Mastering Your Fitness Tools

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness.
My name is Rob Maxwell and I'man exercise physiologist and
personal trainer.
I am the owner of Maxwell'sFitness Programs and I've been
in business since 1994.
The purpose of this podcast isto get to the real deal of what
really works and, mostimportantly, why things work.
Hence the name there is aMethod to the Madness.

(00:23):
Before I get started today, letme thank Jonathan and Lynn
Gilden of the Gilden GroupRealty Pros.
They are committed to providingthe highest level of customer
service in home sales.
Why don't you give them a shoutand figure out what your home
is worth?
386-451-2412.

(00:44):
Hello everybody, how is itgoing there where you are?
This is Coach Rob here gettingready to talk to you about some
physical fitness and health,hopefully, advice.

(01:05):
You know, I was looking at someof the statistics yesterday and
today on my Buzzsprout and ittells me like the episodes and
the popularity of them andeverything.
And you know, overall Iabsolutely can't complain.
I feel extremely blessed andhappy that it seems to be doing

(01:27):
really well and catching on forwhat my goals are, which is just
to educate people around mycircle, my circle of influence,
the best that I can.
But it's kind of funny.
You guys, you listeners, youhate physiology stuff.
When it comes to strengthtraining, you just don't like it

(01:49):
.
Now, two or three people justcame to mind who love it, who
like love.
When I get into like thedifferent physiological things,
like the research on forcedrepetitions, like I did the
other day I think it wasyesterday, yesterday for me
anyway, there's a few peoplethat love that stuff.
But, man, overall you peoplehate it, you know, and I look at

(02:15):
some of the other things and ofcourse, diet is so popular and
then sometimes things that justflat out surprise me.
I know the interviews arealways going to do well and
that's just like me.
I listen to different podcaststoo and I look for different
people when they're beinginterviewed and it's always
interesting because there's twopeople talking.

(02:37):
So I get that the interviewsalways outdo everything else.
But when it's just like ageneral topic, I'm like man, you
people hate the science, youknow, you just don't like it.
Well, I guess today is a goodday for you.
This is a short little lessonhere, but it's not about science

(02:58):
per se, it's about a term.
I heard a slogan I heard on oneof the podcasts I listened to
this morning and he wasinterviewing somebody and they
were going back and forth.
This was a business guy he wastalking to.
I listened to a lot of thosetypes of things and, gosh, I

(03:21):
don't even know it was theinterviewer that said it.
I was about to say I don'tremember which one said it, not
that it should matter but hesaid that the ability to use
tools is a human being'ssuperpower.
You know, that's so true and,of course, when you study us as

(03:52):
a species, we see that that'sbeen true through the years.
You know, when we go way back,we see that that's absolutely
been true.
That's where we stand out.
Our ability to use physicaltools has helped us, you, you
know, build and do what we do toevolve and, I guess, to advance
.
I guess depends on how you lookat it, but you know, it's true

(04:12):
from that standpoint.
But he wasn't necessarilytalking about that like past
tense, but more like today.
Today, if we have the abilityto use our tools better than,

(04:33):
say, other people or better thanwe used to, it's our superpower
to get better.
And I thought about that inregards to physical fitness and
that's absolutely so true.
I mean, there are a lot oftools we can benefit from in
physical fitness, but we have toknow how to use them.
And you know, naturally, whatcomes to mind are the things of

(04:53):
today, like the smartwatches andthe smartphones and the GPSs
and all that good stuff and theFitbits and, you know, I guess,
the computer software where wecan log our foods.
Yes, all those are tools, butwe can go back a little bit
further and talk about thedifferent types of tools for

(05:14):
strength training, like freeweights versus machines versus,
say, like bands and tubes.
I mean, those are all tools.
And then, of course, tools forcardio, respiratory, such as the
treadmills and the bikes andthe outdoor bikes and things
like that, and then all of thetools that swimmers use to

