10 Fitness Myths
MYTH #1: The best way to lose weight is to drastically cut calories - When we eat too little, our body believes that it’s starving so our metabolism slows down and holds onto fat as a potential energy source.
MYTH #2: Heavy weights will bulk you up - “This just isn’t possible for most women,” says personal trainer and Prevention contributing editor Chris Freytag. “Ladies have too much estrogen in their hormone makeup. Yes, heavier weights build muscle and strength, but most of us women aren’t lifting anything so heavy that we are at risk for building man muscles.”
MYTH #3: Keep your heart rate in the fat-burning zone - “The fat-burning zone is a complete myth,” says Wayne Westcott, PhD, Prevention advisory board member and fitness research director at Quincy College. “While it’s true that you burn a higher percentage of fat calories when exercising at a moderate pace, you burn fewer calories overall.”
MYTH #4: Boosting cardio is the best way to bypass a plateau - The most effective way to lose weight is to include both cardio and weights in your routine
MYTH #5: Ab exercises are the fastest way to a flat belly - “Doing abdominal exercises can strengthen the different ab muscles, but it won’t burn body fat and reveal the ‘6-pack look,’” says Aaron Swan, Private Trainer at the Sports Club/LA-Boston.
MYTH #6: Doing squats will make your butt big - “Science shows that this move will help to lift, firm, and strengthen your buns,”
MYTH #7: It can take only a few weeks to reach a weight loss plateau - A study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that it takes 6 months for an individual to reach a weight loss plateau
MYTH #8: I can slim down by switching to diet soda - “A study at Purdue University found that rats given artificial sweeteners ate more calories and gained more weight than rats given sugar,”
MYTH #9: An empty stomach means more fat burn - “Science has shown you need to have some glucose in your system in order to ignite your fat-burning furnaces. If you run out of stored glucose, your flame goes out and you start burning up muscle.”
MYTH #10: You can target trouble spots - “The scientific truth is that your body decides where to burn fat based on genetics, regardless of the body part you are exercising,” says Samantha Clayton
To read the full article click Here
