Ep. 140 - Squats Are Bad For You (The Origin of this Fitness Myth)

We’ve had medical doctors and physical therapists who specialize in lifting to dispel exercise-specific fears and myths around risk, outdated treatments, and reductionist narratives multiple times on Iron Culture. But, do you ever wonder why they have to dispel these myths in the first place? In this episode, Dr. Conor Heffernan, the strength historian, is back to teach us about the origins of these beliefs, narratives, and fears. Where did the Snap City fears of modern YouTube comments on deadlift and squat videos originate from? Why do some personal trainers, even in the modern era, fear deep squats or your knees passing your toes? Join us in this episode as we go way back, many decades before the majority of us were born to learn how these ideas were born!

Om Podcasten

Iron Culture was started by Eric Helms and Omar Isuf, now currently hosted by Eric Helms and Eric Trexler with Omar as a returning guest, as a means of exploring the world of physical culture and attempting to distill a unified philosophy of lifting and to help listeners find greater meaning from the iron. The lifting community has become fractured over the last ~70 years and this Podcast will attempt to explore the fundamental threads that unite these different tribes. The Podcast focuses on dispensing practical, useful information to the listener, bouncing from history, to philosophy, to contemporary lifting culture issues, to science. This can range from teaching the audience about lifting, programming, nutrition, supplements/PEDs and the history of lifting culture. The format includes casual conversations between the two hosts on a variety of topics, discussions with a panel of experts and interviews with authoritative figures in the lifting community.