(05:37):
hopefully help them get better,like swim fins and pool boys and
those types of things.
So there are a lot of toolsthat aren't just about
technology that we have beenable to use through the years to
help us get fit, if we use themcorrectly.
So, so maybe one of the bestthings we can do and one of the

(05:59):
best things I can do to help youis to understand what tools are
real important and make sureyou educate yourself on how to
use them so for years and years.
It's a lot better now, but foryears and years there was always
this silly debate amongweightlifters you know, strength

(06:19):
trainers about the differencebetween free weights and
machines.
And literally I can rememberbeing in my late teens, early
20s, and there would be peopleat the gym that would say, oh,
that Nautilus stuff, it's notreal strength, it's.
You know, it's fake.
And I'm thinking what are theytalking about?

(06:41):
But being young and naive, Ithought that they knew something
that I didn't know, but I don'teven know, like what they
thought they knew at the time.
But there was all these mythsand misconceptions that free
weights were the superior toolfor lifting weights and machines
were for beginners or, as somepeople called it, fake, which

(07:02):
still doesn't make sense to thisday.
There still sort of lives onthe debate that machine
selectorized machines are morefor beginners and free weights
are more for advanced.
But that is absolutely not true.
What I want you to do?
Two things I want you to getout of this today.
Number one I want you toremember that the mode of

(07:23):
strength training that we use,whether we use machines, whether
we use dumbbells, whether weuse plates and free weights,
whether we use bands and tubesor whether we use body weight,
they are all tools to make usget stronger and there is no
superior tool.
They are all great, and youknow I can I can make a whole

(07:44):
podcast about the marketing ofhealth and fitness and how
certain companies want to turnyou against certain modes of
equipment.
Don't fall for any of that.
That's just marketing BS.
You know, and and you just needto know, first off, to use any
tool that you have at yourdisposal for resistance training

(08:05):
.
If you come to my gym, you knowthat we have selectorized
machines.
We have a smith machine, wehave a little bit of free weight
, meaning that, um, a curl barfor some things, and then we
have a lot of dumbbells.
There's just a lot of tools touse, plenty, sometimes more than
enough and we can utilize thembased on what works best for you

(08:29):
.
If you don't have that like, Ihave a remote client that I
train and she trains at heroffice a lot.
She's a physician, she is superfit, so she can utilize her own
body weight as a tool.
I know that sounds strange, butto be able to use your body
weight as a tool, you have to bebasically really strong, like

(08:53):
it's hard to do pull-ups andpush-ups and different kinds of
burpees and sit-ups and thingsand squats and lunges, like it's
not easy.
So for her she can utilize herbody weight with very little
other kinds of resistance.
Sometimes we'll use lightdumbbells.
Sometimes she'll call me fromthe park she goes to and she can

(09:17):
train at this park.
But those are all tools thatwork for her.
For somebody else who's alittle deconditioned, maybe a
little beat up by arthritis,we're not going to be able to
utilize just body weight fortools because they're not going
to be able to do a lot of theexercises or joint actions that
they need to do.
But there is no superior tool.

(09:40):
I always tell people use whatyou have.
I mean when I travel and I'moutdoors and I don't want to
like if I go to the mountains, Idon't necessarily want to spend
a lot of time in a gym.
Although I do love a gym, I'drather exercise outdoors.
So I will do the majority of mystrength training after I run,
hike, jog, whatever in themountains.

(10:01):
I'll do some what I justdescribed.
I'll do some push-ups, I'll dosome squats, I'll do some lunges
, I'll do things like that.
If there's a hotel gym withmaybe one cable machine and a
few dumbbells.
I'll do that and I'll make thatabsolutely work.
Sometimes I go and see this guywho's got a little gym in

(10:23):
Ellenville, new York it's prettyclose to where I go, and he's
got a complete fitness centerand I'll utilize his Selectrise
machines and some of his Smithmachines free weights and
dumbbells.
I mean it doesn't matter as longas you are getting the
exercises that you need, workingyour full bodies, doing all the

