Fitness Myths Debunked?

_lyndseybrooke_

Check out this article:

http://likes.com/misc/12-biggest-fitness-myths?pid=94672&utm_source=mylikes&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ml&utm_term=24941036

I hear a lot of these "myths" right here on MFP from people who I think know what they're talking about. I hold some of these myths to be completely true myself. Such as:

Myth #16: Drinking at least 8 cups of water per day.
Myth #13: Ambitious weight loss goals are discouraging.
Myth #12: Rapid weight loss doesn't stick.
Myth #9: Your body continues burning calories after a workout.
Myth #4: Swimming is a great workout.
Myth #1: Exercise is important for weight loss.

The rest I completely agree with, but these? The one that got me most frustrated was where it says, "Don't be afraid to diet" regarding quick weight loss (ugh!) and where it says that people who eat back their exercise calories won't lose weight.

What do you make of this article?

__Di__

The only one I disagreed with was the swimming one. When swimming, the body may be supported by water, but moving through the water causes resistance.

Swimming is a fantastic exercise and can be a life-saver as an alternative exercise for people that are injured and unable to do their normal workouts.

toutmonpossible

Check out this article:

http://likes.com/misc/12-biggest-fitness-myths?pid=94672&utm_source=mylikes&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ml&utm_term=24941036

I hear a lot of these "myths" right here on MFP from people who I think know what they're talking about. I hold some of these myths to be completely true myself. Such as:

Myth #16: Drinking at least 8 cups of water per day.
Myth #13: Ambitious weight loss goals are discouraging.
Myth #12: Rapid weight loss doesn't stick.
Myth #9: Your body continues burning calories after a workout.
Myth #4: Swimming is a great workout.
Myth #1: Exercise is important for weight loss.

The rest I completely agree with, but these? The one that got me most frustrated was where it says, "Don't be afraid to diet" regarding quick weight loss (ugh!) and where it says that people who eat back their exercise calories won't lose weight.

What do you make of this article?

People need to be hydrated, but they may not need to drink 8 glasses a water a day.
I've read in other articles that the idea that weight loss must always be slow and steady is a myth.
The number of calories that your body burns after a workout is less than most people believe.
In all the time I've been exercising, swimming has never been considered a good exercise for weight loss.
Exercise is not considered important for weight loss. it's good for you and doing it may make you more body conscious and cause you to eat better.

Following is an excerpt from a New York Times blog post that ran earlier this year:



Here is an overview of the obesity myths looked at by the researchers and what is known to be true:

MYTHS

Small things make a big difference. Walking a mile a day can lead to a loss of more than 50 pounds in five years.

Set a realistic goal to lose a modest amount.

People who are too ambitious will get frustrated and give up.

You have to be mentally ready to diet or you will never succeed.

Slow and steady is the way to lose. If you lose weight too fast you will lose less in the long run.


Ideas not yet proven TRUE OR FALSE

Diet and exercise habits in childhood set the stage for the rest of life.

Add lots of fruits and vegetables to your diet to lose weight or not gain as much.

Yo-yo diets lead to increased death rates.

People who snack gain weight and get fat.

If you add bike paths, jogging trails, sidewalks and parks, people will not be as fat.


FACTS — GOOD EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT

Heredity is important but is not destiny.

Exercise helps with weight maintenance.

Weight loss is greater with programs that provide meals.

Some prescription drugs help with weight loss and maintenance.

Weight-loss surgery in appropriate patients can lead to long-term weight loss, less diabetes and a lower death rate.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/myths-of-weight-loss-are-plentiful-researcher-says/

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jillianbeeee

bump

_Zardoz_

What do you make of this article?

It's all a bit simplistic so because of that they are creating there own myths

_Zardoz_

Oh just to add I burn't around 1400 calories on my swim this morning. Which is more than I burn running in the same amount of time

Mokey41

I agree with all of it. Great articles. Thanks for sharing.

I didn't know that you don't keep burning calories while at rest. I don't believe this one. As a lifter, my body is repairing itself while I am not lifting. It doesn't make any sense that I wouldn't burn calories during the repair/rest period. So, that's the only one I'd need to see back up data on. Other than that, the info s solid.

You probably do burn a small amount more after but most likely not a significant amount. At least not the kind of burn that would be worth worrying about. I've seen people justifying the ice cream after a workout because their body is still burning extra calories for X number of hours after their leisurely stroll on the treadmill.

msjames1999

Interesting article. However, I was disappointed to find out that myth #9 was not an actual proven fact.

#9 Myth: Your Body Continues Burning Calories After A Workout
Calorie calculations not quite adding up? That's because a recent study found that people who exercise more actually burn less calories when they are at rest. The amount differs on gender, height, genetics, etc, but exercising daily doesn't mean you are going to be burning more calories all day long.

