Misinformation is a major contributor for many being people out there being unfit or overweight. Advertising, gimmicky fad diets and people spreading the word despite having any experience a fooling most people into believing certain unproven ‘facts’, or as most people call them: Myths. Below are 11 Weight loss and Muscle Growth Myths to be wary of.
A Calorie is a Calorie
When people talk about weight loss, you often get the crowd that say ‘eat below your caloric expenditure and you will lose weight’. Focusing on calories alone may get you minor results in the beginning, but eating low quality food (junkfood) will more than likely cause you lose muscle and gain fat, leading to a slower metabolism and less weightloss. Balancing your food with a good exercise program will help to maintain muscle and burn primarily fat, as you are receiving the right nutrients and your hormones are well balanced.
The More I Exercise the Better Results I’ll Get!
Exercising too often can lead to overtraining, which once again leads to muscle loss aswell as feeling tired and lethargic and is damaging to your health. A solid evenly spacde training program (with plenty of time for a full recovery) performed at high intensity will get you far better results.
Eating Sugar Before Exercising Increases Energy Levels.
Although sugar does spike your insulin and give you a quick energy boost, the crash happens just as quickly. Usually when sugary food is eaten before exercise, the workout starts out strong until the momentum is lost throughout the session. This is not only significant drop in energy but it also affects the quality of your workout which inturn will negatively affect your results.
More Protein = Bigger Muscles
The reasoning behind this theory comes from people mostly needing to increase their protein in order to have balanced protein intake (in regards to their carbohydrates and fats). But too much protein can cause your body to convert protein to glucose (instead of carbs). This basically means that you’ll not only be burning more protein for energy, but less fat and carbohydrates, whilst leaving you with less protein muscular recovery and growth. This will negatively affect your weightloss also.
Get a Six Pack by Doing Crunches
It sounds correct, working a particular muscle group to get it to become more visible. The only problem is that your abs are usually covered by the fat on your midsection. Since you cannot burn the fat directly from that area (known as a spot burn), you have to find effective fat burning exercises to remove that fat and reveal your abs. Working you core simply doesn’t burn enough calories to be an effective fat burner.
Resistance Training Doesn’t Burn Fat
Resistance Training (or weight lifting) may be targetted at developing larger or stronger muscles, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t burn fat. A high intensity weight lifting not only burns fat during a workout sesson but for hours or even days afterwards. This canbe even more beneficial than cardio for fat loss.
Running or Walking a certain distance burns the same amout of calories
You hear this one everywhere, but scientisits know this to be untrue. Running requires so much more energy as it involves more of the body to perform. Running actually burns around 40-50% more calories and can also be performed in less time than walking, meaning that the remaining time (it would take to walk) is burning calories while yourest, usually at a higher rate than normal (due to the exercise prior).
Women Shouldn’t Lift Weights or They’ll Get Bulky.
Muscle is growth is highly dictated by Testosterone levels. As women have far lower Testosterone than men, then cannot naturally get as bulky as a male bodybuilder. Most ‘bulky’ or muscular women are the results of precise planning and diligent research or as a result of illegal steroid abuse. Weight training is actually extremely beneficial for women as it does add a bit more muscle mass. The extra muscle keeps the metabolism running faster, making it perfect for weight loss.
Longer Workouts = More Muscle Growth
This is a common mistake made by many. Working out for too long not only leads to overtraining but is also not the most efficient way to train. Hormonally, the best amount of time to lift weights is somewhere between 30-45 minutes. This is because Testosterone peaks at around 30 minutes and drops below the normal level after around 45 minutes. Keeping your workouts to 30-45 minutes will have the best hormonal response and result in more growth.
If I Stop Weight Lifting My Muscle Will Turn Into Fat
This is scientifically impossible. Muscle simply cannot turn into fat, although it may seem that way. Many who stop lifting weights have a massive weight gain due to unmanaged food intake. As muscle starts to shrink quite often the person’s eating habits remain the same, and as their metabolism slows from this, there’s a gain in weight. This is why it is vitally important to monitor your food if you decide to stop weightlifting.
I Can’t Lose Weight or Grow More Muscle because of My Genetics
Everyone can lose weight. Everyone can gain muscle. Regardless of age or genetics, with applied knowledge and dedication anyone can achieve and get the body they want. This is they usual excuse for people who find training and eating healthy too hard, or who have “tried everything”. In many cases people do believe they have tried everything because of the mass amount of misinformation about health and fitness in today’s society. Get your advice from a qualified professional, such as an experienced trainer and/or nutrtitionalist.
For real weight loss / fat loss information that counts (no myths!), check out our dedicated section here! Cheers!
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