Fri. Jun 8, 2018
Read in 4 minutes
With all the fitness ideas and products targeted to baby boomers how do you determine which ones are credible?
In my last article I was critical of the use of before and after photos as a method for proving the effectiveness of fitness and diet products/services.
This leads to the question: How can one judge the effectiveness of fitness or diet related claims?
That’s a huge subject that can’t be handled adequately here. In the space of this short article, however, I would like to address the most common error people make regarding fitness and diet claims.
Follow the work of respected physicians who are experts in baby boomer fitness.
If there is only one caveat you should pay attention to let it be this: anecdotal evidence is neither proof of causation nor correlation.
Take claims of “miraculous” and “effortless” fat loss for instance.
Given that a pound of fat represents 3,500 calories of stored energy, how realistic is it that any one of us can lose more then 2-3 pounds of fat per week?
And yet many products are marketed as helping users lose much more than this.
If you see or hear of a product that claims to melt many pounds away per week, ask yourself “pounds of what?”
A properly examined fitness or diet product will have numerous scienctific studies behind it.
I say numerous because even good scientists can get it wrong. Being able to replicate another scientist’s results is a crucial check on their objectivity.
Choose a fitness approach backed by science.
Scientific studies will control for a number of variables that may affect the results of an exercise program, diet or supplement.
Without these controls, we are just left with opinion.
PubMed is an excellent online resource for those who are interested in what science has to say about various exercise programs, exercise movements, diets or supplements.
In order to understand whether the study was done well, you have to delve beyond the headline and conclusion, paying particular attention to the study’s methodology.
When you look at whole studies you get an appreciation for how painstakingly scientists qualify what they claim to know or have proven. They may state, for example, that further study needs to be done to both replicate and extend their results.
That is the beauty of science: it doesn’t pretend to know what it doesn’t know.
We would all do well to do the same for our own beliefs.
Realistically, most of the population don’t have the time (or inclination) to pore over research reports. These reports can be boring and difficult to understand.
That’s why I recommend that you follow health and fitness experts who:
One of the best ways to start building your fitness knowledge is to follow the work of respected physicians who are experts on fitness after your 40s.
One such leader is Dr. Doug McGuff, an emergency physician who co-authored the best-seller Body by Science and owns his own fitness studio – called Ultimate Fitness – in Seneca, South Carolina.
I encourage you to take advantage of the many learning opportunities Dr. McGuff provides online.
You can even book a phone appointment with Dr. McGuff to discuss your fitness concerns. These appointments are booked via his website and currently available at the following rates:
I encourage you to bookmark this blog.
I’ll continue to share curated information that speaks to the core fitness and wellness concerns of baby boomers and seniors.
Where warranted, I provide references to medical doctors and other fitness experts who are serving this population.
There’s a wealth of valuable information available on how to take an efficient and effective approach to optimal health and wellness.
It’s my pleasure to be of service to you in this way.