You want to have a lean body and live a healthy lifestyle. However, with so much conflicting information online, it can be difficult to determine what’s fact and faction. Listed below are a few fitness myths to help you on your quest to a better body.
Exercise Alone Loses Weight
While it’s true exercise is an essential component to maintaining a fit physique doing it alone is not going to give you the results you desire. The foods you eat and when you eat is crucial to losing weight. In addition, you also need to ensure you’re eating enough of the right foods. Often, you may think your diet is good but it could be why you’re working out but gaining weight. However, keep in mind that as you build muscle, the number of the scale may go up and it’s not a bad thing!
More Workouts Equals Faster Results
It’s good to exercise 3 to 5 times a week and ensure your body has time to rest between workouts. If you become obsessed with losing weight or exercising and extend your workout to every day, you’re not giving your body the ability to recover and thus you won’t achieve the results any faster. The same holds true if you work out only 1 or 2 times weekly, you won’t get the results you desire.
Warmup and Stretch Before Your Workout
In the past, many doctors suggested that in order to get more out of each workout you should perform pre-warm up exercises and a series of stretches to limber the body. However, in recent history more evidence is leaning towards stretching after each workout session. The reason for this is that in order to reduce the risk of injury, improve agility and speed the muscle mass needs to be pliable and warm.
Women Who Lift Weights Look Like Body Builders
Since women naturally produce lower amounts of testosterone than men, the lack of hormones will prevent a greater amount of muscle mass. In fact, lifting weights for women can actually shed inches and make the overall body mass smaller.
Using Equipment at the Gym Helps to Lose Weight Faster
In many cases, the equipment you use at the gym versus in your home is no different. The big difference why more people seem to lose more weight going to the gym versus working out at home is that they are more likely to work out more intense and more often.
Treadmill Provides the Same Benefits as Running
A treadmill doesn’t factor in things like natural inclines or a strong gust of wind, which can make your body use different muscles and strength to continue with the same stride. While working out on a treadmill does give your body a good workout, it doesn’t offer the exact same results as running outdoors. If you prefer running on the treadmill vary your inclines to reflect the natural changes you’d encounter outdoors.
Crunches are Ideal for Your Core
Yes, it’s true that crunches can help you tone the abdominal area. However, it will not reduce the fat present in the abdominal area. The only way to lose fat is to reduce the overall fat content in the body to approximately 10 percent for men and 20 percent for women. Keeping your body mass lean occurs through a healthy diet.
Sports Drinks Hydrate the Body
On average, sports drinks contain mainly excessive amounts of sugar mixed with water. A better alternative is drinking plain water along with a healthy protein snack such as celery sticks with peanut butter, hard-boiled eggs or Greek yogurt. After you work out adding protein helps to recondition your muscles.
Muscles Become Fat When Inactive
Muscle and fat are derived from two entirely different tissues. However, it’s easy to see why people believe that they are the same. When you become less active you will develop a gut created from stored energy and when you are active the gut tends to shrink in size because the muscle mass expands.
After 40 You Can’t Retain Muscles
While it is harder to maintain muscles after the age of 40, it’s not impossible you just have to work at it harder. Of course, if you haven’t worked out for a few years, you should contact your physician and get a thorough checkup to make sure you are healthy.
There are many myths going around about fitness. One thing is certain, if you eat healthy foods and workout 3 to 5 days a week, you can reduce the pockets of fat and achieve a toned body. After that, it’s time to reward yourself with a vacation to a relaxing villa.