SibylDiane

Although I tend to agree with a lot of it, I'd find it more compelling if they linked to actual scientific proof rather than random assertions on the internet. The same way I feel about many of the things posted here and elsewhere

__Di__

Oh just to add I burn't around 1400 calories on my swim this morning. Which is more than I burn running in the same amount of time

That is a great burn!!

chezjuan

Although I tend to agree with a lot of it, I'd find it more compelling if they linked to actual scientific proof rather than random assertions on the internet. The same way I feel about many of the things posted here and elsewhere

I have the same reservations. Especially since Myth #18 (eat less often to lose weight) has a link to an article that has nothing to do with their text - it's an article about imagining eating, not about meal frequencies. Plus, several studies have indicated that the 5-6 small meals a day is a myth.

Francl27

Although I tend to agree with a lot of it, I'd find it more compelling if they linked to actual scientific proof rather than random assertions on the internet. The same way I feel about many of the things posted here and elsewhere

Ditto. I agree about the water thing though. I see people say they're drinking a lot of water and that's how they lose weight or break a plateau, and I roll my eyes. Would be nice if water burned fat though.

jonjhayden

Here is my take on each of the "Myths" that concerned you. In general, while the statement may have been true. It was presented in a misleading, in some cases dangerous, way.

Myth #16: Drinking at least 8 cups of water per day.

The statement in the article was that some people needed more and some people needed less. This is true, but 8 glasses is a good guideline as is using urine clarity. However, if I am going to error on the side of caution it would be to drink too much as opposed to too little. The irony is with all of the crazy talk on this site about "toxins" and "cleansing" the body of them. This IS the most effective way to cleanse one's body of "toxins"...peeing. It is difficult to drink too much water, but easy to drink to little. Furthermore, while it is may not be many calories, it does take energy for your body to process the water (warm it up, utilizing, and the simple process of getting up and going to the restroom.) I'll take every little bit that will help me lose weight.

Myth #13: Ambitious weight loss goals are discouraging.

This clearly is a generalized statement. Just as "Myth #16" made the point of everyone being different. This "Myth" simply disregarded this possibility. Some people need the little goals, some people don't. I have found that most people need both. Set an ambitious ultimate goal. but set realistic, attainable yet challenging immediate goal.

Myth #12: Rapid weight loss doesn't stick.

Well, actually I don't have any problem with this "myth" with one caveat and that is the person who had the rapid weight loss instituted lifestyle changes instead of temporary diet changes.

I think the reason that most people who have rapid weight loss have difficulty maintaining that weight loss is that they did not develop a lifestyle change. Those with slower weight loss have more time to develop the habits necessary to have sustained success. It doesn't mean that one has to lose weight slowly to develop those habits. It simply means they are more likely to.

Myth #9: Your body continues burning calories after a workout.

Ok, the statement of this "Myth" is simply incorrect. I understand the point that was trying to be made. But the literal statement that is quoted is obviously wrong. I mean, guys, if your alive...you are burning calories. You don't have to work out to burn calories. Clearly, if you are working out, you are burning more calories and less after you stop. You do burn at an elevated level after you stop working out. When you stop, you continue to pant, your heart rate is elevated, etc. These things will require more calories. If you are in better shape, your body needs less time to recover (to catch your breath, slow your heart rate, etc.). Thus, if you are in better shape then your body will return to its resting metabolic rate more quickly (and will not burn as many calories once it does). BUT does this mean that it's not worth it to work out? Obviously no. It may mean as you get in better shape that you may want to find activities throughout the day that will elevate your metabolic rate (such as a brisk walk, house cleaning, etc.) in addition to your scheduled work out.

Then there is the issue of the type of exercise that this "Myth" is addressing. It is really speaking more to aerobic/cardio style exercise not anaerobic/strength training exercise. As other posters have pointed out, there are processes that your body performs to repair itself after a strenuous work out (particularly strength training style work outs) that require the body to burn more calories then if it had not performed said exercise. In addition, as is becoming more common knowledge, the higher the percentage of muscle in your body composition (compared to fat) the greater the proportional amount of calorie burn. Muscle tissue requires energy to "live". Just existing requires calories for muscle. Fat tissue (being designed for energy storage) requires next to nothing to exist and thus will not burn as many calories from a basal rate perspective.

Myth #4: Swimming is a great workout.

Poorly worded statement. Come on. Swimming IS a great work out. The rest of the discussion after the title statement of the "Myth" is correct. But the title statement itself is misleading and dangerous.

Will swimming burn as many calories as other exercises? Perhaps not for the reason stated, the neutral buoyancy effects of water. However, there are other items to consider in the calorie burning potential of swimming. First is one's swimming skills. If you are not a top level swimmer you will burn more calories than one who is because of the lack of efficiency of your strokes.

