The other day I was talking with a dietitian about how we help patients make a plan for exercise. When I mentioned that sweating was not a reliable way to tell if you were getting a “good workout”, she was shocked. She said “I tell patients that all the time—that’s what I’ve always heard.”
I have had this same reaction from medical students I have in class. Despite the fact that we are advised to “check with your doctor before starting an exercise program”, a study in 2015 found that only 21.2% of medical schools had one course available to medical students about exercise and only 12.2% had a required course.
We have pharmacists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, and many other specialties in health care. Each has a scope of practice, a body of knowledge they work hard to keep up-to-date on. There is some overlap, but when providers do not know that sweating is not a helpful guide for choosing a level of exercise, it’s not really their fault. Most of them find information about exercise the same way you do, and can just as easily fall prey to the consistent, myth-based messages about fitness.
Part of the problem is the fitness field is vastly under-regulated. Anyone can say they are a fitness expert. Other fields have licensing and certification requirements, along with required training and education. Not so in the fitness field. You as the consumer, as well as the professionals that recommend you exercise, need to ignore a lot of myth-based information to be guided by the facts.
Some of the myths uncovered in Fueled by Facts may surprise you because they are so commonly used, we just take them as truth. This is the reason I created Fueled by Facts. I’ve sorted out the myths from the facts, and turned them into user-friendly information you can use. For example, day #3 of Fueled by Facts helps you find a true fitness expert, and, if you still think sweating is helpful, day #18 reveals the myths about that too.
A new session of Fueled by Facts, my FREE online course starts February 1, 2018.
Click here to enroll—the rest is easy! Enrollment closes at midnight on January 28.
