Fitness is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world right now. People are starting to realize how regularly working out and taking care of your body can increase the quality of your life by a mile. However, not everyone knows enough about fitness and working out. They are willing to put in work and train, but they’re not doing it right. It might surprise some people, but lifting weights and running is not the only important thing when it comes to fitness. Running laps around a neighborhood and simply stopping drinking soda will not magically transform your body.
If you’re interested in seeing some actual results you’ll have to work on your diet, your sleep regimen, train in the right way as well as take some dietary supplements. All of these are very important if you want to get the best results. However, diet and dietary supplements are more important than you might think. Unfortunately, they have gained some bad rep over the years and for all the wrong reasons. That’s why we’re here today. We’re going to talk about the most common myths and misconceptions about dietary supplements and try to free the mind from the shackles of ignorance. Let’s get started.
1. Protein Makes You Gain Weight
This is of the most common things people get wrong. It seems that everywhere you turn there’s a person preaching that if you have too much protein you’ll get fat. That is absolutely not true. The only way to gain weight is to eat in a caloric surplus, meaning, eating more calories than you burn. That’s it. Protein is essential in building muscle mass, that’s for certain, but it will not make you fat. However, without it, it would be impossible to build healthy muscle mass and gain weight.
2. With Proper Diet You Don’t Need Supplements
While it is true that a good diet is necessary if you’re looking to build muscle, it just isn’t enough. Depending on what you’re trying to achieve with training, your body needs different amounts of certain nutrients. Depending on how much you train, your body needs a certain amount of calories. You can only eat so much food in one day. For example, when preparing for the Strongest Man competition, Brian Shaw consumed 12,000 calories a day. 4000 of those calories came from supplements in form of protein shakes. Why? Well, eating 12,000 calories would be nearly impossible even for a 430-pound man such as Brian Shaw.
3. All Supplements Are The Same
This is absolutely not true. Do you think that every chocolate bar is the same? No, of course, you don’t. Some are better than the others and the same thing applies for supplements. There are numerous companies that make all different kinds of supplements and use all different kinds of raw materials to make them. That usually means that the quality is being sacrificed to achieve a lower price or a higher profit. Don’t judge them by the price though. Do your research. If you’d like to learn more about certain muscle supplements go and visit health-info.org for some in-depth research.
4. Supplements Are The Same As Steroids
If you ever hear this from someone – don’t trust anything they say. This is absolutely not true. Supplements are natural substances that are found in food and in our bodies. Things like protein and creatine are natural substances that build muscle or supply us with energy. Steroids are substances that try and mimic the effects of the hormones, primarily testosterone. They aren’t even remotely the same.
5. If You Use Supplements, You’ll Get Jacked Even If You Don’t Train
Another common misconception about protein shakes or supplements, in general, is that they are some kind of magical potion that will make you fit, strong and front-page good looking even if you sit on your couch. We cannot emphasize enough how wrong that is. Sure, they are beneficial to your overall health, that’s not in question, but the only way to look like a bodybuilder without lifting weights is to learn how to use Photoshop. No matter what you eat or drink, without exercise, you can forget about toned arms, six-pack and an overall good physique.
6. There Are Many Side Effects
The main reason people tend to stay away from supplements is that they think they are bad for them. This is usually because people think of them as steroids, as we’ve mentioned earlier. However, now that we know that not to be true, we can debunk this misconception as well. One thing to understand is that everything can cause side effects, even water. However, if taken in moderation, supplements are virtually side-effect free.
7. Creatine Causes Cramps
This is one of the most commonly believed side-effects. However, there have been numerous researches on the subject and this has been completely debunked. On the contrary, it has been actually stated that creatine users experience fewer muscle cramps, tightness, soreness or injuries than the people who don’t use creatine. So, not only that it’s not causing cramps, it seems like it’s preventing them, too.
8. Creatine Can Cause Kidney Damage
Creatine is actually made in kidneys and in case there is something wrong with the kidney itself, you could see the spikes in creatine levels. However, if the kidneys are healthy, taking moderate doses of creatine will not damage the kidneys in any way.
9. The More The Merrier
Even though we’ve basically concluded that supplements aren’t bad for you, that doesn’t mean that you should take as much as you want. Like we’ve said, everything can cause side-effects. You could harm yourself by drinking too much water. The same thing can happen if you take too much protein, fat burners or even vitamins. In order to achieve the best results and stay healthy, use recommended daily doses. Drinking 5 protein shakes will not make your biceps grow any faster if you don’t work out.
There you have it, those were some of the things people usually get wrong when it comes to protein shakes and the rest of the bunch. Hopefully, you’ve learned something today and are one step closer to your beach body goals.
