Top 10 fitness myths you need to overcome

Top 10 fitness myths you need to overcome

Myth 1: You can lose weight only by wasting calories in training.

Cardio and strength exercise are mandatory, but, alas, not the only methods of losing weight.

Coaches and nutritionists insist that intelligent eating behavior change is essential for effective and meaningful weight loss. 

For the loss of excess adipose tissue, training is secondary, but will speed up the process. They will also cause the skin to tone up in response to the breakdown of subcutaneous fat. With the gradual disappearance of abdominal fat accumulations, it is important to simultaneously form a strong muscular corset that will not allow the internal organs to sink. In addition, physical activity forces the endocrine glands to adapt faster to work in conditions when the amount of adipose tissue, which produces about 40 types of hormonal substances, is normalized.

Myth 2: There are wonderful negative calorie foods.

Believing in miracles is good, but in this case it is useless. Nevertheless, remember the foods that, when combined with training and normalizing your nighttime sleep, will help you lose weight:

egg white and liquid yolk, lean beef, skinless chicken, legumes, whole buckwheat and oatmeal, boiled in water;

hot red pepper, ginger and other spices, on the one hand, enhance appetite, but at the same time accelerate metabolic processes;

caffeine of natural ground coffee without milk and sugar, nicotinic acid of beef liver and peanuts, catechins of large leaf green tea;

lactic acid drinks with a short shelf life;

stalked celery;

red grapefruit, pineapple.

Myth 3: Foods and drinks labeled "fitness" can protect you from returning extra pounds

Do not include foods with similar labels in your diet, and especially those that say "dietary" or "for diabetics." Artificial sweeteners are much more addictive than regular sugar and subconsciously increase the body's calorie requirements. The same effect occurs with the consumption of low-fat foods. As a result, you are guaranteed a fat gain. The worst thing is that it begins to be deposited imperceptibly and inside, at the waist and lower abdomen. 

Myth 4: You can monitor your weight loss progress using conventional scales.

This is the most common mistake made by beginners who come to the gym for a beautiful figure. It is necessary to evaluate not the change in the total body weight, but the changes occurring with the% volumes of muscle and adipose tissue. Some people buy new-fashioned scales with the function of "weighing" fat for this. Don't waste your money. Such household appliances still lie a lot. Do not be lazy to control your successes or failures by taking body measurements. To do this, use a tailor's tape measure, a special caliper (caliper) and calculation tables.

Myth 5: The indicators on the screens of exercise equipment and fitness bracelets can accurately determine your energy consumption.

Alas, this function is too approximate. It is possible to accurately determine the number of calories burned only by practicing in a special mask that measures the maximum amount of oxygen consumed and carbon dioxide emitted.

According to experts, the indicators given by modern measuring energy-consuming devices are overestimated in cyclic simulators by an average of 10-20%, and in their elliptical variety the percentage of lies reaches 40.

The error of fitness bracelets ranges from 30-90%. At the same time, a pattern is noted - the higher the body mass index, the more the devices lie. 

Myth 6: strength training can convert fat into muscle.

Nonsense. This cannot happen under any circumstances, since these are 2 completely different types of tissue, consisting of different cells. In the first case, these are white or brown adipocytes, in the second, skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscle cells. Moreover, it should be understood that, for example, exercises on the press will strengthen and slightly increase its volume, but the excess fat will not go anywhere. Therefore, your appearance may get even worse at first.

What to do? It takes time and patience. Go on a diet, burn calories in parallel on running workouts (2 times a week), pump up your abs and be sure to work out other main muscle groups using strength or high-intensity interval training (2-3 times a week). 

Dealing exclusively with the abdominal muscles is a thankless task. Of course, loading them, you kind of tell the body where to get rid of unwanted fat stores in the first place. But, alas and ah, it will disappear according to an individual pattern, inherited and not amenable to change.

Myth 7: Excess fat will go away if you exercise wrapped in plastic

Adipose tissue is not degraded by high temperatures. Sweating is a protective function of the body that helps keep the body from overheating.

Exposing yourself to physical exertion in a bath or turning into a "plastic doll" and sweating a lot, you can achieve weight loss due to dehydration, and at the same time ruin your heart.

Water is also needed to maintain the elasticity of muscle fibers, the reproduction of bone and cartilage tissue cells, and collagen in the intervertebral discs.

Myth 8: Strength exercises are only good for guys.

Training with resistance and weight lifting has no "gender contraindication". They are part of the weight loss workout program. However, there are 2 nuances that you should know and remember:

nulliparous need to be careful with the selection of the maximum weight for exercises that load the muscles and fascia of the abdomen;

naturally, a small production of the male sex hormone in women - testosterone, does not allow to quickly increase the volume of muscle mass and work out their reliefs.

Myth 9: Exercising with weights will turn you into a rolling.

Let's not dissemble, there is cause for concern, although it is not great. Recent studies of the frequency of occurrence of psychological dependence and an irresistible desire to constantly swing - muscular dysmorphia (body dysmorphic disorder, bigorexia), occurs in 2.5% of engaged men and 0.6% of women. However, to get such a "sore" you need a lot of weights. In addition, women should not be "afraid" of dumbbells. A significant increase in muscle mass is impossible without sports nutrition, and will require the introduction of testosterone or insulin.

Myth 10: The longer you exercise, the more effective it is.

This statement is in no way an axiom. It all depends on the type of training session and your well-being. To achieve the desired goal and not harm your health, adhere to standard recommendations. Plan your running sessions before breakfast. The maximum duration of a cardio workout is 60 minutes. Take the same time for strength training. For high-intensity interval exercises, about 20 to 40 minutes is enough. Well, it's better to work out muscles in the afternoon or evening.

And of course, if you feel unwell or sick, postpone the workout, put your health in order. A week or two of idleness, provided that the chosen eating pattern is followed, will not completely negate all previous efforts.