Not strictly an article as I just wrote it but the best option I could think of.
I hope this will be useful to some. I know for many it may be the stuff of nightmares but it's supposed to be an introduction to reality.
Fitness or the appearance of fitness is a massive industry with billions spent on it every year. As with anything where there’s money to be made there are myths around that need serious busting. I will post a few and I hope others will join me by adding to the list, and of course correct me where I'm wrong. Obviously this barely scratches the surface.
Weight loss the more the better
This is not saying don't lose weight. If you are as wide at the waist as you are high and have body fat % in the 90s not doing something about it could be fatal.
However too many people assume weight loss is about fast results, losing a pound or 2 a day. Losing 2 pounds of fat in a day means burning 7,000 calories more than you have eaten, it's not impossible but it is extremely unlikely unless you are into ultra-marathons.
If you lose weight at the rate of 2 pounds a day, much of this will be water, and the body will redress the balance helping you find some of the weight you lost. This is not failure, if you have been losing fat during that time, don’t give up.
1 or 2 pounds fat loss a week is not shameful it's incredible. This is a level you can maintain for a long time and as long as you are sensible after the fat has gone it won't come back. So if you are looking to go from the Greenpeace poster model to the stick insect look, requiring loss of 200 pounds, you can only succeed if keeping it as a long term goal, which will take between 2 and 4 years.
Muscles are for men
There are two types of major body tissue that give you shape, muscle and fat, both are essential. If you don't want your body to look lose and flabby, you need muscle on your frame. The most feminine of curves are found on women with some muscle and usually a covering of fat to add curve. Even the tiny supermodels need to train and have muscle to maintain poise and posture, not having so would make them look like bags of empty skin.
What is deemed feminine is also subject to debate, some women and men see this as the straight up and down figure, others the figure 8, others more pear shaped, the list goes on. If you are wanting a look to please another, ask them what they like and if you are happy with it that’s the way to go. If not go for what pleases you and be happy with it.
Carbs are bad m’kay
If you eat a ton of sugar a day, you will get diabetes, risk losing your teeth and likely have an interesting temper and shape to go with it.
Here’s some news.
Carbohydrate doesn’t mean sugar, it refers to everything from glucose to starch.
Everything in the human animal has evolved for a diet high in complex carbohydrates, aka starch, to such an extent the body uses how much carbohydrate comes into the body as one factor in setting your metabolic rate.
If you eat too much carbohydrate, it will get turned into fat, the same can be said for any protein the body can convert and of course excess fat you eat had a head start. Of the three main types of food carbohydrate is the one most readily used for most activities. Overeating is overeating, if you consume more than you use you will put on weight, this may be what you want, but may not.
In summary carbs can be bad for you in large volumes or if all sugars. If you eat a sensible balanced diet for a human being with complex carbs as a large part you will be fine. If you need to lose weight removing all carbs is not something you can do long term and can be very detrimental for your health. Rather than cutting out, simply cut down on everything.
Massive protein = Massive muscles
Because of course muscle is made of protein isn’t it? No actually it isn’t. Most of your muscle is water, so think of it less like a bunch of steel rods more as a bunch of incredibly tough water balloons, the sort that fortunately don’t tend to burst on impact.
The irony of the fact muscle is mostly water is that any excess protein that cannot be converted to fat is disposed of along with some excess water in your urine.
Yes you need protein, but the western diet contains proportionately more of it than we need. We eat very meat rich diets compared to our body design, the clue is in the massive canine teeth we don’t have.
When it comes to dealing with training and growth we need energy to train, protein to repair damage a comparatively little for growth, and here’s the big one, energy to fuel the repair process. The balance doesn’t shift much, you need more protein than someone sitting on their posterior all of the time but your energy demands are also higher so the percentage increase in protein need is not much different to increase in need for carbs, fats and trace foods.
The key here as anywhere regarding nutrition is balance. Don’t eliminate protein but don’t expect it to have the instant ability to convert you to Adonis either. If you are looking to gain mass I generally advise you have a little more protein than you absolutely need, the fat some of this will be converted to should burn away with your training if not excessive, and better to be sure there was enough. However if 50% of your calorific intake is protein, that will be why the love handles aren’t disappearing.
