This morning I read a blog that I found inspiring. Was it the blog of the fitness model who eats only what she pulls from her own garden? No. I'd starve, my garden sucks. I can't even grow corn. Maybe the lady who lost 125 pounds and now swears by her $600 cleanses? Nope. It was the blog by the fitness model/trainer who stood up against CrossFit. It inspired me because he stood against it for the same reasons I do. I'm not the only one! It's nice, when you're standing in the least popular corner in the fitness world, to have company.
So why do I stand against CrossFit? The same reason I stand against Isagenix, Advocare, fad diets, extreme diets, Insanity, Beach Body, Shakeology, etc., etc. Bring on the deluge of hate comments. It's cool, because here it is: They're Bull Shit. I think what most people fail to realize is that these "life-changing" companies do what corporations do best; target a specific market, convince that specific market that the company produces a need that cannot be met anywhere else, create a demand, and charge premium for that demand. If you think that any of these corporations are doing any of this for any other reason than profit than you are delusional.
Lets start with CrossFit. I have the least beef with them, because they're not so much a breach of ethics to me as just a bit misled. I have good friends in CF (at least until they read this, then it will be "had good friends" I'm sure) and I will say they are some ripped people! It's the way they got there, though. Do you want your body to work 20 years from now? Yes? Do you want titanium knees? No? Then don't do CF. The majority of their exercises are ones that should be done with caution and care to form. Never for speed. Never for a ridiculous number of reps. Kipping pull-ups, if you don't know what you're doing proficiently, can mess up your back like you wouldn't believe. Same with deadlifts, squats, muscle ups, etc. CF is supposed to train their clients correctly, they should be experts at form, but they're not. Like I said, most boxes are misled, rushing their clients into things they aren't ready for. If you want your body to last its full life span, treat it right. You wouldn't expect a car to last very long if you did 20 burnouts on it every day.
Now to the "Cleansers". Ughhhhhhhhh, I HATE that word! That is the most bull shit buzzword in the fitness industry right now. Your body has been cleansing itself since the day you were born. It does not need a few hundred dollars worth of herbs and enzymes to do the trick. There is no "cellular cleanse", that is not scientifically possible. What happens, in fact, is that as the human body burns the fat contained in fat cells (the cells only shrink, they aren't destroyed. Only true starvation destroys fat cells), the "toxins" that are stored in the cells recycle through the liver and are flushed out by the liver. If your body truly "flushed" out all the "toxins" stored in it over a, oh, say 9-day period (Isagenix 9 Day Deep Cleanse) you would probably die.
"What is clear, however, is that detox schemes — such as fasting or extreme juicing or herbal cleaning solutions — do not seem to make any difference in removing toxins. This might be a good thing, because a sudden, true release of toxins from where they were stored could send the body into shock." (Wanjek, 2013).
The massive weight loss that occurs in participants in these programs is caused by the healthy eating spectrum of the program. What makes me laugh is the people who complain that they can't lose weight and then go home and down a couple of beers every night. (Nothing wrong with beer, I love it!) Finally, out of desperation, they pay big money for these cleansing programs, which instructs them to cut out beer every night. So they do, and magically the pounds fall off. All in all, they are paying big money for accountability. If you pay me that big money, I'll accountability the crap out of you! Just saying.
Last but not least, as I stand up here on my soapbox, the sandwiches and the pyramids. Don't ask me if I want to sell Isagenix, because I guarantee I will go ape-shit on you. I cringe whenever I see "Beach Body Certified". Multilevel Marketing. Why not? That is, after all, the cash cow of marketing. Ohhhh the money they make and the hearts they break! I will reiterate this one more time. The corporation does not care about you. They care about one more person selling their product and recruiting for them. In fact, the more people you recruit, the wider their reach, and they didn't have to do a damn thing. There's a reason "pyramid schemes" (illegal) and multilevel marketing techniques (legal) have a very thin line between them. Sandwiches, that's what I like to call the Exercise-Coaching-Fad Diet Combos. My favorite is Insanity + Coach + Shakeology. The trifecta of instant results, long term failure. All of these businesses pray on the person who couldn't make it work on their own, has become desperate, and can be motivated by the instant results. They also count on the failure that will occur once the user stops using their products. If they didn't, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on financially.
So, now that I got all of this out of my system (I didn't cleanse!), what works? Hard work. I stand here confidently saying that I am a working mom who eats 80/20 (80 % healthy, 20% not-so-healthy), follows the basic guidelines of eating right, exercises on a daily basis using the correct guidelines (I'm not doing HIIT 6 days a week, I'm following a cardio/resistance training/flexibility program that any personal trainer will put you right in) and I train towards a goal. I love my body. It's not perfect, it's not 110 lbs., but those aren't my qualifications. My qualifications are on paper, because I studies and researched and tested to become a Certified Personal Trainer. I use science. Not emotion. I know what will hurt you, and what won't. That's the right way. Not the desperate way.
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