Myth Busters
Today we are debunking four myths that often float around the exercise & fitness world. Take a second to read through these so you know what is true and what is false out there.
Myth 1: Your muscle will turn into fat if you stop working out
If you transition from an active lifestyle of building mass to whatever an alternative lifestyle looks like, there is a transformation. The muscles get smaller and the body fat will probably rise depending on the diet. This leads most people to believe that in fact their muscle is turning into fat. When actually muscle and fat are two totally different tissue systems with different functions. Muscle tissue is what gives you mass and what is constantly burning calories. (BIG PLUS) Fat tissue is what gives you the ‘gut’ and is where excess energy is stored.
Although energy is shared between the two systems, muscle and fat do not convert to one another. Less muscle means less fuel needed. If still eating a high caloric diet the excel fuel is converted into storage, aka fat.
Myth 2: If you don't feel sore the day after you workout, the workout wasn’t hard enough or you didn’t train hard enough.
It’s a common belief among exercisers that muscle soreness and quality of workout exist in a linear relationship. That is, the more sore you get from a workout, the better it is, right? WRONG! Soreness from a workout is NOT always a sign of a good workout.
Muscle soreness resulting from a workout is known as delayed onset muscle soreness, also known as DOMS. Typically DOMS takes 24 – 48 hours to develop and peaks between 24 – 72 hours post exercise. Not only does excessive soreness not equal a better workout, if you are so sore and can't train for 3 days, it could actually delay you from reaching your goals.
Myth 3: Lifting weights will bulk you up
This has got to be one of the worst fitness myths on the planet and it's not just because of the misinformation it presents but the fact that it steers so many people away from one of the most beneficial things you can do for yourself and that is lifting weights.
It’s important to dispel this myth because strength training is a vital component of any fitness routine. Lifting weights regularly (and appropriately) will: improve your heart health, keep your tendons/joints/ligaments lubricated and feeling good, boost your metabolism/caloric burn, enhance your posture, minimize injuries, increase your energy, and regulate hormones. What lifting weights won't do is give you unwanted bulkiness unless you are specifically training for that. Producing bulky muscles requires not just heavy weights but heavy and consistent calorie consumption as well. Especially if you’re a woman. Women's hormones aren't conducive to ‘bulking up’. Women have a greater handicap of putting on excess muscle mass. So get lifting!
Myth 4: You can target where you burn body fat
Working out can reduce overall body fat, but you cannot control where the fat comes from. Spot reduction is a myth.Fat loss comes down not to targeted exercises, but to the basic principle of how many calories you expend versus how many you take in. Doing 100 crunches a day can effectively strengthen your abdominal muscles, but it probably will not make them any more visible unless you also take other steps to reduce your overall body fat. If you combine cardio exercise with weight training and sensible nutrition, however, those fat cells will not stand a chance