Click Here for Free Bodybuilding and Fitness Magazine Subscription
Fitness Mythology
Ever since man first became aware and
evolution put the foot on the accelerator, are society has became increasingly
health conscious. The earliest hyroglifics depicted a primordial man besting a
sabre-toothed tiger with a kettle bell. Maybe I am exaggerating but the point I
am trying to emphasise is that fitness and health are synonymous with our
culture and our condition. We are at the crescendo of our fitness and health obsession.
It is now a multi-billion dollar industry, gyms are never empty and a mix with
all types of people and nearly everyone and their nan has a few fitness tips
for you. We can get caught up in this game of physiology pass the parcel and
many people may be exerting their precious energy through misguided guidelines.
I am going to be that guy and say what all fitness guys say, “I will debunk
some fitness tips that you are wasting your time with”.
The one myth that we don’t want to debunk
is the myth that you can out exercise your unhealthy diet. We all like to cheat
your diet on the odd occasion and this is fine in moderation. However, you
cannot continue eating unhealthy and expect to have a body that the Greeks
would have chiselled out of marble. The correlation between diet and
performance is obvious. You can’t go to the gym and hydrate on coca cola. This
would burn you out faster than a bale of hay. New York based personal trainer,
Maik Weidenbach believes that “80% of what you look like is based on diet”.
Another myth that can be attributed to the
misconceptions of society rather than fitness culture is that women have to
lift lower weights than men and do higher repetitions. This myth is commonplace
within fitness culture but women are finding more empowerment through health
and fitness. There are a number of influential role models for young women who
enjoy fitness and they believe the opposite.
This is because women believe that they will become more bulky when
lifting weights. This is because women’s testosterone is lower. Due to this
likely wont be able to lift as much weight as men. It is recommended that women
do six to eight repetitions of a weight that challenges them instead. They
don’t have dumb down on the weight. Just make sure you resist the weight and
you will have a defined body that any classical artists would be happy to draw.
I am a personal
trainer and I have a number of clients who ask
to reduce fat from one area. This is often referred to as spot reduction. To
burn weight quickly you will have to perform a lot of cardiovascular and
resistance exercises. However, the affects will be visible all over your body.
You cannot just target one specific area. This would lead to you having a
convoluted shape and could also lead to injury. Sport reduction is blind
ignorance but I do appreciate the reasoning for it.
The biggest consumer myth on the health and
fitness market is that shakes can help you slim. This is far from the case.
Shakes are a mix of unnatural proteins, colouring agents and sugar which is
just as detrimental to your body as almost any other compound. They also wont
keep you full. You burn as much energy when digesting foods in your body. This
is why you should target healthy whole foods that provide the right amount if
fibre. They also fill your stomach much better than hollow shakes. You should
also look for high-end whey proteins and add some vitamins or nuts for added
measure.
Well these are just a few myths that are
spread through the cross sections of the fitness industry. It is hard to disseminate between the amount
of training and nutritional tips that saturate the market. I understand that
this it not to dissimilar but believe me when I say that I have learnt from
crafting nutritional accompaniment to my clients training regimes. These are
the main myths that hold most people back from attaining their fitness aspirations.
Lets hope that we learn before passing them to further fitness generations.