TRUTH BEHIND THE MOST COMMON FITNESS MYTHS
Here are some answers to some of the most common fitness myths out there. These are some of my own theories and if you would like to let me know yours, please feel free to leave a comment.
1. THE MORE YOU TRAIN THE BETTER THE RESULTS – you need to train hard and regularly, but doing too much too often is counterproductive. If you’re new to the gym, start with two to three sessions a week to give your muscles time to recover and grow before training them again. Too little rest between sessions can result in overtraining, when you feel tired, fatigued and demotivated. You are also more likely to suffer from injury.
2.CARDIO TRAINING IS THE BEST FOR FAT LOSS – High intensity cardio training such as sprints or hill runs is great for fat loss. However, long and slow steady state sessions while good for heart and lung health aren’t that great at burning fat. This is because long sessions place your body in a state of stress, which encourages muscle mass to be broken down and instructs your body to store more of this energy you eat as fat. Weight training is one of the most effective ways to burn fat and build muscle, and should form the core of your training program.
3. YOU CAN TRUN FAT INTO MUSCLE – Fat and muscle are two totally different types of tissue so it’s impossible for one to turn into the other. Muscle is active tissue that burns calories, while fat tissues store excess energy. When you train hard it is possible to burn away fat and build muscle, giving the appearance that one has turned into the other but that isn’t actually the case.
4. MACHINES ARE BETTER THAN FREE WEIGHTS – Resistance machines have a place in the gym: they are great way for beginners to learn movement patterns without the risk of danger, and allow experienced trainers to isolate specific muscles to lift heavier weights. But because the movement pattern is restricted, they’re no good at working the stabilizing muscles that are so important in staying injury free. Free weights require more skill to use, recruit these smaller stabilizing muscles and allow you to move through a greater range of motion to work your muscles to their full extent, but both have merits.
5. DOING CRUNCHES WILL BURN BODY FAT – You can’t lose fat from a specific part of your body so no matter how many ab exercises you do they won’t shift your belly. More often than not, the fat on your stomach is the last to go, so you need a well-structured training and nutrition plan to chip away constantly at your body-fat percentage.
6. WEIGHT TRAINING MAKES YOU TOO BULKY – Putting on serious amounts of lean muscle mass takes time, and only then if you have a progressive training plan and eat the right foods at the right time. No one has even woken up the day after a great chest and arms sessions to discover none of their T-Shirts fit.
7. LIGHT WEIGHTS ARE BEST FOR MUSCLE TONING – There is no such thing as toning a muscle. This made up fitness phrase simply means building muscle and burning fat to give your muscles better definition. While light weights are great for training your small, stabilizing muscles, especially those of the shoulders, the best way to build muscle and create a fat burning response is to lift heavier weights to push your body out of its comfort zone.
I hope this post helps you understand so misconceptions of fitness issues and if you have any questions, please email me at info@mikhaelricks.com
Yours in health,
Mikhael Ricks