(10:43):
joint actions.
That's really the key with that.
So there is no better best.
Well, there is a better, what'sbetter for you, but there's
really not a best.
Okay, so we need to just knowwe can utilize any tool at our
disposal.
And one of the things I like todo as a strength coach is when

(11:04):
people tell me that they'regoing to get some new equipment
and they'll ask me what to getand I'll ask them what kind of
space they have and they'll tellme I'll help them with that and
then I'll help them get whatthey need to get the workout
they need in the most spaceefficient manner that we can do.
I enjoy doing that and I enjoygiving people exercises for what

(11:25):
they have.
So it's not going out andgetting all the tools that you
need.
It's making sure that youutilize the tools at your
disposal and just make sure youunderstand that there is no
better best.
There's only better for you.
Now the same could be said whenwe move on to all these new
gadgets that we have.

(11:46):
We got the smartwatches, we gotthe smartphones, we got GPSs,
we have all these things.
I mean that's great.
I am not anti-technology.
I mean what's technology now?
Well, technology, I guess thething everybody's talking about
now is AI.
Okay, well, I can remembertechnology.

(12:07):
20 years ago we wouldn't haveimagined what was coming down
the pike.
So technology is always goingto be there.
So I'm not against it, it's howdo we use it.
I'm not against it, it's how dowe use it.
Some people believe well, I'mnot going to use any of that
stuff.
I'm just going to go run andput on my old watch.

(12:27):
Okay, that's great, you don'thave to use it.
Just make sure that youunderstand that if you are going
to say, get a smart watch fortraining that has a GPS in it
and there's a Garmin watchliterally can count your
repetitions and stuff, that'sgreat, just know how to use it.
It's a tool that's working foryou.

(12:50):
You got to make sure that youunderstand that Sometimes we
don't have it as much as we usedto.
I think maybe the phase burnedout a little bit, I don't know,
or maybe we just got lucky, butwe had some people there for a
while that were like obsessedwith starting their exercise
watch, like right when theystart, and then like if they

(13:12):
stop to go get a drink of water,they'll stop their watch.
And then you know, they'llstart their set and they realize
they forgot that they didn'tstart their watch.
So they'll stop their exerciseset and they'll restart their
watch.
And I'm sitting there likerolling my eyes, like dude,
you're working out like youdon't need that really, I mean.
So we have to understand whatthese tools can do to benefit us

(13:36):
.
And in the case of some of thesesmartwatches, well, in all of
these smartwatches, the thingyou have to understand is they
don't calculate your caloriesburned very well at all.
They're better than they usedto be.
But when it says you burn, say,like 300 calories in a workout,
I mean the standard deviationon that is huge.

(13:57):
I mean you probably didn't.
I mean the standard deviationon that is huge.
I mean you probably didn't.
I mean I don't care what thenumber is, it's probably not
right.
I mean, with some people it'sgoing to give you less of a
number than you really did.
Of most people it's going togive you more.
It's based on heat.
It's based on heart rate.
It's based on movement.
If you don't have it reallytight, it's not going to get

(14:19):
heart rate very well.
So they're just not overlyaccurate.
So using your smartwatch, say,for strength training, doesn't
make a lot of sense unlessyou're using it kind of like to
keep time on the workout.
Like you know, you only have 30minutes at the gym.
You start it for that reasonand maybe you go back later and

(14:41):
record in your journal you did30 minutes, whatever.
But as far as any of the othertools you're going to get out of
it, like I said, I'll play withthe Garmin.
I'll start it and I'm amazedsometimes that it will literally
I'll hit set and then it willcount the reps.
I'm like, how did it know?
And I go back later it sayspull up.
I'm like, wow, it knew I wasdoing a pull up.
But then most of the time it'sreally inaccurate.

(15:04):
It gets like half the reps ordouble the reps, and sometimes
most of the time I would say 75%of the time it says exercise
unknown.
And why would it know it?
I mean, and why does it need toknow it?
So we need to understand that,like these different kinds of
technology, tools can help us,but we shouldn't get carried

(15:25):
away with them.
They're just tools.
I like to use my Garmin watch ormy Apple watch when I'm
training outside for running andwalking, because it gives me my
mileage.
It'll give me my pace.
It's not overly accurate withheart rate.
I found the Apple Watch to bemore accurate with heart rate
but less accurate with distance.

