There Is A Method to the Madness

Unraveling Exercise Science

• Rob Maxwell, M.A.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell and I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I am the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really works and, most importantly, why things work. Hence the name. There is a method to the madness. Before I get to today's show, I want to thank Jonathan and Lynn Gildan of the Gildan Group at Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home sales. Why don't you give them a shout and figure out what your home is worth? 386-451-2412.

Speaker 1:

As a career, there is a method to the madness is basically this in a nutshell there's a reason why things to explain what was going on, because too often people just do what they're told or what they think they're told. Like. Sometimes it could be that somebody is doing something themselves and somebody will copy it, not really thinking about if it is good for them. So that's sort of the same thing as doing what you're told. It all comes back to not really thinking about why things work or don't work or really doing your own homework. From the time I got into personal training. I wanted to be a true professional because I really do love diet and exercise as a lifestyle. It has changed my life. It changed my life at a very early age and I just think it's awesome. And so, like I always say that I'm my first client, so because I do it for myself, I want to share the wealth for the most part, like I really do think it works, I'm excited about it and I'm passionate about it. But, as I've said before, passion isn't enough. I also wanted to know what I was talking about. So I went and I got more professional education to make me better at what I wanted to do, and the education I got was a master's degree in exercise physiology. So exercise physiology is exactly what it sounds like it is. It is the physiology, the science behind exercise, and that's what I mean when I say there is a method to the madness.

Speaker 1:

Now, a decent trainer or in this case I would call them a cook versus a chef, or in this case, I would call them a cook versus a chef can follow a prescription pretty decently, and I would imagine that's better than nothing if you're a client looking for somebody to guide you on an exercise program, having somebody who can follow a prescription. For example, maybe it's eight exercises at the gym covering the major muscle groups, doing anywhere between two and three sets of 10 to 15 reps. They can go oh yeah, I can do that. And then they can maybe pull up some basic seven exercises or so, or eight exercises that they know well, and they'll just follow it. So that's following a prescription, that is following a recipe. That is probably better than nothing, because you know there is a technique skill to exercise. So if you have somebody like that, they would hopefully know how to perform the exercises correctly and make sure that you optimize your workout. So that's fine.

Speaker 1:

But I do think there's a whole other level and that level is understanding why things work, and that is so much more important in my estimation. Like, really understanding why things work separates professionals from people that are doing things for a hobby. Or, you know, skilled labor versus unskilled labor. You know, understanding why things work is critical. I start all this out by saying that because you know I thought of a few things during one of my runs this weekend and you know, when I run or walk or I do my steady state cardio, that's my best time for meditation. That's when I really allow myself to think. And this particular run happened I believe it was yesterday and for some reason my headphones, my AirPods, were not connecting to my Garmin watch, so I didn't get to listen to the playlist that I wanted to listen to. But you know, sometimes, as I like to say, god has other plans. So it was good for me to have a lot of time in my head, because that's when I get more creative.

Speaker 1:

I thought of a few different topics where this really hits home. There's a method to the madness. Now, they're kind of not related to each other, but they're still the same. There's a method to the madness. The first one is sugar. People don't understand sugar. And again, there is a method to the madness.

Speaker 1:

Too many people like to say things like it's good for you or it's bad for you, and in the case of sugar, of course, it's mostly that it's bad for you. That's what parrots like to say, that's what people like to repeat and then not understand and follow. Now, is this true? Well, it can be. I mean, if you're sitting around, literally like me right now, I'm sitting in my office chair doing the podcast and, let's say, I haven't exercised in the last couple hours, so I've been sedentary. Then, yeah, sugar's not good for me. It's just basically going to circulate really fast, not get utilized for what his job is and then store his fat. And then I need to add to this that I'm not diabetic, so I'm not in the stage of hypoglycemia where my blood sugar might crash. So in that case, yeah, sugar in the real sense of the word is not good for me.

