In case you haven’t heard – people have been mentioning it to me even 3 weeks after it went on air! This TV programme called 50 Shocking Facts About Diet and Exercise
In case you missed the other 2 posts…
We come in at number 16….
16 Many people don’t finish marathons
This is unfortunately very true.
Marathons, while the achievement level is very high……I wouldn’t recommend them regularly unless you are really serious about your training. I would say 6 months is about right to start preparing – but increasing your mileage is something you need to get used to…….while at the same time trying to avoid niggles that come with excessive volume.
Start with a logical progression….fun run…5 k…10k….half marathon…full marathon. However, even then you are still not exempt from the risk of all that stress in one go.
15 Veg doesn’yt have as many nutrients in it
This has been documented HERE.
The quality of the veg is from the quality of the soil. This is where organic produce may have a massive upside against the cheaper commercial veg. I recommend a multi vitamin if you don’t get a lot of veggies – and this probably goes even more so now that it did years ago!
If you have some time on your hands check this TED Youtube talk out.
Aswell, any veg is better than no veg!
14 Pushing too hard in the gym can cause infertility
True, As a woman if your body fat is too low this can happen. It’s probably less likely about the gym and It’s more likely more prevalent in those severely restricting their food intake or in people suffering from eating disorders.
Most people could do to eat a little less and do a bit more movement…..going off the current obesity trend.
13 Marketing of sports drinks
Yes, most of us probably don’t need sports drinks.
Training for 90 mins and you’re afraid of going underweight? Then yes. Most of us aren’t in that situation. They are useful if you are doing 90 minutes+ training per session multiple times per week…..and may help if you need to get some sugar in between sessions and can’t stomach a solid meal.
I do think they don’t have enough protein (most have none)….so a yoghurt or a protein shake with some other sugars may be a good choice for some depending on the sport, time demands etc.
Stick with water if you’re not competing and want to lose fat.
12 too much fruit and veg is bad for you
Fruit and veg do have calories too.
Again, I hardly think this is the problem we are facing today. I would say if you can several cups of vegetables, a load of quality protein and some good fats in the form of nuts and olive oil – you shouldn’t crave cookies and biscuits (a real cause of obesity)
Anyway, if you aren’t eating veggies, protein and good fats – what are you gonna eat?
11 muscle tears
Unfortunately with the benefits of exercise comes the risk of injury.
Make sure you’re warmed up and perform some dynamic movements for the shoulder and hip joints in particular.
Make sure you use some warm up sets, especially on your first exercise.
10 Salad bags contain chlorine
Wash your salad before eating!
9 Abs!
To get a 6-pack (or any definition anywhere on your body ) is to lose the fat on top…….and so crunches alone won’t work.
8 Hollywood stars starve themselves
Ok ok!
So last time I was out and about with my man Brad Pitt from fight club…….we just talked about how to drop weight as soon as possible – like it’s hot.
He said his ‘go-to’ diet for getting ripped is to eat pink soap.
Yeah……….. pink soap.
Don’t go eating pink soap – because I was just kidding.
The programme rightly pointed out that actors and actresses have chefs, trainers, and a boatload of time to get into the shape/role they need to. Plus several hundred thousands of dollars…..and more.
7 running is bad for your knees!
Thank you! I’ve gone on and on about this for like 10 years.
Even HERE wrote about army bootcamps their non stop running
They also said it will age you more? I did hear a client once say ‘it ages your face more’ but I can’t back any research for that (although could well be true!)
6 Exercise is good for bowels
They talked about flatulence and increased bowel movements.
They even showed some crazy naked yoga class?
Bit weird?!
5 shiny manchines are useless
AMEN! I think I nodded my head a few times when this came on. Machines look great (come on – have you seen the rocky 4 montage with tons of lights and stuff? I was about 7 when I saw it and was like WOW!!!!)
It highlighted vibration plates. I talked about them ages ago and don’t rate them.
You need some resistance – be it bodyweight, or external weight…and try to progress. If someone is touting vibrating plates – it was probably the press ups and lunges you were doing on them – NOT the vibrations that ‘shake your fat off’ or whatever they say they do.
4 Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels
Fasting has shown i several rodent studies to help you live longer. I touched upon this in more detail HERE. I think more research will come out about fasting. I do think that eating less than 1000kcals daily is not a good idea. Refining your eating window to 8-10 hours could benefit many though.
I think the main point is if muscle is lost or not. I’ll say it again…..Weight loss is not fat loss!
We shall see as we watch this space!
3 Bikram yoga
Bikram yoga is run for exactly 90 minutes and consists of a set series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. Bikram Yoga is ideally practiced in a room heated to 105°F (≈ 40.6°C) with a humidity of 40%, and is the most popular form of hot yoga (a series of yoga poses done in a heated room). (wikipedia)
The show highlighted that bugs can manifest and people get ill. My thoughts? To me it sounds like a nightmare.
Why not just grab a hot bath or sauna AFTER exercise?!
2 Don’t believe the media!
Awareness is good. Too much awareness? Is that good?
It is annoying that sensationalist headlines come out with ” food X is great for you” – eat it every day! Then the next month same food X will “rot your insides!” We have seen this for many foods including eggs, coffee, meat, vitamins and more. Even water!
Bottom line? Papers need to sell. Do some research, and if it’s too good (or too bad!) to be true…..IT PROBABLY IS!
The Number one slot goes to…..!
1 Fad diets don’t work
You have heard them all.
Cambridge, F-plan, south beach, maple syrup, dukan, high fat, low fat, no fat, GI, cotton wool diet……!
Surely we know by now that something significant (worth having) takes time, takes effort, and takes a well-thought-out plan.
Recently, Becky lost 5 stone (you can see the transformation here)…….and it was hard work for a few hours a week, and stick to the food principles of real food, manage your blood sugar and look at the long game.
I really hope you enjoyed this series as it took a while to write!
John