The Top 4 Myths Related to Body Fat, Debunked

There is a lot of information surrounding fitness and bodybuilding that can actually be characterized as false, and many tips that can be characterized as myths.

As it turns out, many of these exercise and diet myths are created by people that are not involved into fitness, weightlifting or any type of sport activity whatsoever. They cause confusion amongst trainees and fitness enthusiasts, especially the newcomers. Let’s debunk some of these myths in this article.

4 Myths related to body fat

1: Body fat is the result of consuming dietary fat

This misinformation is the reason of why a large number of active athletes base their diet on very low fat intake. This is also a reason why corporations market their products as “healthy” low-fat foods when in reality those same foods are loaded with sugars and are far from healthy. You might me interested in The 11 Biggest Lies Junk Food Companies Tell You for Profits.

The truth about gaining body fat is that it is a result of the total calorie intake. Simply put, when you consume more calories than your body can use as energy, that excess amount of calories gets stored as fat. It’s that simple. Those extra calories you eat can be from carbohydrates, fats or protein as well.

2: The lower the body-fat percentage you carry the healthier you are

As much as we want to admit this is true, it actually is not. Being shredded looks amazing, but carrying very low percentage of body-fat year round is equally as stressful for your body as carrying high body fat levels.

The truth and the opinion of a large number of professionals and fitness experts is that our body needs a certain (basic) level of body fat to protect organs and assure their normal function.

Very low body fat levels will also cause hormonal imbalance, just as carrying high bodyfat does. Female athletes need at least 11% to 14% body fat, while the male athletes need at least 8-10% body fat to function properly.

Being under these numbers is OK if it’s just temporary, but being so lean for a long period of time could be harmful for the body.

When losing fat, you can target specific body parts

Regular bench pressing will result in bugger chest, right ? So the logical assumption is that the same thing can be applied with fat loss. Lose fat in your belly, back, love handles, chest, neck, face…. there is a chance you’ve heard these phrases many times before, right ?

The truth, however, is that it’s impossible to target a specific part of the body and reduce excess fat in that part alone. When reducing excess fat, your body, or rather the genetic structure, actually dictates where the fat will be reduced first, regardless of what exercises you do or what diet you use. In most of the cases fat loss happens first in the face, neck, chest and arms.

In men the last place where the fat stays is the belly. In women the most problematic place are the thighs.

4: When you stop working out muscles turn into fat

Since some of the trainees start gaining weight after a lay-off, there is a wrong assumption that muscles turn into fat.

But the reality is that muscle fibers and fat cells are two different things and none of them can turn in the other one. Much of these trainees gain weight as the result of spending a lower number of calories because of the reduced activity, while at the same time they keep consuming the same number of calories as when they were active. Here’s What Happens to Your Body After Few Weeks of No Exercise.


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