Fitness Myths That Stop Your Progress
The fitness industry is such an interesting beast, because while there are so many amazing evidence-based practitioners out there, there are just as many misinformed people sharing information that overshadow the evidenced-based professionals.
It seemingly exists on a pendulum of extremes. One year, Carbs are the devil and the following, Fats are. Some people say you should warm-up for your age in minutes and some say warm-ups are barely necessary. Some say cardio is king for weight loss and some say cardio is terrible. Why is this?
I would like to think that most of the people who spread information regarding fitness are well-meaning, but with unsuspecting people who are at their wits-end are willing to pay big bucks for a change in their health and there are certainly people willing to take advantage.
The other factor is that research simply advances the industry. In the 90's, there was a push for lower Fat diets and Fat was seemingly the enemy, then sometime in the 2000's, the Atkin's diet later more commonly known as Keto became all the craze. I do believe that as more information is readily available, people are slowly becoming more privy to misinformation. At the very least, most people know that Fat burner pills do not work, and that exercising is always going to be a good way to build muscle and burn body fat.
Unfortunately, however, when I am consulting with potential clients, I find myself constantly having to redirect people about these myths. These are also myths that I know cause people to act in ways that generally affect someone's progress or adherence because these things can be tough to stick to especially when they are misinformed.
Some of these myths have some grains of truth in them, which I will discuss throughout this article.
So let's talk about them:
FACT: Excess calories are what make the body create adipose tissue/fat. When you are in a caloric surplus, the result is weight gain. Some of those excess calories and protein are recruited for building muscle and some of those calories are used in the creation of adipose tissue or fat. If you are in a caloric maintenance or deficit, REGARDLESS of the macronutrient make up, you will lose weight. Some adipose tissue and some muscle tissue.
Carbohydrates are one of the 3 macronutrients with 4 calories per gram. It is considered a non-essential macronutrient since we can technically survive without them, but they are fantastic for performance during workouts. Carbs are part of our culture and are everywhere. Almost every professional athlete thrives on carbs and couldn't live without them. You can absolutely have a fantastic physique while also still eating plenty of carbs.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: While I stand by what I said in that carbs themselves do not make you fat, I will admit that it is MUCH easier to overeat on carbs and fats than it is pure protein. Because many snacks and highly palatable foods are primarily carb/fat dominant foods, it can be easier to overeat on them, throwing you into a caloric surplus/excess and then gaining weight/fat tissue.
FACT: Your size and muscle mass are what inform your metabolism. Bigger people with more muscle and bigger organs will simply burn more calories and require more energy to run their systems. Your metabolism is super complex and meal frequency does not influence metabolism in a way that makes it burn more calories. If this was the case, you would see cultures who practice fasting during Ramadan become very obese in the following month after eating only once per day for a month.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: People who are doing this are basically grazing through the day and are likely doing this to lose weight, which means they are also probably exercising or mindful of eating healthier. When someone is being much more mindful of their portions, eating less, and likely making healthier choices in those smaller portioned meals, they are likely going to see weight change. This is not because their metabolism is speeding up, but because they are creating a caloric deficit with their new eating habit, along with the exercise they are probably doing.
FACT: ALL rep ranges can build muscle, especially from 4-12 reps per set. All rep ranges have their place in a program from 4-30 reps. After 20-30 reps or so the hypertrophy response is noted to be less effective. Also, Muscles do not "Tone," they either build, maintain shape or shrink. When you lift weight to the point of feeling a burn or soreness in the target muscle group, this creates a hypertrophy (muscle building) response. The hypertrophy response signals to the body that proteins need to be recruited to strengthen and build the muscles to ADAPT to the exercises being performed. This adaptation process can occur with higher rep ranges and lighter weight as well.
Now something to address here, is that when the average person tells me "Light weight, High Reps" they REALLY mean Cardio type exercises with weights that you see in group fitness classes in a commercial gym. This is NOT strength training and these classes are not for building muscle. This "Cardio with Weights" style of training simply cardio and does not create hypertrophy or strength adaptations.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: Yes, as muscles grow and technique improves, they will require more weight to get the same response as the muscles grow. And if someone continues lifting at high intensity in a variety of rep ranges, the muscles will continue to grow so long as the person is eating in a caloric surplus and sufficient protein. but you have to REALLY TRY HARD to become "Big and Bulky" like a bodybuilder this does not happen by accident. What people mean when they are using the term "Toned" is generally a physique that is lower body fat, looks fit and is not too bulky. This is more of a question of Nutrition.
FACT: Squats are about as bad for your knees as protein is bad for your kidneys. IT'S NOT! It is all context dependent.
