If you want to be optimally healthy, including staying fit, happy, and vital, exercise is essential. Most people are well aware of this, yet many do not exercise and, among those who do, many fall short of reaching their fitness goals. Part of the problem is the advice itself, as recommending exercise is about as useful as recommending a healthy diet. Unless there are more specifics like duration, intensity, activities, many people will fail.
Following are some of the most common fitness myths — and what to do instead. Regardless of what type of exercise you do, always listen to your body.
MYTH # 1 - Crunches Are the Key to Flat Abs
Crunches will provide toning of your abs, but you’ll get flat abs only by burning off fat. This means fat-burning exercises are going to be essential. Doing abdominal exercises alone, even for six weeks, has no effect on subcutaneous fat and abdominal circumference. Core workouts will work more effectively.
MYTH # 2 - You have to sweat it out
Virtually any type of intense exercise will prompt you to sweat, but the amount of sweat isn’t an indication of how many calories you’ve burned. Sweating is a natural body process, so exercising in warm weather or a heated room, such as in Bikram yoga will create more sweating. While you can’t use sweat as a gauge of exercise intensity, you can assume that if you haven’t broken into a sweat your exercise is not intense enough. Sweating in and of itself may be beneficial (independent of its association with exercise), as it can facilitate toxin excretion.
MYTH # 3 - Running on a treadmill is okay
Running is a great workout, but it can impact the knees and since it’s the force of your body weight on your joints that causes the stress, it’s the same whether you’re on a treadmill or on asphalt. The best way to reduce knee impact is to vary your workout. If you mix running with other cardio activities, like an elliptical machine, or you ride a stationary bike, you will reduce impact on your knees so you'll be able to run for many years.
MYTH # 4 - Machines are a safe way to exercise
Although it may seem as if an exercise machine automatically puts your body in the right position and helps you do all the movements correctly, that’s only true if the machine is properly adjusted for your weight and height. Unless you have a trainer to figure out what is the right setting for you, you can make just as many mistakes in form and function, and have just as high a risk of injury, on a machine as if you work out with free weights or do any other type of non-machine workout.
MYTH # 5 - You’ve got to feel some pain
Of all the fitness rumours ever to have surfaced, experts agree that the “no pain-no gain” holds the most potential for harm. While you should expect to have some degree of soreness a day or two after working out, that’s very different from feeling pain while you’re working out. A fitness activity should not hurt while you’re doing it, and if it does, then either you are doing it wrong, or you already have an injury. Do not workout when you’re in pain; stop, rest and see if the pain goes away. If it doesn’t, see a doctor.
MYTH # 6 - More Exercise Time Is Better
Most people do need more exercise time, but taking time for recovery is crucial. It is important to realise you can sabotage your fitness efforts by over-exercising. In this case, your body goes into an elevated stress response, keeping your cortisol levels too high. Cortisol, also known as “the stress hormone,” is secreted by your adrenal glands and is involved in a variety of important metabolic functions, such as regulating your insulin and glucose levels... Elevated cortisol will cause your body to store fat.
The expert is a senior personal trainer at Cutz & Curvz Fitness
