Myth Busting Monday
Fitness Myths Busted
This article is continually updated as new content is posted on my Skeptical Fitness Facebook page
Myth: More is always better when improving your fitness level
Fact: Progress is not linear, and tends to follow a step-like format
We often like to think of self-improvement as a linear process, a straight line from where you are now to your goal, but that's not how progress works.
While those new to exercise can progress at near-constant rates, each week, and even sometimes each session, increasing the amount of volume they're doing. However, over time adaptions become harder to get, progress will begin to slow down, and this constant rate of progression is no longer sustainable.
Periodisation, the name for the process for breaking up your training into discrete parts, has been shown time and time again to be the most successful method of consistently improving and the most preventative for injury.
A key part of periodisation is its step-like format, each week builds on the next, increasing the difficulty of your training bit by bit before having a deload. These planned breaks (known as deloads) are an essential part of our training as they to give our bodies time to rest, recover, and over-compensate (improve beyond the level we were at before).
Not only can de-loads provide a time to recover physically, they can also be a useful psychological tool to avoid burnout (which can occur from training too hard, for too long).
Progressive overload remains the fundamental principle behind periodisation, overtime you subject yourself to an increased stimulus, whether it is increased weight, higher reps or different exercises.
The methods by which you can create an overload stimulus are vast, which is why there can be thousands of different exercise programs aimed towards achieving a goal, but all of the ones that work have the same principles behind them.
Take-home points
Progress is never a completely linear process
Improvements take time, but consistency and planning can maximise your ability to adapt
Deloads are an essential part of making long term improvements as well as reducing the risk of overtraining and burnout
Myth: Superfoods will improve your health
Truth: Superfood is nothing more than a marketing term and says little about how healthy a food is.
Acai Berries, beans, kale and carrots - All of these foods have been called superfoods, with claims that eating these foods will have effects ranging from boosting your immune system to decreasing your blood sugar levels.
The issue? Labelling a food a 'superfood' is a meaningless term as there is no scientifically based or regulated definition for superfood; anyone can claim a food is super; often regardless of what the actual evidence is saying about it [1]. The reality is that some foods are more nutritious than others, but just because a food is high in certain micronutrients or minerals by no means makes it more inherently healthy [1]. Consuming megadoses of vitamins and minerals through specific foods has been consistently shown to have no beneficial effects (apart from in legitimate malnutrition cases) and are more likely to cause harm than good [2].
While it is less exciting, the advice from dieticians has remained consistent - That while there is no 'perfect diet', having a mostly plant-based diet with a wide variety of fruits, veggies, whole grains and healthful animal products is ideal [3].
What are the issues with "superfoods"?
The claims are usually anecdotal, or information extrapolated far beyond the scientific evidence
Planning your diet around "superfoods" can make meal prepping more time consuming, complicated and may lead to focusing on individual ingredients rather than overall dietary choices
Most purported superfoods are part of a fad - Foods become popular (such as acai berries) before losing interest again
It creates a 'health halo' around certain foods -May overeat certain vitamins or minerals
Take-home points
Keep in mind that while the term superfood itself is meaningless, there are still plenty of foods that are nutrient-dense and are likely a good idea to include in your diet.
Having a varied diet is essential to get the benefits of eating an array of minerals and essential vitamins, but can also prevent over or under-consumption of certain nutrients.
Sources
[1] https://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/new-caveatus-emptora-superfood-medicinal-supplement/
[2] https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(19)30041-8/fulltext
[3] https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-eating-plate/
Myth: Supplements work
Truth: Most supplements DON'T work and the ones that do tend to have a small effect size
- A supplement is something that is there to fill a deficit of a nutrient that you are struggling to get enough of (e.g vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids).
-An ergogenic aid (ergo= work, genic = producing) is something used to improve physical and/or mental performance (e.g caffeine).
