Happy Tuesday! It’s time for another edition of Tuesday Topics.This week’s Tuesday Topic: What’s the worse fitness advice you’ve ever received? You can write about this or any running related blog post. Remember to link-up with Kim and Zenaida and the bottom of this post!
Luckily I have received more good advice than bad advice over the past few years, especially when it comes to running. Any time I have received bad advice, I know that the person’s heart was in the right place, but they were just ill-informed. Here are a few examples of bad fitness advice I’ve received.
Don’t run. It’s bad for your knees
Yes, running can be bad for your knees…if you’re wearing the wrong sneakers. I definitely learned that the hard way. But other than that, I don’t believe this to be true.
You won’t lose weight if you eat carbs
Yeah…no, just NO. I love carbs and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with eating them. Now you probably shouldn’t eat 3 bagels a day but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with good carbs like whole grains, sweet potatoes, etc. I really hate when people say you have to eliminate “x” in order to lose weight because it’s just not true.
Don’t lift weights – you’ll get too bulky
I’ve been doing strength training for years now and..shocker..I don’t look bulky at all. I often wonder if only women receive this advice?
You have to run “X” amount of miles weekly while marathon training
There’s no magic number of miles you have to cover in order to train for a marathon. There are so many different training plans available and as always, you have to do what’s best for you.
Tell me: What’s the worst fitness advice you’ve ever received?
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Everyone’s got an opinion about training, that’s for sure! Great topic. i’ve heard the runner’s knees one more times than I can count and the strength training one too. I was told a few times that my uterus would fall out from running too. Good thing I don’t have one anymore, lol!
One of the physicians in my office is a former 3 hour marathoner and he feels like he knows everything. Ugh.
I can’t believe someone told you that your uterus would fall out from running – that’s crazy!!
Oh yes, I’ve heard the knee one too!
Somebody once told me it’s bad for your lungs to run in sub-zero temperatures. I thought about it but then remembered the cross-country skiers and other winter athletes who mostly exert themselves in sub-zero temperatures and dismissed the “advice”.
Other than that, I am like you quite lucky that most of the advice was sound!
I’ve heard something similar about running in super cold temperatures too. I do think that people mean well, but some of the advice sounds so crazy lol.
I agree that most “bad ” advice is usually well-intentioned. After all, we know what has worked for us, and we feel obligated to share our knowledge with others. I had to nod my head at Catrina’s comment about the cold weather…I have run outside through the past 14 winters now, and I have seldom been sick through the “cold and flu season.” If anything, all of that cold weather training (much as I dislike cold weather) has strengthened my immunity. It’s certainly strengthened my “too much grit to quit” mentality 😉
I agree! People look at me like I’m nuts when I say I prefer running in cold weather vs warm weather.
It’s funny, when I thought about this topic the knee thing is what came to mind.
You can hurt your knees running, for sure, and not necessarily just due to shoes. But here I am still running & the knees are ok. Most of the people that said that have come around to see I’m better when I run, even though it seems as though there’s always a pesky ache somewhere.
Laughing about your typo when you wrote eat 3 bagels a day. 😊 Now I will say for, as for many people, I have to watch carbs more as I get older. But I will never cut them out completely!
I think we have all heard the “running is bad for your knees” advice. I’ve had a few running related injuries and really none have been my knees.
I just noticed that typo, LOL. Obviously my mind wanted me to eat all the bagels today.
Everyone is different.
Now I don’t listen.
My knees are fine.
I don’t run more than 20 miles a week. And I have run over 40 halfs and one full.
I don’t strength train or stretch or foam roll. But I do listen to my body. But my body is different than your body.
I don’t give advice other than if you want to, you can.
I agree – I only give advice if asked and I always say “What works for me may not work for you”.
Don’t come at me with the “no-carbs BS”… LOL I come from the land of bread and potatoes… 🙂
I think pizza should be a food group so I can totally relate, lol.
For years I was afraid to lift heavy weights bc I thought I would bulk up and gain weight! In running, more is not always better 🙂
Couldn’t agree more about the running! Being more conservative with my miles has really made me feel so much better about running.
I think every woman on the planet has been told that lifting will make us bulky. And lol on running being bad for our knees! I feel like one tenth of one percent of runners I know have knee problems.
Right?! It’s so frustrating because I have never heard someone tell a man they will get too bulky by lifting weights.
I agree with everything you wrote about the carbs, your knees, lifting weights, and marathon training. Lots of that bad advice is given by non-runners. Probably the worst advice I ever got was from a PT who told me to stop running. I found a new PT ASAP! 🙂
Wow! I can’t believe a PT actually said that to you – unbelievable.
How many times do experts have to debunk the knee thing? I think people hold on to it for a reason that justifies why they don’t run.
I agree with you! That’s the only reason for people to still hold onto that myth.