People absorb information about exercise and diet from many different sources, which might not always be correct. It is time to dispel some of the popular myths that surround health and fitness. Here are 10 of the most common ones that I come across.
1. Muscles Turns to Fat, When you Stop Exercising :
This is based on the fear that all the effort that you have put in to your exercise regime will have been wasted if you stop exercising. However because muscle and fat are completely different body tissues it is physically impossible for one to become the other. It is true, that if you stop exercising you will gain some fat, but this is because your muscles decrease in size if they are not sufficiently challenged. With less muscles your body is less efficient at burning energy so you will have a tendency to gain fat.
2. All Fat in Your Diet is, Bad :
Women go to great lengths to eliminate fat from their diets in the belief that it will prevent their body from accumulating more fat. What they don’t realize is the fact that, fat plays a very important role in the body and without it your body would suffer. You need to distinguish between good fats such as olive oil which are liquid at room temperature and bad fats such as butter which are solid at room temperature.
3. If I Exercise With Weights, I Will Get Bulky :
Many women fear that weight training will make them, over-muscular. But it is actually very difficult to create muscle tissue. The short term accumulation of body fluids with the tissues of the muscles can make you feel as though you have gained muscle but in actual fact your haven’t. To build muscle mass you need to be constantly overloading the muscle or testing them. Provided you must, vary your exercise routine. Strength training helps maintain muscle mass and decrease body fat percentage.
Strength-training has enormous benefits for women. In one of studies, postmenopausal women who were sedentary were randomly assigned to do strength-training exercises twice a week or to do no additional exercise. After a year, the strength-trainers had greater bone density, muscle mass, muscle strength, and balance than the sedentary women. Besides, women don’t have enough testosterone to create big, bulky muscles. To become a bodybuilder, women have to do a lot of weird things that most strength-training programs don’t do.
4. Doing Yoga and Pilates is Enough To Keep Me Fit:
Both yoga and Pilates, are excellent forms of exercise. They encourage muscle flexibility and good posture and can have very positive mental benefits . However you should never just run, just lift weights or just cycle. True fitness is about challenging every part of your body in many ways, there is no single form of exercise that can do this on its own. To see real results you need to raise your heart rate to an appropriate level three to four times a week and vary your exercise to work your heart, lungs muscles and internal organs.
5. If You Exercise Long and Hard Enough, You Will Always Get the Results you Want :
In reality, genetics plays an important role in how people respond to exercise. Studies have shown a wide variation in how different exercisers respond to the same training program. Your development of strength, speed and endurance may be very different from that of other people you know.
6. You can “Spot-Reduce” Areas of Body Fat :
It’s depressing to see your weight going down on the scale and feel your capacity for exercise increase but still have to acknowledge that your upper arms are flabby and the cellulite bumps on your thighs are as pronounced as ever. The body can’t be made to lose fat selectively from one area just because you pay attention to it.
The body stores fat throughout the body as a whole, according to its own genetic pattern. Fat cannot be “toned up” by weight training or calisthenic exercises. Stored body fat must be reduced by increasing calorie expenditure through aerobic exercise and controlling calorie intake. Underlying muscle can be strengthened and toned, and this is beneficial to overall physical fitness, but this will have no direct effect on fat.
To seek results, Chart your progress. Pick out one outfit or pair of pants that is tights in your spot and try it one once a week. You can also take (or have a friend or spouse take) photos of you and your trouble spots every week (it is very easy with a polaroid). The early photos will sustain your muscle resolve and the visible change each week is hard copy proof of your progress.
7. Weight gain is inevitable as you age:
Most men & women get fatter as they get older, but they don’t have to. Reason- Reduced physical activity levels and lower metabolic rate due to a loss of lean body mass
The lifelong loss of lean body mass reduces our basal metabolic rate as we age, This subtle change, begins between ages 20 and 30. The percentage of body fat gradually increases, and it produces an ever-decreasing calorie requirement. That’s because, fat cells burn fewer calories than muscle cells. And a lower metabolic rate means that unless you eat less, you’ll gain weight over the decades.
Any continued physical activity will help you burn more calories (so you’re less likely to wind up with an excess). And strength-training can offset the loss of muscle mass.
“Starting at age 40, women lose six to eight percent of their muscle per decade. However, after only two months of strength-training, women can recover a decade of loss. That’s with, three weekly sessions that take 40 minutes each, including warm-up, rest periods, and stretching. The time spent doing the exercises that increase muscle mass, is only about five minutes a session. Not a bad return on your time.
8. The Older You Are, The Less Exercise You Need:
As we get older we tend to be less physically active. It’s not that we need less exercise, but we tend to get less exercise. Age is not a limitation, but your exercise program should be tailored to your fitness level.
9. Performing Aerobic Exercise at Low, Rather Than A High, Intensity Promotes A Greater Loss of Body Fat:
It is true that the lower the intensity level at which you exercise, the more the body prefers to use fats rather than carbohydrates as fuel. However, the absolute amount of fat calories burned during high-intensity exercise tends to be equal to, or greater than, the number burned during low-intensity exercise, even though the percentage of calories burned from fat is higher during low-intensity exercise.
10. Eating more Protein will Cause new Muscle Growth:
More protein does not cause muscle growth, but it does provide the muscles with “fuel” when needed. Don’t get this confused with fuel during exercise, which is provided primarily by fat and carbohydrates (depending on intensity and duration). Protein is used for rebuilding the muscles (repair) after weight training (damage/stimulus). Be sure to check out the nutrition area for more information on protein.
You’re never too old to start a regular fitness regime.