The Top 20 Health and Fitness Myths of 2014
When it comes to fitness it’s often hard to sort the fact from
fiction. It seems that everyone these days has an opinion and everyone is a
self-appointed fitness expert. There is quite a bit of hype about health and
wellness, a lot of which comes from marketing campaigns that aim to sell us
something easy, the magic pill, or the latest and greatest product that will
make us well.
The truth is that there is a lot of misinformation in the world
of health, and since being armed with accurate information is half the battle,
today we will count down the Top 20 Fitness Myths of 2014.
20. If I workout I can eat whatever I want
Wrong! Healthy weight management is all about calories in and
calories out. You still have to make sure you burn more than you eat, period.
What is true is the fact that those who workout regularly can
eat more than those who don’t because they burn more during the workout and
even when at rest because their metabolism is boosted.
But, you still have to consider that an apple has 95 calories,
while a slice of apple pie has 277.
19. Crunches will burn belly fat
This
is one of the biggest myths around. Crunches tone ab muscles, but, in order to
burn the fat that covers those muscles you have to perform fat burning
exercises along with keeping a calorie deficit.
You can add ab exercises into a fat burning workout, like,
Kettlebell training, HIIT or Tabata, with these workouts you burn fat, while at
the same time sculpting the muscles underneath.
18. The more you sweat, the more fat you burn
Not true! Sweat is the body’s acclamatory adjustment in response
to heat, it occurs in an effort to cool you down, and it can just as well be
the result of working out in a hot room than from a particular workout.
The true gage of workout intensity and therefore optimal fat
burning is target heart rate. Also, when you do workouts, like HIIT, Tabata or
Kettlebell training you go into the anaerobic state, where you are literally
gasping for air, and that is the best fat burning environment.
17. The longer the workout,
the more effective it is
Wrong! Really wrong!
High Intensity Interval Training and Tabata are proof of that.
Experts say and the science backs up the fact that doing short bursts of very
intense movement, followed by short periods of rest, such as that seen in
Tabata and HIIT for 15 minutes even once a week is more beneficial and yields
better results than doing an hour of traditional cardio (fat burning zone) 3
days a week.
16. Sleep has nothing to do with weight management
Wrong again!
Sleep plays an important role in weight management for several
reasons. A study of Women cited in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed
that those who got less than seven hours of sleep per night gained weight. And
other studies have shown that even minimal sleep deprivation increases the
production of the hormone ghrelin in the body, which triggers feelings of hunger,
even when one is not. Think about it, how often have you eaten when you were
really tired?
15. Fruit cocktail is the
same as eating whole fruit
Big wrong on this one! Anything canned has preservatives and
additives. Fruit cocktails typically have a ton of added sugar that ups the
calorie count dramatically, besides the hazards of the refined sugar that is
included (aka heavy syrup).
Whole fruit always wins!
14. Cardio should come before strength training
Not true, it is more effective to strength train first because
doing cardio first will reduce glycogen levels in the body and can prevent an
efficient strength workout. But, doing weight training first will actually
increase the production of testosterone (in men) and cortisol (in women), both
of which are beneficial to working out.
13. The scale determines your true fitness level
Did you know that muscle weighs more than fat? If you workout
and strength train with weights the scale may not represent your true fitness
level. Then there are inches, some people lose inches while the scale stands
still.
And, the scale cannot assess a true amount of body fat, for that
you can use a body fat calliper that offers an accurate reading.
Then there is the BMI, Body Mass Index Scale that can tell you
where you place on the obesity scale, it takes into account parameters beyond
weight.
12. If you don’t eat a lot of fruit you are not healthy
The
truth is that vegetables are a better choice in produce. This is not to say
that you should not eat fruit, but, vegetables have more nutrients and much
less calories and sugar, plus, the sugar in fruit is known as fructose, which
is stored in the liver instead of in the muscles.
Some people eat fruit all day without considering the amount of
sugar they are ingesting. All vegetables, especially the green ones, should
fill the largest part of your plate at every meal and snacks for that matter.
11. To lose fat and weight,
you should not eat fat
Wrong! Healthy fats play critical roles in our health and
wellness because they play key roles in internal body functions and also help
prevent chronic disease, like that of the heart because they help to control
bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol.Fat is also important to maintain healthy hormone levels and make use of vitamins. Fat is also necessary for muscle growth and it helps to regulate the appetite.
The key is to focus on healthy fats, like, olive oil, fish and fish oils, avocadoes, flaxseeds and raw nuts, A diet without fats that is mainly comprised of carbs and protein can make any fat-loss or muscle-building goals virtually impossible to reach.
