1. Squatting is bad for your knees.
There are many who suggest that squatting (particularly when the movement is performed to full depth) is bad for your knees. They suggest that squatting below parallel puts excess strain on the patella tendon in the knee and if you are going to perform the movement that you should do half squats instead.
Let me make this clear this is not true. The idea probably comes from the fact that when you squat down below parallel your quadriceps contract eccentrically and the patella tendon is stretched. Despite this, performing the movement with a full range of motion is probably going to do your knees more good than harm!
When you perform a partial squat the structures that make up your knee joint (mainly ligaments and tendons) are actually having to act as a brake to the movement, and when the squat is performed with additional load, the forces that the knee joint is having to comprehend is much greater than when you go through a full range of motion (greater than 90 degrees at the knee joint). Furthermore squatting will strengthen the extensors of the knee joint (quadriceps muscle group) which can help protect the knee joint against injury. So in stark contrast to the statement above squatting to full depth is actually good for your knees.
Problems with the knee joint that might stem from squatting are probably due to an imbalance in muscle strength between the two main muscle groups that act upon the knee joint (the Quadriceps and Hamstring muscle groups). The problem generally stems from when the quadriceps (the muscles on the front of the thigh) are stronger than the hamstrings (the muscles on the back of the thigh). A strong, tight set of quadriceps, which are responsible for extending the knee joint will pull on the patella tendon. If the hamstrings are not as strong then the force that the quadriceps are pulling on the patella tendon will lead to the knee pain and possible tendonitis. The key then is to ensure that you perform plenty of work for the posterior chain (Glutes and Hamstrings) to ensure that you are not ‘Quad Dominant’ which will inevitably lead to tight quadriceps. Deadlifts (Conventional and Stiff Leg are great for this as well as the Reverse Hyperextension and Glute-Ham Raise machines.
So don’t ditch the squat, just be wise with your exercise selection!
2. Deadlifting is Bad for your Back
There are many who avoid this exercise for fear of injuring their back, or to avoid aggravating an existing injury. This myth is very similar to that regarding the squat and the knee joint. The Deadlift like squat is an excellent exercise for developing all round body strength. There is a very slight risk of injury whilst performing the Deadlift, if the exercise is performed incorrectly (as is the case with almost any exercise that you perform in the gym).
In actual fact performing Deadlifts as part of your routine will actually help your strengthen your back and all the other muscles that surround the spine, which in turn will actually reduce the risk of injury rather than be a cause of injury.
The assumption is probably based on the idea that you use your back as a prime mover in the exercise. However this is not the case or at least it should not be. The erector spinae muscles which run the length of the lower and mid-part of your spine act with all of the other muscles surrounding your spine to stabilise it and resist movement whilst the powerful muscles of the Glutes and Hamstrings act to move the load. Your spine should stay in a neutral position throughout the movement; it is deviating from this position that is likely to cause an injury to your back. This usually happens when the load is greater than the lifters strength, the lifter is fatigued, or the lifter has not received adequate coaching in order to perform the exercise
3. Eating Fat will make you Fat
This is another myth that needs dispelling. No specific macronutrient (whether that be Protein, Fat or Carbohydrate) will actually directly make you fat. Ingesting more energy than you expend will result in weight gain regardless of the macronutrient that they come from.
Fat often gets a bad name for a number of reasons, probably in part due to the fact that it contains more than double the energy content per gram compared to Protein and Carbohydrate. However this is not common knowledge, but most people wrongly categorise foods as high fat such as cakes and chocolate which in actual fact contain more sugar than they do fat. The image of fat also springs up greasy foods such as pies and pastry (which actually do contain larger amounts of fat), very few people think of nuts and oily fish which also contain high levels of fat.
Fat is an essential part of a healthy balanced diet, it is needed to maintain healthy hair, skin and nails. It also makes up important structures within the body as well as acting as an all important energy source. Ideally we should be eating more Mono-Unsaturated and Poly-Unsaturated fats as opposed to the saturated variety (although these should not be completely neglected). In fact Fat could actually be helpful in reducing your body fat stores, since there is minimal insulin and blood glucose response to foods that are high in fat (compared to high sugar food). Insulin is the hormone responsible for lowering blood sugar and storage of energy within body tissues. Since fat is major storage site of energy within the body it does not take a genius to work out that keeping Insulin levels low will be helpful in reducing the amount of Fat the body stores. By consuming more fat in your diet (and reducing Carbohydrate) you are teaching your body to use Fat as an energy source rather than its preferred source of Glucose (Carbohydrate), which can only be helpful in reducing body fat stores.
4. More Sweat means that you have worked harder and have used more Calories.
This is perhaps one of the most bizarre health and fitness myths. If we think about what the body is actually trying to achieve when we release sweat onto the skin surface, which is trying to reduce the body temperature by means of evaporation of water from the skin. Sweating is just a sign of an increased body temperature, which can be an indicator of work rate, but to compare the usefulness of your workout based on the amount of sweat that you produce is useless. However many people still swear by this idea and will often compare their work rates and energy expenditures to their peers based on the amount that they have sweated during the session. Some will even go as far as to wearing more layers to exercise in the hope that they will burn more calories, which again is bizarre when you actually think about what sweating is actually indicating about the body’s response. Based on this idea we would burn more calories sat in a sauna than we would in an ice bath, when in actual fact it is the other way around due to the body trying to generate extra heat through metabolic processes to try to prevent a drop in body temperature.
5. Cardiovascular Exercise is the best way to reduce Body Fat.
Most people looking to shift a few pounds will turn to the treadmill for a long, slow slog; however they would benefit much more from a completely opposite approach. Long slow distance work whether it be cycling, swimming, running or rowing is a great way to condition you to work for long periods of time and improve your base level of endurance. Due to the long duration of exercise it means that the intensity naturally drops, however it is intensity that is the key when exercising for weight loss is the goal. Repeated bouts of high intensity exercise results in an increase in metabolic rate for an extended period of time following the bout of exercise due to the stress that it places on the body. In contrast long duration, low intensity work results in very little change in the resting metabolic rate following exercise (due to the relatively non-stressful nature).
But why is this metabolic increase so important post exercise I hear you ask?
The amount of energy that we use during a bout of exercise is actually a lot less than you might think, and therefore unless you are going to spend all day exercising then the time you do spend exercising needs to bring about an increase in resting metabolic rate post exercise, so that you use more energy in a resting state. This is ultimately going to help you increase energy expenditure which may help to reduce body weight, or more specifically body fat, when you are following a sensible dietary regime.
With this in mind if we are looking to drop a few pounds we should all be performing short bouts of high intensity exercise such as sprints outside or in the pool, on a treadmill, rower, bike or cross trainer. Weight Training would also be classified as high intensity training and this type of training is very effective in increasing the amount of muscle mass that our body is carrying. Since muscle tissue is very metabolically active and will therefore contribute to an increased rate of energy expenditure it is surely beneficial to at least preserve existing muscle tissue or to build new tissue.