There is an important distinction between an ergogenic aid and a supplement; while an ergogenic aid can be a supplement, not all supplements are ergogenic.
Why don't most supplements work?
The supplement industry is one of the least well-regulated marked by inadequate testing, overblown claims of efficacy and small effect sizes [1].
The term 'supplement' is also broad, which lets companies market a variety of products under the label, despite not working (homeopathy being the worst offender [3]). This has resulted in a boom of products that make a variety of health claims (often supported by a single study that only shows a weak effect, if any) that are contrary to the scientific consensus.
A prime example of this is the popularity of multi-vitamin supplements. Multi-vitamins are some of the most popular supplements despite there being no evidence that routine supplementation or individual vitamin supplementation is of any health benefit [2].
Supplements should not replace a whole diet, and specific vitamin supplementation should only be done under guidance from a doctor.
"Only a tiny slice of the industry appears to be legitimate – actual vitamin and mineral supplements used for targeted, evidence-based supplementation" - Dr. Steven Novella
When it comes to improving your sporting performance, are there any supplements with a well-researched and proven benefit? Yes, but the number is likely far smaller than you would think.
To date, the only supplements that are 1) Very well researched and 2) Have a consistent, measurable effect on performance are the following:
Caffeine - Notable improvement on muscle endurance, strength, anaerobic power and endurance. [4]
Creatine - Notable effect on improving strength and power output during resistance training (when routinely supplemented). [5]
Protein Powder - The building block of muscle, essential for recovery. Only useful if unable to reach protein requirements in your diet through whole foods. [6]
(An in-depth look at each of these supplements and the evidence supporting them will be published soon)
While there are supplements with promising research behind them, we won't be able to say definitively if they are worth using until further research is done. The supplement industry is bloated as is, do your part to de-bloat it by only using evidence-based ones.
Take-home points:
The vast majority of supplements don't work or have such a small effect size that they are a waste of money
Those that do work tend to have a small, but notably consistent effect
While the risk of certain supplements is low, that does NOT mean they're NO risk, check with your doctor before using any supplement.
Sources:
[1] https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/whats-in-your-supplement/
[2] https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/more-evidence-that-routine-multivitamin-use-should-be-avoided/
[3]https://systematicreviewsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13643-017-0445-3
[4 ]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30926628
Myth: If you don't train with weights you will lose muscle mass.
Truth: You can gain muscle even without weights
Just because you can't go to the gym doesn't mean you have to lose your hard-earned gains. Not only is it possible to maintain muscle mass, but you can even gain muscle with limited equipment at home - You just need to be smart about your training.
First, the good news, research shows that for experienced lifters it took about 3-4 weeks of no training before they began to lose muscle mass. Further good news is that over time your body becomes 'desensitised' to hypertrophy (muscle growth), so taking time off training (or using different training phases) helps your body re-adapt and taking some time off may be exactly what your body needed.
"Taking some time away from training reduces your level of fatigue, allows for full recovery, and “re-sensitises” your body to the muscle building stimulus of bodybuilding training." - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23053130.
The same study showed that it only took 1-2 workouts a week at 1/9th the usual training volume to maintain muscle mass for 32 weeks. Does this mean you should train with this low volume at home? Temporarily it may be a good idea, however make sure to start adding more training over time as it can be easy to do too little volume and begin losing muscle mass, but it is encouraging news for those with limited equipment.
Gaining muscle at home
So what about if you're wanting to gain muscle at home, but don't have access to equipment? The truth is that while training at home without weights can make it more difficult to put on muscle mass, with the right stimulus you can still gain muscle.
