Your Top 5 muscle myths answered!
This week we’re myth-busting and sharing some health hacks!
We get asked a lot of questions by our members, so we thought we’d cover some of them here. It can be really confusing to navigate exercise and diet changes on your own – there is a ton of conflicting advice and things that seem overwhelming when you’re at the very start of your journey.
Lots of the choices you have about your health come down to your current lifestyle, your goals and your current fitness level. We recommend that before making any significant changes to your diet and exercise, you discuss them with a trained medical professional.
Here are 5 of the health hack questions we get asked most often and our answers.
- To weigh or not to weigh?
- What is “DOMS”?
- Do I need to take a rest day between workouts?
- Is there really “good” and “bad” food?
- Will it work?
To weigh or not to weigh?
Weigh your food – yes, ABSOLUTELY A MUST. If you’re on a 6-week changer with us we will also ask you to weigh yourself on the scales weekly too. However, we don’t suggest becoming fixated on scales alone!
Your body needs to be in a calorie deficit in order to start losing weight, we can only achieve this deficit by eating the right things, regularly and more importantly in the right quantities. Weighing yourself, however, is not always an accurate reflection of how healthy you are. Muscle weighs the same as fat, yet fat distributes itself more widely across the same surface area, meaning you may well see physical differences in how your clothes feel, without massive leaps on the scales.
Remember 1-2 lbs a week of steady weight loss is the aim. We advocate also using a tape measure and a good, ol’ fashioned clothes comfort test to capture your wins along the way.
What is “DOMS”?
DOMS or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness happens in the 24- 72 hours after an intense workout, or a workout your muscle memory may be unfamiliar with. In addition, rest days in between workouts are the period of time muscle gain is actually achieved – not during the actual workout. #healthhacks
Do I need to take a rest day between workouts?
Our advice is to listen to your body! Feel like a day of rest will have you coming back stronger, then take a light to moderate option for the day and get back to your plan tomorrow. No, that doesn’t mean you can lose all sense of focus and eat what you want, it simply means giving yourself time for a little R&R. If you feel fine to carry on, then we advocate stretching off after workouts to reduce the risk of injury.
Is there really “good” and “bad” food?
Again, for us, this comes down to how much, how often and how it’s consumed. We should all be able to treat ourselves from time to time, but how often is too often? And isn’t it always the case that one person’s treat, maybe another person’s healthy choice? We advise client’s to think about what their overall aim is. Why did they set out to change their lifestyle and what will that treat you’re considering take away from the progress you have made so far? Ultimately we need to decide if we can take controlled measures to still enjoy life, but also not lose all sense of purpose in trying to change.
Will it work?
Come on, let’s be honest… How many times have you started a new diet and then given up after the immediate high of having a successful first week dipped and you feel as though you’re “failing”? The idea that you should be able to see immediate results after spending months and years getting yourself to a point of unhappiness with your physical appearance is completely unrealistic and bound to knock your confidence.
Lots of people want to know if SKPT will work for them, and the honest answer is – that it works for everyone. But YOU, have to want it. YOU have to be willing to put in the work. Don’t get me wrong, you’re supported every step of the way, but you know how far you can push yourself and only you can get yourself to the gym.
What we guarantee is that you will always be greeted with a smile when you come in. You will feel the warmth of the other members and trainers immediately and you will be encouraged to push harder and go further with EVERY STEP.
To find out the dates of the next 6-week changers, or to be the first in the know more health hacks, you can head straight to our 6-week changer page, join our mailing list or head to Instagram.