What have you learned in 2011? Hopefully, you know more now than you did one year ago. The real question is, how much of what you think you know is based on fact? Much of the information below will challenge some personal beliefs and popular opinions on health and fitness. These links have all been taken from my fan page on Facebook, so they will look familiar if you’ve been following my status updates. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m not a status quo type of guy. I simply refuse to let other people do my thinking for me, and I’m not afraid to question anything. It’s amazing what you can learn when you’re willing to admit that you don’t already know everything. If that desire to uncover the truth is a quality you admire and share, then please stick around in 2012. Anyway, it was hard to limit this list to only 10 items (9 articles and 1 video), but here are my top choices for 2011:
1) Power Balance: “We admit that there is no credible scientific evidence that supports our claims.” – Power Balance was forced to admit that their bracelets are a scam. This article explains why they can seem to “work”.
2) Reducing fats does not prevent heart disease or save lives – Unfortunately, the ridiculous idea that fats will make you fat, or even kill you, is not going away anytime soon. I will continue doing what I can to present factual nutritional information.
3) Nearly Half of Runners May Be Drinking Too Much During Races – The advice to “drink even when you’re not thirsty” is woefully misguided and dutifully following it CAN kill you. Does that get your attention or what? I wrote about this in more detail in my Dehydration vs. Overhydration article.
4) Does Fascia Contraction Matter? – I am sick and tired of hearing about fascia, and you should be too. Please, PLEASE, can we focus on something that actually matters?! Which brings us to…
5) 12 Tips to Tune the Nervous System – “Enhancing performance is about balancing stress and recovery, both of which are controlled by the autonomic nervous system.” In other words, your brain is in control of ALL bodily functions. Does your training reflect this?
6) Thoughts from the Barefoot running round-table discussion at UKSEM: An inside view – A nice summary of everything we know (and don’t know) so far about barefoot running. I’m sure there will be much more to come in 2012.
7) Is Fatigue All in Your Head? – Again, your brain is in full control of all physiological processes, and this fact must be taken into account if you want to improve your performance. Training through pain is counterproductive because it provides “bad news” about your body to your brain.
8) 7 Reasons Why Women Should Strength Train – If you really want to change the way your body looks and how it performs, then don’t be afraid to pick up some weights. You are seriously limiting yourself by sticking to the endless cardio.
9) 23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health? – The best thing you can do for your health is being active for half an hour every day. Even in studies on obese individuals, exercise “ameliorated much of the negative consequences of obesity”.
10) Application of the “Wet Test” and Static Arch Height for Assigning Running Shoes: Nails in the Coffin – Your foot behaves differently when you’re standing still as opposed to when you’re moving, so the static “wet test” is an invalid tool for determining which shoe you should wear.
Which one was your favorite? Did you have a favorite article or video from 2011 that is not on this list? Let me know!
