Topic: Fitness myths.

[Karyn]

We all know this industry is full of woo.  Everyone has their opinion on how to best exercise.  What are some of the interesting things you've heard over the years?

One I've heard, but I'm not sure is true:  You must eat first thing in the morning to get your metabolism going.  If you don't, you'll lower your BMR.  If I eat first thing in the morning, I've noticed it generally makes me hungrier for the rest of the day, and I end up eating more food in general.  I've never been a breakfast person.  Has this really been hurting me all these years?

An other is getting a large dose of protein before and after your workout to promote muscle building.  It seems to me that it wouldn't matter when you eat the protien, especially since it can take time to digest food.  Is there any evidence to back this one up?

[Cognoscento]

I find the opposite true.  I usually have a cup of coffee and then do my workout in a fasted state. Once you burn through the glycogen stores, you force your body to start metabolizing fat for energy.

I'm not a body builder, but I always thought you want to take in the right proportion of protein and carbs within 30min of finishing your work out for maximum effect.

One running myth that drives me crazy is the whole "Heel striking is the devil" mentality and that "evil" shoe companies are ruining our naturay evolved running gait with over designed, over cushioned shoes.  Bullcrap.

[Johnny Slick]

Hmm. I've made it a point to eat something for breakfast for the past year or so after very rarely having eaten breakfast in the past and IME that bowl of cereal and cup of coffee makes me actually eat less total in the day. I used to get really, really hungry around lunchtime and that's pretty much always a bad idea because when you're hungry you make worse decisions. Well, at least I do. I will say that if you're going to miss a meal, it's better to miss one of the later ones than the first one, at least in terms of being able to more easily control what you eat throughout the day.

Everybody's body is different though, so YMMV.

For other myths, stretching's a big one. I know there's that idea that you should stretch out really heavily before and after every workout but in reality overstretching can actually cause damage in and of itself. I'd love for someone with more fitness experience to expound upon that though.

[Cognoscento]

The whole stretching thing is a pretty hotly debated topic.  In my experience, short, dynamic stretching (like 10-15 seconds) is ok. It loosens everything up and gets blood flowing to the area.  Doing long static stretches (like 15-30min) seems counter productive. I've heard that can cause micro-tearing in the muscle fiber which is essentially what happens when you're exercising. So basically instead of being "warmed up" you are starting your workout with muscle fatigue. Sounds like a bad  idea to me.

[Squarebanks]

There is a ton of psuedoscience surrounding the significance of meal timing, exersise, and body composition. The general scientific consensus is that meal timing is largely irrelevant to athletic performance. There was one study that showed a slight increase in endurance if an athlete had a small carbohydrate-rich snack or drink before competing, but the effect is minimal.

People focus way too much on timing their meals around their exercise. There is no advantage to working out early in the morning before eating because you won't be glycogen depleted in the morning unless you have been fasting on a low-carb diet for days. I would hypothesize that some people might actually end up working out less intensely if they don't have a snack in the morning because they'll be rushing through the workout to get to breakfast faster.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9155494
http://www.ajcn.org/content/90/5/1244.short
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21410865?dopt=Abstract

[341gerbig]

I'm not a body builder, but I always thought you want to take in the right proportion of protein and carbs within 30min of finishing your work out for maximum effect.

That is bro science woo, they have done studies on duration of time between the end of the workout and the post workout meal and they found no correlation between muscle growth, reduction of next day muscle soreness, recovery time, improved fitness over time etc and have found no correlation.

The only thing that mattered in that study was that by the end of the day,  the subject had eaten the proper amount of nutrients, carbs, protien, and fat. It didnt matter if they ate whatever right after the workout or everything all at once or over six small meals etc. As long as between waking up and going to bed they got it in them, it was all good.

[Cognoscento]

Interesting.  That's good to know because usually, I am trying to cram food down after a workout when I have absolutely no appetite.  Do you have any links to these studies you mention?

