Wild Claims and Unproven Promises
Our fitness and performance industry is rife with unproven promises that hook your attention—a fat that rises to the top of the algorithms. I want to teach you to sniff out false claims like a starving truffle pig.
Claim 1
“This [common training movement] ruins your nervous system.”
Let’s break this down: So one movement—a single movement—“ruins” a nervous system that’s hundreds of millions of years old and built to move? That’s a bold claim. Where’s the proof? Tell me exactly how the movement in question degrades the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves, and then prove it with evidence I can actually see, like a before and after MRI.
Claim 2
“Plyometrics do not increase tendon density.”
What?! How is that possible? But they’re so demanding on tendons!
Those were my initial thoughts.
But it’s true. One study showed that plyometrics fail to increase tendon stiffness, and you want stiff tendons if you plan to jump and/or run. (1) Secondly, a related meta-analysis proved that heavy loads are the best way to make your tendons more robust. (2) This research is why I often prescribe heavy, isolated loads to people’s tendons.
Claim 3
“Deadlifts lead to long-term pain and ruin your walking, running, and just about everything else.”
Vague turns of phrase and audacious assertments trigger my skepticism, and I hope they trigger yours too.
You should be asking yourself how this speaker came to that conclusion. I want you to wonder exactly how lifting weights off the ground generates pain. Ask for proof that deadlifting deteriorates sprinting and walking. Any explanation should be as easily understood as "Pain and car damage comes from wrapping your vehicle around a tree.”
(Pro tip: pain and movement are far too complex for such reductionist thinking.)
Claim 4
“Keeping your heel off the ground prevents Achilles tears.”
If we use the same logic, starvation prevents obesity.
Claim 5
“Bigger, faster, stronger, is better.”
Every year, the NFL combine proves that wrong.
Claim 6
“If you’d stop moving wrong, you’d stop getting hurt. Here are the three things you need to move correctly.”
Movement quality is not everything, nor is it a matter of right and wrong. It is a spectrum. Noncontact injuries and how you move are often a byproduct of how strong or weak certain muscles are. If your soleus is weak, your quad may work harder to decelerate your knee upon every walking or running stride. Specific strengths and weaknesses change movement. (Read this post if you want to know more.)
Food for thought: If your tendons, muscles, and ligaments can afford the extra wear and tear of poor movement, is it still “poor”?
One more thing, specific muscle or tendon capacities play a role in injury. If you lack specific tissue capacity in areas you need for your yearly ski trip, like your quads, you’re walking into risk. Do you think your thighs are ready for a weekend of slopes when it’s been 364 days since the last time you sat on a gondola?
Claim 7
“Sprinting is the only exercise you need.”
Really? Then why do sprinters get hurt? Why are there mountains of research proving the benefits of zone two cardio, and weight training for power production, longevity, hormonal and tendon health?
Claim 8
“90 degrees is the only joint angle you need to train.”
Where are the right angles in nature? Where are they in the animal kingdom? Where are they in the peer-reviewed papers?
We all intend to help each other, and make a bit of coin doing so, but this movement, fitness, and performance stuff is complicated. If it were as simple as any of the above claims make it out to be, we wouldn’t have as many problems as we currently face, and everyone would punch their ticket to the Olympics.
So, three things:
First, respect the intricacy of movement, skill, health, and performance. Topics can be intricate and explained simply. Do not settle for someone who speaks in tongues so twisted that only researchers can decipher.
Look for the respect of complexity in whoever you trust with your body and ideas. We must look for the understanding of nuances in our chosen leaders. Even admission of ignorance is a badge of trustworthiness.
Next, learn to notice when people make claims.
Wonder how that person got to that conclusion, how they went from A to M, how they went from “common training movement” to “ruins nervous system.” Maybe he leapt over logic, or he read sixteen papers. It doesn’t matter. Just spot the claim like you’re playing Where’s Waldo?, Rationality Edition.
Thirdly, ask for evidence, anecdotal or academic. Or inquire about his reasoning—not all answers need to be peer-reviewed literature; some can be an expert’s logic. But any answer must stand up against simple questions like the ones I asked above.
Citations
Kubo, Keitaro, Tomonobu Ishigaki, and Toshihiro Ikebukuro. "Effects of plyometric and isometric training on muscle and tendon stiffness in vivo." Physiological reports 5, no. 15 (2017): e13374.
Bohm, Sebastian, Falk Mersmann, and Adamantios Arampatzis. "Human tendon adaptation in response to mechanical loading: a systematic review and meta-analysis of exercise intervention studies on healthy adults." Sports medicine-open 1, no. 1 (2015): 1-18.
Cholewicki, Jacek, Alan Breen, John M. Popovich Jr, N. Peter Reeves, Shirley A. Sahrmann, Linda R. Van Dillen, Andry Vleeming, and Paul W. Hodges. "Can biomechanics research lead to more effective treatment of low back pain? A point-counterpoint debate." journal of orthopaedic & sports physical therapy 49, no. 6 (2019): 425-436.