Now for your reading pleasure the American Council on Exercise's (ACE) top 5 worst fitness ideas of all time and my comments on each.
1. Dehydration A common, pre-20th century belief was that you should withhold water or you'd get too heavy or sick. Some people still try to dehydrate themselves and believe they are losing weight. I know some weight based athletes (jockeys, fighters, wrestlers) do it before a weigh-in, but you will still see people in sauna suits to this day.
They are an ineffective technique at best and very dangerous at their worst. As soon as you drink some water, all that weight is coming back. You want to lose fat, not water. Plus it is hard to look cool when it appears you are wearing a garbage bag.
2. Recreational drug use during competition- In 1869 cyclists were known to use ''speed balls'' of heroin and cocaine to increase endurance. The use of caffeine, alcohol, nitroglycerin, ether, strychnine and opium also was common among athletes in the late 19th century. 1869? I would have though this happened in 1969.
3. All-potato diet- Early 20th century scientist Horace Fletcher pushed this, along with excessive mastication of food - ''chewing your way to health.'' When I lived in Ireland I pretty much did this diet. Not recommended. I chewed may way through a lot of potatoes and a loss of a lot of muscle that's about it.
4. Physics for the bowels- Applied by early 18th-century British trainers. Not touching this one. Literally.
5. Vibrating belts- Proponents claimed would shake weight off. Remember seeing these? They are trying to make a comeback. For those times when the Shake Weight is just too much of a hassle, just put on your Shake Belt. If this worked, then riding in a bumpy car would be awesome for you.
What's the weirdest one you've seen or tried? You can pretend it was your friend and not you that did it.