Speaker 1:

But how about the diabetic that's blood sugar drops quickly to 70 or 60? I mean, if you give them some sugar at that time glucose it's potentially going to save their life. Or how about the person that's running in a marathon and they are taking in some sugar as they're moving, as they're close to being anaerobic, so they can spare the glycogen that's in their muscle cells so they have enough energy to get them through the 26.2 miles, which would take anywhere from two hours and five minutes for the elites to six hours to people who are wanting to finish or are not as young or whatever. It is a long time. Sugar is a lifesaver or a race saver in that case. Or how about the person that just finishes a very hard, steady rate endurance activity and this person eats a modest diet or a moderate diet most of the time, so their glycogen levels are full but they're not overweight, they just eat appropriately. And this person just finished a hard workout where their blood sugar is low not too low, not hypoglycemia, but just lower and they take in some glucose or some sugar type product that if you knew anything about diet, nutrition or exercise science, you would know that your muscle cells are acting like sponges at that point and they are attracting all of that extra sugar in the bloodstream and storing it as glycogen. So the same substance, sugar, the same molecules.

Speaker 1:

Sugar can be good or bad depending on the situation. So there is a method to the madness. You know, what's kind of funny is that like when we go on social media. That's where I see this the most, because people act different on social media. It's kind of like people that, behind their windshield and their steel cars or fiberglass cars nowadays, act like tough guys and give people the middle finger and all that stuff which they would never do walking down an aisle at Target or Publix or a place like that. It's very similar. On social media, people call people names or make statements. You know, in general that's incredibly rude or insensitive or you know, just basically being a jerk that they wouldn't do in public. So that's where I mostly see this garbage.

Speaker 1:

But it's kind of funny, like in the political world now, whether you are on the left or on your, or you're on the right and this is what's funny about this. It might trigger both people, which is good, I guess. Who cares if the shoe fits? But you know they call the other side sheep and both sides do it. I mean I see it all the time because I have people I follow that are on the left and I have people that I follow that are on the right, and both sides do it all the time.

Speaker 1:

Personally, I think one of the dumbest things we can ever do is talk politics because you're never going to change anybody's mind. I mean it just never, ever happens. You're really just doing it. I don't know. I think you're kind of mostly doing it for attention or validation. You know of your own opinion, or you're bored and you're picking a fight. I mean that's just my opinion. That's why most people post unless they're paid to. I mean there's some people that are paid to do this and it's like okay, and then they stir everybody else up, but the average person that does it, the average person that doesn't work in politics, that does it. In my opinion, it's just really a bad use of time. But in any event, both sides do it and people that I know both sides do it. They will call the left, will call the right a bunch of sheep for following a certain you know way of thinking, and the right will call the left sheep. It's just so funny how both sides do it, and I don't know which sides are sheep and I really don't care. I'm sure there's sheep among everybody, but both sides do it.

Speaker 1:

I only bring this up not to go in that direction, but to maybe get you to open your eyes a little bit. Guess what I'm calling all of y'all sheep that simply follow trends regarding nutrition or fitness and don't follow up on it and do your own research and figure out what is good for you. Now, not everybody does it, but I would say the majority of people that work out on a regular basis do do that. I mean, they're sheep. You just I'm going to say you, because it's probably true you hear sugar is bad and then you just parrot it and walk around and say sugar is bad, but you don't understand it. You don't understand the three things I just told you where sugar can be good or bad. You know, I mean you can understand it. Now. I'm not calling anybody stupid. It's really not all that complicated. It really truly is not brain surgery. It's just you have been too lazy to do your own homework and do your own research, so you would rather take, including me. I mean, I'm just trying.

Speaker 1:

You know, mostly in this show I put out ideas and, you know, want you to go do some follow-up. If you believe it's necessary to, by all means. I mean, I'll listen to a podcast or watch an expert and I'll say I want to know more about that or I'm going to check on that. I heard something this morning that I was like you know, I need to check on that. Ok, here's what it is. I'm going to give you a great example.

Speaker 1:

I was listening to Michael Leister on the Ryan Holiday show today and I really like Michael Leister. He is a person I've read both of his books the Comfort Crisis and Scarcity Brain. I think he's a really thoughtful person and I enjoy listening to him. He said today that treadmills were originally invented for prisons as a form of punishment to people that were in jail. And Ryan, I believe, was the one that said oh yeah, I've heard that too.

Speaker 1:

So I don't know if this is true. I mean, I don't know, and that's why I bring this up. I don't think either one of them are liars. I'm saying that maybe they heard it or maybe it's absolutely true. That's not the point. But the point is, if I want to know if this is true and I do because I'm just curious I need to go look it up for myself and the answer will be out there. By the way, a lot of people think, oh, they're going to hide information. No, they're not. I mean, information is out there If you look. You just have to, you know, go look, it's out there, plain and simple. So you know, I encourage people to do that. I encourage people to understand that there is a method to the madness, that there's a reason why experts say things and there's a reason why things work or don't work, and I'm going to give you one more that I thought of. I thought of two more, but I'll give you one more as I was out running.

