Mythology enters the gymnasium

As part of the Healthy U Wellness Challenge, campus rec will be hosting a Smart Goals and Fitness Myths event on Wednesday, Jan. 19 from noon to 1 p.m. in SMSU 229 (the alumni lounge). The event will be conducted by campus rec fitness coordinator Erin Orndorf and Gwyn Ashcom of the Center for Student Heath and Counseling. The event aims to educate attendees about realistic goal setting and to debunk common fitness myths.

I’m going to go out on a limb and preemptively recommend that all new trainees definitely attend this event. Having “been around the block” a bit when it comes to exercise, I not only remember my own tribulations, confusion and frustrations as I first began exercising, but I’ve also witnessed dozens of individuals go through the same issues. I don’t want to see that happen to you; I want the process to be as painless as possible.

Thanks to a near-unquenchable thirst for knowledge and hours upon hours of Internet searching, I managed to come out on top. I’m here, over eight years later, and I’m still enjoying exercise. I have my difficulties, of course, but my point is that I never got so frustrated or confused that I completely threw in the towel. Unfortunately, I’m the exception to the rule. Most people aren’t nearly as lucky or as stubborn as I was.

Most new trainees get excited to take control of their health, only to be confronted with a variety of information so vast that they’re completely overwhelmed. Maybe they can’t stick with a single program for more than a week because they keep hearing about the latest and greatest routine. Maybe they expect to lose five pounds in a week, but only manage to lose one. They give up, thinking that they must be genetically cursed and that there is no point in even trying. Maybe they’re bombarded with so much information (and misinformation) that they can’t even decide on any form of exercise and instead fall into “paralysis by analysis.” All of these scenarios are, sadly, very common.

It isn’t just beginners who are plagued by misinformation. I know many an experienced trainee who believe that simply training with higher repetitions is going to magically make them leaner, or that there is some miraculous physiological change one can experience by ceasing to eat after 7 p.m. (As a side note, there isn’t. This is just calorie-control for dummies.) Trainees of all experience levels can fall prey to misinformation and pseudoscience.

So, for those who don’t want to brave it on their own or who don’t have iron wills, please consider attending this event. I grew up in a Podunk southern Oregon town and I would have killed for an educational opportunity like this. The information to which one is—or isn’t—exposed can indirectly lead to failure or success in the personal fitness game. Those who are anything less than 100 percent certain on all the fitness decisions they’re making should be sure not to miss this event. ?