The more you sweat, the more fat you loss, right or wrong? Do crunches flatten your stomach? Are you putting in lot of efforts, but not seeing results? Have you ever thought, it could be due to some wrong notions or bad advice? Expunge such common myths and watch your body getting stronger, fitter, and leaner.
We have talked to the star trainers and compiled some interesting fitness facts and myths. Read on here to know the truth about some most common fitness myths.
Fitness Myths Busted And Surprising Physical Fitness Facts
Myth: Crunches are the key to flatten stomach
Fact: A slim midsection actually comes from eating foods that are low in fat, carbs & sugary products. Crunches may be great abdominal exercises, but doing crunches is not the best way to get flat stomach. In fact they don’t burn loads of calories, so they don’t benefit in a major way to lose fat. No matter how many crunches you do, they will help develop only the muscle that lies hidden underneath the layers of fat.
Whereas crunches do tone some portion of your abs, exercise engaging your distal trunk—which embraces your shoulders and butt—more effectively involve your entire core and provide better results. Thus you’ll trim your waist far more distinctly than by doing planks and bridges.
Family Fitness Tip: If you are doing crunches, be sure to use proper posture. Otherwise, they may put your spine in a hurting curved position.
Myth: The more you sweat during exercise, the more fat you burn
Fact: How much you sweat has nothing to do with how much fat you lose. Sweat is a biological reaction that cools your skin and controls internal body temperature. It’s just like a result of an overheated studio, the weather, your personal physiology, or it is just a grueling gym session.
Family Fitness Tip: The key is harder you work out, the more calories you’ll burn within a given period.
Myth: Running is bad for your knees
Fact: Older runners’ knees are no less healthy than those of people who don’t run. Thumping the pavement is safer on the joints than contact sports like football. But it’s not absolutely harmless. Women are 4 to 6 times more likely to be at risk of severe knee injuries from running than men, since they tend to have an imbalance in the strength ratio between their quadriceps and hamstrings, which can enhance the risk of ACL injuries. Because of this reason, the experts recommend doing a total-body strength workout at least twice a week in addition to your regular jogs to build up the muscles that support the knees. This way you will enhance your running experience and also cut down the chances of getting injured.
Myth: Stretching helps your body recover faster
Fact: Keep doing it if it makes you feel good, but a recent study on the effects of post workout recovery ways and means found no considerable variations in blood lactate levels (an indicator of how fatigued your muscles are) in individuals who stretch after exercise. Although stretching may not significantly lessen muscle soreness or fast-track tissue repair, limbering up still has some benefits. Doing it immediately following a workout, when the body is still warm, is an effective way to improve joint flexibility.
Myth: Lifting weights will make you bulky
Fact: Lifting weights won’t bulk you up. Weight training burns 70% of your total calorie burn. Resistance drives your muscle to work 10 to 20 times harder than regular cardio, without bulking. Bulk comes from consumption of high calories that’s why professional body builders intake lots of calories along with lifting a lot of weight. If you do weight training along with a moderate, balanced diet and medium to low calorie intake, you will burn fat and shape up your body without adding bulk.
Family Fitness Tip: Women naturally have less muscle tissue and yield lesser amounts of testosterone than men, meaning they’re less physiologically prone to becoming brawny. Even if they use heavy dumbbells, they will not turn into a female Thor—yeah!
Myth: More workout time is better
Fact: Scheduling in rest days is essential. Your body needs to recuperate, particularly after a hard session. If you work out daily without rest day(s), you are likely to injure yourself or over train, which constrains your muscles from recovering and your body from improving. It’s a fact even if you’re just a casual gym goer. Thus make it sure to take regular breaks, whether it’s every alternate day (in case you’re a beginner) or twice a week (for the advanced). Moreover try to vary your workout. Mix up the things, doing the same training pattern can result into to injuries.
Myth: The best time to work out is early in the morning
Fact: It doesn’t matter when you work out, as long as you do so at some point during the day.
Myth: Walking won’t help you lose weight
Fact: Walking undoubtedly helps to lose weight, if you walk at least 5 times weekly for a minimum of 30 minutes a day. Off course you need to regulate your calorie intake as well. Challenge yourself to walk quicker and farther as your body gets used to the exercise.
Myth: Fat can be turned into muscles if you exercise with weights
Fact: Fat and muscle are entirely different tissues, so you can’t convert one into the other. Although muscles cannot physically turn into fat, but they can wither. When you exercise, your initial goal should be to burn fat and develop muscle.
Myth: One can lose fat from specific parts of one’s body by exercising those spots
Fact: There are no shortcuts to lose fat. If you do full-body strength training and cardio workouts, the excess fat will ultimately come off from the parts where you want it to be stripped off.
Myth: Cardio is only for the individuals who want to lose weight
Fact: Even stronger folks need cardio to maintain themselves in tip-top shape. Moreover, heart is one’s engine, and without a strong engine one will never get far.
Myth: You need to sweat for 45 minutes to get a health benefit
Fact: Don’t worry, even if you’ve got just 30 minutes to spare a day—or a mere 10 minutes— this much time is enough to boost your cardiovascular health. More and more studies are substantiating the potential of short workouts—and some even support that brisk sessions can work better for you. It has been observed in a study that people have consistently lower blood pressure readings on average when they divide their daily walk routine into three 10-minute stints rather than engage in one 30-minute stroll. However this may be enough to maintain your general health, but you’ll still need to be more active most days of the week if you’re trying to shed of some pounds. We recommend at least 250 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise a week for the ultimate trim-down triumph.
Myth: Weight lifting is not for women
Fact: Weight lifting is a wonderful way to burn calories – whether men or women. Women are especially benefited as it boost up bone density, which helps in preventing osteoporosis. Also it tightens and firm-up backbones, yeah!
Are not you inspired to get out of your couch after reading this article? Don’t hesitate to share your own physical fitness myths and facts.
What a great look at facts and myths!