[John M Berardi]

Fitness Myths and "The Truth"

I was recently asked to contribute a few fitness and nutrition myths to a popular magazine. After some consideration, I included 4 biggies - the cholesterol myth, the protein myth, the exercise volume myth, and the aerobic exercise myth.

1) The Cholesterol Myth
Eating eggs leads to high cholesterol levels
Adults are continually told that eating foods rich in cholesterol can elevate an individual's risks of atherosclerosis and heart attacks. As egg yolks are a major dietary source of cholesterol, this has made them public enemy #1. However, research studies consistently show that dietary cholesterol intake does not correlate well with blood cholesterol - in other words, eating foods rich in cholesterol does not necessarily increase blood cholesterol or cardiac risk. Because the body makes its own cholesterol, eating more means the body produces less. And eating less means the body produces more. It's only a small % of the population that doesn't regulate blood cholesterol well - and in these individuals, blood cholesterol can be high regardless of dietary intake. If blood cholesterol is a concern, the best way to deal with it is to increase exercise activity and improve the overall quality of your diet - not to eschew foods because they contain cholesterol.

2) The Exercise Volume Myth
Exercising for 30 minutes 3x per week improves health outcomes.
For years we've been told that 30 minutex 3x per week was all we needed to do to improve overall health and body composition. However, according to most research, this minimal amount of activity does very little to improve either health or body composition. New government guidelines suggest that to improve health, one should shoot for 30 minutes of exercise every day. And to improve body composition 60-90 minutes a day is required. Now, before you go whining about time - North Americans plop down in front of the TV for an average of 19.8 hours per week. Surely we can make the time for 3.5-7 hours of exercise per week.

3) The Aerobic Exercise Myth
Aerobic exercise is the best kind for fat loss.
Although aerobic exercise burns a higher % of fat per minute spent exercising, aerobic exercise alone does not necessarily lead to leaner bodies. Recent research papers with titles like "Aerobic exercise does not lead to weight loss" are demonstrating that steady-state aerobic exercise is an activity of diminishing returns - the body adapts so quickly that to really get the benefits, you'd have to keep increasing your duration - leading to sessions that would be impossibly long in duration. So the real "best" exercise for weight loss is a combination of high intensity interval exercise, strength training, and a small amount of aerobic exercise. Of course, nutrition is important too.

4) The Protein Myth
Protein builds big muscles.
Although athletes and exercisers have believed for generations that eating more protein builds big muscles, this statement isn't always true. Sure, if an individual is undereating protein (getting less than the recommended 1.5g/kg) then they might see some muscle growth with an increased intake. However, additional protein above this intake won't build more muscle. However that doesn't mean that this additional protein is a waste. In fact, additional protein intake helps improve body composition by helping maintain a higher muscle to fat ratio. Same muscle mass - less fat - sign me up!

Of course, there are hundreds more. So, if you're so inclined, feel free to contribute any that come to mind in the thread below.

In fact, the more myths we expose and get out in the open here, the better it is for those new to the site and new to fitness and nutrition in general.

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[imadshoney]

Biggest Myth Ever For Women:
Lifting heavy weight will make you 'bulky.'

This drives me nuts.

[CoachMike]

Pet Peeve "Myths"

Squatting, benching, etc. in the Smith Machine for any reason

Fasted cardio

N.O. / "Pump Juice" stimulators being equated with permanent growth

Static Stretching Preworkout

Overtraining Transverse Plain core work ( add sucking in the belly button <ahem> . .activating TVA to that )

Blaming everything on Cortisol

Doing 3x12 on everything

Lack of Dynamic Stretching

Beginners "etching definition" into non-existent pecs with cable crossovers and pec deck

Women attempting to reduce hips with high rep cable leg raises ( really ? Still ?! yep . . )

Lean Cuisine frozen dinners

Anyone else ? . . .

[John M Berardi]

How about a little info to back up these "myths"?

For example, why do people think women will bulk up and how do we know that this is not true? Or do we? I don't want to creater our own myths here or debunk stuff that has a grain of truth!

[Joey C]

CoachMike, I bet you wish you had just given one or two now don't cha? LOL

[Diomed28]

"...your workout should last no more than 45 minutes for weight training. This is because your natural testosterone levels will drop after about 45 minutes of intense training."

[Stuntchick]

Oh Coach Mike... you mean i can't blame it all on cortisol? And now you're telling me to eat Before an am workout... sigh... :) !

My pet peeve... the myth that your same gym clothes (and You)smell good the next day!

[CoachMike]

Originally Posted by Stuntchick

Oh Coach Mike... you mean i can't blame it all on cortisol? And now you're telling me to eat Before an am workout... sigh... :) !

My pet peeve... the myth that your same gym clothes (and You)smell good the next day!

Fasted cardio= elevated cortisol . . .which is part of the picture . .oh sleepless north of Seattle . .

And how do you know how me or my gym clothes smell ??? . .
Or do you mean "You" as in "one" . .not "You" as in "Coach Mike"

[hill1971]

CoachMike,

This is great. Funny stuff. I like you're one about steady state aerobics providing diminishing returns to scale. I've done tons lately and I agree.

To your point about interval training - just look at sprinters and sprint cyclists versus their endurance counterparts. The sprinters and sprint cyclists are big and ripped; their endurance counterparts are generally skinny-fat.

Based on that I have a question - if one were intensely weight training 3 days per week and sprint cycling 3 days per week, why is a low carb diet better for fat loss. Everything I've read on nutrient timing speaks to having carbs for the first four hours after training.

Therefore, for fat loss, is it better to eat low carbs and do long duration, low intensity cardio on off weight training days or eat carbs for the first 4 hours after training wihile doing the HI sprint sessions? Assuming calories are equal. Thanks!

[Jason Bonn]

Lean Cuisine...that's hilarious. A lot of ladies where I work live off that stuff and eat it everyday for lunch. It drives me nuts, seeing people duped into that marketing, but I bite my tongue because, after all, they're grown women and are free to make their own decisions--I did mention something a while ago about the quality of those "meals" and how easy it is to prepare lunch yourself.