Dr Oz makes me furious

[Ducy]

Hey SI members. I just had to show a wonderful story with you guys today.

Tonight I was working out at my gym. Its leg day, and I was doing squats and deadlifts. Now many people prefer tons of work for legs but I prefer some heavy weights and a lot of low rep sets. Anyways, while I was squatting a guy came over and said

"Why are you squatting?"

And I replied.

"Well today is legs and its good for you."

What came next made me incredibly disappointed.

"Well you should do leg presses. They're easier."

Before I could lecture the guy on his idiotic thought process, (working out isn't meant to be easy) he through in his earbuds and started toing his 500th set of curls (in the other squat rack)

So I did my squats and moved onto deadlifts. No this movement is something I train very strict on. I do heavy weights for only 1 or 2 reps. I don't "control" the weight on the way down. It comes up and I drop it. Well anyways a woman comes up and tells me that if I can't control the weight I shouldn't be lifting it. So I explain to her why I don't "control" the weight. So she smiles and says ok, then asks what lift I'm doing. When I reply "deadlift" she looked as if she just started her period. Her face scrunched up and

"Well Doctor Oz says that the deadlift is dangerous! You shouldn't do them you should do (insert useless exercise)."

Well needless to say I was completely ticked off by this point. This little gym bunny in her hollister pants and her sports bra with her 2lb rubber weights is lecturing me on what "Dr Oz says". Anyways I tell her that I need to get back to work and pop in my earbuds and cranked up some "Ramstein". I continue to build up the weights, 1 rep at a time with everything going smooth. I pop on anothe r few lbs to make it an even 300 and get to work. A quick psyche up and a deep breathe, and I started the lift. Even over my headphones I can still hear my buddies cheering me. I reach the top of the lift, dropped the weight, and next thing I know I am picking myself up off the ground.

Silly me forgot to release some of my air while lifting, so the Vasalva Manuevar basically raised my BP and the sudden release of air dropped it. I have seen it happen, and its avoidable if you breathe, but I just didn't follow the proper "protocol" and instead of taking a knee to regain myself I stood there like a triumphant fool and wound up eating floor.

So the gym bunny comes over and says "I told you its dangerous"

Then the gym attendant comes over and asks me if I'm ok, I tell him I'm fine and he proceeds to gimme a quick concussion check. (Understandable) then he starts asking me a series of question and tells me I should go to the doctors and have my heart checked and that it sounds like I have a condition in which my heart beats erratically. I need to have a special pacemaker put in and keep exercise down to a minimum.

I tried to explain that I knew what happened, that although not a good thing if It happens a lot, people who max out tend to have this issue on deadlifts (like when your lifting 1.5 times your bodyweight.)

Well he proceeds to quote...you'll never believe it....Dr Oz.

And lo and behold gym bunny shows up and tells me "I told him! Dr Oz says deadlifting is bad." And then mr bicep curls comes and tells me that I should just do some leg curps and that will do the same thing as a deadlift and they're easier.

I finally had it and chewed all of them out, explaining every single point that they were making was either ignorant, foolish, or plain wrong. And then just for laughs I stacked 15 lbs on the bar and did another deadift just to prove to them all that I was fine. Of course I hit it and after remembering to breathe I dropped the weight and left the gym.

Now I know some of you will be utterly lost on this post, and I have a feeling people will try to talk about my whole "passing out" and that's fine. But I know I am healthy (full work up a month ago) and I have seen people pass out on heavy lifts. There are conditions that screw with your BP but when your using the "Vasalva Manuever" your blood pressure spikes because your intentionally increasing it.

But come on. Someone says something is bad and everyone blindly follows? What do you think picking up a box is doing? Its a deadlift! In fact doing a deadlift teaches you how to properly lift stuff since so many people seem to slip a disc while working around the house.

Please people start formulating your own ideas and start researching things. -_-

[big916]

Dr oz doesn't have creditability outside of anatomy and phisology. He has great diagrams or gives great examples on how and what the body is doing. At the same time his viewers are nearly all women and seniors which wouldn't do a deadlift. Still he can't say they're bad for you. And those people need to mind their business. And frankly with the body you describe you have I would never come up to, because clearly you have been in the gym more than once.

I had someone come up to me while doing rope pull downs. He said they are bad for your elbows and I said I think I will be fine as I proceeded to rep the whole stack of weight effortlessly.

[Ducy]

Ya I once had a guy tell me that rope crunches were bad because weights make your abs big and it looks gross to have huge guts like bodybuilders.

