Myths of Exercise

Myths of Exercise

The following Myths are answered as True or False!

• “My Muscle will turn to fat if I stop exercising.” or

“If I eat a lot to increase my body fat I will then weight train and turn it to muscle.”

FALSE It is physically impossible. Muscle is muscle, and fat is fat. You cannot change its form but you can gain and lose both.

• “Sit-ups get rid of stomach fat or the fat from the mid-section.”

FALSE Again Impossible. You CANNOT physically pick a part of your body you want to reduce body fat from. Your body will store fat, and take fat, from wherever it wants.

• “Strength training is not good for women because they will bulk up.”

FALSE Women produce very little testosterone compared to men, which makes the bulking of muscles almost impossible. Bulky muscles will only usually occur in men lifting really heavy weights for a few hours a day. Strength training is greatly beneficial in all exercise programmes as the more muscle mass you have the more body fat you will burn during exercise and daily tasks.

• “No Pain No Gain” OR “More is Better”

FALSE The harder the training session, the less likely you are to stick to it (both short and long term), or the more time you need to recover after the session. Try to make sure that you train regularly and often, rather than hard but now and again. By over training you are more likely to injure yourself or be at greater risk of developing viral infections through weakening your immune system. “ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING” is a common term used.

• “Exercise increases your appetite”

FALSE There is a considerable amount of evidence that suggests exercise in the short and long term reduces your appetite. Psychological factors related to the sensation of hunger are also associated to those from exercise. So sometimes you feel hungry when your body doesn’t actually need food.

• “Exercising when you have a cold will help you sweat it out”

FALSE You should not really exercise if you have a cold or feel ill. Your body is already working really hard to fight off the illness or infection. By exercising you are putting yet more pressure onto your bodies systems. Recovering or resting for a few days will hopefully help you overcome this and will make no or little difference to your fitness levels.