5 Myths that need to stop in 2024.
It's 2024 and that means a whole new year of possibilities, goals and change.
You've probably heard a lot of different opinions on diets, best exercise, recovery tools and other hacks last year...
Below are a few we hope will be better understood in 2024:
Walk, stretch & gentle exercise as you get older: Absolutely not! From 30-50 years of life, adults lose 5-10% of skeletal muscle mass, and the losses rise to 40% more at 80 years. Meaning a decrease in functional capacities, increase in falls and fractures. Strength training is a vital tool to enhance independent living and quality of life by improving neuromuscular connections and strengthening bones, ligaments and tendons.
"Special" weightloss diets: If you search 'fatloss diet' on Google, a maze of conflicting diet types emerge leaving the reader with utter confusion. Thanks to peer-reviewed studies, we can confidently ease your confusion and let you know ALL diets work. Why? It is because they put you in a calorie decifit, leading your body to burn its own fat as fuel. Therefore, choose a eating regime that will suit your lifestyle and health goals.
Ice baths for recovery after strength training: Having sore muscles can be uncomfortable after a hard strength workout. Strategies such as saunas, cold and hot water immersion or cryotherapy have made many implement them in their exercise routines. However, research has shown that cold water immersion 15-min AFTER strength training reduces muscle growth. Rather go for a walk, warm bath or enjoy a stretch class.
Cardio for fatloss: Doesn’t it seem logical that cardio will help fatloss more so than strength training? It may seem so because of how much you sweat but it's simple not the case... Even if you do hard bouts of intense cardio, yes... you will lose fat BUT also muscle!! Muscle contributes to our daily energy expenditure. More muscle will help increase our metabolism. Long term, cardio alone will actually ruin your progress as you lose muscle "tone'. Many who started including strength training in their programme not only lost more body fat, but they also kept it off for longer and felt better!
Sore muscles equal a good workout: If you’re chasing the soreness after a workout STOP! Muscle soreness happens for two main reasons: Doing a new exercise that you haven’t done before and emphasising the lowering (eccentric) phase. Chasing the soreness won't just hinder your progress but it may also cause can injury which you don't want.