I said oh thanks for the advice, placed 2 45lb plates on the pin (which already had 200lbs) then placed another 50 on top and proceeded to rep out 12 reps with prefect form. Then proceeded to tell him that bodybuilders have huge guts from using GH and the "gut" is caused by intestional distension. They're abs aren't huge, they're guts literally are sticking out haha. I also told him that while hollister may look good in the club, a tank top and shorts is gym attire. Not a polo and jeans with 200 dollar lacoste shoes

[Ducy]

I should also note that strength or size doesn't mean you know everything. I mean I have learned different things even though I have some strength and size. I have also corrected peoples forms when thyre 250lbs and benching over 400. Now granted these cases are far and few between it does occassionaly happen...but Dr Oz...easy workouts? Come on...

[EvilEvilKitten]

There is a difference between muscle-building and toning which apparently your gym overlooked, Ducy. I have heard of the type of muscle-building you're doing - max out weights with few reps. Never heard of Dr. Oz before.

But shouldn't you have had a 'buddy' watching you deadlift to make sure you follow the procedure?

"Ironworkers never work alone." - that sort of thing.

Just asking since that's not my kind of 'exercise'.

[g-dubz]

Dr. Oz thinks everything is either unhealthy or dangerous for the most part lol

[big916]

i have never met someone that strong who had poor form. they either have always had great form or they were forced to learn after having surgery. usually shoulder surgery since I'm a thinking of bench pressing. and EEK is sounded like guys were watching him since he said they were cheering him on. dead-lifting is just picking up a weighted bar properly and standing erect then repeat if not maxing, so no one can really spot you since you just drop the weight on the floor when done.

as for dr. oz; he was Oprah's doctor on her show and you know once Oprah touching your career it turns to gold and you have your own show.

and ducy you will probably grow out of the maxing out mentality. i was still doing it at your age then realized it doesn't really matter. i was bench pressing 365lbs junior year in high school and wanted so bad to get to 4 plates each side(405lbs). then i realized i see all these older guys that have shoulder problems so i decided to just stay at repping 315lbs and give my ego a rest.

[Ducy]

I did have proper form. I usually have a friend watching me and making sure I keep everything tight and I will glance over upon completion and they nod if I am at a full extension (completely up)

There wasn't a lot they can really do to spot me because if I fail the lift, rather then have a weight fall on me, it falls to the ground. And with the Vasalva Manuever is where you take a deep breathe and try to blow out against a closed epiglotis. This accomplishes 2 things. Your BP spikes because all this tension causes your body to become tighter, and the blood vessels in your neck constrict to keep all this blood from shooting into your head. When you suddenly release the air, the vessels relax and all the blood drains too quickly for the heart to replace it, and you effectively black out.

The vasalva manuever, even though there can be some issues is fairly safe. It acts as a giant lifting belt and stabilizes your body. In fact I've never seen anyone be able to lift anything somewhat heavy without doing this. If their thoracic pressure is lower then the weight, it "crushes" their posterior chain.

The only thing you must remmeber is to blow out a little air (through pursed lips) while standing. This allows slight BP adjustments through the lift, and keeps the changes from being big enugh to cause a blackout.

[sensualGoddess]

Hahahaha!!! Gym bunnies...Ducy, that was truly hilarious.

Now, while Dr Oz definitely has the credentials, I always rely on an old adage...different strokes for different folks.

Pay no mind to what anyone says, if whatever work out regime works for you, then it does.

[Ducy]

Originally Posted by big916

i have never met someone that strong who had poor form. they either have always had great form or they were forced to learn after having surgery. usually shoulder surgery since I'm a thinking of bench pressing. and EEK is sounded like guys were watching him since he said they were cheering him on. dead-lifting is just picking up a weighted bar properly and standing erect then repeat if not maxing, so no one can really spot you since you just drop the weight on the floor when done.

as for dr. oz; he was Oprah's doctor on her show and you know once Oprah touching your career it turns to gold and you have your own show.

and ducy you will probably grow out of the maxing out mentality. i was still doing it at your age then realized it doesn't really matter. i was bench pressing 365lbs junior year in high school and wanted so bad to get to 4 plates each side(405lbs). then i realized i see all these older guys that have shoulder problems so i decided to just stay at repping 315lbs and give my ego a rest.

Lol big I know that maxing is more for fueling ego growth rather than muscle growth.

BUT. I do heavy singles on the deadlift because there really is no "eccentric" phase of the lift. With bench and squats and any other lift, you can change the tempos to make it harder. For a deadlift there are few options so I just do heavy to stimulate my brain. Well stimulate my CNS.

For shoulder issues though it is mostly due to form. You can bench 4 plates and have a flaw on your form. Dave Tate is one of the greatest benching instructors I have ever seen and he breaks that lift down in an almost OCD way. And I only go to arms parallel for bench (well upper arm parallel to floor) because any lower and it causes too much rotation in the shoulders. I do also tend to shoulder press over bench press because I realize strong shoulders are 10 times more important than a 2000 lb bench.