5 common fitness misconceptions put to the test

When it comes to health and wellbeing, misinformation is everywhere. With so many people offering competing facts, theories and opinions, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. The reality is that every person’s body is different, and what works for some people may not be applicable to others. Figuring out what works for you is one of the most rewarding parts of the fitness journey. With that in mind, I wanted to look at five common beliefs about fitness. First, through my own experience as an athlete, and then with the help of Ty Phillips, senior trainer and nutrition coach at Fitness First.

People can really overcomplicate healthy eating. There’s definitely a whole industry that makes money from taking simple things and making them complex. Your average person doesn’t need to be worrying about supplementing with sports drinks, protein shakes, and expensive concoctions. You can meet your recommended daily intake of nutrients and vitamins just by eating a wide variety of whole foods.

“I think that people make life hard. A lot of the time people come in and they’re sick, they’re tired, they’ve got digestive issues. They’re going out and binge drinking every weekend, then they come and see me and say that they want a plan that’s sustainable. I have to look them straight in the face and say, ‘The way you’re living is not sustainable.’

“I think for the most part people don’t really understand what’s in the stuff they eat. Extras such as amino acids and whey protein powders are things that I never use. If you can get that protein from your diet, you don’t need any supplementation to get amazing results. In my opinion, sports nutrition is massively overhyped.”

If you’re feeling muscle pain, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to stop working that area entirely. If your muscle isn’t strong enough to be doing what you’re asking of it, you might need to switch the kind of exercises that you’re doing. My experience has been that when a muscle is sore, it means that it needs to be further strengthened before you try to do the same level of activity again – but that doesn’t mean stopping.

“There’s a distinction between good and bad pain. Bad pain would be something like a herniated disc, or a muscle sprain. Then there’s good pain, which is muscular soreness as a result of your body adapting to training.

“If you’re talking about soreness that you get the day or two days after exercising, that’s a normal response to training. However, people tend to wear muscle soreness as a badge of honour. You know: ‘I did this epic leg workout and couldn’t sit on the toilet for five days.’ If you’re at that point, that’s where you’re doing muscle damage that isn’t easy to recover from – and it’s counterproductive.”

Sorry to say it, but in my experience spot reduction doesn’t work for me. It’d be great if I could, say, target my stomach area just by doing thousands of crunches but, unfortunately, the science just doesn’t back it up when it comes to smaller areas of the body – like the abs.

“Over the past 30 years it’s been the belief that you can’t spot reduce. But interestingly enough there’s a 2017 study that split 16 women into two groups. One group trained lower body, and the other trained upper. They found that in each group there was a significant weight reduction in the areas that were trained.

“For the most part, when people talk about spot reduction, they’re talking about doing something like crunches or sit-ups for their abs. In context, that’s not going to do much. If you’re doing big muscle groups – for example, the legs – you’re more likely to see an impact.

“If someone had a high body fat percentage and they were asking me about spot reduction, I’d say, ‘Let’s not look at this down the end of a straw.’ Instead, I’d try to get them looking at things as a whole and get them training in a way that’s going to give the greatest benefit – rather than trying to get them shredded by doing bicep curls.”

A big belief is this idea that you can start exercising and you’re going to lose weight straight away. When that doesn’t happen, it can really deflate the ego. I’ve always found that when it comes to my training it takes about six weeks before I‘ll see any physiological change in my body. That timeline can be different from person to person, depending on their level of fitness. Unfortunately, one thing that I’ve seen often is people who are motivated for a short period and then quit right before the results start to show.

“In a perfect world, if you’re ticking all the boxes with a structured training program and a nutritional plan specifically shaped for you, then you can see results in two weeks. Normally, the reason that people find they’re not seeing changes as fast as they want is because they’re usually falling down in some area they’re not realising.

“For example, they might be on a nutrition plan, but instead of using a spray of cooking oil they’re free-pouring it, or they’re adding milk or creamer to their coffee four times a day, and those little things are adding up.”

“The research says that fasting is useful for people with chronic diseases as part of a treatment plan. There’s merit there.

“In my opinion, though, if you’re a person who’s just looking at training for general health and wellness, then I think that starving yourself in the morning is not the best way to go.

“Most people who are interested in fasting are those who are looking to lose some fat as quickly as possible, and they think not eating is the way to do that. But any magic they’re going to get from that is going to come from one thing, which is restricting calories. People are probably better to reduce overall calories, but stretch that intake over breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That way they’ll have energy for the whole day.”

Former Australian Rules footballer Chris Judd is familiar with how to get your heart rate up and push yourself physically. Twice winner of the prestigious Brownlow Medal, Chris is an honoured sportsman and father to four children, Oscar, Billie, Tom and Darcy. The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances.