10 Body Myths Debunked

We have a say on seven of the ten body myths.

“Fat makes you fat”

Not so. “Good quality fats are essential for health and should always make up part of your diet,” explains top trainer and founder, Jean Claude Vacassin. “Fats have been vilified because they are calorie dense, at nine calories for every gram, but they are essential if you want a better diet, and a better body.”

“You have to do cardio to lose weight”

“It’s lean muscle mass that’s critical for getting and staying lean and excessive cardio neither helps build or maintain muscle mass. A better alternative for many people who are trying to get into shape would be resistance training coupled with a good diet,” explains Vacassin.

“Women shouldn’t lift weights”

Don’t let body builder’s bodies put your off weight training, “when done in extreme amounts and combined with a diet that provides a significant excess of calories (something women very rarely, or never, do!) it does of course trigger muscle gain,” says Vacassin.

“But doing two sets of twelve reps and following it up with healthy eating won’t bulk you up,” advises Vacassin. “You need to train and eat with the specific purpose of gaining muscle for it to happen. Burn fat as you build muscle and you’ll never feel ‘heavy’ or ‘bulky’.”

“Carbs are the enemy”

“Carbs are an important part of the diet and a major player in cognitive function, mood, energy levels and overall wellbeing,” warns Vacassin. “Following a diet that is low in carbs for too long not only negatively impacts your mood, sleep and mental clarity but also your ability to lose weight, and fat. Low carb diets are also often very low in fibre which have massive implications for long term health.”

“I need supplements to be healthy”

“Putting supplements of any kind before a good diet is not going to work. Besides, most people only need take the basics (a multivitamin, probiotic, vitamin D and omega 3 fish oil) anyway,” explains Vacassin, who also recommends getting tested before taking on any extra supplementation

“I can eat as many ‘clean’ foods as I want”

“Watch it. Just because a food is ‘good’ or ‘clean’ doesn’t mean that you should, or can, eat it in unlimited quantities – more is not better. Too much of anything will make you gain weight. Typical offenders here are nuts, avocados and fruit,” explains Vacassin.

“Protein is good, so more must be better”

Getting your RDA of protein is key to health, “but as will all things, we don’t need to consume it in excessive quantities,” explains Vacassin. “Diets very high in protein are a by product of the new carb-phobia trend (we have to replace the calories with something right?). But we really shouldn’t consume it in quantities that exceed our requirements if we are following a balanced nutritional programme.”

We help our members with a nutritional programme that works for them, if you’re struggling, give us a shout at our personal training gym in City Road or try out our training sessions and we’ll help you work out a plan that suits you.

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