This month I thought we’d seek to dispel a few common exercise myths that are regularly asked during my day-to-day work in the fitness and health industry. Inspired by one of my female clients who took an enormous amount of convincing before she would even lift a 1kg dumb-bell for fear of ‘looking like a body builder’ I want to address five of these myths. Here we go…
EXERCISE MYTH 1… STRENGTH TRAINING WILL MAKE ME BULKLY.
Not unless you are deliberately trying to achieve this look. A muscular physique takes countless hours of specific resistance training in the gym, coupled with a strict nutrition plan and supplement strategy. In actual fact, the consensus amongst experts is that regular strength training is essential for maintaining and developing healthy muscle tissue and bone mass. Why is this good? Regular strength training helps maintain and build lean muscle tissue and lean muscle tissue has a direct positive correlation with your metabolism. This means you will be able to burn more calories for the same amount if work. Pretty good huh?
EXERCISE MYTH 2…CRUNCHES WILL HELP ME GET A FLAT STOMACH OR 6-PACK.
Unfortunately you cannot ‘spot train’ where you’d like to burn body fat. While performing crunches will help you tone your stomach muscles, they will not be visible while under a layer of fat tissue. The best way to flatten your stomach or flash your 6-pack is to reduce your body fat percentage. As mentioned above, burning body fat requires a workout that incorporates both cardiovascular and strength training coupled with a healthy diet of monitored calorie content.
EXERCISE MYTH 3... EXERCISE WILL TURN FAT INTO MUSCLE
The body does not amazingly convert fat into muscle. Muscle is muscle and fat is fat.
There is no direct conversion between the two. A regular exercise routine that combines cardiovascular exercise and resistance training will help you build healthy muscle while at the same time reduce your body fat - the result, a more toned, leaner you.
EXERCISE MYTH 4... I CAN EAT MORE BECAUSE I EXERCISE
This depends on what your goals are. If you are exercising for weight control or weight loss, you should not increase your dietary intake in conjunction with your exercise activity. Successful weight loss involves a careful, negative energy balance between calories ingested and calories burned. Eating those extra calories sabotages the great work you did on the training track and prolongs the time it takes you to achieve your weight loss goals.
EXERCISE MYTH 5… EXERCISE AT A LOW INTENSITY HELPS ME BURN MORE FAT
If you exercise for weight loss, you have probably heard or been told that for best weight loss results you should work your ‘fat burning zone’ (approx. 50-60% maximal heart rate). This is considered low intensity. While low intensity workouts are great for beginners or those who aren’t very fit, it is not the best choice if your goal is weight loss.
While the body does burn more fat as a percentage of the total energy you burn when exercising at low intensities, you burn more actual fat per minute and considerably more total calories when exercising at high intensities.
What does this mean in a nutshell? When it comes to losing weight, calories are calories and high intensity exercise gives you the most bang for your buck!
So there you go guys. Hope we busted a few of those myths for you.