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Zachary Walston, PT, DPT, OCS
Zachary Walston, PT, DPT, OCS

6.9K Followers

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Welcome to Zach Walston’s Medium Page

Tackling health misinformation one story at a time — Top Stories Health Misinformation: Stories on health and medical misinformation Health and Fitness: Stories providing health and fitness tips Growth: Stories about personal and professional growth Books: Stories with book recommendations and lessons learned from them Writing: Stories about writing tips and lessons learned Medium: Stories about successes, failures, and…

Health

2 min read

About Zach Walston
About Zach Walston
Health

2 min read


Published in Better Humans

·Pinned

Why I Won’t Stop Calling Out BS in Healthcare and the Fitness Industry

I met another person who was caused unnecessary harm — “I saw your story on LinkedIn about posture…are you serious?! Poor posture isn't the reason I have pain?” As I was leaving a graduation party for our 2020 and 2021 orthopedic residency classes (COVID delayed the former), I met one of my colleague's wife and this was the opening to…

Health

4 min read

Why I Won’t Stop Calling Out BS in Healthcare and the Fitness Industry
Why I Won’t Stop Calling Out BS in Healthcare and the Fitness Industry
Health

4 min read


Published in Better Humans

·Pinned

Stop Telling People Posture Causes Pain

How much longer are we going to ignore decades of research? — The posture nonsense is getting out of control. While preparing for a residency lecture this week, I came across an article on posture written by a physician. It was hard to contain my frustration. “Sitting badly or standing in a slouched position stresses your lower back, weakening and damaging an…

Health

7 min read

Stop Telling People Posture Causes Pain
Stop Telling People Posture Causes Pain
Health

7 min read


Published in Better Humans

·3 days ago

Could Too Much Resistance Training Be Harmful?

Finding the right balance to improve your health — (This article is not medical advice, it is a summary of recent research along with my clinical interpretation. Talk to your physical therapist or physician about an individualized exercise approach to improve your health.) Everyone should do some form of resistance training. We have enough research to know definitively that…

Health

6 min read

Could Too Much Resistance Training Be Harmful?
Could Too Much Resistance Training Be Harmful?
Health

6 min read


Published in Better Humans

·Mar 22

How Stretching Between Sets May Help You Build More Muscle

There is some preliminary evidence that inter-set stretching may enhance hypertrophy when performed in a specific manner. — What do you do between sets of an exercise? Perhaps you use the time to prep for the next exercise, visualizing your repetition or blasting music to amp yourself up for the lift. Both are solid strategies for powerlifting and Olympic-style weightlifting, but they are probably unnecessary for everyone else.

Stretching

4 min read

How Stretching Between Sets May Help You Build More Muscle
How Stretching Between Sets May Help You Build More Muscle
Stretching

4 min read


Published in Better Humans

·Mar 21

One Simple Strategy to Ensure You Are Training at the Right Intensity

Our exercise capacity fluctuates daily — it’s common to underestimate or overestimate your capacity. — I just feel off. This is a common feeling in the gym, on the soccer field, on the pickleball court, or anywhere else you like to perform physical activity. Why? Our exercise capacity fluctuates daily. Sleep, stress, diet, motivation, recent training load, and attention all influence our capacity to perform…

Exercise

6 min read

One Simple Strategy to Ensure You Are Training at the Right Intensity
One Simple Strategy to Ensure You Are Training at the Right Intensity
Exercise

6 min read


Published in Better Humans

·Mar 17

No, Sweeteners Are Not Going to Kill You

Addressing the recent study on erythritol — Health blog writers at major news outlets are great at two things: writing headlines and scaring the hell out of people. They are terrible at reading and understanding research. The interpretations of the recent study on erythritol and cardiovascular risk strengthen these observations. Here is a screenshot after googling ‘erythritol…

Health

4 min read

No, Sweeteners Are Not Going to Kill You
No, Sweeteners Are Not Going to Kill You
Health

4 min read


Published in Better Humans

·Mar 17

4 Strategies to Reduce Your Gym Time Without Sacrificing Results

Research-backed methods to improve exercise efficiency — “I don’t have time to exercise.” This is a common complaint and a valid one. Work, family time, sleep, volunteer events, and other commitments pile up. Struggling to find time to exercise isn’t synonymous with laziness. There are many priorities in life and sometimes exercise takes a back seat. It’s…

Exercise

7 min read

4 Strategies to Reduce Your Gym Time Without Sacrificing Results
4 Strategies to Reduce Your Gym Time Without Sacrificing Results
Exercise

7 min read


Published in Better Humans

·Mar 14

The 4 Fundamental Exercises For Building Muscle and Strength

There is no need to get fancy or worry about EMG research — Is there such thing as a ‘best’ exercise? Universally? No. For you and a specific situation? Maybe. This article is not medical advice, it is a summary of recent research along with my clinical interpretation. Talk to a professional about an individualized training approach. First, the best exercise is the…

Exercise

7 min read

The 4 Fundamental Exercises For Building Muscle and Strength
The 4 Fundamental Exercises For Building Muscle and Strength
Exercise

7 min read


Published in Better Humans

·Mar 10

How You Can Use Exercise to Improve Your Sleep, and Vice Versa

What research tells us about this bidirectional relationship — Sleep is one of the most important health behaviors. It’s not just about the total sleep time (the goal is 7–9 for most adults, which many people fall short of), however. Without quality, the duration loses its value. Fortunately, research has shown that exercise can be an effective tool for…

Health

5 min read

How You Can Use Exercise to Improve Your Sleep, and Vice Versa
How You Can Use Exercise to Improve Your Sleep, and Vice Versa
Health

5 min read

Zachary Walston, PT, DPT, OCS

Zachary Walston, PT, DPT, OCS

6.9K Followers

A physical therapist tackling health misinformation | Providing daily research summaries at https://www.zacharywalston.com/subscribe | Clinical Gap Podcast Host

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