Man, the more I read the title statement of this "Myth" the more irritated I become. Swimming is an exercise that utilizes muscles from your entire body. It requires a focus on breathing. Most importantly it is relatively easy on one's joints.

If the statement had been "Swimming will not burn as many calories over the same time period as running," well, ok. BUT what defines a "great work out". This is a very subjective statement.

I would argue that Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte spend the majority of their time swimming. The effectiveness of swimming as a workout seems to be working for them.

(Side note: I don't even like swimming as a work out... but the absurdity of the title statement of the "Myth" irritates the hell out of me.)

Myth #1: Exercise is important for weight loss.

Probably the most dangerously stated title statement of all the "Myths". If one takes the time to read and fully comprehend the rest of the paragraph it is less dangerous. Can people lose weight without exercise? Can people exercise and not lose weight, or remain obese or overweight because they overeat? Yes. However, is it likely that one will maintain their weight loss without including exercise? No way. If one loses weight through diet alone are they as healthy as those who lost weight through a combination of exercise and diet? Doubtful.

One of the most important words in the entire paragraph is "correlates" anyone who knows anything about "research studies" a correlational study simply indicates a relationship or lack there of. It does not indicate whether there is a causal relationship. Also, correlational studies rarely isolate all the factors necessary to make an informed decision for the best course of action. Correlational studies are best used to point researchers in the direction of where to spend their time and energy doing more in depth controlled studies to identify cause and effect relationships. Look, I am sure that I could find that drinking water correlates to death using a study. I mean I am sure that 100% of those people that drank water in the year 1865 are now dead! Some there is a strong correlation between drinking water in 1865 and death. That does not mean that drinking water in 1865 caused the death. I suspect that there may have been another factor involved in their death.

The one grain of important information in there for the person looking to lose weight is if you work out don't take that as carte blanche to eat whatever and as much as you want. You still have to consider your calorie balance. In fact that one shrouded point in the sensationalism of that "myth debunking (<--sarcasm)" paragraph is that you can eat back your calories earned by working out. Just don't eat past those earned calories if your goal is to lose weight. It is very important to have an accurate accounting of the calories that were burned in exercise as well as the calories ingested to maintain a calorie deficit for weight loss. Unfortunately, there are the unknowns in this process which make an exact accounting impossible (i.e. one's efficiency of movement in exercise, their exact metabolic rate, their actual body compositions). Two people who workout side by side on identical elliptical machine with the same "Calorie" burn read out in actuality burn significantly different amounts of calories based on things specific to the individual such as efficiency of movement, basal metabolic rate, level of fitness, body composition, etc.

This is the beauty of MFP if you log your calorie expenditure in the exercise section, accurately identify your activity level and accurately and honestly log your calorie consumption in the food log you have a good shot at losing the weight that you desire (and you can "eat back" calories burned in exercise.

I would recommend, if weight loss is your goal, to be smart in your data entry. Error on the side of weight loss by: (1) Logging the calories burned in exercise as less rather than more than is indicated by the display (e.g. If I burn 530 calories on the elliptical, I only credit myself 500), (2) If you are not sure of your daily activity level choose the more sedentary level as opposed to the more active level on your settings AND do not include your scheduled exercise when considering your daily activity level as the exercise is accounted for when you log it (e.g. While I exercise for over an hour daily, I still chose sedentary as my activity level because I sit at a desk all day at work and I would rather that MFP assume I burn less calories than I actually do.) (3) If you are estimating an amount of a serving for the food you consume overestimate the size so that the calories recorded are more than you actually consumed. (4) Always try to operate with at least a little calorie deficit in your calorie goals daily. If you do these 4 things and you are increasing the likelihood that if there is a discrepancy between the calorie balance that you have logged and that your body has in actuality experienced it is in favor of weight loss instead of weight gain.

RobynLB83

Oh just to add I burn't around 1400 calories on my swim this morning. Which is more than I burn running in the same amount of time

That is a great burn!!

I don't get the swimming claim either. It's hard for me to get winded running or jumping rope, but I get winded swimming almost immediately. So what's that about? Also, have you SEEN what swimmers look like?!? Hello Summer Olympics, can I lick your man v?

susannamarie

what?

Okay, number 18: "The best weight loss diet plan is to eat no less than 1200 calories per day if you’re a woman, or 1800 for men, over 5-6 small meals. When your body is starved, it slows down your metabolism, so less food will cause a bigger impact on your body weight. Eat the same amount of wholesome foods, but eat more often to keep that metabolism high! "

The 5-6 small meals to keep your metabolism high thing has been pretty thoroughly debunked, and immediately throws the whole article into question for me.