10. You shouldn’t eat food
after 6pm
Your metabolism doesn’t have a watch and suddenly stop burning
at 6 pm or any other time for that matter. When you workout regularly your metabolism
is working even when it’s at rest.
9. Lifting weights will make
women bulky
Many come to this conclusion after seeing photos of female
bodybuilders. But, it’s not just lifting weights that have made these women
bulky, its also steroids, taking growth hormones and a very particular regimen
that takes a ton of effort.
Ladies, lift weights, build strength, tone muscle, it’s all good
for you and you will not turn into a bodybuilder.
8. You can’t lose weight without doing cardio
To lose weight all you need to do is expend more calories than
you consume. How you do this is completely up to you. Many like to do cardio
when trying to lose weight, but it is by no means required, though, it allows
you to eat more and enjoy better heart health, stamina, and increased energy
levels.
Older people benefit from aerobic activity even more because as
we age our metabolism slows way down and exercise helps to boost it.
By the way, cardio is old news, you are better off ditching the
hour on the treadmill and doing 10 to 15 minutes of HIIT.
7. Cardio should only be done early morning on an empty
stomach when trying to lose body fat
If you prefer to do your cardio first thing in the morning
before breakfast that’s perfectly fine, but it is certainly not essential for
fat loss. You can do it in the afternoon, or late evening. Once again the most
important ingredient for fat loss is expending more calories than you consume.
6. Carnitine is a potent fat burning supplement
The research has been done and this supplement is without doubt
nothing but unsubstantiated hype. Carnitine won’t help you lose fat and even in
suggested doses can have some seriously unpleasant gastrointestinal side
effects.
5. High protein diets are
essential for fat loss
The best fat loss diet is one that you can stick to. Most
dieters quickly find that all or nothing fad diets don’t work for long term fat
loss.
Try to eat smaller portions several times per day instead of 3
big meals and increase your physical activity when aiming for fat loss.
4. Lifting weights for high
repetitions is necessary to tone muscles
There is no such thing as “toning muscles,” they can only be
built or maintained, the term toned is simply used as a description.
If you can lift a weight for more than 15 repetitions with ease
it’s time to increase the weight.
3. Creatine is a dangerous supplement
Not many supplements are backed by strong scientific research,
but creatine has been proven to significantly increase muscle strength and
shorten between set recoveries. It has also been shown to be perfectly safe for
both of those purposes without any significant health consequences.
2. Carbohydrates make you fat
Poor
old carbohydrates really have a bad reputation, but it really is undeserved, as
they certainly don’t make you fat unless eaten in quantities that increase your
calorie intake well beyond your needs and you only eat simple carbs, like,
sugar, cakes and cookies.
The
key is to eat good carbs, and not simple sugar carbs.
Complex carbs including, whole grains and vegetables are your
best sources, while simple carbs, like sugars and white starch, should be kept
to a minimum because they are not nutrient rich and are therefore not quality
calories.
Carbs are necessary components of an overall well-balanced diet.
The more variety you have in your diet, the more nutrients you consume and the
better health you will enjoy.
Also, if you want to gain muscles then you need carbs. When you
eliminate them you might burn more fat during workouts, but, you will not have
the energy for long term effective workouts because it is carbs that fuel
intense workouts.
1.
Isolation exercises are more important than compound exercises
Not true! Compound
exercises are actually vastly superior to isolation exercises when you want to
build muscle and they are also important for functional fitness.
Isolation
exercises only work one muscle group whereas compound movements work multiple
muscle groups.
This helps with
increasing an anaerobic response in the body, because you are engaging multiple
muscle groups at the same time, which, means that strength training workouts
can help to burn more fat.
Functional fitness
is the use of exercise moves that mimic day to day life and train muscle groups
to work together, and that is where compound exercises serve you best by
improving performance in daily activities, and eliminating risk of injury,
something especially important as we age.
Balance is
something often overlooked by people when they design their fitness regimens.
Balance training also allows for healthier aging, can go a long way to avoiding
the typical falls seen in seniors, and is something that is a by-product of
many compound exercises.
Summing It
All Up
Well there we have
it, the Top 20 Health and Fitness Myths of 2014.
Remember
that when it comes to health and fitness everyone has an opinion, next time you
hear something that just doesn’t seem right be sure to do some research before
diving in head first and believing the latest myth, something especially useful
when it comes to expensive hype, such as, supplements.
Here’s
to 2015 being a great health fitness year!
©
Jeff Davy 2015
