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Fad diets -

Now you can't eat carbs. Now you can. Now you can only eat soup. Now you should fast. There’s always a new diet trending and many people just jump on the bandwagon.

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Fad diets - Some of these diets can be beneficial for your body, depending on your circumstances. The trick is to always think long-term.

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Fad diets - Ask yourself if the diet is sustainable over a long period of time. Can you adopt it as a lifestyle change, rather than a quick fix to whatever goal you want to achieve?

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Social media challenges -

Doing the splits in between two chairs with a barbell overhead? Probably not a big deal for a strong, short person who has great flexibility. But if this is not you, why on Earth would you put yourself through this and risk hurting yourself?

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Social media challenges - These challenges completely disregard individual differences. We're not one-size-fits-all when it comes to our bodies and what we can do with them.

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We're not all built the same way - You've seen someone squatting really deep with perfect form at the gym, and no matter how hard you train, you can never achieve the same depth. You get frustrated, because after all, that's how you're "supposed" to do the exercise.

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We're not all built the same way - Everyone is built differently, your femur socket is probably different from that person's, you might have mobility issues that cannot be addressed by training alone, your levers are different—your squat will look different, no matter what.

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We're not all built the same way - We all have different anthropometry, different goals, and experiences. Expecting a casual gym-goer to train and perform like a competitive athlete is absurd.

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Yoga - Yoga can be great for both the body and mind, but you need to practice consistently and it takes time to reach a proficient level in many poses.

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Yoga - You might be tempted to emulate the yoga "gurus" you follow on Instagram and try advanced poses. But without the proper strength, mobility, flexibility, and balance, you can be doing more harm than good.

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Self(ie)-esteem - Yes, your Instagram followers know you work out. You don't need to document every single thing you do at the gym.

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Self(ie)-esteem - Social media has become a sort of training partner and "proof" of what you can do. If nobody sees it, it doesn't count. While posts can keep you accountable, constantly seeking validation through social media can also distract you from your real mission— becoming a better version of yourself.

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Social media "coaches" - Just because someone has a nice body and a big following on social media, that doesn't make that person a "coach."

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Social media "coaches" - Social media, particularly Instagram, is full of inexperienced "coaches" who are more than willing to take your likes and your hard-earned cash.

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Social media "coaches" - special edition - In addition to the guy with the washboard abs and the girl with the dream glutes, things can get really specific.

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Social media "coaches" - special edition - Entered your first physique/bodybuilding/CrossFit/powerlifting competition? That automatically qualifies you as an expert, so you can now coach other athletes. Simple, right?

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Inappropriate supplementation -

Sports supplements are more mainstream than ever. The problem is that many people either don't need them, don't know what to take, why, or how much to take of these supplements. 

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Inappropriate supplementation - The clue is in the name. You might think you actually need a lot of supplements to achieve your goals. You don't. Start by eating a balanced diet instead.

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"Functional" training - You don't need to stand on a wobbly surface doing an exotic exercise to mimic "real-life" motor patterns.

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"Functional" training - The whole argument for this type of workout is that it translates into the real-world. But this is something that regular barbell exercises have done for many years, and continue to do so. If you can deadlift your body weight, you'll surely have no problems picking up your grocery bags.

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Dr. Detail -

Many of the self-proclaimed "coaches" we mentioned earlier stress the importance of quantifying every single detail in your diet and workout. They use complex buzz words, making it sound all very scientific. 

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Stop over-quantifying - But for most people, it's enough to keep a rough track of calories, macros, sets, and reps. The reward for quantifying everything is sometimes not worth the effort.

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Stop over-quantifying - Things such as fatigue management and work capacity, for instance, cannot be put down in numbers. These have to be observed and assessed, rather than be resumed to math.

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Stop over-quantifying - When in doubt, remember Einstein's famous quote: "Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

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Cross (something) -

With the explosion of CrossFit and HIIT (high-intensity interval training) in recent years, a potentially dangerous beast was born from the two than can actually cause you more harm than good.

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Cross (something) - How much you sweat and how hard your heart pounds has become the norm to define what a "good workout" is. These indicators are misleading and can get you hurt.

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Cross (something) - It's worth noting that these types of workouts are not actually CrossFit or HIIT. You can generally see this trend in your average commercial gym.

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It's all about the PR - With the rising popularity of barbell exercises, you don't have to scroll down your Instagram or Facebook feed too much to find someone hitting a personal record (PR).

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It’s all about the PR - Never mind the bad form—the likes on social media and the little celebration in the end make it all worth it.

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It’s all about the PR -

The reality is that you don't have to max out frequently (or at all for many people) and if you do so, learn the difference between a valid movement and a near-death experience.

See also: Tips personal trainers do (and don’t) want you to know

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