Number 8 is so badly written that it's impossible to make sense of it. "You don't need to slam protein powder and raw eggs to build muscle. You only need 1.4 grams of protein per day to build lean muscle. If your goal is to bulk up, you can scale up to 5-10 grams per day, but don't consume tons of extra calories from protein shakes. " 1.4 grams of protein total? I doubt it. Per kilo? Per pound? Per pound of LBM?

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ttippie2000

Swimming is not a good workout. Right...that says a LOT about your swimming. If you work it right swimming is a rockin' workout. Personally, I'm more winded doing a 50 meter butterfly than I get from a 200 meter sprint. Less gravity, but much more viscosity.

rml_16

Myth #16: Drinking at least 8 cups of water per day. -- This is true

Myth #13: Ambitious weight loss goals are discouraging. -- Depends on the individual

Myth #12: Rapid weight loss doesn't stick. -- Studies have supported this

Myth #9: Your body continues burning calories after a workout. -- I have read studies stating the opposite, so I'm with you here

Myth #4: Swimming is a great workout. -- Dumb. Of course it's a great workout.

Myth #1: Exercise is important for weight loss. -- You can lose weight fine without it.

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susannamarie

Myth #16: Drinking at least 8 cups of water per day. -- This is true.

True that it's a myth? It true that you need 8 glasses of water everyday.

Everything I ever read about this says humans do not need 8 glasses of water every day. It's a myth that was created many years ago and it just won't let go.

It is a myth. If you drink enough that your pee is very light yellow or colorless, you're fine.

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__Di__

Oh just to add I burn't around 1400 calories on my swim this morning. Which is more than I burn running in the same amount of time

That is a great burn!!

I don't get the swimming claim either. It's hard for me to get winded running or jumping rope, but I get winded swimming almost immediately. So what's that about? Also, have you SEEN what swimmers look like?!? Hello Summer Olympics, can I lick your man v?

Ahh regarding getting winded, I can guarantee that if you were to swim regularly you would eventually become less and less winded, that does not mean to say, however, that swimming is any the less of an exercise just because you may not get winded, it just means you are, or have become swimming-fit.

600 calories per hour breaststroke can burn (not sure about the other strokes), it is a terrific burn and exercise, in fact, it would probably do me the world of good if I were to swim regularly alongside my running lol!

Regarding what swimmers look like, they have incredible physiques for sure, but my favourite physique "look" is a triathlete, they astound me, they really are incredible in my opinion - then again, they do swimming

LiftAllThePizzas

Is it just me or is everything here so poorly worded. Apparently some people use "myth" to mean "some story that everyone has heard" and others mean "false story." Saying "here are some myths that are true" is an oxymoron. Or maybe not. But I can't even figure out what half of the people in this thread are trying to say.

LiftAllThePizzas

Try running or jumping rope while holding your breath and only take occasional breaths. That's one difference of why it's so hard.

Who holds their breath while doing backstroke, side, breast or freestyle? Do You Even Swim?

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LiftAllThePizzas

Try running or jumping rope while holding your breath and only take occasional breaths. That's one difference of why it's so hard.

Who holds their breath while doing backstroke, side, breast or freestyle? Do You Even Swim?

Yeah, I've run across your silly posts before. You seem to only post when you can find weakness. Rather Han contribute, you only break people down. It must feel nice to you.

Wow, I'm really sorry if silly posts are all it takes to break you down.

morticia16

Check out this article:


Myth #1: Exercise is important for weight loss.

This is like the most idiotic and dangerous statement ever. Sure, go ahead and tell all the obese and people with real weight problems that nah, exercise isn't really it. It is such a dangerous simplistic and idiotic statement that really makes me angry.

SteelySunshine

It is a stupid article for the most part.

3dogsrunning

Try running or jumping rope while holding your breath and only take occasional breaths. That's one difference of why it's so hard.

Who holds their breath while doing backstroke, side, breast or freestyle? Do You Even Swim?

Yeah, I've run across your silly posts before. You seem to only post when you can find weakness. Rather Han contribute, you only break people down. It must feel nice to you.

WTF? It's a fair point. It was one of the things that was stressed to me right off the bat, that you should always be breathing and it is something they check when video taping for form.

sofitheteacup

Check out this article:


Myth #1: Exercise is important for weight loss.

This is like the most idiotic and dangerous statement ever. Sure, go ahead and tell all the obese and people with real weight problems that nah, exercise isn't really it. It is such a dangerous simplistic and idiotic statement that really makes me angry.

This. Seriously. Obviously exercise isn't always a requirement to weight loss, because diet has more of an effect, but for those who have a lot to lose and are used to eating a lot, changing their diet and adding moderate exercise (which they can then eat back burned calories OR NOT) is going to go a lot futher than simply switching to water over soda.