Contents (Long)
FACTS AND FALLACIES OF FITNESS by Dr Mel Siff
1. INTRODUCTION 1
2. ALL THOSE FALLACIES 4
A Compendium of Popular Fitness Fallacies 5
Before You Go Any Further 12
3. A DISSECTION GUIDE 13
Rules of Exercise? 13
How to Distinguish Fact from Fallacy 14
Techniques of Persuasion 15
4. DISSECTING THE EXERCISES 17
Our First Dissection 17
Fallacies Among General Fundamentals 17
Fallacies of Cardiovascular and Aerobics Fundamentals 21
Strength Fallacies 25
Postural Fallacies 30
5. SOME MORE DISSECTIONS 33
Fallacies of Warming Up and Stretching 33
Fallacies of General Popular Exercises 35
Fallacies of Aerobics Classes 36
Fallacies of Resistance Exercise 40
Fallacies of Equipment and Apparel 52
Fallacies of Special Population Training 59
6. FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES 63
What is Fitness? 63
Fitness in Sport 64
Are the Fit Healthier? 65
Fat and Fit? 66
Is Exercise Testing Necessary? 67
What Research does not Tell You 67
Pain and Gain 69
What is Stability? 71
The Specificity of Movement Patterns 71
Is Lactic Acid a Toxin? 72
Spinal Terminology 73
What is Fatigue? 73
Is Muscle Fibre Typing Valuable? 75
Types of Muscle Action 78
7. CARDIOVASCULAR ISSUES 80
Matters of the Heart 80
An Irregular Heart may be Healthier 81
Oxygen Debt? 82
Heart Rate and Cardiovascular Fitness 83
How Strenuous is that Exercise? 84
The Heart is not just a Pump 85
8. BIOMECHANICAL ISSUES 87
Myths of Antagonistic Muscles 87
A Flat Back? 87
Back Facts and Figures 88
Back Pain and the Mind 90
Strength and Connective Tissue 91
Back Pain and Evolution 92
Foot Mechanics and Shoes 93
The Effect of Head Position on Strength 94
What is Hyperextension? 94
The Dogma of Isokinetics 95
Strength Training and Muscle Tension 99
What Newton really Said 99
Correct Pelvic Tilt? 100
Safe Lifting 101
Correct Lumbar Lifting Posture? 101
Lifting Revisited 102
Weight Training and the Back 104
Lumbar Pelvic Rhythm 106
Inflexibility or Spurious Muscle Tension? 107
Triphasic Muscle Action 108
Diaphragm and Stabilising 109
Correct Sitting Posture? 110
9. AEROBICS ISSUES 112
What is Aerobics Really? 112
Is Low Impact Safer? 113
Dumbbells in Aerobics Classes 114
Plyometrics in Aerobics ? 114
Heart Rate in Low or High Impact Aerobics 115
Elastic Band Aid for Aerobics 116
Structural Exercises? 116
Callanetics? 117
PNF Aqua-Exercise 117
Toe-Heel Doctrine in Aerobics 119
Mind-Body Aerobics 119
10. FLEXIBILITY ISSUES 121
Is Flexibility Training Necessary? 121
Active, Passive and Other Stretches 122
Do You need a Warmup? 123
Facts on Warming Up 124
11. GENERAL TRAINING ISSUES 125
Progressive Overload? 125
Structural vs Functional Training 126
The Bodybuilding Paradigm 127
Is Symmetric Training advisable? 128
Autoregulating Progressive Resistance Exercise 129
Hybrid Training – A Strength Training Innovation 131
Loadless Training 133
Using PNF in Training 134
What is Periodisation? 135
Comparison of Training Regimes 136
Design of Sports Training Programmes 136
Gorilla Power 138
12. STRENGTH AND RESISTANCE ISSUES 140
Scientific Resistance Training in Sport 140
Resistance Training for Different Purposes 146