Thanks

Edit: Nevermind- I just saw squarebanks post

[lonely moa]

I left the myth of needing carbs to fuel my exercise a long time ago.  Good idea in a tough race, but I (until recently) did a humongous amount of exercise taking in less than 100 gms of carbs a day.  Like Cog, I really like working out in a fasted state in the AM.  When you learn to burn fat primarily, it rocks.  The only problem is that one seldom gets hungry...

[Plastique]

I understand the recommendation to eat many small meals during the day is basically worthless, if not bordering on slightly counterproductive, and it has no effect on metabolism. (I recall reading something that said allowing your meals to completely digest and riding out the subsequent changes in insulin and blood sugar levels was healthier than a constant stream of food, but I don't remember the details.)

I think the take-home message with regard to meal timing, including when to have your first meal, is to find something that you can stick to. For example, if eating first thing makes you really hungry for the rest of the day, delay breakfast a bit. There doesn't seem to be any such thing as an optimum timing protocol that will make a big difference to your training results.

Some more:

• There's no such thing as a perfect one size fits all weight training regime, you can get great results with all sorts of programs.
• There's no such thing as "muscle-shaping" exercises as opposed to ones that only build mass.
• Most supplements are worthless, or at best make only a negligible difference to long term progress.
• This one surprised me recently, but apparently there's research demonstrating that you can't make permanent changes to muscle length by stretching.
• Stretching has no effect on delayed onset muscle soreness.
• As long as you're covering your needs for protein, energy, fiber, and micronutrients, there's no such thing as a perfect macronutrient ratio as some would have you believe (eg, the Zone Diet).
• It's a myth that you'll make poor progress if you don't use ultra-strict form when weightlifting. I'd go further and say that there are advantages for an experienced lifter to loosen form in a calculated way. Granted, for a neophyte, it's probably still best to use strict form and learn how to engage and work their muscles properly.
• For fat loss, it matters far less whether you do low intensity, long duration cardio versus high intensity, short duration. That you do any at all is far more important.
• Regarding body composition, caloric intake has a far greater effect than exactly what you eat (although obviously there are other considerations when deciding on your diet). Thermic effect of food, macronutrient breakdown, and other food choices seem to have only a small effect, and pale in comparison to overall caloric intake.
• Pullovers do not expand the ribcage.

[lonely moa]

I'm keen to read Tim Noakes new book "Challrnging Beliefs".  Slam dunks some fitness myths with 30 years of fitness research.

[Johnny Slick]

Yeah, strategic "cheating" is pretty well vital to being able to really poop yourself out at the end of a day's workout, which in turn is essential to gaining muscle. I did switch from doing the regular old shoulder press on a machine to standing with dumbbells because I was cheating too much too early (before I could catch myself I'd be arching my back and turning the shoulder press into an inclined bench press) but it's like you're saying, you've got to be able to start with good form and then know when and how to wreck it.

[JD Holwick]

...stretching's a big one. I know there's that idea that you should stretch out really heavily before and after every workout but in reality overstretching can actually cause damage in and of itself.

i can second this one.  studies have shown that stretching can cause damaging microtears in muscle.  i had a hard time giving up stretching before running but it seems it is probably just better to walk for a few minutes beforehand and/or start into your run or any workout routine more slowly.  the human body has evolved very well to be able to handle a workout sans the stretching.

[jt512]

  I'm not a body builder, but I always thought you want to take in the right proportion of protein and carbs within 30min of finishing your work out for maximum effect. 

  That is bro science woo, they have done studies on duration of time between the end of the workout and the post workout meal and they found no correlation between muscle growth, reduction of next day muscle soreness, recovery time, improved fitness over time etc and have found no correlation.

Can you post a reference to peer review research that says that there is no benefit to consuming a mixture of carbohydrate and protein shortly after exercise?  I have zero exposure to bro science; however, I've read several peer review articles sating that the timing and composition of post-exercise intake is important for optimal recovery. 

