Exercise Myths
There are a lot of popular myths out there about exercise. I’ll be going over the most common ones.
Exercise Helps you Lose Weight
I will be the first to admit that exercise CAN play a part in weight loss. Insulin sensitivity is increased during resistance which makes us a little more tolerant to carbs. Same with increased GLUT4 after heavy resistance training. Unfortunately, weight loss benefits from exercise is minor. Those with a shot metabolism probably won’t even see a weight loss benefit. Although exercise can effect weight loss, the primary culprit responsibly for gaining weight is excess sugar and insulin.
Eating too much fast digesting carbs will spike your blood sugar and your body will store extra energy as fat. So why medicate when you can prevent?
Lifting Weights Makes you Lose Flexibility
First off, let me say that not all weight lifting is created equal. Some movements are more beneficial than others. For example, bodybuilders may incorporate limited range movements into their regiment for the sole purpose of aesthetic muscle growth, nothing more.
Olympic lifting and functional training are done with barbells and other free weights. These training methods involve a wide range of motion with use of explosive force that force our muscles to expand and contract. In other words, this is more like dynamic stretching of the muscles. Last I heard, stretching left you a little more flexible, eh?
Weight Lifting isn’t for Women
Women are often times afraid of lifting weights because they feel like weight lifting will make them gain big, manly muscles. This isn’t true. Muscle gain, and loss, just like fat, is regulated by hormones. The dominant male hormone is testosterone and the dominant female hormone is estrogen.
Testosterone is the primary hormone involved in muscle gain. On Average, women have around 1/14th the amount of testosterone men have. So unless women inject themselves with hormones, they will hardly ever be able to build muscle anywhere close to a guy. The most weights will do for women is tone their bodies and make them stronger. Women bodybuilding calls for extreme measures.
Sweating Helps you Lose Weight
This is true. Unfortunately, you’ll gain it right back when you head to the water fountain. You don’t actually lose body fat. Your body releases sweat to protect you from over heating. Sweat is just water. Ever notice that when you sweat, you get thirsty? Yeah, it’s the same concept as working out and getting hungry. When you lose water, your body signals you to replace it.
Free Weights Lead to Injury
This one scares a lot of people from attempting free weights. When it comes to free weights, form is essential. It’s best to practice the motions first with light weight, but not too light. Having some resistance actually forces proper form. Starting out with light weight will minimize the risk of injury.
Most people gravitate towards machines because they are easier to learn and there are no lose weights to fall on you. Unfortunately, machines restrict your movements, most of the time in unnatural ways. Around our major muscles, we have small stabilizing muscles. If these muscles are neglected, it can eventually lead to injuries from muscle imbalance.
Lifting weights Stunts your Growth
This is a popular one. There has been no evidence to support this claim. Exercise strengthens muscles and bone. If anything, it would do the opposite of what the popular myth says. This myth is utter nonsense.
Higher Reps & Less Weight Tones your Body
So lets start by defining “toned”. Is it lowering body fat or is it increasing muscle mass? It’s a clear observation that power lifters do less reps and body builders do more reps. While lifting heavier weights helps build strength, lifting a dumbbell in the same position for 30 reps will just get you tired.
Resistance is needed for hypertrophy (muscle growth). Unfortunately, high or low reps wont result in a “toned” body. The goal should be to preserve lean body mass and lose body fat in the process. A 100 rep squat is NOT the way you go about that………..
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Bassma says
Forget the patches. I tried them and they don’t work. Just take one day at a time. Don’t look boenyd one day. Start by eating no sugar, and carbs that aren’t good for you. White flour is bad. To maintain your weight This is the best advice you will ever receive and that is to eat smaller portions. You don’t have to diet if you do this. The hardest part with all of this is getting started. Just get through that first day. Just take one day at a time. It works.