What we know:
Hypertrophy is possible within a wide range of reps - Doing an exercise for 5-30 reps (to failure) will still produce hypertrophy
Hypertrophy is possible with loads lighter than usual - While using a resistance ~60-85% of your 1RM (1 Rep Max) is ideal for hypertrophy, research shows that even weights 30%+ of your 1RM can produce hypertrophy
Metabolic stress is a main driver of hypertrophy, and high rep training is a great stimulation for it (however be sure to take time off high rep training if you have been doing it for a while)
Don't do random stuff - Your workouts should still be following the principles of resistance training and using the 6 key movement patterns
- Squat pattern - Hip Hinge - Horizontal push - Horizontal pull - Vertical push - Vertical Pull
How to keep your fitness level up when you can't access the gym
You can maintain your muscle mass with reduced volume for a significant amount of time
It is possible to gain muscle mass with limited equipment, but workout with a reason, the principles of training don't change - Don't do random stuff at home hoping it'll work
Find ways to progressively overload - Increase reps, vary exercises (use unilateral exercises, mechanical drop sets etc) and aim for high intensity
Get creative - Strap books together, use old milk cartons filled with water, use isometric exercises, there are many different ways to add resistance at home
Do what you can with what you have - Don't get discouraged if you have no equipment, at the end of the day body-weight exercises can be a great stimulus
Myth: You should follow the same workout as someone if you want to look like them
Fact: Doing the same workout as someone does not mean you will look like them
The truth is that doing the same workout as doesn't guarantee you'll look like them. While it may make intuitive sense to copy someone who has a physique that you want to achieve this doesn't mean copying them will get you there. Our intuition is often wrong and following the program of an advanced trainer is unlikely to get the same results.
The most common issues with copying celebrities training are often:
You don't know their entire training history or diet
It's very unlikely they used this same workout throughout their entire training history
You don't know if they achieved their physique naturally or with help from 'vitamin s'. (It doesn't mean they didn't train hard to get there, but steroids give an edge that makes comparing yourself to someone on them fruitless)
Their training may actually suck and they just happened to still be using enough of the right principles to reach their goal. "You can throw crap at a wall and some of it will stick."
The best workout plans are individualised to the person, everyone has a different training history, strength levels and experience. A good program shouldn't be a copy and paste of someone else's workout because you're not someone else, you're you and your program should be customised to suit your individual differences.
While this applies to individual workouts, there isn't necessarily anything wrong with using training templates. For example, a 3-day full-body workout routine for a beginner will likely be a good start, provided it is using exercises, volume and intensity that won't overwhelm you.
Training within your limits and over time attempting to push those limits is the key to reaching long term goals, not copying others.
Take-home points
A workout for a novice lifter is vastly different to an advanced lifter
Unless you know they've followed the same workout, for the same amount of time, have similar genetics and have a similar diet comparing yourself to them is like comparing apples with oranges
Everyone progresses at different rates. and even differences such as muscle insertion points can result in vastly different physiques even when muscle mass and fat mass are the same.
Myth: You can target your fat loss.
Fact: Fat loss can't be targeted.
While it would be nice to target a specific area you want to lose fat from, the truth is that both where you gain and lose your fat is largely determined by your genetic predisposition and your gender.
Males are more likely to gain fat in an 'android' figure (apple-like) while females are more likely to gain fat in a 'gynoid' figure (pear-like). This distribution can have health consequences as well, with an android fat distribution having a higher risk of high blood pressure and other metabolic disorders (due to increased fat around organs).
When you are in a caloric deficit and begin to lose fat, it doesn't come from areas you train but tends to be lost in the inverse of where you gained it. For example, if you gained fat in your arms first, that's likely going to be the last place you lose fat. The good news is that while you cant target specific areas, through consistent exercise and nutrition, you will lose fat from your entire body. While you can't target specific areas for fat loss, gaining muscle in those areas through weight training can help reduce the appearance of fat.
Doing a hard ab workout won't target the fat on your stomach, nor will training your arms to target your arm fat.
Studies have been done where they get a participant to only exercise one side of their body and compared it to a participant who trained both. Both of them lost equal amounts of fat and from similar areas.
Take home points:
Fat loss can't be targeted, where you lose it is largely genetically determined.
