BODY SCULPTING MYTHS DEBUNKED
Myth #1: Eating FATS will make you FAT.
Myth: Fat was given a bad image due to the media. We were made to believe that eating a high fat diet will make us fat.
Fact: Fat is essential to our body. It is important for cardiovascular health and balances our hormones. By eating fat, we can feel satiated longer compared to a high carbohydrates diet.
Healthy FAT source:
Fatty fish such as salmon
Nuts and seeds (almonds, hazelnut, sesame seeds etc..)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sesamin Oil
Fish oil
Canola oil
Coconut Oil
Myth #2: Protein will make you bulky/huge
Myth: Consuming a fair amount of protein will make an individual build lots of muscle and make you look bulky. This myth typically applies to females.
Fact: Protein is essential to our body as it builds and repairs our muscle fibers that has been damaged after a strenuous activity such as lifting weights. It will take at least a year to build 5-10lbs of lean muscle so this myth is false.
Myth#3: Eat fruits and vegetables to lose weight
Myth: We were taught that eating fruits and vegetable is healthy and will help in losing weight.
Fact: Consuming large amount of simple carbohydrates such as fruits will not actually help you lose weight, since the unused carbohydrates in your body will be stored as FAT. Vegetables are good for you but if you are trying to lose weight, stay away from starchy, bright colored vegetables and consume green leafy vegetable.
Myth#4: Avoid eating after 7pm
Myth: Our metabolism slows down after 7pm.
Fact: If you feel hungry, EAT! Starving yourself will decrease metabolism and your body will produce the stress hormone cortisol which affects your leptin levels and will hinder your weight loss.
Myth#5: Muscle Toning
Myth: High reps, low weight for muscle toning.
Fact: There is no such thing as muscle toning. The proper term for this will be "Leaning out". We look "toned" if we lose all the unwanted fats and look lean. So, training with really light weight and doing high reps like doing 100 reps of sit ups won't help you get abs. You need to lose the fat that is covering your abs. It is necessary to challenge yourself, if the weight is too light and you can do more than 16-20 reps with it, it's time to increase the weight/resistance.
Myth#6: Spot-fat Removal
Myth: Do 10000 sit-ups to get abs.
Fact: There is no such thing as spot fat removal. You can't teach your body to lose body fat in a specific part of your body. You lose body fat by proper dieting and resistance training. Only way you can spot fat removal is through surgery such as liposuction.
Myth#7: Train to Failure
Myth: You must train to failure to get the pumps and build muscle.
Fact: Training to failure all the time will put a lot of stress on your Central Nervous System (CNS) and can be less beneficial than you think. When yougo to failure each time you train you are going set your nerve cells into a constant state of inhibition leading you to tax the CNS far to much through the increased out put of electrical impulses. This will lead to rapid overtraining. That leads to time off and bodily and mental states lacking motivation, appetite, etc. It also means that it is not always muscular failure which is occurring; more CNS failure, which means that your muscles are not being worked anyway so stimuli for growth is not being achieved every time you train. My advise is to train to failure ONLY on the last set of the exercise.
Myth#8: Don't train when you are sore
Myth: If you feel some muscle soreness, take a day off or take it easy on your workout.
Fact: These delayed soreness on your muscle are called DOMS or Delayed On Muscle Soreness. It is recommended to train even with DOMS to flush away the lactic acid build up on your muscle and ease the soreness.
