Today's Post:
There are many myths around exercise
and diet that always circulate around the internet and around social
circles that many have fallen into believing them to be true. When I
first started exercising regularly, most of the time people would give
me advice on things that they had heard before regarding exercise. The
things I would hear were: doing crunches every day to get a six pack and
loose weight, eating before exercise is the worst thing you can do and
the more time that you exercise the more strength, and size you will
gain. Things like this are always heard everywhere and every day by
people who are trying to "help" you out. Whether it is family and
friends or even that guy at the gym who looks like hes in shape, most of
the time the things you hear just aren't fact.
Crunches to Kill the Fat:
The fact that you can't really target one specific area of your body to
loose fat from, pretty much just kills this myth yet I still hear this
from people who are trying to get thin for the summer. On my facebook
wall I would constantly see posts from people who would ask what they
can do to thin out and get a six pack. The responses would be mainly ab
exercises. "Do leg lifts" or "Crunches" are the usual responses. Sure
it will help you attain a six pack but leaning out is going to take more
than just ab exercises.
The true way of leaning out and
truly achieving a lean figure or even a six pack, is to focus on all
exercise. Burning calories is important because that is really what is
making you loose weight. The best way in my opinion is to burn calories
with cardiovascular activities. I personally enjoy jogging outside for
my cardio regularly but all exercise is good for loosing weight along
with proper diet and nutrition.
Work Out Hard Everyday at the Gym:
Some people think that every day you should go hard at the gym so you
can feel the burn the next day. Sometimes working out hard at the gym
to the point of hurting might be rewarding but if you keep on doing it
every time you workout, injury WILL occur. Being in pain is not a
requirement for workout to make it a good workout. Sometimes a good
workout can be you nailing your workouts even if you don't hurt the next
day or feel exhausted that same day.
The problem with
working out hard like that every day is injury will eventually occur and
no one wants to be injured. Muscle tears or dislocating a bone can
happen which can really set you back on your workouts. In the long run
you can hinder whatever goals you are trying to achieve.
Eating Before you Workout is Bad:
Eating at any time of the day isn't necessarily bad for you. Whether
you eat at night before bed or before you go to the gym. Obviously what
you eat is important so eating junk food right before you go to the gym
isn't going to be the best thing to eat. Also portion control is
important if you are going to eat at different times of the day such as
eating at night
At the same time, some seem to think eating
more food might make them stronger and the same message will apply to
them. Portion control and eating the right food will help you grow.
Eating more protein or drinking more protein shakes will not help you
grow if you aren't putting the effort in to grow.
Conclussion:
Although people will give you advice all of the time it is obvious that
you have to take time to research what you are planning to do. The
more you research the more you will learn and this will help you
accomplish your goals. Just because your buddy at the gym says
something, it doesn't necessarily make it a fact, always research.
any post how to gain weight? =)
ReplyDeleteHonestly one of the best and most reliable things I ever read regarding workouts and health was "The 4 Hour Body" (I forget the author), it was all things backed by science and experimentation, not just common knowledge passed around from person to person. It had a pretty cool mix of health and science info, so it made for a pretty good read as far as those books go. Anyway, it basically said that the only way to get a really visible and defined six pack is to lose fat to the point of having a low body fat percentage, like in the lower teens or even a bit lower.
ReplyDeleteMay Yang: Why would anybody want to gai weight?;)
ReplyDeleteGood stuff man! I hate the crunches myth.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice, definitely useful now that I'm starting back at the gym.
ReplyDeleteVery informative stuff
ReplyDelete