HEALTH MYTHS

MYTH : Eating too many dairy products causes cellulite or "cottage cheese" on the thighs. FACT : The activity of the fat-promoting enzyme lipoprotein lipase is very high in the thighs and hips of women, resulting in a higher percentage of fat deposition in these areas. Women actually need these stores to prepare for pregnancy and lactation. In addition, the dimpling that is associated with cellulite is due to the deposit of fat and fibrous tissue. While an increase in overall body fat does play a role, it is also due to genetics. Deep massaging every night to break up the deposits of fat and fibrous tissue can help to temporarily decrease the appearance of the dimpling. The skin consists of two main layers, the outer epidermis and the inner dermis. Below the dermis lies the subcutaneous layer, which attaches the skin to the underlying tissues. This layer consists of loose connective tissue and a lot of adipose (fat) tissue. The dermis consists of dense connective tissue composed mainly of collagen fibers. Collagen is responsible for the mechanical strength of skin. Imagine the epidermis as a pair of pantihose. Now imagine a pair of support pantihose as a layer of a normal dermis. Imagine fishnets as a layer of the dermis of an individual with cellulite. If you were to take a gallon of cottage cheese (likened to the subcutaneous fat layer) and use the pantihose (likened to the dermis) to tightly wrap the cottage cheese, you would have a relatively smooth surface. This would be the example and wrapped the cottage cheese (example of subcutaneous layer) with the pantihose (epidermis) and the fishnets (likened to the dermis of an individual with cellulite) the result would be a dimpling effect of some of the cottage cheese pushing through the openings of the fishnets and being trapped under the regular panty-hose. This would be an example of the skin of an individual with cellulite. Individuals who have cellulite have a dermis layer that has areas of less density, which results in the appearance of the dimpling. Regardless, you can still decrease the fat in your thighs and hips through a comprehensive, rational, and personalized nutritional and exercise program coupled with consistent and diligent work. Dietary protein is important because the amino acids that make up our proteins are responsible for everything from our structure to our hormones to our immune system. Although our metabolic processes can make certain amino acids, without a diet rich in the essential amino acids, we ceased to function. Also, without adequate daily amino acid intake, small daily losses will put us in a net negative protein balance. While carbohydrate and especially fat content of the body are fairly well maintained, it's actually difficult to maintain a consistent amino acid pool without dietary intervention. Amino acids are constantly lost from the pool, and therefore the only way to replenish there is to ingest protein through the diet. That is why achieving a specific protein intake each day is essential to overall health and function. If amino acid intake falls below daily amino acid degradation, things like enzymes and structural proteins are cannibalized. If this process persists for long enough, Vital functions shut down.

MYTH : Muscle will turn to fat when u stop exercising regularly. FACT : Muscles cannot turn to fat. Muscle and fat (adipose) are two separate and distinct tissues. They simply do not have the physical capability to change from one type of tissue to another. In reality, muscles have the unique property of "use it or lose it." If you do not use a muscle, it will literally waste away (atrophy). The process is perhaps best illustrated when someone has to wear a cast on a broken leg. When the cast is eventually removed, the relatively unused leg muscles are considerably smaller than they were prior to the injury. If muscle could turn into fat, you should see a veritable "fat ball" when you take the cast off of an injured limb, not a significantly atrophied set of leg muscles. MYTH : Performing aerobic exercise at a low rather than a high intensity promotes a greater loss of body fat. FACT : It is true the lower the intensity level at which you exercise, the more the body prefers to use fats rather than carbohydrates as fuel. The major factor that determines the role of fat as a substrate during exercise is its availability to the muscle cell. In order to be metabolized, body fat (triglycerides) must be degraded into three molecules of free fatty acids and one molecule of glycerol. This splitting allows the free fatty acids to be converted to acetyl-CoA and enter the Krebs cycle. Hence, if fat is not available to the muscle cell then it can not be metabolized. Fat can only be metabolized via Krebs cycle oxidation. It is essential to recognize that a reduction in Krebs cycle intermediates: (whether it is the result of (1) low-carbohydrate diets, (2) no-carbohydrate diets, or (3) excessive prolonged aerobic sessions) results in a diminished rate of ATP production, which go toward reducing body fat levels. Unfortunately, this physiological actuality has led many individuals to mistakenly believe that because the body utilizes a greater percentage of fat as fuel during aerobic exercise at a relatively low level of intensity, such exercise. These individuals ignore two very important facts. (2) First, the absolute amount of fat calories burned during high-intensity exercise tends to be equal to or greater than the number burned during low-intensity exercise. Second, when you eat you replenish both carbohydrates and fats. As soon as an excess of calories (from either fats or carbohydrates) exists, your body will begin to store them as fat. Once you eat after exercising (including exercise that burns more fat than carbohydrates), you will rapidly replenish any of yourcarbohydrate stores you may have used up. Once they are replenished, your body will begin to store the rest of your caloric intake as fat. The net result is that your body's fat store will be virtually unchanged. The critical point is that low-intensity aerobic exercise does not (by itself) alter the body's overall energy balance. Keep in mind that you lose weight and body fat when you expend more calories than you consume, not because you burn fat (or anything else) when you exercise. By the same token, all other factors considered, the most positive feature of low-intensity

