Fitness myths …

The topic of fitness is full of myths!

There are so many misconceptions and a lot of misinformation about getting fit, staying fit, specific areas of fitness, and fitness in general. Some of these misconceptions come from what used to be believed before science really established the better science of fitness. Others come from corporate giants in the fitness industry who are out to make a buck. What really matters is the truth about fitness.

So let’s bust some myths!

Myth: Aerobics are the best way to lose weight and get in shape. Truth: Aerobics are a poor way of improving your physique. On their own they will do very little to improve body fat levels or muscle tone. That’s not to say that aerobics are useless, they can improve your cardiovascular health and cardio endurance considerably. Aerobics have value, but they aren’t the “everything” they are too often made out to be.

Myth: So long as I diet, I don’t need to train to lose fat. Truth: If you lose weight by diet alone, you will lose weight, but most of it won’t be fat. At most 20-40 percent might be fat, but for the most part you will actually lose lean body weight. If you lose lean tissue then your body weight will drop but your fat weight will stay the same so your percentage of body fat will actually rise! This means you actually get technically ‘fatter’.

Myth: Cardiovascular exercise is the only way to burn body fat. Truth: Perhaps the best way to burn body fat is actually training with weights. Training with weights can be an efficient means of burning calories if done properly but a huge benefit of muscular conditioning is that it actually can enhance your metabolism for burning fat. One pound of fat burns 5 calories per day, but one pound of lean muscle burns 60 calories per day. Thus, building lean muscle actually develops a metabolism that more efficiently burns fat. However, muscular conditioning is just one of three keys to reducing body fat (cardiovascular exercise and nutrition are also key).

Myth: If women lift weights they get big, muscular, and masculine. Truth: Women do not have enough of the male steroid – testosterone – in their bodies naturally to grow big muscles. This myth comes from seeing female bodybuilders who take steroids and become masculine. If normal, non-steroid-taking women lift weights as prescribed in a good exercise program they will tone and firm their muscles, become leaner and actually look more feminine.

Myth: Weight training workouts are long, boring and tortuous. Truth: Any workout is what you make of it. If you put your heart into it and perform the exercises correctly and within your ability then weight training can be very enjoyable. Weight training sessions don’t need to be long. In fact they are better if kept to 45 minutes to an hour or less. For many people two or three sessions per week will work wonders.

Myth: Professional bodybuilders make the best trainers and if I follow their routines in the magazines I’ll get the same physique as them. Truth: Professional bodybuilders are uniquely gifted individuals whose genetic distribution of muscle fibers are greatly superior to the average person and is usually improved even further by chemical assistance. What works for them, more often than not, won’t work for “normal” people. In reality they can often make the worst trainers because they don’t know how to effectively train “normal” people who have an average amount of muscle fibers and normal recovery rates and don’t take steroids.

Myth: Only beginners need personal training. Truth: Even personal trainers need personal training! A good personal trainer can correct mistakes that you can’t see, help you train more intensely and effectively, suggest alterations and routines that you wouldn’t think of, and give you impartial views on your progress. Have you been training with weights for a long time but have hit a rut? Have you tried periodization? It consists of several training periods put together, that work the muscles using different techniques (power, endurance, circuits, bodybuilding) to shock the muscles into further growth. Been exercising for years but can’t shift those last few inches? Been doing hundreds of situps? Forget them and learn the most effective way of training the stomach and why being able to see your six pack has very little to do with the training itself and more to do with nutrition.

Myth: If I starve myself I’ll lose weight and get lean. Truth: If you starve yourself you’ll lose a little weight to begin with, but since it’ll mostly be muscle you’ll actually have a slightly higher body fat percentage. Then your metabolism will drop drastically and when you resume normal eating you’ll put on a large amount of fat.

Myth: I need to eat less often to get slim. Truth: You need to eat MORE often to get slim. Eating more often will raise your metabolic rate so you’ll burn more calories all day long. The western way of eating two or three large meals a day is not a healthy way to live. By cutting your meal sizes in two, but eating twice as often (five or six small meals a day) you use your calories much more effectively and less will be stored as fat. The body can only process so much of what you eat at any one time. Anything over this is stored as fat, that’s why you should eat little and often.

Myth: My meals should all be of equal size. Truth: When you eat a meal, first think about what you are going to do in the next few hours. If you’re about to have a nap then you only need a small number of calories. If you’re going to the gym you may need as many as 800 or more. Consider what would happen if you did the opposite. If you ate 800 calories then slept, you’d use up to around 300 then store the rest as fat. If you ate 100 calories then went to the gym and burned up 700 calories, then your body would use the 100 from food then would have to break up 600 from your body (most likely from your muscles). Each meal should correlate with what your activity levels will be for the next few hours wherever possible.

Myth: All supplements are useless, or, supplements are great! Truth: Many supplements work very well. So long as you choose a good manufacturer you can get some great products. Whey proteins, weight gainers, meal replacements, fat burners and multivitamins are the safest bets, but there are many other innovative products that work. HOWEVER, there is a lot of junk being sold as supplements. Often, if you have a very good nutrition and fitness program, you won’t have a need to supplement!

Scotty