Last time we introduced 3 common beliefs that typically confuse people looking to transform their bodies – let’s now cover the remaining beliefs.
- Belief #4: “I’m going to do lots of cardio”
Why it’s wrong: The old theory that weight loss is as simple as calories in/calories out is partially true, but very over-simplified. It does however hold true that if you’re burning more calories through activity, you increase your chances of losing weight. Weight lifting has been shown to be beneficial for fat-loss, as it has a “residual” effect which means that you continue to burn more calories for 24-48 hours after the workout. Cardio has its place, but in moderation – A focus purely on cardio will potentially cause the loss of muscle. At the very least, a focus on cardio only will not build or maintain muscleFact:1) Cardio has its place for contributing to calorie-burn but should by no means be the sole focus
2) A cardio-only routine can cause muscle loss and leave you worse off. - Belief #5: “I need to lose a lot of weight of my abs (or butt, or thighs, or arms…) – so I’ll do loads of crunches (or step-ups or lunges or…)”
Why it’s wrong: This one comes back to the old myth that we can “spot-reduce” – training a particular area to burn fat from that area. This couldn’t be further from the truth – and we have things like the ab machine to blame and its adverts for this misconception. Fat loss is like evaporating water from a bucket – it happens relatively equally all over. The exception is that we do have areas on our body that are more prone to store fat first and lose it last – those areas are hips, thighs, and stomach.You probably know that a V8 car engine burns fuel faster than a small 4-cylinder engine. In your body, your leg muscles are your “V8” and your abs and arms are your little 4-cylinder engines. If you weigh 60kg and do squats with just body-weight, you’re actually lifting about 50kg, so 20 repetitions is a workload of 20×50=1,000kg-reps. Compare that with 20 repetitions of curls with a 5kg dumbbell, 20×5=100kg-reps. The squats achieve about 10 times more calorie burn. Similarly with ab-crunches – you don’t actually lift much of your body and you don’t take it through much range of motion, so work output is low (weight x distance). To burn fat off your abs, you’re better off going for a walk rather than doing sit-ups!
Fact:
1) You can’t “spot reduce”
2) Fat comes off relatively evenly. What you need is simply a means of speeding up that loss, which means burning it faster, which means using the larger muscles to do more work and burn more fuel
3) To empty a fuel tank (read “stored fat”) quickly, hook it up to a V8, not a 4-cycliinder (read “large muscle, not small muscle”)
4) Burning the fat takes some time, so don’t put it straight back on with that muffin. We are quite like a car – it takes a while and a lot of driving to empty the fuel tank (read “stored fat”) – but filling it only takes minutes at the petrol station (read “refined carbs”)
Fact:1) You can’t “spot reduce”
2) Fat comes off relatively evenly. What you need is simply a means of speeding up that loss, which means burning it faster, which means using the larger muscles to do more work and burn more fuel
3) To empty a fuel tank (read “stored fat”) quickly, hook it up to a V8, not a 4-cycliinder (read “large muscle, not small muscle”)
4) Burning the fat takes some time, so don’t put it straight back on with that muffin. We are quite like a car – it takes a while and a lot of driving to empty the fuel tank (read “stored fat”) – but filling it only takes minutes at the petrol station (read “refined carbs”)
- Belief #6: “I’m going to cut my calories right back”
Why it’s wrong: This may cause weight loss, but much of it will be muscle – read more on this.Fact:
1) Just cutting calories will also result in muscle loss
2) You won’t look good
3) Results won’t be permanent.
4) You are likely to put more fat back on (now with less muscle) and look worse than when you started (see our blog articles on nutrition and the problems with simply “losing weight”, trying to lose weight too quickly, fad diets, framing the problem, and structuring a proper nutrition plan) - Belief #7: “I’m going to cycle my eating with fasting days (or low calorie) and “off” days”
Why it’s wrong: This one (I think) is just an excuse for a regular pig-out. It doesn’t work because you see-saw back and forth – both with your body going from fat-loss to fat-storage, as well as doubling up the work and grief, trying to lose new fat you have just stored. Additionally, you may burn valuable muscle in the more severe days. Note that there is a sensible way of altering intake whereby you adjust the calories up and down every few days but the adjustment is not extreme and the foods are still sensible and “clean” choices (avoiding processed foods) – and over the period of a week, your intake is still about the same as if on a more steady program A balanced diet is always best – your body should be in a fat-burning state and maintaining muscle. You simply need to adjust the calories up and down (not an extreme amount) and choose “clean” choices (avoiding processed foods).Fact:
1) The severe fasting days run the risk of you burning muscle
2) The “binge” days will potentially store more fat which you then have to try to lose.
In our next articles we will focus on a smart approach to shaping your body the way you want. But for now, here are our 5 takeaway tips.
AMP Your Workout Smart Tips:
- Beware of the mythsa. You cannot spot-reduce and area. Fat comes off evenly
b. Forget about cardio-only. Some cardio is ok to add to the calorie-burn, but it should not be the mainstay of a program (unless you are a marathon runner)
c. Don’t go on extreme low calorie diet – you’ll lower your BMR and lose valuable muscle. The rebound effect (and there will be one!) will leave you worse off
d. Forget the fad diets such as fasting / feasting. You’ll put fat on and off and lose muscle in the process - For more information, see our other blogs that go into more detail with the problems with some diets, as well as the basic structure of a good nutrition program.
