's World shoe review issues.
Great post! I would add to that the 'lose in only 10 minutes per day' workouts and the beauty tips that masquerade as health tips (take vitamin E to look younger, choose the right make-up for your skin so you don't ruin it…). That always make me realize that the health industry is nothing more than the same old beauty industry in a new package. And that I'm way better off doing my own research.
The articles that tell you "don't fear fat!" and then proceed to explain that there are such things as healthy fats.
No way! Wow! What cutting edge research! Oh heavens, whatever may the sources be? Perhaps almonds/avocado/fatty fish/etc. ad nauesum?
I'm trying to remember that there may be people who are just now learning rudimentary nutrition (read-I'm trying not to be a snotty beotch). But, people, seriously. You'd have to be living under a rock to not know about the fat thing.
Also, thank you very much for addressing my sex drive/workout question.
I totally agree, and I would add "results not typical" in the weight loss ads. However, if they actually printed the typical results – they probably wouldn't sell anything!
You are funny!
Can I also have an amen for the Supercleanse or the Mastercleanse or any other diet that involves lemonade and hot sauce.
(Although lemonade and hot sauce would be acceptable if they hot sauce was on buffalo wings-just saying)
If you want to crap alot, just eat a whole lot of fruit.
Re "Lose 10 Pounds" diets…the only way anyone would ever lose 10 pounds on them is if they represent a radical change to your current diet.
Too true! This kind of tripe must keep selling magazines though.
If we both start wearing sweatbands – can we start a new trend? I really want them to come back!
Hello! I understand this is somewhat off-topic but I had to ask.
Does building a well-established blog like yours require a massive amount work?
I am completely new to operating a blog but I do
write in my journal everyday. I’d like to start a blog so I can easily share my experience and feelings online. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or tips for brand new aspiring blog owners. Appreciate it!
Admiring the time and energy you put into your
site and detailed information you offer. It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same unwanted rehashed material.
Great read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS
feeds to my Google account.
Hello my family member! I want to say that this post is amazing, great written and include approximately all vital infos.
I would like to peer extra posts like this .