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Health And Beauty Tips
Busting fitness myths
 Calm
down. Women who lift weights don't get bulky muscles. Pain is
not necessary to achieve gain. A huge time commitment is not
required for health and fitness.
The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is helping us sort
through what we’ve heard about health and fitness – the
myths vs the truth.
Make no mistake, walking gets brownie points. “If anything,
walking is probably underrated,” says physiologist and ACE.
What’s written about walking does hold water. “If America
began to walk even a minimal amount – 30 minutes a day – it
would turn around the epidemic of heart disease and obesity.”
But here are the myths:
Women who lift weights will get bulky muscles. Women don’t
have enough testosterone to develop large, bulky muscles, says
physiologist and ACE. Strength training will not cause women to
build muscles, although steroids might.
Spot reducing is possible.
Guess again. It’s simply not possible to “burn off”
fat in one specific body part by exercising that area, says
physiologist and ACE. Numerous studies have tried to refute this
claim. But only regular exercise – aerobic and strength –
and a sensible diet can melt body fat.
No pain, no gain.
Yikes! Exercising to the point of pain can harm you, not
help. It’s OK to push yourself a bit, to tax your heart,
lungs, muscles and bones – but be reasonable. Don’t risk an
injury.
If you exercise, you can eat whatever you want.
You’re joking, right? A healthy diet goes hand-in-hand
with a sound exercise regimen, says physiologist and ACE. For
weight loss, eat more fruits and veggies, far fewer sugary
foods, and EAT LESS.
Exercise requires a hefty time commitment.
As little as 30 minutes a day works when you’re in
health-and-fitness maintenance mode, and 60 minutes a day will
help you lose weight.
There’s a magic bullet out there.
Yet another joke. There is no quick fix, says physiologist
and ACE. Those nutritional supplements often use “deceptive,
misleading, or fraudulent advertising,”.
Here is a few more health and fitness myths to the list:
Muscle weighs more than fat. “In simple terms, a pound of
muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat, The difference is that
muscle is much more dense than body fat.
Therefore, a pound of muscle will take up much less room in your
body than a pound of fat. Another benefit of muscle, it is
significantly more vascular [better blood supply] than body fat
and will cause you to burn more calories at rest than body
fat.”
Exercising at low intensity burns more fat.
“This is a particularly confusing topic for some people,
Many people have thought that lower intensity is the fat-burning
zone. But in reality, you’re burning a greater percentage of
total calories – including fat calories – when you exercise
at a higher intensity.”
What puts health and fitness myths in our minds? It’s those
get-skinny-quick product ads, “People want to know what’s
the easiest possible way to get from here to there.” When it
comes to health and fitness, “there’s no magic bullet.”
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