Discard the myths as you work on shaping up

I watched Rafael Nadal effortlessly demolish Roger Federer at the Madrid Open last Sunday evening.

It was clinical tennis, swift and ruthless and I kept thinking: this guy must have consulted his witchdoctor before he showed up at the centre court.

They say the Spaniard is notoriously superstitious.

So am I. Kenyans think they will have another constitution soon, which they might, but my Ouija board indicates there are dark clouds in the skies.

There are signs that there will be death and destruction from floods, landslides, road accidents, natural causes and that two, may be more, versions of the document will be issued by the Government Printer.

There might even be a General Election in 2012.

It could be just my imagination running away with me as usual.

I suspect though that the oracle wants you to know the truth although sometimes it is hard to separate myths from facts, a fake document from the authentic one, Agwambo from Emilio.

You might, for example, have heard that running is bad for your knees.

You might even have already been persuaded to abandon jogging, but an 18-year long study by Stanford University found that it was the non- runners who are more likely to suffer from knee bone degeneration rather than those who pound the tarmac every other day.

Running, the study concluded, can strengthen the connective tissues that stabilise the knee joints, ultimately preventing knee pain.

The same myth monger might also have told you that if you train hard you risk a heart attack.

On the contrary the Canadian Medical Association Journal reports that men who train vigorously for at least two hours a week reduce their chances of having a heart attack by 40 percent.

Be warned though; lifting weights that are too heavy for you can raise your profile among sinew-worshipping members of the opposite (or same) sex but it can also raise your blood pressure. Take your pick.

Has your trainer ordered you to only exercise before eating?

Then he is old school and subscribes to the theory that training on an empty stomach is best because it creates a calorie deficit and speeds up your metabolism the rest of the day. It is not necessarily true but believe the myth if you must, it causes no harm.

The best time to train though, according to experts, is when you have enough time to train effectively whether on an empty or full stomach.

And if you have been told that it is possible to turn fat into muscle you have been had.

Fat and muscle are two different tissue structures and one cannot turn into the other.

What your trainer should have shown you is how to melt that fat (through aerobic training) while at the same time building your muscle tissue through strength training (lifting weights).

Building muscle tissue accelerates the burning of the fatty tissue and in the process makes you leaner and less flabby.

No pain no gain? That hackneyed phrase again. Pain should be tolerable, working the muscle hard enough to get results, which will cause some pain naturally.

If the pain is too much then you may be pushing yourself too hard, and could easily injure yourself so ease up — unless you are a pain loving sadomasochist.

What has your training consultant told you about losing weight?

Maybe you should eat less carbohydrates or less proteins, only ever exercise at the fat burning zone when you mount the treadmill or do Hail Mary a hundred times every morning on waking up?

Well, the simple truth about losing weight is that you need to burn more calories than you consume, period.

As a rule eat a balanced meal that contains less calories than before but of course do your Hail Mary’s as many times as your confessor wants you to; it is good for your soul.

And if you want to look like Mr Kenya, don’t let anybody discourage you by telling you that muscle is all about genetics.

You may have inherited your puny biceps from your father or your uncle from your mother’s side but, with regular strength training, you can make them look like those of Hercules.