hjayss
02-06-07, 3:09 am
Myth #1: The body can only absorb 30 grams of protein in each meal.
Truth: In reality, there is no conclusive evidence of the maximum amount of protein each person is able to utilize from each meal. There are many factors that determine how much protein the body is able to use at a time. These can include the health, age and weight of the athlete, recent workouts, recent meals, and a host of other physiological factors. As a result, without any solid evidence to the contrary, there is no magic number for the amount of protein you can or can't use from each meal. What we do know, however, is that protein builds muscle and consuming one gram per pound of bodyweight each day is a good bet for meeting your musclebuilding needs. Universal real gains-is a convenient way to help you meet your daily protein requirements, and it tastes great too!
Myth # 2 all fat is bad fat
Truth: While this is a myth that is slowly going the way of the dinosaur, there are still many athletes out there who believe the best nutritional strategy for building lean muscle and/or losing fat involves cutting out every last ounce of fat from their diets. Following this strategy, however, is a surefire way to end up disappointed at the results. This is because fat in the form of polyunsaturated fats is a very important factor in building muscle. Polyunsaturated fats are required in your diet because they include two highly important essential fatty acids – linolenic (omega-3) and linoleic (omega-6). If you are looking to cut fat from your diet, reduce the fat you eat in the form of saturated and trans fats. Avoid deep-fried foods, cookies, donuts, margarine, and greasy fast foods. To add more healthy polyunsaturated fats to your diet, eat fish a few times each week or try adding some flaxseed oil to your protein shakes.
Myth #3: To build a great physique, you have to spend hours and hours in the gym each day.
Truth: Training every day for hours on end can actually be quite counterproductive to your musclebuilding goals. The old saying “more is better” is actually not true in this case. The main reason for this is that under stressful conditions, such as prolonged weight training, the body can break down proteins (from muscle) and burn them as energy. The longer the workout, the more protein that can be broken down. What is also interesting is that overtraining, may also impair the immune system, preventing it from functioning at peak efficiency. This can allow colds and viruses to get a foothold and slow down your progress in the gym. To avoid this pitfall, it's best to limit your intense training sessions to about an hour or less and to no more than five days each week.
Myth #4: You need to perform high reps with a light weight for definition while dieting because low reps with a heavy weight build mass.
Truth: Yes, performing more reps and sets with a lighter weight might burn off more calories if done for long periods of time; however, doing this while dieting with the hopes of adding more definition to your physique could leave you with a smaller version of your current body. Because having more muscle on your physique means burning more calories, it's more desirable to attempt to maintain as much muscle as you can while dieting. This is not always possible if you don't provide enough stimuli for your muscles to grow by lowering your weights and performing more reps. One very effective way to go about holding onto more muscle is to continue to keep your weights as heavy as you safely can, while performing a moderate range of reps. By training to build muscle, even while dieting for definition, you can keep the muscle you worked so hard for and burn more calories in the process. Save the calorie-burning cardio for the treadmill!
Truth: In reality, there is no conclusive evidence of the maximum amount of protein each person is able to utilize from each meal. There are many factors that determine how much protein the body is able to use at a time. These can include the health, age and weight of the athlete, recent workouts, recent meals, and a host of other physiological factors. As a result, without any solid evidence to the contrary, there is no magic number for the amount of protein you can or can't use from each meal. What we do know, however, is that protein builds muscle and consuming one gram per pound of bodyweight each day is a good bet for meeting your musclebuilding needs. Universal real gains-is a convenient way to help you meet your daily protein requirements, and it tastes great too!
Myth # 2 all fat is bad fat
Truth: While this is a myth that is slowly going the way of the dinosaur, there are still many athletes out there who believe the best nutritional strategy for building lean muscle and/or losing fat involves cutting out every last ounce of fat from their diets. Following this strategy, however, is a surefire way to end up disappointed at the results. This is because fat in the form of polyunsaturated fats is a very important factor in building muscle. Polyunsaturated fats are required in your diet because they include two highly important essential fatty acids – linolenic (omega-3) and linoleic (omega-6). If you are looking to cut fat from your diet, reduce the fat you eat in the form of saturated and trans fats. Avoid deep-fried foods, cookies, donuts, margarine, and greasy fast foods. To add more healthy polyunsaturated fats to your diet, eat fish a few times each week or try adding some flaxseed oil to your protein shakes.
Myth #3: To build a great physique, you have to spend hours and hours in the gym each day.
Truth: Training every day for hours on end can actually be quite counterproductive to your musclebuilding goals. The old saying “more is better” is actually not true in this case. The main reason for this is that under stressful conditions, such as prolonged weight training, the body can break down proteins (from muscle) and burn them as energy. The longer the workout, the more protein that can be broken down. What is also interesting is that overtraining, may also impair the immune system, preventing it from functioning at peak efficiency. This can allow colds and viruses to get a foothold and slow down your progress in the gym. To avoid this pitfall, it's best to limit your intense training sessions to about an hour or less and to no more than five days each week.
Myth #4: You need to perform high reps with a light weight for definition while dieting because low reps with a heavy weight build mass.
Truth: Yes, performing more reps and sets with a lighter weight might burn off more calories if done for long periods of time; however, doing this while dieting with the hopes of adding more definition to your physique could leave you with a smaller version of your current body. Because having more muscle on your physique means burning more calories, it's more desirable to attempt to maintain as much muscle as you can while dieting. This is not always possible if you don't provide enough stimuli for your muscles to grow by lowering your weights and performing more reps. One very effective way to go about holding onto more muscle is to continue to keep your weights as heavy as you safely can, while performing a moderate range of reps. By training to build muscle, even while dieting for definition, you can keep the muscle you worked so hard for and burn more calories in the process. Save the calorie-burning cardio for the treadmill!