Most beginners going to the gym in pursuit of a better and healthier body enthusiastically become sponges, they try and soak up as much fitness knowledge and teachings as they can. Religiously listening to every word of those with bigger biceps and smaller waists like gospel. Although most of the time this is incredibly useful information that has worked for them. Sometimes however some of what is soaked up turns out to be toilet water. That’s why this article is aimed at busting some of those toilet water myths.
Myth #1 – Building muscle can make you look fatter
This couldn’t be further from the truth, the idea that if you have a layer of fat and if you build muscle underneath, that you will just look fatter is plain wrong. Like, very wrong. Muscle building is actually one of the most effective forms of fat loss (just as or even better than cardio). This is because for your body to function it needs to burn fat into glycogen and your body uses that glycogen as the fuel to move your muscles.
The more muscle you build the more glycogen it naturally needs and therefore the more fat is burned and slimmer you look. This only doesn’t work if you dramatically increase your eating while you’re building the muscle.
Myth #2 – You can target your fat burn
Your fat storing is one holistic system, meaning your body doesn’t store or burn body fat based on independent segments of your body i.e., arms, legs, belly. You can’t burn just ‘belly fat’ by doing crunches because to your body its all the same fat. That’s why it’s important to just do the exercise you enjoy doing, eat healthy and all the fat will burn away.
Myth #3 – You should stretch before you work out
I want to make this very clear, warming up is vital before exercise. But static long hold stretches is not what you should be doing beforehand. The idea for static stretching is to increase your range of motion, not prepare you for exercise. To prepare for exercise you need to be moving and getting warm.
Strange Myth – Eating raw eggs
Just don’t.