Fitness Myths

E-diets had an article on fitness myths that I thought it would be good to share. I have written about most of these in the past but thought it would be nice to give them to you again here.

Ever see the ridiculous infomercials on television late at night, claiming to get you in shape in only six minutes a day? Yeah, right!

Promotions such as these got Raphael Calzadilla, eDiets’ chief fitness pro, thinking about how many people buy into these myths. He was one of six speakers addressing a group of eDieters and staffers at eDiets� one-day seminar event in Ft. Lauderale, Florida. In his no-nonsense, down-to-earth style, Raphael discussed point by point an easy-to-follow list of guidelines for losing fat and getting fit that separated fact from fiction.

�First and foremost, knowing the fundamentals of getting in overall better shape is necessary,� says the 2005 winner of the prestigious World Natural Bodybuilding Federation Pro-Card. He says there are three things that must be included in any workout plan:

1. Strength training to build muscle and increase bone density.
2. Cardiovascular exercise to burn additional calories and to strengthen the heart.
3. Intelligent caloric deficit and consistency.

Now, check out the myths and facts. You may be surprised at what you thought you knew!

MYTH: Women will build overly developed muscles if they workout with weights.
Because the primary muscle growth hormone is testosterone, and women have approximately one-third the amount compared to a man, putting on a ton of muscle is not going to happen unless you are on anabolic steroids or other chemical-enhancing drugs. Bulk is the combination of body fat sitting on top of muscle or it�s simply excess fat. That�s what bulk is — once you reduce the body fat, your muscles look lean and tight.

MYTH: Spot reduction is possible.
No way! We have a predetermined number of fat cells in our body. The human body reduces the size of those fat cells all over the entire body at various rates of speed, but it can�t lose in just one area specifically. Let�s say you have more fat cells in your hips than in your legs. You�ll see a different rate of loss as far as speed, but your hips will lose — it will just take a bit longer.

MYTH: To get a flat tummy, perform lots of crunches and leg lifts.
Performing crunches will never reduce the abdominal area because the exercise only serves to strengthen these muscles. To get a flat eight-pack, body-fat levels simply need to drop. One exercise to make abs appear slightly flatter is to work the Transverse Abdominis by pulling ab muscles inward.

MYTH: Fans of cardiovascular exercise can zoom into the fat burning zone!
Surely you�ve seen this naturally appealing option on treadmills recently. So if you just ate a large pepperoni pizza and set your treadmill to this magical zone, it will burn that right off? Sorry to burst the bubble here, but exercise is not that mystical! You can accomplish fat loss with a lot of different cardio methods. As long as you are in somewhat of a caloric deficit and work in a specific target heart rate (THR) zone for a sustained period of time.

Yes, you can achieve fat loss. But you can also do this through sustained cardio within THR for 30 to 50 minutes, or even interval training (combining low intensity effort with high intensity).

MYTH: One has the ability to tone or to get toned up.
Physiologically, there is no such thing as tone. A muscle can only do one of three things: grow, shrink or stay the same. Tone was marketed to help attract women to health clubs and to keep them from viewing exercise as a threat.

MYTH: Cellulite exists and you can make it vanish.
The name cellulite originated from French literature, referring to a disease of the skin cells. It is believed that Vogue magazine used the word referring it to cottage cheese like fat in the 1960s and it stuck. The truth is fat storage compartments have different patterns in men and women. Men�s diagonal compartments store smaller amounts of fat cells, as compared to womens honeycomb shaped compartments that give fat a greater chance to bulge from the skin. Hey ladies, that�s just another perk of being a woman, right!

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