aerobic exercise is that it is relatively well-tolerated (orthope-dically) by most individuals. MYTH : Aerobic exercise suppresses your appetite. FACT : The vast majority of studies that investigated the relationship between exercise and appetite have demonstrated that your level of caloric intake is usually unchanged or slightly increased in response to long-term aerobic exercise training. Yourenergy (caloric) intake, however, is usually increased to a level below your increase in energy expenditure. This results in a negative energy balance (i.e., energy expenditure greater than energy intake) and a loss of bodyweight and body fat. Some evidence exists that if you vigorously exercise before you eat, you will actually eat less because of an increase in body temperature and an alteration in hormone levels (i.e., catecholamines). The centers for the thermoregulatory system, appetite, and sleep lie right next to each other in your brain stem. When you affect one, you tend to affect the others. MYTH : Losing weight is extremely difficult. FACT : Statistics indicate that during any given time period, approximately one-quarter of all men and one-half of all women in the world are dieting to lose weight. For the majority of these individuals, losing weight is not the problem. Losing weight, for most people, is relatively easy -- keeping it off is their ever-present challenge. Estimates indicate 75% to 90% of all dieters who lose weight can expect to regain all of the weight they lost within one to three years of "completing" the diet. The tendency for weight regain amoung dieters is not only demoralizing, it also can be very hazardous to your health (weight cycling has been associated with increased risk of heart and gallbladder disease). Your weight control efforts should therefore include not only a sensible plan for getting those pounds off, but for keeping them off. MYTH : Without steroids, I can't make the same gains. FACT : Integrative Science is an effective alternative. It may take more discipline and time, but it most certainly be done. MYTH : All the top sports stars have learned how to circumvent detection in drug test. FACT : Some have, but most who have tried got caught. As testing procedures become more discriminatory, the misuse and abuse of steroids and other banned drugs decline in all sport. MYTH : Testosterone is a great substitute for steroids. FACT : Testosterone is highly androgenic. It is not highly anabolic. When it is abused as a substitute for anabolic steroids, it "bloats" the abuser (among other dangerous side effects), which little or no lasting strength gains forthcoming.

MYTH : With the proper choice of exercises, I will be able to control the shape of each one of my muscles. FACT : Your genes will determine your individual muscle's shape. Your job is to get them big and strong. You can, however, shape your body. You can also shape a body part comprised of several muscles. It is not possible to establish the relative portion of a person's health or fitness that is determined through heredity, therefore your genetic background neither dooms nor guarantees sucess in achieving total fitness. MYTH : The Nautilus Principle of "one set to failure" is more effective than other methods for bodybuilders. FACT : Though it is not effective for serious bodybuilders, it can be an effective method for the casual fitness enthusiast. For gains in muscular size, smaller motor units need to be recruited first in each set of an exercise. As the set progresses in intensity, larger units will then be recruited. If the low-threshold motor units are inhibited to recruit the highthreshold motor units for explosive movements (as in powerlifting), the low-threshold units that are not activated will not undergo hormonal adaptations. This is because of the size principle of muscle-fiber recruitment. Since motor units are recruited in an orderly fashion (from low threshold to high) and can span a range of muscle fiber types (Type I and Type II), then a moderate range of repetitions must be used to recruit the entire spectrum of fibers. This recruitment pattern allows the full spectrum of fibers to adapt to training by increasing sensitivity to circulating anabolic hormones. MYTH : If I stay consistent with the program I will eventually have success. FACT : Many trainees faithfully stick to a program that is not producing results, hoping to suddenly notice results. As obvious as it may seem, if you continue to do the same thing, you will continue to get the same results. If you are not consistently seeing results on a monthly basis, you need to reassess your training protocol. MYTH : Heavy weights (low repetitions) make you bigger, and lighter weight (high repetitions) get you defined. FACT : The average beginning trainee knows that high repetitions (15 repetitions or more) are best for muscular endurance, but are not conducive to gaining muscular mass. The lighter loads used in high-repetition work are not enough to innervate higher threshold motor units in a muscle. The key is that only muscle fibers activated by the resistnace training will respond to increased levels of anabolic hormones. When heavier weights (lower reps) are used in resistance training, more muscle fibers are recruited. The more muscle fibers recruited for an exercise, the greater the extent of remodeling in the entire muscle. There is another reason that light weight and high repetitions are not optimal for stimulating muscular hypertrophy. The majoerity of the work done in high repetition sets is a accomplished by slow-twitch Type I muscle fibers. Type I muscle

