Topic: Fitness myths.

[Fast Eddie B]

Kidney stones are no fun, and dehydration is a risk factor for them.

[GodSlayer]

• This one surprised me recently, but apparently there's research demonstrating that you can't make permanent changes to muscle length by stretching.

what does "permanent" mean? (I mean, presumably even a gymnast will be less flexible at age 80, but that doesn't mean their exercise didn't change anything temporarily)
assuming 'permanent' just means something like 'lasting for more than a few minutes', is it the ligaments or something like that, then? because obviously _something_ is different between a person who can and once couldn't do the splits.

[Karyn]

I used to be insanely flexible.  3 years at Fed Ex lifting 50 pound boxes all day changed that.  I could barely do a back bend or the splits.  Even after all those muscles atrophied, I still can't get anywhere close to where I was at 16.  Becoming flexible again is one of the things I think is lacking in my workout routine.

[Johnny Slick]

I hear that if you eat nothing but non-GMO food and totally avoid wheat that will make you able to do the splits like James Brown. A cardiologist who once wrote a book about something that had nothing to do with cardiology told me that.

[lonely moa]

Nothing inherently wrong with losing water from one's body mass.  Elite marathon runners lose up to 10% of their body weight (in water) during a race.  It is an advantage.  There is no loss of power or strength, only body mass which contributes to their effeciency of running.  There is a certain South  African physiciabn (et al) that has (have) been studying this for three decades, as well as running with them.

Translation: People on high-protein diets lose body water.  Therefore, losing body water must be good for you.

Jay

Who is on a high protien diet?  These runners are mpost likely eating upwars of 70 or 80% of their calories as carbohyrates.  And they are the best in the business.

Tim Noakes eats about 60% of his calories in fat with only moderate protien and runs marathon times at 65 years of age better than he did at 40.

Are you one of those people that think paleo (or Atkins) is a high protien diet? 

[jt512]

Nothing inherently wrong with losing water from one's body mass.  Elite marathon runners lose up to 10% of their body weight (in water) during a race.  It is an advantage.  There is no loss of power or strength, only body mass which contributes to their effeciency of running.  There is a certain South  African physiciabn (et al) that has (have) been studying this for three decades, as well as running with them.

Translation: People on high-protein diets lose body water.  Therefore, losing body water must be good for you.

Jay

Who is on a high protien diet?

You are.  I was showing yet another example of you engaging in confirmation bias.

Jay

[lonely moa]

Nothing inherently wrong with losing water from one's body mass.  Elite marathon runners lose up to 10% of their body weight (in water) during a race.  It is an advantage.  There is no loss of power or strength, only body mass which contributes to their effeciency of running.  There is a certain South  African physiciabn (et al) that has (have) been studying this for three decades, as well as running with them.

Translation: People on high-protein diets lose body water.  Therefore, losing body water must be good for you.

Jay

Who is on a high protien diet?

You are.  I was showing yet another example of you engaging in confirmation bias.


Jay

One hunderd or so grams of protien a day isn't high in my estimation.  I admit to at least 60% of calories from fat, though.

[Plastique]

• This one surprised me recently, but apparently there's research demonstrating that you can't make permanent changes to muscle length by stretching.

what does "permanent" mean? (I mean, presumably even a gymnast will be less flexible at age 80, but that doesn't mean their exercise didn't change anything temporarily)
assuming 'permanent' just means something like 'lasting for more than a few minutes', is it the ligaments or something like that, then? because obviously _something_ is different between a person who can and once couldn't do the splits.

Good point, permanent was a poor word choice. I meant lasting more than a few minutes.

And apparently it's neural adaptation that occurs. Basically if you do flexibility training, your body gradually permits more range of motion over time.

[GodSlayer]

apparently it's neural adaptation that occurs. Basically if you do flexibility training, your body gradually permits more range of motion over time.

does that have anything to do with those 'extend your arm and twist' things the 'Power Bracelet' people use* on potential customers? ('I have now given you the bracelet--see if you can reach further this time -- wow, you can!')

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynbx5JfEwcA

[Plastique]

apparently it's neural adaptation that occurs. Basically if you do flexibility training, your body gradually permits more range of motion over time.

does that have anything to do with those 'extend your arm and twist' things the 'Power Bracelet' people use* on potential customers? ('I have now given you the bracelet--see if you can reach further this time -- wow, you can!')

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ynbx5JfEwcA

One can only hope. Unfortunately few things reach such a lofty pinnacle of scientific excellence.

[Fast Eddie B]

I got certified many years ago as a personal trainer by the American College of Sports Medicine.

I surely have forgotten a lot, and things change, but I still remember this comparison:

Someone comes in to a gym wanting to add muscle, and wants to know how much extra protein they'll need and how to best get it.

Realistically, without drugs, one may be able to add 10 lbs. of muscle mass in the course of a year with dedicated training.

Now, imagine doubling your muscle mass and how much protein that would take. Is that even possible?

Well, what happens to a newborn? Going from 8 or 9 lbs. up to 20 lbs has nearly everything more than doubling, including muscle mass.

And how much protein does this take? Or better, what proportion of the newborn's diet should be protein to achieve this unprecedented doubling of muscle mass?

As an assignment, Google "mother's milk composition" and check the Wikipedia entry.

Point is, it does not require large amounts of protein to build muscle. One should aim to get enough, of course, but if excessive amounts are taken, the excess (which will be most) is simple processed by the kidneys and excreted. At the least, wasting money. At the worst, stressing the kidneys.

[GodSlayer]

Point is, it does not require large amounts of protein to build muscle. One should aim to get enough, of course, but if excessive amounts are taken, the excess (which will be most) is simple processed by the kidneys and excreted. At the least, wasting money. At the worst, stressing the kidneys.

'building' aside, will a person's own hunger naturally incline them to adopting a diet that gives them the added protein they need for recovery which they didn't need before starting a workout routine?

[Plastique]

Point is, it does not require large amounts of protein to build muscle. One should aim to get enough, of course, but if excessive amounts are taken, the excess (which will be most) is simple processed by the kidneys and excreted. At the least, wasting money. At the worst, stressing the kidneys.

The body is quite capable of using it for energy or depositing it as fat, it doesn't just get excreted!

[GodSlayer]

Point is, it does not require large amounts of protein to build muscle. One should aim to get enough, of course, but if excessive amounts are taken, the excess (which will be most) is simple processed by the kidneys and excreted. At the least, wasting money. At the worst, stressing the kidneys.

The body is quite capable of using it for energy or depositing it as fat, it doesn't just get excreted!

people always say you can't trim down and bulk up at the same time. is that more likely to be the case if someone is taking excessive protein supplements (a similar effect to a 'massive gainer' shake)

[Plastique]

Point is, it does not require large amounts of protein to build muscle. One should aim to get enough, of course, but if excessive amounts are taken, the excess (which will be most) is simple processed by the kidneys and excreted. At the least, wasting money. At the worst, stressing the kidneys.

The body is quite capable of using it for energy or depositing it as fat, it doesn't just get excreted!

people always say you can't trim down and bulk up at the same time. is that more likely to be the case if someone is taking excessive protein supplements (a similar effect to a 'massive gainer' shake)

With regard to diet, as long as you're covering minimum nutritional requirements (all the stuff the body can't manufacture itself, and needs for maintenance and building new tissue), trimming down and bulking up is just a matter of calories in versus calories out, man. Excessive protein supplementation is simply a matter of too many calories.

Incidentally, it's not impossible to add muscle and strip fat at the same time (especially for novices), it's just a lot more difficult.