No pain no gain
All right a bit of hierocracy here, considering I genuinely don’t feel happy unless I ache every time I have trained, and after a few decades I really should have grown out of that.
Truth is that training till it hurts is generally ill advised unless you really feel the need to push yourself to the limits. Fitness, especially health related fitness, shouldn’t be painful, it should be challenging overload not debilitating overdo.
Pain is a warning that you have damaged something, and much as exercise is the process of damaging the muscle to an acceptable level, pain is not the advised level.
If you haven’t exercised in many years you don’t even want moderate intensity, you want the lowest you can find. Once you have grown used to this then, if you want to, you can increase the intensity of your workout, but this is not crucial. If your chosen pursuit is an evening walk with the dog, you are enjoying it, and it is keeping you healthy, that is fine and the dog will think you’re great.
If you start out at a level too intense you will stop, your body will make sure of it to avoid major injury.
If you start out steady and get hooked and want to see how far you can push yourself, be warned that way lies madness, and welcome to the asylum.
Being fit means no vices
If your body is a temple, and you are happy worshipping it, that is great and keep it up. Many are of the impression everyone fit is exactly that way, never quite figured why.
I used to be a marathon runner and remember speaking to another who openly admitted the training was simply his way of keeping the beer belly away. I have never seen people so slim drink as much beer since stopping real distance running. Obviously these weren’t top class Olympiads but most of us aren’t so that’s no big deal.
For me fitness is a vice, I don’t need to train as I do, I just love it. I eat chocolate and other junk when I feel the need. I don’t drink because I don’t like the effect, coffee or tea because they taste awful.
The most hilarious that I have encountered is the non-fornication. Most people I know who train where at least partly wanting to make them more appealing and improve their chances of this vice. It is also the other common activity known to release endorphins so people enjoying one generally appreciate the other.
If you think that attending a 30 minute spinning class once a week will undo damage from drinking 5 beers a night with a plate of fried food the size or Everest, the news isn’t good. If you want to simply enjoy a few vices within manageable limits, training will help you to do this with less risk, it all comes down to balance.
I hope this will be useful to some. I know for many it may be the stuff of nightmares but it's supposed to be an introduction to reality.
Fitness or the appearance of fitness is a massive industry with billions spent on it every year. As with anything where there’s money to be made there are myths around that need serious busting. I will post a few and I hope others will join me by adding to the list, and of course correct me where I'm wrong. Obviously this barely scratches the surface.
Weight loss the more the better
This is not saying don't lose weight. If you are as wide at the waist as you are high and have body fat % in the 90s not doing something about it could be fatal.
However too many people assume weight loss is about fast results, losing a pound or 2 a day. Losing 2 pounds of fat in a day means burning 7,000 calories more than you have eaten, it's not impossible but it is extremely unlikely unless you are into ultra-marathons.
If you lose weight at the rate of 2 pounds a day, much of this will be water, and the body will redress the balance helping you find some of the weight you lost. This is not failure, if you have been losing fat during that time, don’t give up.
1 or 2 pounds fat loss a week is not shameful it's incredible. This is a level you can maintain for a long time and as long as you are sensible after the fat has gone it won't come back. So if you are looking to go from the Greenpeace poster model to the stick insect look, requiring loss of 200 pounds, you can only succeed if keeping it as a long term goal, which will take between 2 and 4 years.
Muscles are for men
There are two types of major body tissue that give you shape, muscle and fat, both are essential. If you don't want your body to look lose and flabby, you need muscle on your frame. The most feminine of curves are found on women with some muscle and usually a covering of fat to add curve. Even the tiny supermodels need to train and have muscle to maintain poise and posture, not having so would make them look like bags of empty skin.
What is deemed feminine is also subject to debate, some women and men see this as the straight up and down figure, others the figure 8, others more pear shaped, the list goes on. If you are wanting a look to please another, ask them what they like and if you are happy with it that’s the way to go. If not go for what pleases you and be happy with it.
Carbs are bad m’kay
If you eat a ton of sugar a day, you will get diabetes, risk losing your teeth and likely have an interesting temper and shape to go with it.
Here’s some news.