Speaker 1:

So a lot of people say things about running that aren't true. I'm not going to focus on the first one here, because I think I've covered that a lot. It's simply it's nonsense. But people will say, oh, running's bad for you, running will hurt your joints, running will cause arthritis. So again, this is the one I'm going to gloss over. That's not true. Research is totally against that idea and research actually proves the opposite. If you want to know what's bad for your joints and causes arthritis, the number one causation outside of genetics is obesity, plain and simple. So there you go. I'm going to leave that one there.

Speaker 1:

But another thing people say about running is you can't run every day or you are going to get hurt. Now again, just like sugar. Let's break this down a little bit. That could be true, and that could be not true, because there is a method to the madness. Can daily running break you down? Well, no, but can daily running too hard or too long, where your tendons have gotten a little fatigued, because your muscles are already fatigued?

Speaker 1:

So we need to understand that tendons connect muscles to bone. So when muscles start to get a little fatigued because they will get fatigued, and the harder you run or the longer you run, the greater the likelihood they are going to get tired. That's just what happens. Once they start to get tired, they no longer can protect your other soft tissues as well, because they are tired. So now you start to see more pulling on the tendons because next and then you can potentially go into a tendonitis, which could lead to a tendinosis, which is the entire compartment has become inflamed, which could then lead to a ruptured tendon. So that's how that happens. So remember, it's all about fatigue. So that's how that happens. So remember, it's all about fatigue.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you're a daily runner but you keep your ego at home and you train smart and you've overloaded appropriately, so in other words, maybe you do a three mile run or something every day and you do it at a moderate pace, you're not racing yourself every day, which will common sense tell you cause more fatigue, right? It doesn't take Einstein to figure out that the harder you go, the more likely you are to get tired, right? So if you're used to your level of, say, three miles and you do it every day at a comfortable pace, you can run every day and be fine. The problem is most people don't do that, because most people think more is better. So that's an error in thinking More isn't necessarily better, and so they don't run their same distance every day. They start running longer. Most people start to run harder because the ego gets involved, and they run harder, not understanding what they're trying to reproduce in their bodies. So that's why they get hurt. So was it running every day that made them hurt? No, it was running too hard or too long every day that got them hurt.

Speaker 1:

Again, there is a method to the madness. You can't just go around hearing something and then applying it to you and not understanding it if you want to maximize your own fitness. Now, people that know themselves and there's been plenty of people that I can put into this category that understand that to them they've always sort of had an addictive personality, so they will not keep the pace down. They'll start feeling it as they say and they'll start running hard every day. Well, you know, as Socrates said, you know, know thyself, and to their own self be true. So you know. They know, well, I'm going to have to run every other day because I'll have a day of recovery in between, because they know they won't keep it down. So for them, they're applying the knowledge that works for them. But knowing yourself and doing your homework and knowing there is a method to the madness is really what we all should be doing. We just need to do our own homework and so many people want other people to do the work for them.

Speaker 1:

And before you start saying, yeah, that's so true that younger generation no, most people I follow on social media are my generation, generation X or above boomers we're the ones that do it. I mean, I hate to break it to everybody Everybody always thinks their generation's the best and the rest is lazy and do all these things we talk about. That's not what I see. I see people my age, around my age or older, are the ones that are basically following other people and not asking good, informed, educated questions, but just doing what the masses do and then wonder why they underperform or wonder why they quit exercising, or wonder why they quit exercising or wonder why they get hurt or wonder why they don't have any energy. See how I tied it all back around to the things I talked about.

Speaker 1:

You know, oh man, yeah, sugar's bad, sugar's bad, sugar's bad. You know you ready to work out today? Oh man, I don't have any energy. Oh, hmm, well, you know, maybe if you refueled like I taught you to, after your hard runs on Tuesday that you actually consumed 50 grams of sugar in your recovery shake. You would have recovered better and you would have been ready for today. But see, no, sugar's bad, I get it. So we can't just blind statement everything and think it's going to work. Because, ladies and gentlemen, podcasts and please select automatic download, because that really helps the show garage door company. They have the best product, they have the best service. I personally vouch for Jeff and Zach Hawk, the owners. They are great people with a great company. If you have any garage door needs, please give them a shout at 386-222-3165.

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