Bigger, Faster, Stronger? 147
Speed-Strength Training 148
Eccentrics and Muscle Soreness 149
Strength and Size 150
Closed vs Open Chain Exercise 150
Slow Training and No Momentum? 151
Strength and Gender 153
Peripheral Heart Action 154
Competitive Lifting for Juveniles? 154
Muscle Hypertrophy Formulae? 156
The Hardgainer 157
Muscle Pain for Gain? 159
13. SAFETY ISSUES 160
Exercise Readiness Questionnaire 160
Dangerous Exercises: Fact or Fiction? 161
Safety Mania 162
Safety in Exercise 163
Contraindicated Exercise May Protect 165
Muscles may not Protect 166
Are Ballistics Dangerous? 166
Types of Overtraining 168
Personal Liability 170
Safety in the Health Club 171
Equipment Safety 171
14. PERSONAL TRAINING ISSUES 173
The Personal Trainer 173
Becoming a Successful Personal Trainer 175
Instructions and Performance 179
The Art of Public Speaking 180
Fitness Guru Kit 184
Skinfold Champions 184
Bodybuilding Anorexia 185
Rules of Treatment 185
15. SPECIFIC EXERCISE ISSUES 187
Abominable Abdominals 187
Ab Mania 188
Abdominal and Trunk Exercise 191
Beyond Bent Knee Situps 193
Straight Leg Situps 194
Leg Raises – Sane or Insane? 195
Why Situp Testing? 197
Isolated Muscle Testing? 198
Is there a Bicep Curl? 199
Special Rotator Cuff Exercises? 200
All Squats the Same? 202
16. EQUIPMENT ISSUES 204
Training Machines 204
Safety and Machine Training 205
Machine Testing? 207
Equipment Purchase Questionnaire 209
Passive Exercise Systems 210
Lifting, Belts and Breathing 212
Shoes and Safety 214
Ball Balance Training 216
17. PLYOMETRICS ISSUES 219
What is Plyometrics? 219
Understanding Plyometrics 222
Powermetrics, Not Plyometrics! 223
Non Impact Plyometrics 226
Asymmetric Plyometrics 227
Plyometrics and the Brain – The Missing Dimension 228
18. BRAIN AND MIND ISSUES 231
The Brain-Mind Link 231
Neural Changes with Training 231
Mental Preparation in Sport 233
The Mind and Body Shaping 240
The Endorphin Story 241
Auto-Mind Training 242
19. HEALTH ISSUES 243
Exercise and Stress 243
AIDS Tales 244
Losing Weight? 245
Spot Reduction Revisited 246
Slimming with High Carbohydrate Diets 247
Bouncing for Life? 248
X-Rays and Your Health 248
The Greatest Medical Challenge? 249
20. NUTRITION AND DRUG ISSUES 251
The Cholesterol Debate 251
Butter or Margarine? 252
Fat Substitutes 252
Fad Diets 253
Food Consumption to Test Fitness? 253
Low Fat Dairy Substitutes? 253
Slim Before Breakfast 254
Sugar for Energy? 254
Calorie Counting 255
Health Watch: Paracetamol, IUD, Inderal and Other 256
Left Handed Food 257
Nutrition for Performance 257
Synchronised Sports Nutrition 259
The Steroid Game 262
Steroids for Endurance? 265
The Farce of Steroid Testing 264
Food and Behaviour 266
Eat Right For Your Blood Type 266
The Creatine Story 269
21. EASTERN TRAINING ISSUES 271
The Chinese System of Quantal Training 271
Chinese Secrets 274
Adaptogens and Other New Ideas 276
Kinaesthetic Manipulation 276
Sports Restoration and Massage 277
22. CURRENT FITNESS FADS 281
The Pilates Cult 281
The Balance and Core Stability Cult 287
The Functional Training Fad 289
The Periodisation Proclamation 292
23. CONCLUSION 298
24. SOURCES OF INFORMATION 300
