Top 8 Fat Loss Myths

As the fat loss domain gained popularity over the course of years, certain fat loss myths were bound to appear.

Due to the latest achievements of information technologies, a great deal of information, both correct and incorrect, became available to all people with access to the internet.

Not only that but, as it happens with all popular themes, “experts” appeared out of nowhere to show the world their newest discovery on how to be lean and sexy.

All these were appealing to people’s emotions and, as people have the tendency to rely on others on telling them what to do, fad instructions became mainstream and myths, that derailed people from the goal of fat loss, started to appear.

Here we will try to identify some of the fat loss myths that are most common among people in the fitness world, in order for you to know all the available information and make your own decision on what to do.

We will not tell you what to do but we will give the facts and you will decide what to do for yourself.

1. Too low metabolic rate can cause excess fat.

According to the comments of James Hill, Ph.D., director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver and co-founder of the National Weight Registry, those of us who have the metabolism rate lower than average do not necessary suffer from too fast formation of fat deposits in the body or need to spend more efforts for achieving the desired results, compared to the people with average metabolism rates.

2. Using plenty of cardio ONLY, can work great for effective fat loss.

One of today’s fat loss myths is the idea that only cardio exercises like jogging, brisk walking, swimming, cycling is enough in order to lose fat and weight training has no additional positive effect. According to David Fletcher, an experienced personal trainer and an expert at Men’s Fitness magazine, cardio alone will never work out as effectively as a combination of cardio and power workouts, regardless of the person’s body type. According to Fletcher, a combination involving power and weight lifting exercises is the best way to burn fat, both during and after the actual workouts.

3. Low intensity cardio is the best way to a rapid fat loss.

This is also one of the most common fat loss myths in the world of modern fitness. Actually, this type of cardio exercises is not very much effective and, according to Chuck Waterbury, a pro athlete trainer, doing one hour of very slow jogging will not be a good helper on our way to becoming leaner. Our body adopts very easily in the repeated slow motions very fast, that is why it is recommended to combine high and very high intensity cardio with low intensity exercises.

4. Only long duration daily workouts can help you achieve great results and lose fat rapidly.

Chad Waterbury crashes this idea as one of the weakest among many fat loss myths. He says that giving our body good time to rest and recovery is absolutely crucial for fast fat loss and maximizing the effects of the workouts. Overtraining causes excretion of fat storing hormones in our body, Waterbury adds. Besides, overtraining is very often linked to extremely high risks of injury and lower motivation due to inability to achieve faster results.

5. Doing high reps with small weights will assist fat loss, while doing less repetitions with bigger weight will help building muscles.

This one is again one of the most common fat loss myths and it is debunked by David Fletcher, who says that it is not a good way to burn fat. According to him, the leaner our body becomes, the more calorie it starts burning at rest and for that to happen we should perform 12 or lower reps with bigger weights. The same thing is suggested by Chad Waterbury when he says that high reps with smaller weights will help us only work the smallest. I would add to the above experts’ statements that we should keep in mind that fat loss is connected to our bmr. What increases our bmr is muscles so we need to perform exercises that increase our muscle mass. These exercises are weight training with bigger weights that would allow as to perform 6-12 reps max.

6. Food combining, like meat and fruits, can be an obstacle to fat loss.

This is one of the fat loss myths which has been around for almost 30 years now.

The idea of avoiding certain food combinations is generally opposed to the balance which surrounds us in nature. The most natural things in life have one basic characteristic and this is balance. When we admit that our everyday calorie intake should contain all three macronutrients, in certain ratios, then it is logical and correct to assume that this ratio could, and most probably should, be applied in our every meal.

The human digestive system is created to withstand a great deal of pressure. Mixing foods is not considered as pressure. On the contrary, high deal of pressure to the digestive system is implemented by eating all the junk food we have been eating the last few years, which is not naturally made and our system needs to work overtime to produce the necessary enzymes to break it down.

That is a great deal of pressure for our hormonal balance, our pancreas function, our liver function, the small intestine and the colon. As Tom Venuto says in his book Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle “ I don’t know a single bodybuilder or fitness champion that uses successfully “food combining” diets to achieve low body fat or excellent muscular development.

7. High consumption of protein can lead to kidney problems or other health issues

In this list of fat loss myths this one could not be missing.

So far there has been not one single study published in any peer reviewed journal, at least not one that I know of, which makes such a statement.

Excess consumption of protein can only be harmful to kidneys which already have had problems.

However I must say that although consumption of large quantities of protein is not proven to create any specific problem, based on the universal law of balance we should keep in mind that our diets are considered as balanced only if they contain all three macronutrients (aka protein – carbohydrates - fat) in the ratios that we have discussed here.

8. Too much aerobic exercise causes muscle loss.

This is one common myth which circulates among people who know a few things about working out but are not very well educated on the subject.

This statement could be true when referring to aerobic exercises that are being done with high intensity or high impact, for a long period of time. After all we know that people who are marathon runners are skinny and not at all muscular.

However I believe that the biggest reason for muscle loss is not too much aerobic but improper eating and not working out with weights at all. Moreover eating less protein than you should could lead to muscle loss.

Therefore do not be afraid to do aerobic exercises, even daily, but make sure that you eat right and you incorporate a weight training program three to four times a week and you will be more than fine on preserving your muscle mass or even increase it.

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