Carbohydrate doesn’t mean sugar, it refers to everything from glucose to starch.
Everything in the human animal has evolved for a diet high in complex carbohydrates, aka starch, to such an extent the body uses how much carbohydrate comes into the body as one factor in setting your metabolic rate.
If you eat too much carbohydrate, it will get turned into fat, the same can be said for any protein the body can convert and of course excess fat you eat had a head start. Of the three main types of food carbohydrate is the one most readily used for most activities. Overeating is overeating, if you consume more than you use you will put on weight, this may be what you want, but may not.
In summary carbs can be bad for you in large volumes or if all sugars. If you eat a sensible balanced diet for a human being with complex carbs as a large part you will be fine. If you need to lose weight removing all carbs is not something you can do long term and can be very detrimental for your health. Rather than cutting out, simply cut down on everything.
Massive protein = Massive muscles
Because of course muscle is made of protein isn’t it? No actually it isn’t. Most of your muscle is water, so think of it less like a bunch of steel rods more as a bunch of incredibly tough water balloons, the sort that fortunately don’t tend to burst on impact.
The irony of the fact muscle is mostly water is that any excess protein that cannot be converted to fat is disposed of along with some excess water in your urine.
Yes you need protein, but the western diet contains proportionately more of it than we need. We eat very meat rich diets compared to our body design, the clue is in the massive canine teeth we don’t have.
When it comes to dealing with training and growth we need energy to train, protein to repair damage a comparatively little for growth, and here’s the big one, energy to fuel the repair process. The balance doesn’t shift much, you need more protein than someone sitting on their posterior all of the time but your energy demands are also higher so the percentage increase in protein need is not much different to increase in need for carbs, fats and trace foods.
The key here as anywhere regarding nutrition is balance. Don’t eliminate protein but don’t expect it to have the instant ability to convert you to Adonis either. If you are looking to gain mass I generally advise you have a little more protein than you absolutely need, the fat some of this will be converted to should burn away with your training if not excessive, and better to be sure there was enough. However if 50% of your calorific intake is protein, that will be why the love handles aren’t disappearing.
No pain no gain
All right a bit of hierocracy here, considering I genuinely don’t feel happy unless I ache every time I have trained, and after a few decades I really should have grown out of that.
Truth is that training till it hurts is generally ill advised unless you really feel the need to push yourself to the limits. Fitness, especially health related fitness, shouldn’t be painful, it should be challenging overload not debilitating overdo.
Pain is a warning that you have damaged something, and much as exercise is the process of damaging the muscle to an acceptable level, pain is not the advised level.
If you haven’t exercised in many years you don’t even want moderate intensity, you want the lowest you can find. Once you have grown used to this then, if you want to, you can increase the intensity of your workout, but this is not crucial. If your chosen pursuit is an evening walk with the dog, you are enjoying it, and it is keeping you healthy, that is fine and the dog will think you’re great.
If you start out at a level too intense you will stop, your body will make sure of it to avoid major injury.
If you start out steady and get hooked and want to see how far you can push yourself, be warned that way lies madness, and welcome to the asylum.
Being fit means no vices
If your body is a temple, and you are happy worshipping it, that is great and keep it up. Many are of the impression everyone fit is exactly that way, never quite figured why.
I used to be a marathon runner and remember speaking to another who openly admitted the training was simply his way of keeping the beer belly away. I have never seen people so slim drink as much beer since stopping real distance running. Obviously these weren’t top class Olympiads but most of us aren’t so that’s no big deal.
For me fitness is a vice, I don’t need to train as I do, I just love it. I eat chocolate and other junk when I feel the need. I don’t drink because I don’t like the effect, coffee or tea because they taste awful.
The most hilarious that I have encountered is the non-fornication. Most people I know who train where at least partly wanting to make them more appealing and improve their chances of this vice. It is also the other common activity known to release endorphins so people enjoying one generally appreciate the other.
If you think that attending a 30 minute spinning class once a week will undo damage from drinking 5 beers a night with a plate of fried food the size or Everest, the news isn’t good. If you want to simply enjoy a few vices within manageable limits, training will help you to do this with less risk, it all comes down to balance.
