Exercise Myths

[paiger81]

Feel free to ad any that you know or find along the way!

Myth-Other people in the gym are judging me. Get over yourself! They are there to exercise and so are you. You might not look as thin or as buff as they do, and you might not be able to lift as much, and you might not even seem to enjoy it as much as they do – but you've got to realize, everyone had to start somewhere. They had to show up and they had to keep showing up to get where they’re at. Give yourself a few months of good old-fashioned hard work, and then they'll be watching you, because you'll be turning heads.

Myth– Stretching doesn't really matter.
You need to stretch or you risk pulling a muscle and then your workout routine will really grind to a halt. Think of stretching as the luxury part before and after your workout. It's a good way to start out slowly, and an even better way to savor the fact that you've completed a great workout.

[biodork]

Myth: The more exercise, the better

You can exercise too much. Many people fall into the belief that if some exercise is good, more is better. However, too much exercise can lead to injury and illness. In fact, your body doesn’t actually experience muscle growth when you’re in the weight room. It’s only during your rest periods that your body can respond to the exercise. So, make sure you give yourself enough time to recover from a workout.

Myth: You can lose fat from specific parts of your body by exercising those spots.

There's no such thing as "spot reduction." When you exercise, you use energy produced by burning fat in all parts of your body - not just around the muscles that are doing most of the work. In fact, your genes may dictate that fat disappears from, say, your face or arms before your belly, even if you do endless abdominal exercises. However, working a specific region like the belly can have one site-specific benefit: Strengthening the muscles can make you look thinner by helping you hold in your gut.


I just did a search online for these, and picked out a couple I always thought were true.

[pisces2473]

Myth:I can only work out for 15/20 minutes, so I just better not go to the gym at all.

Not true! Even a quick run on a treadmill or some abs work can be beneficial. Just because you don't have an hour or two to devote to a long workout doesn't meant it's an excuse to sit on your butt.

[mishl982]

Myth: The more exercise, the better

You can exercise too much. Many people fall into the belief that if some exercise is good, more is better. However, too much exercise can lead to injury and illness. In fact, your body doesn’t actually experience muscle growth when you’re in the weight room. It’s only during your rest periods that your body can respond to the exercise. So, make sure you give yourself enough time to recover from a workout.
That one is definitely true. When I first started running, I would do it like 3 days in a row and feel totally weak and in pain (not the good pain) for a few days after and wouldn't want to work out for the rest of the week.
I just did a search online for these, and picked out a couple I always thought were true.
Cheater!

[biodork]

I just found this article...

Sports drinks even worse for your teeth than pop, study finds (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050323/HDRINK23/TPHealth)

Very interesting!

[pisces2473]

What about tea? What do they say about that?

[biodork]

Tea is GOOD for you! That's what!! :cool: :p

[pisces2473]

Riiiight...

j/k :razz:

[paiger81]

Drink decaffinated tea. That's what my trainer say. It acts like a natural diuretic.

[J-girl]

Myth: Cardio is all you need to reduce weight. Muscles look bugly on a woman anyways.

Fact: A good work out incporates cardio and strength training. Cardio gives you immidiate results that fade away as quickly as you started to notice them. But lean muscle is more effective in avoiding weight gain in the long run. Also muscles look only bugly if you are doing strength training 4 hours a day everyday. 35-45 minutes/day/week makes you look toned and fit.

[Tayl405]

Bugly? lol

I'm not in the fitness challenge but can I still be a part of this thread????

Myth: Increasing speed during cardio makes you lose more weight/burn more calories

Truth: Increase resistance and/or change routines (hills, incline, etc.). Increasing speed could cause you to lose form, resulting in injury, and you'll tire out faster.

[pisces2473]

Taylor, this isn't for just the fitness challenge people, the health forum is for EVERYONE!!

[Tayl405]

Jen--I picture you saying that like you're promoting a sale in a commercial or something. With a big smile that says "come on in!" :huge:

[pisces2473]

Okay!

COME ON IN!!!!! :green:

[k.monster]

Okay!

COME ON IN!!!!! :green:

She's so good!

[inuts]

Okay, here's a myth/fact that needs to be cleared up:

I know many women who have this irrational fear of lifting weights because they don't want to build big muscles and look like men.

Women won't build big bulky muscles the way men do because they don't have the genetics for it. They can still build muscles, but not the big and bulky kind. And it's too bad more women don't lift weights, because muscles are wonderful at burning fat.

[Deadend]

Drink decaffinated tea. That's what my trainer say. It acts like a natural diuretic.

Ummmm how does that work?

I was under the impressing it was the caffine itself that gave tea the diuretic properties, as caffine is a diuretic.

[paiger81]

There is a common misperception that decaffeinated tea does not contain caffeine. However, this is not the case, as decaffeinated tea still contains about 3% of its original caffeine content.

But most teas have theophyline which is also a diuretic.

[Deadend]

There is a common misperception that decaffeinated tea does not contain caffeine. However, this is not the case, as decaffeinated tea still contains about 3% of its original caffeine content.

But most teas have theophyline which is also a diuretic.

Oh of course not, I could show how the laws of thermodynamics govern the laws of seperation principles. Basically for perfect seperation you would need an infinitely long speration process ;).

Still though, that means you'd have to drink 33 1/3 cups of decaf to get the caffine of one regular cup.

[paiger81]

You lost me around thermo....... :D

You didn't note the theophyline which acts as a diuretic as well.

[and1grad]

Myth: You should stretch before exercise.

Stretching b4 exercise is a great way to pull a muscle. Do some form of warmup THEN stretch. Also dont stretch mid-workout. It weakens the muscle and will end your workout sooner. Stretch when you're done.

[Mina]

You can decaffeinate any type of tea by steeping it for a minute or so, tossing that out, and steeping again to make your cup or pot.

[megrocks]

What is the best time to exercise? I've heard mornings, lunchtime, spurts throughout the day, evenings, but not night. It seems like the morning would make the most sense, but then they say afternoon is best. So which is it??

[pisces2473]

Meg--that's a myth in and of itself. Whatever works best for you is when you should work out, because you're more apt to keep it up!

[Winter Storm]

Meg--that's a myth in and of itself. Whatever works best for you is when you should work out, because you're more apt to keep it up!

I've also found this to be a myth because they say you shouldn't workout before bed because it gets you all pumped up. Well, I workout usually about an hour before bed (usually 9pm) and I get myself so worked up that by the time I hit the bed, I nearly pass out. I end up sleeping even harder.

[Tayl405]

Yeah, work out when you're most alert so you can get the maximum workout. I think they say don't work out at night because it can make it hard to fall asleep then.

I love working out in the morning because it gives me energy all day and since I'm starved after I workout, I eat a big breakfast instead pigging out before I go to bed.

[paiger81]

Pisces is right, you try to wake me up to work out in the mornings and I'll kick some ass. I can only work out at night, after 6pm.

Some people feel they have more energy throughout the day, if they work out in the mornings. Other people feel that working out at night, helps them relax & sleep better(I'm one of them :) )