Products that claim to spot target your fat loss are scams - fat loss doesn't work like that
A consistent caloric deficit is the most effective way to lose fat
An android fat distribution can have health consequences - Make sure to check in with your GP if you are at risk
Myth: High-intensity exercise is better at burning fat than Low-Intensity exercise
Truth: It depends
This is one of those things where there is a technical answer and a more practical answer.
What studies have shown is that Low-Intensity Steady State (LISS) exercise is better than High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for burning fat (lipolysis) as our body preferentially uses fat as an energy source during low-intensity exercise. However, HIIT causes your body to preferentially burn stored carbs (through a process called glycolysis), instead of fat as a fuel source, but HIIT has the advantage that it can burn a lot more calories in a shorter period of time.
Does this mean that going for a long walk is more effective than going for a few sprints for burning fat? Technically yes, you're burning more fat with LISS than HIIT, but it's not as simple as that.
Studies that have compared people doing LISS vs HIIT have found that there was no difference between the amounts of fat loss between the two groups.
At the end of the day it comes down to the number of calories burnt by exercise, and if you end up burning the same from HIIT or LISS, it doesn't really matter what you do; just comes down to what you enjoy and can maintain.
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Practical take away:
If you're short on time and enjoy a hard workout HIIT is probably better for you and you will get the same fat-burning benefits.
If you like longer, low-intensity exercise and have the time to do so, LISS is probably better for you
Myth: Soreness is a good indicator of your progress in the gym
Fact: Soreness is NOT a good indicator of progress in the gym
DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) is that sore feeling in your muscles that makes standing up agony the day after you do a hard leg workout. What DOMS isn't, is a reliable sign that you've done something right and now you're going to come out fitter and stronger.
When first starting a new workout, trying out a new exercise or pushing yourself especially hard it's expected to be sore the day or two after a workout. However, if you're recovering enough and increasing training volume at a maintainable pace you shouldn't be so sore that you can't train properly
We have what's called our Maximum Recoverable Volume (MRV) and our Maximum Adaptive Volume (MAV)
If you are training too hard you exceed your MRV, you can't recover properly, your training will deteriorate and you're having a bad time.
You want to try to be in your MAV, that sweet spot of training where you can keep making steady improvements at the gym, but you aren't fighting against the tide that is your own biological limitations. You can only recover so quickly, so make the most of it.
If you're sore to the point it's affecting your workouts you are either
a) Not recovering enough - in which case up your protein, sleep and/or calories
and/or
b) You are pushing yourself too hard in the gym - Drop the volume a bit, either by reducing intensity, the total amount of sets or reducing exercises
Take-home points
It can be an addicting feeling thinking 'Yes I'm sore! I did something right!' but in this case, a lack of something can mean you're doing the right thing.
Don't flog your poor body for the sake of it, prioritise recovery and use the right intensity. Your body will thank you for it.
Myth: Eating fat will make you fat
Fact: Eating fat does NOT make you fat
Popularised in the '80s the claim that fat makes you fat is just fear-mongering, and isn't true. Fat on its own does NOT make you gain fat out of nowhere and won't cause your lipogenesis (or fat creation) to skyrocket
Having a highly fatty diet can make you at greater risk at gaining weight but why? Simply put - one gram of fat has higher calories than one gram of protein or carbs
One gram of fat = 9 calories
One gram of fat/protein = 4 calories
This explains why a high-fat diet makes it easier to gain weight - you're more likely to be eating more calories in general but that DOESN'T mean you should be avoiding fats.
This has also lead to the rise of 'low fat' foods - the issues with this are low-fat foods are often:
High in sugar to make it more palatable
Less nutrient-dense because of its processing
It's important to note isn't just one 'type' of fat, there are many different types - namely unsaturated and saturated fats. Normally called 'good' fats and 'bad' fats neither are inherently good or bad, but there are some tips to follow.