ETA: One example among many that seems to contradict your claim: 

Curr Sports Med Rep. 2008 Jul-Aug;7(4):193-201. 

Recovery nutrition: timing and composition after endurance exercise.

Millard-Stafford M, Childers WL, Conger SA, Kampfer AJ, Rahnert JA.

Consumption of macronutrients, particularly carbohydrate (CHO) and possibly a small amount of protein, in the early recovery phase after endurance exercise can enhance muscle glycogen resynthesis rates. A target of at least 1.2 g x kg body weight(-1) x h(-1) CHO (over several hours) is suggested. This rate of CHO intake could be sustained with liquid, gel, or solid food rich in CHO for maximizing muscle glycogen. Whether the coingestion of protein with CHO compared with isocaloric CHO results in meaningful differences in glycogen replenishment that translate into subsequent performance enhancement is equivocal. Advantages of added protein with CHO in reducing true muscle damage from endurance exercise remain to be verified. There are, however, no apparent contraindications for using milk or specialty CHO/protein/amino acid products either. Future investigations that examine signaling mechanisms within muscle should be conducted in parallel with translational evidence in humans.

Jay

[Plastique]

...stretching's a big one. I know there's that idea that you should stretch out really heavily before and after every workout but in reality overstretching can actually cause damage in and of itself.

i can second this one.  studies have shown that stretching can cause damaging microtears in muscle.  i had a hard time giving up stretching before running but it seems it is probably just better to walk for a few minutes beforehand and/or start into your run or any workout routine more slowly.  the human body has evolved very well to be able to handle a workout sans the stretching.

Yeah, the advice these days is to stretch afterwards. For weight lifting at least, static stretching prior to exercise actually reduces performance. Something to do with reduced elasticity.

  I'm not a body builder, but I always thought you want to take in the right proportion of protein and carbs within 30min of finishing your work out for maximum effect. 

  That is bro science woo, they have done studies on duration of time between the end of the workout and the post workout meal and they found no correlation between muscle growth, reduction of next day muscle soreness, recovery time, improved fitness over time etc and have found no correlation.

Can you post a reference to peer review research that says that there is no benefit to consuming a mixture of carbohydrate and protein shortly after exercise?  I have zero exposure to bro science; however, I've read several peer review articles sating that the timing and composition of post-exercise intake is important for optimal recovery. 

ETA: One example among many that seems to contradict your claim: 

Curr Sports Med Rep. 2008 Jul-Aug;7(4):193-201. 

Recovery nutrition: timing and composition after endurance exercise.

Millard-Stafford M, Childers WL, Conger SA, Kampfer AJ, Rahnert JA.

Consumption of macronutrients, particularly carbohydrate (CHO) and possibly a small amount of protein, in the early recovery phase after endurance exercise can enhance muscle glycogen resynthesis rates. A target of at least 1.2 g x kg body weight(-1) x h(-1) CHO (over several hours) is suggested. This rate of CHO intake could be sustained with liquid, gel, or solid food rich in CHO for maximizing muscle glycogen. Whether the coingestion of protein with CHO compared with isocaloric CHO results in meaningful differences in glycogen replenishment that translate into subsequent performance enhancement is equivocal. Advantages of added protein with CHO in reducing true muscle damage from endurance exercise remain to be verified. There are, however, no apparent contraindications for using milk or specialty CHO/protein/amino acid products either. Future investigations that examine signaling mechanisms within muscle should be conducted in parallel with translational evidence in humans.

Jay

How does faster glycogen resynthesis contradict the claim?

As for reducing muscle damage, oddly enough I've read that that in itself might work to reduce performance gains because the damage is what triggers the adaptive response.

[lonely moa]

This study suggests a 24 hour window for nutitional benefit.

http://ajpendo.physiology.org/content/284/1/E76.abstract