(15:46):
I found the Garmin to be moreaccurate with distance and pace,
less accurate with heart rate.
For me, I just need thedistance.
I mean, in the old days we hadthese little computer things we
put on our arms and they werelike literally just GPSs.
Now it's a watch, right, and wejust used it for distance.
And now I just use mine fordistance.

(16:06):
I don't think I ever hardlyever look at the heart rate on
them because I know it's notvery accurate and for me it's
not going to change anything.
So we have to understand whatare we utilizing this tool for?
Again, I think technology isgreat and if you don't like it,
well, you better buckle up,because technology is going to

(16:29):
keep coming.
Now, as far as the AI thing, Imean for me as a business owner
and trainer, I think you know AIis pretty cool, like I can now
Google some information and getit like really quick and
probably a lot of you have donethe same thing where you go,

(16:51):
google something and you'regetting the AI answer, which is
really helpful because you'renot getting the advertisements.
You have to scroll down furtherto get them off of Google,
which who wants that?
So now you're just getting thesummary of what it says and
that's pretty cool.
And I'll do some research forsomething I'm writing, whether
it be the emails I send out.

(17:12):
You know I do some research forthose and for my books and I'll
books and I'll start theresearch there and I'll dig and
I'll see what I see and then,whatever it shows me, I'll go
back and go get the books, themanuals and look it up myself.
But that's a pretty cool tool,but I have to know how to use it
because sometimes it's wrongand AI specialists will tell you

(17:36):
that They'll say it's learningas it goes.
It's not always 100% accurate,so we have to know how to use
our tools.
We can't get away from the factthat when we strength train, we
need resistance, and that's thebottom line.
We need to pick the rightexercises for us.

(17:56):
We need to understand for uswhat's the best repetition range
.
We need to do the exercise thebest way we can, and that's
another way AI can help you.
You can go on and get a YouTubevideo, or you can go to ChatGBT
and it will break downliterally how to do an exercise.
I think that's all good stuff,but the key is you still have to

(18:17):
do an exercise.
I think that's all good stuff,but the key is you still have to
do these things.
To my knowledge, there's no AIthat can exercise for you.
It can assist you, but you'restill going to have to do the
work.
And the same is for cardioYou're still going to have to
move.
We can get all this technologyto give us different data and
feedback we want, but you stillhave to put in the work.

(18:38):
So really, it's about utilizingyour tools.
If you've got them, use them Ifyou feel like the specific
thing that you have isn'thelping you a lot, meaning that
it's just kind of like, well, Idon't know what to do with this,
then don't utilize it.
I mean, there's so many thingson smartwatches that I don't use
it.
I mean there's so many thingson smartwatches that I don't use

(19:00):
and I'm like why is this evenon here?
So don't worry about it.
Remember you use the tool,don't let the tool use you and
change your exercise.
All right, if you have anyquestions regarding how to use
some of these things, or if youwant my opinion on the best
piece of equipment for you, Imean, give me a shout.
I love answering questions likethis.
Please make sure that youdownload this.

(19:22):
It really helps my numbers.
Please share it on your ownsocial media.
I love when I see people sharethese.
I really am doing this to tryto help people.
I want to give people thescientific framework so they at
least are getting someinformation that I hope helps
them.
All right, keep working outpeople.

(19:43):
Thank you for listening totoday's show.
I ask you to please follow thisshow on wherever you get your
podcasts and also please hitautomatic downloads.
It really helps me and it helpsthe show.
Now I want to thank OverheadDoor of Daytona Beach, their
premier garage door company inVolusia County, with the best

(20:04):
product with the best service.
I can vouch for Jeff and ZachHawk, the owners.
They are great people.
If you need any help with yourgarage doors, give them a shout
386-222-3165.