About 50 trainers and fitness enthusiasts came under one roof for a fitness seminar by Harry Sandhu, of Team BOSS, at CII — Suresh Neotia Centre of Excellence for Leadership on January 15. “Indians have a lot of enthusiasm, but there is a lack in knowledge,” said Harry, a Chandigarh boy, staying in Australia for the last 20 years. t2 caught up with him after the day-long seminar, to bust a few of the fitness myths that still exist in India.
Myth 1: The more sore the muscles, the better the workout
Not necessarily. If you are an experienced lifter, you will not feel sore at all at times. Soreness happens when you’re not used to training in a certain manner and your muscle has to adapt to something new. When you’re a beginner, your muscles will definitely feel sore. But if you’re not a beginner and you’re sore and it takes 10 days to recover, then there might be something wrong.
Myth 2: A protein shake isn’t a good enough substitute for a meal
If you’re taking protein shakes to replace the protein content of a meal, there’s absolutely no issue. Protein shakes aren’t as bad as some people make it out to be. You can’t say protein shake is better than chicken or vice-versa, because they all have different amino acids in them. So, ideally, one should try and mix it up. But one thing is that when you’re having proper food, you’re having proteins, carbs, fats… so you’re getting a variety of micro-nutrients.
Myth 3: Carbs are a strict no-no if you want to lose weight
This is categorically incorrect. The main thing about fat loss is the net caloric balance at the end of the day. You can get calories from fat, even if you’re doing a ketogenic diet. If you’re only burning 1,500 calories and consuming 2,000, you’re going to put on weight, whether those calories are coming from fat or carbs. So carbs aren’t the problem as long as you maintain the caloric balance.
Myth 4: You can out-exercise a bad diet
No. You cannot. There’s only a limit to how much you can exercise in a day. But you can polish off 10,000 calories in no time!
Myth 5: Rest days are a must
They’re important. But don’t fix your rest days. They shouldn’t be only on a Saturday or a Sunday. You should take a rest day when your body feels like it needs rest, not just because it’s pencilled into a calender.
Myth 6: Your body eventually adapts to steady-state cardio
If you’re burning 500 calories by just walking around and creating the caloric deficit, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work. Bodybuilders have been doing it since time immemorial. Low-intensity walks definitely work. But things like aerobic classes on that steady-state is not good. I recommend resistance training and at the back end of that, high-intensity interval cardio for a few minutes, 3-4 times a week, if you’re looking for an optimal fat loss strategy.
Myth 7: The more you sweat, the more fat you lose
Nope. That’s not a way to measure fat loss. Some of that sweat could be blood sugar, some of it is fat, some are muscles.
