How Can Old school Fitness Survive in the Brave New Digital Arena?

Our latest post comes from the wonderful and talented Samantha Olivier from Ripped.me. We’re delighted to have Samantha featured on the site again and know you’ll enjoy her latest piece.

Even though fitness has always been regarded as the pinnacle of a healthy lifestyle, one could hardly find appropriate information prior to the digital revolution. Now, though, cutting-edge technology solutions and sources of information have never been more abundant. Alas, the digital landscape is oversaturated with misleading ads and hearsay disguised as expert opinion. Yes, the vast pool of data is at our fingertips, but do we know where to dive and look for solid pieces of info? With a myriad of tutorials available on YouTube, how do we pick the one that is trustworthy and helpful?

Crash and burn

Many fitness methods have managed to spread across the online world like wildfire, and some of them will do to your body what flames can do to a wooden cabin. We are plagued by harmful crash diets, treacherous supplements, and contraptions that could better serve in a torture chamber than in a gym. It seems that every new day introduces the next best thing in fitness. You do not have to be particularly educated to sense something fishy going on. It is practically impossible for breakthrough equipment, scientific discoveries and patents to occur at such pace.

A bulk of these things is not manufactured to get you healthier and stronger, but to lure money out of your pocket. They use the imperfections in human judgment to influence the decision making process, and make you buy a product that does more harm than good. The regulations on the supplement market, for example, are still reckless, and much of the labels include claims that do not match the content of the products. Some companies do not even carry out proper tests because they are not required to do so.

Pumping the iron

It is not that the digital platforms have brought forth only bad things. Today, we can conduct an online doctor consultation without the need to leave home, and find nutritional details on any type of food. The main things to bear in mind, however, is that one must not blindly follow everything that modern mainstream fitness produces. Sometimes, going old school is the best way to stay on the safe side and boost your performance. The problem is that simple products do not possess such a marketing appeal as flashy items. Well, if you ask me, this is a dangerous pitfall.

Vince Gironda, the “Iron Guru” used to say that body sculpting is 80% about nutrition. He pointed out that for thousands of years our diet was mostly composed of saturated animal fat and protein, with fruits, vegetables and nuts keeping the balance. So, it seems that Stone Age wisdom works like a charm in the high tech world, provided that it is not snowed in under a mountain of pseudo-science. Gironda also reminded us that things like building healthy habits never lose their importance, even if they are overshadowed by convenience foods and a consumerist ideology.

Vince Gironda in his prime

Since the dawn of time, people have been lifting heavy objects, and have gotten stronger in the process. Today, we have more sophisticated equipment, but the principle is the same. This is not to say we should bid farewell to the tech marvels of our age. Instead, try to muse on proven exercises that have worked for accomplished athletes. Then, put an effort into making things interesting and use fitness applications to monitor your heart rate, keep track of progress and receive expert recommendations. Find a trusted source of information and use it as a guiding light that will get you through the dark corridors that lead to the fitness arena of today. Once there, each sound decision you made, and all those steps you took on the way to success will make a difference.

Two sides of the coin

Today we are both blessed and cursed as humans. We have never had such a tall tower of knowledge, discoveries and tools, yet when looking at its fragile foundations it seems that the structure could collapse like a house of cards. It might sound impossible, but it is time to reinvent the good old wheel and let it do its magic once again. The big truths are frozen in time, and are not influenced by passing trends, hip commercials and other glitter and noise present on the Internet. Steer away from new, revolutionary workouts, supplements promising you miraculous results and theories that sound too good to be true.