When you work in the fitness industry, you naturally hear some outrageous exercise myths. Trust me, as a personal trainer, I have heard some shockers.
It’s my job to bust these myths and turn my clients onto the right fitness program for their bodies.
From sit-ups giving you a flatter stomach to outrunning a bad diet, personal trainers want you to stop believing these seven exercise myths right now.
1. Core exercises will lead to a flatter stomach.
Many people believe that huge volumes of sit-ups, crunches and planks will lead to a slimmer waist and flatter stomach. If only it were that easy!
Getting rid of excess body fat requires a combination of dietary modifications (like eating less processed food) as well as other more effective forms of exercise such as interval and resistance training.
2. Weights will make me bulky.
Many of us – women in particular – shy away from it because they believe it will bulk them up.
But bulking requires excessive calories (we’re talking in the thousands!). In addition, women generally don’t have enough testosterone to build large masses of muscle.
If you want to improve your muscle tone, lose body fat and move better, embrace those weights! But you need to weight train safely, which brings us to…
3. Weights are dangerous.
Yes, weights can be dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. But like any other form of training, it’s perfectly safe when you’re taught the movements correctly and increase your weights gradually as your strength and technique improves.
4. You must always train hard.
No, you cannot train at a high intensity all the time. And nor should you! Exercise is a stressor on the body, making rest extremely important to any program. You should also alternate intense sessions and more relaxed exercise.
5. The more exercise, the better.
It might seem logical that more exercise will lead to greater results. However, the opposite is true when it comes to traditional cardio-based exercises and fat loss.
A recent study showed that undertaking bike sprints for three sessions of 20 minutes each per week led to a decrease in visceral fat that would have taken seven hours with continuous steady state exercise.
If weightloss is a fitness goal of yours, get sprinting! (With intermittent resting, of course.)
6. I will lose all my muscle if I undertake cardio.
In actual fact, cardio training can actually enhance your muscle gains through better blood flow, nutrient delivery, work capacity and insulin sensitivity. But you will need to address your caloric intake to ensure muscle is not lost.
7. I can out train a poor diet.
A lot of people believe that if they consistently exercise they will transform their bodies without addressing their diet. Uh, no!
Diet actually plays a greater role than exercise in fat loss. If you want to lose fat (or just be your healthiest self) then you need to make modifications with both your diet and exercise.
0 comments :
Post a Comment