Rant... This crap is what's wrong with the fitness industry

[Jean-Paul]

Just when I think that our industry is finally making some strides, someone like this comes along and reminds me of why I generally hate personal trainers.

How do people this stupid get such great press? How can someone who promotes superslow crunches make the Today Show, while people like Schuler and Cosgrove don't?

AAARRRGGGHH!

[Cynic]

Maybe if Lou and Alwyn were to promote punching the abs as the new way to firmer, tighter abs, that might get them some notoriety.

Truthfully, I can't see the video at work. I'll take your word for it that it's nonsense.

I think Lou and Alwyn are gaining a following. Is it better to be the interest of the fickle slobbering masses or the oracle to the those disciplined enough to make the trek to seek their knowledge?

[karky]

I don't know what to say.. he starts off kinda OK, then he starts with the crunch thing and lean muscle burning fat (didn't people use to think 1lbs of muscle burned 40 cals an hour or something? then we found out it was way less?)
If anything I'd build muscle using squats and deads, which will also create more EPOC than using that crunch thing.. my god..

[Alcoholiday]

the video's not working for me.

but i can tell you, without watching it, that it makes them popular because people love the idea of doing something that's easy. They don't want to go through the pain of doing squats to build nice legs, and would rather sit and do leg extensions while reading a paper. People would rather take a fat burner than to actually restrict foods from their diet. It's a constant cycle.

People love stuff that makes them sore, but not TOO sore. They want to feel like they've done something, but they don't want to be in pain where they find it hard to walk. They always want the fast answer, but we live in a country where if you go to a starbucks, the line will be 6-7 cars long at the drive-thru, and no one inside, because no one wants to park their car and walk.

It's just ridiculous. The people who the today's show caters to is a lot of stay at home moms or dads too. Usually by the time they air these stories, it's 10-11 in the morning, the time when a lot of people are at work. Remember, these shows are also the ones that have cooking segments on how to make a triple decker cake in the next breath.

The fitness industry isn't in good shape. But, no industry really is. People who are in "the know" and put forth some effort and research on whatever field or subject interests them always seem to be the most informed, and therefor, end up with the best results. People just need to realize this, and start putting forth effort in fitness, politics, etc.

[Lost Dog]

I'm sure those three ript demonstrators where tubs of lard before the 12 second of Jorge.

"And this guy's got a fulltime job... so he's busy." A job as what? A fireman? Or maybe a fitness model?

[Phaedrus49er]

EXPLODE!

[John Izzo]

As I stated in my newsletter, it goes to show you ANYONE can write a book on fitness.

[Chaney Weiner]

Not one mention about THE most important aspect, the mind and mental aspect. If it were all about training and nutrition then everyone would have the body they want. So it really doesn't matter who is on TV or wherever showing any kind of exercise because if someone is not inspired and have a strong enough "why" then nothing will work and if it does it will be temporary. It is not about training from the outside in but from the inside out which is why most people fail to begin with.

As for this video, it speaks for itself, in terms of the training. Now if this guy had incorporated the mental aspect into it then at least people would get some benefits and the most important ones at that. It is all about helping people, not only with their bodies but to live a healthy and happy life and very rarely do you see any fitness pro addressing those issues.

[GG300]

And I waisted an hour doing Intervals, Squats, Lunges and a few other lifts this morning. If I would have only known.

On a serious note this is the guy that got me started exercising. When I was at my largest size and had not worked out in years I started doing his 7 Minutes in the Morning program and after a few weeks I saw some decent results. At least as decent as you can expect for doing 7 minutes of exercises every morning. This got me interested and got me eager to start a real lifting program again. So maybe on a positive note if he gets people started they might eventually get hooked and start doing much more effective programs like NROL and EDT. One can only hope.

[Mahler]

The name is Jorge, but is appropriately pronounced "whore" "hay".

He kinda looks like John Basedow, doesn't he?

I, as a personal traininer, have developed a 2 second fitness solution.
If you have his book, it will take you only 2 seconds to toss it in the garbage.

We need a Gobbla Guide on this one. Tear him apart, Tony.

[Dhocott]

I agree with Alcoholiday. Most people don’t want to hear the truth about fitness. They want that magic pill.

True story: Several months ago some of my relatives were in town visiting and all the women were sitting in the living room talking about what they were going to do to lose weight. They were talking about acupuncture, diet pills, and other crazy techniques. I said, “I can tell you how to lose weight.” My cousin looked at me and said, “Well, we don’t want to hear about that eating right and exercising stuff.” I swear!

[Mahler]

Originally Posted by Dhocott

I said, “I can tell you how to lose weight.” My cousin looked at me and said, “Well, we don’t want to hear about that eating right and exercising stuff.” I swear!

You were literally casting pearls before swine. Stick me with needles, but for god's sake don't take away my Doritos.

[Hunter]

Come on, Meredith called him "famed fitness guru," so that must mean something. Besides, did you see Lacey's abs?

[RedLefty]

I think you guys are underestimating Jorge, and possibly missing out on the true genius behind what he's accomplished with the book and the on-air demonstrations. His slow-rep method is neither new nor optimal, but it isn't evil. It's a simple way to increase TUT for sedentary people. And it's brilliant in the way it breaks down mental barriers to exericse. "Only four reps?!?! Hey, I can do that!" And off they go.

GG300 mentions that Jorge got him started, and RW and I got started with Body For Life. A 1980s bodybuilding split, pretty bad training program, but very smart marketing that understood the mind of non-active people. I still use its planning principles today.

My dad and I have talked about being a business manager, and that we always have two lists on our desk:

1) A list of all possible projects at the company, ranked in descending order of proftability impact (best projects first)
2) The same list, but ranked in order of what the people at the company are actually ready to implement

The second list is the only one that matters. 90% of the people we see everyday could probably benefit from Jorge's program. So if it gets them started, then it succeeded where all our training knowledge failed.

While watching the video, I got the impression that the guy actually knows his stuff pretty well. What he's done is ignore list #1 and gone straight to list #2 to get people active, and make a very nice living in the process.

[eastcoastsurfer]

Good point redlefty. I used to be on the high horse all the time talking about all of the optimal ways to lift and eat, but I finally realized that I wasn't really helping most of the people who asked me for advice. If someone is currently doing nothing, then getting started with something is great. Once they do that for a little while then add more. Now I always start out my advice with "it's great you're doing something! Now, lets add a bit of this."

We have a concept that I implement with people at work called a development ladder. You have to master the bottom rungs of the ladder before moving onto the higher rungs. Of course we would like to work with everyone on the finer points of doing our business (this higher rungs), but that is a waste of time until you can get someone to show up on time each day (on the lower rungs). The same is true for fitness. Worrying about your micronutrient timing and breakout is useless if you're still laying on the couch all day.

[emartin10]

I just liked his comb over. Dang.

E

[danboyle]

Well I agree that this will only work for a small subset of people but one thing that he is promoting that everybody overlooked that is HUGE... eliminate the momentum.

I am huge on weight lifting and lifting very very slowly with zero momentum. Nothing new but nobody does it and the results blow everything else out of the water.

The book he has and that segment are a great lesson in marketing though.