Unless there is a pre-existing condition that affects someone's ability to metabolize protein or a kidney issue, you would have to have an ungodly amount of protein to be able to do damage to an otherwise healthy kidney. (If you do have a pre-existing condition, consult your physician for guidance.)
In the same vein, If someone just had knee surgery, I would likely avoid having them do a loaded back squat. But if they don't have any conditions preventing it, it is SUPER important that they are able to squat. It's a foundational exercise for the lower-body! There are even ways to regress a squat such as a high-box squat (Check out my video on how to set it up! (1) BOX SQUATS FOR BEGINNERS - YouTube) This can even be done bodyweight or even holding a light Dumbbell!
Squatting is important to get skilled at doing. It is a movement should be able to do with ease well into our old-age. Even getting out of your car is a Single Leg Twisting Squat! Getting up and down from the floor when playing with your kids too! Unless you want to be grunting and struggling to get up and down I guess.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: Squatting with poor technique, too much load and poor warm-up can surely lead to knee pain. But this is even in conjunction with all of the other things this same person is doing poorly! Someone who struggles to squat correctly likely also has tight hips, knee valgus (knees knocking inward), and flatter/pronated feet. These are all things that can cause issues, barring the squat.
FACT: Your digestive system is literally evolved to break down and absorb as much nutrients as possible from food. Protein has calories and as we know, when you eat too many calories, the body’s response is to store it as adipose tissue. If the body naturally evolved to piss out excess calories, no one would be overweight! You are not going to digest and absorb it immediately, but your body will slowly absorb it over time. As you will read in the grain of truth, some foods digest slower than others. The more whole food protein you eat in one single sitting, the longer it will take to digest and absorb that protein. But your body will slowly absorb it over the course of the day. We also almost never eat protein in isolation, so the absorption of Carbs and Fats is also a factor that slows down the Absorbtion of protein. (How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution - PubMed (nih.gov))
GRAIN OF TRUTH: The digestive process is literally the process it takes to break down food and absorb it into energy. Of course, your body isn't going to absorb 75g of protein from chicken/steak at once. It takes time to break down! Also, some foods are slower digesting than others. Think about it, does your digestive system break down a 12oz steak or Whey Protein Powder shake mixed with water?
FACT: Eating after 7pm does not somehow make the calories more "Fat Storing" than if you eat before 7pm. Calories are Calories. Eating excess calories is what makes the body create adipose tissue if there is no hypertrophy (muscle building) response from workouts. Your body's metabolic process burns calories 24 hours per day, including when we are sleeping. Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is mostly coming from your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is essentially the energy burnt just keeping your organs and body working. Not including movement, activity or exercise. You can see the chart in one of my other articles here: How much should I Run / do Cardio? (FREE WORKOUT INCLUDED!) | LinkedIn
The reason why this myth is important to dispel is that many busy people and especially parents who work 9-5 do not always have the luxury of coming home to a prepped meal and have to cook for themselves and their families. Many people in this situation end up eating close to or after 7pm and they should not feel shamed into avoiding eating dinner because of this myth. Especially when Dinner tends to be higher protein. This also applies to people who exercise after work on top of all of this and do not eat dinner until 7-7:30pm.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: Eating after 7pm and closer to bed-time CAN make sleep less effective since the digestive system is actively breaking down food while you are trying to sleep. This can slightly disrupt the body going through the sleep cycles. We also do not tend to make the best food choices later in the evening, toward the night especially when we are laid up and watching Netflix. Poor food choices and excess snacking leads to excess calories and BOOM, extra weight/fat gained.
Conclusion
There are plenty more myths that plague the fitness world and unfortunately confuse the many unknowing people who are simply trying to better their health and fitness. Some of these myths can be busted with a simple Google search and some require a bit more research and experience. Be mindful of who is telling you the information and their motives. The motive behind many of these myths are to steer someone into a sale of some type of coaching or a product. Look at the protein absorption myth for example, isn’t it convenient that most protein supplements (bars, powder and shakes) have around 25g protein per serving? (Now i sound like some fitness version of Alex Jones).
Find reputable sources of information and use an evidence-based approach so you do not end up wasting your time or hard-earned cash on BS products!
It's a passion of mine to share quality information with people so I can help them reach their fitness goals!
Thank you for checking out some of my writing. I hope you find it useful and have some takeaways!
If you are STRUGGLING with constantly being in and out of a fitness routine, you aren’t alone. The information is out there. We know what we need to do (for the most part). But still most people struggle and cannot keep it up for a long-period of time.
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