Fitness facts & fallacies

https://www.clubzest.co.uk/2012/11/fitness-facts-fallacies/
Fitness facts & fallacies

“If you don’t exercise regularly, muscle turns
to fat.” FALSE!
Muscle is muscle and fat is fat–you can’t turn
one into the other. Over time, under exercised
muscles will shrink and lose tone, causing a
flabby appearance. And if you were formerly
active and are still eating more calories than
you’re expending, you’ll store the excess as
additional fat. But while your muscles may be
smaller, they’re still muscle, not fat.

“Lifting weights bulks you up.” FALSE!
This is a common fear among women, but
it’s unfounded. Women do have some
testosterone, but not to the extent that
men do. So getting those big bulky
muscles isn’t something that’s going to
happen to us!

“Doing crunches or working on an “ab
machine” will get rid of stomach fat”. FALSE!
Experts say that while ab-crunching devices
& doing crunches might help strengthen the
muscles around your midsection and improve
your posture, being able to “see” your
abdominal muscles has to do with your
overall percentage of body fat. If you don’t
lose the stomach fat, you won’t see the ab
muscles.

“Doing crunches or working on an “ab
machine” will get rid of stomach fat”. FALSE!
 You can’t pick and choose areas where you’d
like to burn fat, so crunches aren’t going to
target weight loss in that area.
 Experts say that in order to burn fat, you should
create a workout that includes both
cardiovascular and strength-training elements.
This will decrease your overall body fat content,
including the area around your midsection”.

“Swimming is a great weight loss
activity.” FALSE!
 While swimming is great for increasing lung
capacity, toning muscles, and even helping to burn
off excess tension, experts says the surprising
truth is that unless you are swimming for hours a
day, it may not help you lose much weight.
 They say that because the buoyancy of the water is
supporting your body, you’re not working as hard
as it would if, say, you were moving on your own
steam like you do when you run”.

“Swimming is a great weight loss
activity.” FALSE!
 Further, they say, it’s not uncommon to feel
ravenous when you come out of the water.
So, it may actually cause you to eat more
than you normally would, so it can make it
harder to stay with an eating plan.

“Cardio burns more calories than strength
training.” FALSE!
 Contrary to long-held belief, strength training is—
as new studies have shown—superior to steady-
paced cardio in calorie burning. In one University of
Southern Maine study, participants blasted as many
calories doing 30 minutes of weight training as
they did running at a six-minute-per-mile pace for
the same amount of time.

training.” FALSE!
 The other huge benefit of weight training? It
boosts your metabolism after your workout—and
builds muscle that will further increase your fat-
burning potential in the long run. “If you do steady-
state cardio, when you leave the gym, that’s it for
your calorie burn,” says David Jack, general
manager of Competitive Athlete Training Zone in
Acton, Massachusetts. “But when you do strength
work, you’ll continue to burn calories for up to 36
hours.”

training.” FALSE!
Yes, men put on muscle more quickly and
develop bigger muscles than women, but
most men want to add muscle to their
frames. The average woman who weight
trains will merely improve her overall
muscle tone and look sleeker and firmer.

“Morning is the best time to exercise.”
FALSE!
 For health benefits, it makes no difference if
you exercise in the morning, afternoon, or
evening. While studies have suggested a.m.
exercisers stick with it longer than those who
work out later in the day, not everyone
enjoys working out in the morning.

“Morning is the best time to exercise.”
FALSE!
The best time to exercise is the best
time for you, if it’s not the best time
for you, you’re not going to stick with it
… and if you’re not going to do it,
you’re not going to get any benefits from
it!

“Even a little bit of exercise helps.”
TRUE!
Research has shown that “discontinuous”
exercise–taking three 10-minute walks during
the day instead of one 30-minute walk–is
good for you too. Little chunks of physical
activity, such as spending 15 minutes tending
your flower bed or walking three flights of
stairs instead of taking the elevator, all burn
calories and help you stay fit.

A day or two off won’t hurt your
routine.” TRUE!
Yes, it’s important to commit to regular exercise. But
when they miss a few days too many people give up
on their routines instead of simply getting back into
the groove. It takes more than a couple of days or
even a week to reverse the progress that you’ve
made. In fact, you should take a day off between
strength-training sessions–your muscles need about
48 hours to rebuild the microscopic tears that occur
during weight lifting.

“The more muscle you have, the more
calories you burn.” TRUE!
Aerobic exercise is great for strengthening your
heart and reducing stress. But to up your body’s
metabolism, you need to strength-train. Your muscles
are more metabolically active than fat, which means
that they burn more calories and can help you lose or
maintain your weight. Every pound of muscle burns
about 35 to 50 more calories a day compared to a
pound of fat. To maintain your muscle mass as you
get older, include strength training moves two or
three days a week.

“If you’re tired all the time you need to
exercise” TRUE!
“I’m too tired” is one of the most common excuses
people give for not exercising. Unless you have
serious concerns about your fatigue or have a
medical condition that causes tiredness, scratch that
excuse off your list for good! Exercise actually
boosts your energy levels. When you first begin an
exercise program, you may feel more tired because
you’re not used to it. As your body adjusts, however,
you’ll have more energy, even when you’re not
exercising.

Fitness facts & fallacies

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