General recommendations are to:
Keep your polyunsaturated fat intake high - found in nuts, seeds and fish
Keep your saturated fat intake lower than your unsaturated fat intake - try not to eat as much fast food, fatty cuts of meat, foods high in dairy or tropical oil
Take-away points
Fact:
Fat does have more calories per gram than carbs or protein
Predominantly making your fat intake unsaturated fats is likely a good idea
Fat plays an essential role in keeping our body healthy
Fiction:
Fat by itself will make you fat
Low-fat food is better for you
You should cut all fat out of your diet
Myth: You should stretch to prevent injury
Truth: Stretching does not prevent injury
Stretching is commonly claimed to be the must do thing before you exercise if you want to reduce your risk of injury - but the research is indicating otherwise. While excessively tight muscles can theoretically increase your risk of injury there is a time and a place for stretching and it's not before your workout. Stretching actually reduces your muscles ability to produce force temporarily, and if you stretch and then immediately exercise, your INCREASING your risk of injury, not lowering it.
Something that has been linked to reduced risk of injury is your muscle temperature. There is a direct correlation between muscle temperature and exercise performance with warmer muscles (within safe limits) better able to contract. This, not stretching, has been linked to reduced risk of injury so warm up before you exercise, not stretch
Do:
Stretch after your workout, not before
Use a general warm up before you exercise - low intensity cardio using large muscle groups
Use a specific warm up for muscle groups that are being worked out specifically
Use more than just static stretches! - Use a combination of dynamic, isometric and PNF stretches for best results
Don't:
Stretch for long periods of time - 30s per stretch for ~5 min total is probably enough
Overstretch - Being too flexible = decreased joint stability which will INCREASE your risk of injury
Take-away points
Excessively tight muscles can increase your risk of injuries, but stretching before exercise can actually increase your risk of injury. Don’t overstretch and make sure to warm up prior to exercise, and stretch after exercise (not before).
Myth: Cardio exercise will make you lose muscle
Truth: Aerobic exercise is unlikely to have any effect on you gaining muscle mass (and the health benefits far outweigh any downsides)
The specificity principle: Different exercise demands create a different physiological result, how you exercise should be specific to your goals.
You will often hear people dreading cardio exercises because it'll destroy their hard-earned muscle mass, but is there any truth to it? Yes, but the research is conflicting.
Aerobic exercise (AE) can and does cause hypertrophy (muscle growth), however at a far lesser degree than that of resistance training (RT). We know that muscles will synthesise proteins (and grow larger and stronger) when repeated encountering a new stimulus - This is the basis of progressive overload after all. The issue with aerobic exercise and hypertrophy is that it rarely challenges the muscle in a strength-related manner by its very nature, longer duration with lighter loads are not conducive with muscle growth.
Research has shown that the order of your training matters, if you are doing resistance training and aerobic exercise within the same workout, do AE after RT as doing AE before RT can have a detrimental effect on your power output (resulting in a sub-optimal training session).
Another issue is that certain physiological adaptations can run in opposition to each other, an effect known as interference, where one style of training can inhibit another form of training. Training for a marathon requires different adaptation to doing a 200m sprint for example, and the more dissimilar the activity, the lesser the crossover.
Crossover, how well one activity translates to another, can lead to greater improvements in certain cases (power training to improve sprints), but in the case of cardio and resistance training tend to compete.
While training specifically for one goal requires using training that is solely going to improve that area of development, for the average person trying to gain muscle in the gym, it is both healthier, and more sustainable to still have aerobic exercise as a part of your routine.
Unless you are a professional bodybuilder where every small benefit can make a significant difference, cardio exercise should not be avoided, even if it does have a negligible effect on your muscle growth rate.
Take-home points
Aerobic exercise is worth doing for its health benefits alone
Aerobic exercise has a negligible effect on muscle hypertrophy
If you are doing aerobic exercise and resistance training, do the aerobic exercise after your resistance training