Fitness Myths

There are many fitness myths that prevail today, if you don't believe me after you read them click on source (most are from medical studies).

  
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Myth #1 – Eating 5-6 small meals a day will keep your metabolism high which means that you will burn fat easier.

WRONG – Studies have indicated meal frequency and calories used are not related, thus meal frequency has no effect on calorie expenditure.  It has actually been shown that eating fewer meals would increase the feeling of hunger but caused a decrease in size of fat cells.

Source                                        Source

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Myth #2 – Do not eat carbohydrates after 5pm, if you do they will be stored as fat.

WRONG – I do not know where people got the 5pm from but this is wrong.  Eating carbohydrates before bed will not CAUSE you to gain fat but will help you feel more full and this will lessen the chance of having a “midnight snack”.

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Myth #3 – Taking a fast digesting protein shake such as whey is the best to maximize your gains from a workout.

WRONG – Studies have shown that a body’s response to whey protein and casein protein were different but both stimulated protein synthesis equally.  The truth is the nutrition that matters is the pre workout ingestion of food.  If the correct foods are consumed before working out, insulin levels will be elevated to help stop muscle protein breakdown and synthesize new muscle tissue.
Source                                        Source 

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Myth #4 – If I work out three or more days a week, then I will be over training.

WRONG – A meta-analysis of a wide range of people have shown that the best strength gains for beginners are from a workout at 3 days a week.  Evidence has also shown that training frequency is directly proportional to the rate of gain in muscle volume. 

Source                              

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Myth #5 – Having a high protein diet will hurt my kidneys.

WRONG – Quote straight from the medical journal states:  “While protein restriction may be appropriate for treatment of existing kidney disease, we find no significant evidence for a detrimental effect of high protein intakes on kidney function in healthy persons after centuries of a high protein Western diet.”
Source                                     

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Myth #6 – A low carbohydrate diet is the best for losing fat.

WRONG – Unfortunately, carbohydrates have been given a bad name due to mass media and other health outlets.  Carbohydrates are actually your brains preferred source of energy, without carbohydrates it would be near impossible to function properly.  Anyways, studies have shown that there is no difference in weight or fat loss when two groups were compared while one group had almost no carbohydrates and a group that kept carbohydrates at a normal level.

Source                                  
 
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Myth #7 – Eating raw eggs will give you salmonella.

WRONG – Although I do not advise eating raw eggs, studies have shown the probability for an egg to have salmonella is 0.003%.
Source                                   

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Myth #8 – You have to lift heavy to get big muscles.

WRONG – A study has shown that training at 30% of your maximum to failure was better to gain muscle than to use 90% of your maximum weight to failure.

Source                                 

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Myth #9 – Saturated fats are not good and should not be eaten.

WRONG – It is almost impossible to not eat any saturated fats in your diet.  Anyways, studies have shown that saturated fats have a positive impact on androstenedione, free testosterone and total testosterone levels. 

Source                                        Source  
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