Sait says
Eating carbs while trying to lose body fat is tebirrly inefficient. When in glycolysis (burning glucose as fuel) you have to lower your calories (which not only slows your metabolism but catabolizes lean tissues as well) exercise heavily to deplete your glycogen stores before burning body fat.The core of Atkins program is converting the body from glycolysis (burning glucose as fuel) to ketosis (burning fat as fuel). Dietary fat levels need to be at >65% of total calories, if not, the body will still remain in glycolysis by converting 58% of excess protein into glucose (via gluconeogenesis). It takes minimum of 3 days to convert a body to ketosis, (but only one bite to convert back to glycolysis). People feel sluggish the first week but most feel better than ever thereafter.You can lose more body fat eating protein fat (don’t eat protein alone) than not eating AT ALL. To lose weight fast, eat all you want, but nothing but meat, eggs, healthy oils, mayo, butter half an avocado a day (for added potassium). Keep the calories high the fat percentage high, at least 65% of calories. Green vegetables some cheese will continue weight loss but at a slower pace.The first 2 weeks eat several cups a day of (mostly) lettuce celery, cucumbers, radishes, mushrooms, peppers more variety of vegetables thereafter add 5 grams per day additional every week (20 grams day first 2 weeks, 25grams 3rd week, 30grams 4th week etc) til you gain weight, then subtract 10grams. That will be your personal carb level (everyone is different depends on how active you are.) Start with meat, fats salads for 2 weeks and then slowly add in more green veg, wk4 fresh cheeses, wk5 nuts seeds, wk6 berries, wk7 legumes, wk8 other fruits, wk9 starchy veg, wk10 whole grains. You will learn how your body reacts to different foods. The first week is just water weight but fat is lost thereafter if you keep your calories high enough. Otherwise the body will strip it’s own lean tissue for nutrition. Although that may look great on a scale it will make it MUCH easier to accumulate fat in the future (since all that pesky lean tissue burning up calories will be gone). The body won’t release fat stores if you lower calories below what it needs. It will slow metabolism to compensate store every spare ounce as fat. If you continue lowering calories, it will continue lowering the set point, til it can survive off nothing store fat on anything. The body will only release it’s fat stores if it knows there is plenty of nutritious food.Simple carbohydrates (sugar, flour, bread, cereal, pasta, potatoes, rice) trigger insulin which can store the calories eaten into fat. The more protein the more the fat burning hormone glucagon is released. The more carbohydrate the more the fat storage hormone insulin is released.Simple carbs are addictive can be disastrous to health. The best way to break the addiction is NO carbs for 3 days. Make a huge batch of deviled eggs, eat one every time you want something have huge omelets with bacon, sausage, peppers, mushrooms cheese. Pork chops smothered with peppers, mushrooms cheese pork rinds dip or tuna/chicken/turkey/egg salad steaks a huge sugar free cheese cake. Eat so much you won’t feel deprived of anything. By the 4th day, the addiction will be gone you can start making healthy choices.High insulin levels promote inflammation, weight gain, hunger unbalance other hormones. Controlling insulin levels will balance out other hormones allow human growth hormone (HGH) to be produced naturally so lean muscle will be gained even without exercise. Any exercise will greatly increase muscle mass with high HGH levels.Ground flax seed (2 Tbsp) 1/4 cup water, artificial sweetener, mix in a raw egg let sit 10 min. to absorb liquid, put some cream cheese in the middle nuke 2 minutes. Suggested for daily fiber needs.As long as you have <9grams carbs per hour, you will maintain insulin control shouldn't gain weight, no matter the calories because insulin, the fat storage hormone is not activated. Many people gain weight on high carb, do low carb to lose weight then are shocked when they return to high carb gain weight. Many people can return to moderate carb levels but very few can really eat all they want of sugar maintain weight or health.
Mcdonalds says
The Eskimo’s have never had great health. Where did you get that info from ?Eskimo’s (who eat more fish than most other piulpatoons) have a 15% greater bone loss than do white Americans the same age (eating a junky diet). Excess protein in the blood is a big problem for our health, especially our kidneys, liver and bone density. Tolerance of unnatural situations is not a sign of health but a sign of necessity and survival. Certainly, some people may need certain foods in order to continue to live in certain environments, eg. inuits. That doesnt mean the diet is best for them and research shows it certainly isn’t! Compromises beget consequences. It just means it is most appropriate in that unnatural environment.Excess fat is the bad guy when it comes to insulin resistance, not sugar. When fat levels in the blood rise, so does blood sugar, because excess fat inhibits insulin from performing its function of escorting sugar out of the bloodstream. The excess fat lines the blood vessel walls, the cells, insulin receptor sites, the sugar molecules themselves, and thea0insulin with a thin coating of fat, thus blocking and inhibiting normal metabolic activity. Because all carbohydrate, fat, and protein that we eat is converted to simple sugar (glucose) if it is to be used by the cells for fuel, the way out of this cycle is not to eat less sugar, but to consume less fat. When fat levels drop, the sugar starts to get processed and distributed again.
The Master says
Hi. Thank you for stating your point. Can you please link me to any peer reviewed clinical trials that support these claims? Thanks
Patrick says
Actually neither, you need the atliethc or mesomorph body type to gain muscle easily.Ectomorphs, or skinny people, have a hard time gaining muscle or fat. Endomorphs, or fat people, gain muscle easily but gain fat a lot easier.Mesomorphs, or atliethc people, gain muscle easily and lose weight easily.All these things are genetic, there ain’t much you can do to fix them.If you’re looking to gain muscle you need to eat a lot of protein and you need to work those muscles. Low weight and high reps build tone over bulk. You’ll be strong, but your muscles won’t be large. If you want to get large you need to up the weight, but keep the reps relatively low. I’m talking between 8-12 at most.If you want that 6 pack, you need to do crunches and lots of cardio. The crunches build the muscle, the cardio burns the fat so you can see the muscle.
Isael says
You better once, run 30 min. baseuce the first 20 minutes you lose your carbohydrates and after 20 minutes, your body will burn body fat. Rest is also very important for your body. So try to run 3 or 4 times a week. But you also have to have a good healthy diet. a good diet is more important than jogging. If you eat everthing that je want than you wil grow. haha. Eat lots of protein, especially after training and get the daily carbohydrate from fruit, potatoes or rice. than you will lose weight
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Eduardo says
I would love to have a slim and toned figure, but it seems like no matetr how hard I try I don’t see any results! I’m a bit overweight, but I have muscle underneath my fat. I try to run at least 3 times a week and work out at the gym for 2 days, I also do eat pretty well but I tend to over eat because I get hungry from all of the exercising :/ What do I need to do to get a fit, athletic body? Also, how long would that take?
The Master says
Unfortunately, the running isn’t doing you any favors. Stick with a very low carb diet and hit the gym. Heavy resistance training to failure is your best bet for now in my opinion.
Mike Reilly says
Good website! Thanks!