Are you giving your best when exercising but not seeing results? Chances are you have fallen victim to bad advice.
What you don’t know about fitness can hurt you and interfere with your fitness goals. Make sure you know about the following 10 common myths before you hit the gym again.
Myth 1: Crunches are the key to flat abs
Always thought the more crunches you do, the better the chances to get a six-pack? Wrong. Doing crunches is not the best way to slim your midsection. Because crunches don’t burn off a lot of kilojoules, they don’t really help with weight loss. To reduce your waistline, you are better off doing multi-muscle exercises that target every region of your core. You will get more benefits by doing planks and bridges in combination with a good nutrition plan.
Myth 2: The more you sweat, the more you burn
Sweating is not necessarily an indicator of exertion. It is just your body’s way of cooling itself. Almost any type of intense exercise will prompt you to sweat, but the amount of sweat isn’t an indication of how many kilojoules you’ve burned.
Myth 3: You need to exercise for 45 minutes to get a health benefit
More and more studies are pointing to the benefit of short workouts. High-intensity interval training (which requires a fraction of the time compared to conventional cardio) has been shown to be more efficient and effective, compared to longer, slower cardio workouts. Your heartbeat will spike and the body will go into a kilojoule-burning mode.
Myth 4: More gym time is better
When it comes to exercise it is all about quality, not quantity. Overtraining can cause stress to your body and it can even go into fight or flight mode, which can cause it to store fat. It will also keep your cortisol levels high. Elevated cortisol will cause your body to store fat instead of building muscle. Focusing on efficient workouts, good nutrition, adequate sleep and rest will give you the best shot at getting the best results.
Regardless of what type of exercise you do, always listen to your body, as it will give you important feedback about whether or not you are overexerting yourself.
Myth 5: Swimming is a great weight loss activity
Swimming is one of the best exercises you can do and you can burn about 2000 kilojoules (approximately 500 calories) per hour when you swim, but it is not necessarily the best way to lose weight. Because the buoyancy of the water is supporting your body, you are not working as hard as if you were moving on your own steam (like you do when you run).
Myth 6: Cardio is the only way to lose weight
Always thought cardiovascular exercise is the only way to lose weight? Good news is fat loss can be achieved in many ways. Significant fat loss also depends on your nutrition, as well as your metabolic rate. If you engage in regular resistance training you can increase your metabolic rate by increasing the amount of lean muscle tissue you possess.
Myth 7: Lifting weights will make you too slow and bulky for sport
It is mostly women who will keep away from weights because they do not want to look bulky. The truth is that only intense weight training with heavy weights builds bulk and it is much easier for men to do this because they have more of the muscle-building hormone testosterone. Regular weight training will make you stronger and strengthen your bones, helping to prevent osteoporosis. It will also help burn body fat, even when at rest.
Myth 8: You burn more fat on an empty stomach
There is no right or wrong here. It is all about personal preference. Many people don’t tend to train as hard when they have an empty stomach and tend to binge after training. Fuelling your body a few hours before exercising with nutritious food will have a much greater impact on your fat burning potential as you have more energy to push through your workout.
Myth 9: Water isn’t a big deal during exercise
Water is more than just an excuse to stop and catch your breath while you exercise. During a one-hour workout, you should drink at least 750ml of water. As you lose water from your body via sweat, you’ll need to replace that fluid with new water to stay healthy and prevent the dangerous effects of dehydration.
Myth 10: You can eat whatever you want if you are working out
Ever wondered why the hours spent at the gym have no effect on your weight loss plan? Weight loss is all about kilojoules in versus kilojoules out. If your goal is to lose weight, you should be counting the kilojoules you are consuming and the kilojoules you are burning on a daily basis − aiming for a kilojoule deficit by the end of the day. So, if you work out on the treadmill for an hour and burn 2000 kilojoules and then consume more than one slice of pizza (at least 2000 kilojoules) you eat more kilojoules than you have burned. Plus, you are refuelling your body with refined carbohydrates and will probably be hungry again in the next hour or two.
Sources
http://www.health.com
http://www.webmd.com
http://blog.no1fitness.co.nz
http://www.mindfood.com
http://amwayhealtheclub.com.au
http://www.mensfitness.com
http://www.womenshealthmag.com