fibers have a limited ability to hypertrophy. Type IIB fibers are activated when more force is required, and thus have the greatest potential for growth. Heavier weights accomplish more complete activation of the type IIB muscle fiber. According to the size principle, motor units are recruited in order according to their recruitment thresholds and firing rates. Since most muscles contain a range of Type I and Type II fibers, force production can be very low or very high. Therefore, to get to a high-threshold motor unit, all of the motor units below it must be sequentially recruited. Heavy resistance training recruits these high-threshold motor units, therefore all the units below it can undergo hormonal adaptations to the stress of the heavy loads. An increase in serum testosterone levels is one result of heavy resistance training. Since testosterone is the primary hormone that interacts with skeletal muscle tissue, it has both direct and inderict effects on muscle tissue. Resistance training utilizing large muscle groups of the lower body (Squats, Deadlifts) can increase serum testosterone concentrations more than other types of exercises. Using a resistance of 85% to 95% of one-rep maximum will also increase testosterone levels more than other resistance loads. Many aspiring novices will attempt to lift near 1 RM loads for one or two repetitions in the hopes of gaining muscle size. Although heavy resistance does innervate high-thershold motor units, serum testosterone levels are increased through moderate to high volume of exercises. This is achieved through multiple sets, exercises, and a moderate repetition range (around 10 repetitions), with short rest intervals (between 30 seconds to 1 minute). After a muscle has been subjected to intense stress through maximal force contractions over a moderate repetition range, hormones begin the growth process and muscle remodeling. Growth hormone plays a vital role in adapting to the stress of resistance training. Growth hormone levels can be increased with resistance training throught high intensity (10 repetitions coupled with heavy resistance), three sets of each exercise (high total workload) and short, oneminute rest periods. Once the levels are elevated, a cascade of events occur: decreased glucose untilization, increased amino acid transport across cell membranes, increased protein synthesis, increased utilization of fatty acids, increased lipolysis (fat break-down), enhanced immune functions, and compensatory renal hypertrophy promotion. An understanding of natural anabolic activity (which occurs in your client's bodies) is essential to muscular adaptation, successful recovery, training progression, and muscular gains. High-repetition resistance training (15 repetitions or more) does not innervate high threshold motor units and therefore limits the potential for Type IIB muscle fiber hypertrophy. Powerlifting, which does not allow for sufficient time to activate all motor units in an orderly fashion, diminishes the hormonal adaptations of the entire span of muscle fibers in any given motor unit. Resistance training that is high in intensity utilizing 8 to 10 repetitions, heavy resistance and a maximum of one minute rest between sets will maximize serum testosterone and growth hormone levels, thus allowing for successful recovery, adaptation, and muscular growth. 18- MYTH : I cannot make it to top because I have a full-time job, a family and other obligations that keep me from training. FACT : Many individuals fear taking the first step towards sucess. But as the saying goes, "You can't steal second base if you don't take your foot off of first." Many may

think that in ordre to become successful to achive a grate body it may be some people genetically gifted, or that bodybuilders or fitness competitors make successful gains in having a gr8 body. Still others rationalize sucess as a matter of luck. The truth is, the underlying characteristic of all those who have successful achived a gr8 body is because of "PERSISTENCE". As Calvin Coolidge once said, "Nouthing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nouthing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." As for luck, what others perceive as luck is actually persistent preparation to provide the best service possible, coupled with timely opportunities. If you can nurture the determination and presistence within you, you will have the key elements that will guid you to success.