There are a lot of myths regarding diet and training, which im sure we have all fell for some of them at some point when we first started, if I didn’t get my protein shake straight after I trained I would become very upset haha but the more you learn and the longer your about this life for then the sooner the realise that most of it is just bullshit. so here are my top 7 most common myths debunked;
You have to do cardio to lose weight – WRONG
people think of cardio as ‘burning fat’, when in reality cardio is just using energy provided by calories, and so if you are using less energy than what your eating then your going to gain weight, regardless of how much cardio your doing. Now cardio is a great tool for increasing your energy expenditure and make losing weight easier, but your number one consideration in fat loss should be your diet
You need protein 30 minutes after you train – WRONG
This 30 minute anabolic window was created as a scare tactic by the supplement companies to encourage you to buy and consume there products in fear of losing your gains after you train. in reality your body remains anabolic from a workout for up to 48-72 hours. As long as your getting enough protein in throughout the day every day, then your good to go. Sometimes I will train at 3pm but then wait to have my meal until dinner time at 6pm with the Mrs and kids, i’m not going to eat by myself like some sort of loner and not eat sociably with my family just through fear of not getting my protein in immediately, its not that serious.
lighter weights are better for toning – WRONG WRONG
This is wrong twice! first off light weights are useless (yes, even for women) secondly ‘toning’ just doesn’t work the way you think it does. what’s actually happening is you develop the muscle and it grows (with a heavy weight), then you lose the fat on top of it (through DIET not light weights) so it shows. that’s it. And you cant spot reduce fat either, so that 1000 reps you did isn’t going to burn away your bingo wings, lower your entire body fat levels and eventually you will see it lost from the places you desire naturally.
you need supplements – WRONG
There is not a single supplement that you actually NEED in order to build muscle or burn fat, everything you need can be attained through food. macro nutrients for the body and micro nutrients for your health are all you need. Now you could argue that some supplements can HELP you to achieve your goals once you already have the basics of your training and diet in place, but you certainly don’t need them trust me don’t waste your money.
no pain no gain – WRONG
Stimulate, not annihilate. Whilst to a certain extent I appreciate the attitude displayed by some beginners who follow this principle who are putting in the effort and the work (there are far to many pussies making excuses not to have to put in the graft). but you shouldn’t be ‘killing yourself’ in the gym, there is only so much growth you can achieve in one training session, anything after this is just going to cause you to need longer to rest before your next session, wasting time and therefore slowing down your progress. HOWEVER, when you are new to training stimulus you are going to feel DOMs (delayed onset of muscular soreness) a bit more intensely and for longer, this doesn’t necessarily mean your over doing it, its just your body is not used to it yet, but as you continue to train with high frequency your body will adapt to the point where you may only be slightly sore for a day or even not at all.
you shouldn’t eat carbs after 6pm – WRONG
First, it was all carbs eaten after 6 will not digest properly and cause you to get fat. Then it was you should carb backload and only eat your carbs just before bed as this is when the body is repairing itself. The truth is, it just doesn’t bloody matter when you eat your food. its all about daily totals and weekly averages. morning noon or night doesn’t make a damn bit of difference.
To bulk and build muscle you have to get fat – WRONG
In order to build muscle the body has to be in a caloric surplus yes, this will also mean inevitably storing a little body fat, but it doesn’t need to be in a huge surplus! you will only gain a small amount of muscle over a long period of time so any additional calories you take in after this is just a waste and will cause you to gain more fat than was necessary. so in order to stay lean whilst you build muscle follow these 2 tips; 1, start your bulk whilst you are very lean, this way when you finish, you will still be fairly lean. 2, eat in a very small caloric surplus to really limit the amount of fat the body will gain, when building muscle slow and steady wins the race.
That’s my top 7 myths busted, if you found this information helpful and would like to know more about exactly how to build muscle or burn fat to achieve that Herobody look, then download the Herobody Lifestyle Program
