Wellness Articles
Common Myths About Exercise
Wellness Index
Sit-ups will help you lose fat around your stomach.
Not true. When it comes to body fat, there's no such thing as "spot" reducing. When you lose body fat, it comes off proportionately from your entire body. Sit-ups and other resistance exercises will, however, tone the muscles beneath the body fat.
If you're exercising and you're not losing weight, you're doing something wrong.
It's true that you must exercise aerobically to shed unwanted body fat, but it's also true that muscle tissue weighs more than fat. While you're burning stored body fat for energy, you're also building muscle. The important thing is to have a greater percentage of your weight be lean muscle mass, rather than fat. And because muscle is active tissue, it burns more calories, even at risk, than inactive fat tissue.
Weight training will make you muscle-bound.
People who look muscle-bound want to look that way. They lift a lot of weight and do many repetitions to achieve that muscle-bound look. Weight training in moderation is an excellent way to strengthen and tone muscles and is a key component to an overall fitness program.
You burn more calories if you exercise before eating.
Only if you're 30 percent over your ideal weight. Less than that and you'll burn more calories if you exercise after eating. But avoid aerobic exercises too soon after a meal.
It's best to exercise in the morning.
Only if you enjoy it. It makes no difference what time of day you exercise. Exercising just before bedtime, however, may make it more difficult for you to fall asleep.
Exercise machines are more effective than free weights.
In a word, no. The effectiveness of each depends only on how well you use them.
Exercise turns fat into muscle.
It only appears that way. One type of tissue can never turn into another type. What happens is that exercise requires more energy, which your body provides by burning fat. At the same time, exercise improves muscle tone. So instead of weak, flabby muscles covered by a thick layer of squishy fat, you have strong, supple muscles covered with a thin layer of fat. And you look terrific!
Exercise can be dangerous.
Most people who exercise never get an injury. Those few who do have probably been exercising too much or exercise even when they are in pain. A gradual increase in the intensity and duration of exercise is the best way to avoid getting hurt.
You need extra salt after perspiring heavily.
Actually, the average man would have to lose one and a half gallons (that's 6 quarts) of perspiration in a day to lose the amount of salt he consumes in the food he eats. Hardly anyone perspires that much. Skip the salt pills and the Caesar salad.
You should eat more protein if you're trying to increase muscle mass.
Not true. Most people eat too much protein as it is, and excess protein can damage the kidneys and rob your body of calcium. Even serious exercise won't exhaust most people's supply of protein.
Stretching after exercising can help prevent muscular soreness.
Stretching helps maintain muscular and joint flexibility and prevent stiffness, but it has no effect on muscular pain.
People with high blood pressure shouldn't lift weights.
If you're being treated for a medical condition such as high blood pressure, you should consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. But most people with high blood pressure can benefit from weight training, as long as the weight is not excessive, they switch types of weights frequently, and they breathe properly. That means exhaling during the working, or weightlifting, phase of the exercise, and inhaling during the resting phase. Never hold your breath when exercising or lifting weights.
No pain, no gain.
A dim-witted little rhyme that has done more harm than good. Physical pain is your body's urgent signal to change or stop a dangerous activity. Always avoid serious discomfort or strain when exercising.
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