Fitness Beliefs that will keep you frustrated
Pick up any fitness magazine in the supermarket, and the same quick-fix stories are plastered all over the cover — anything to get you to buy their magazine. I am no stranger to this propaganda, and I like browsing for new exercise ideas and techniques to use in my fitness routine just like everybody else. The problem lies with believing that a particular exercise by itself or a series of activities done in specific sequences can lead to absolute fitness perfection or super toned abs in a short time frame. Thinking that all you need are those new ab exercises, may leave you frustrated and disappointed. Keep in mind those people on the covers of magazines have most likely been in a calorie deficit to get those toned abs in preparation for the photoshoot. Do not believe the hype that surrounds the quick fixes.
Seven Fitness Misconceptions 1: Exercising for at least 2 hours a day, will have everyone looking like a Greek God.
The more I exercise, the more weight I’ll lose mentality leaves many women and men frustrated, tired, and struggling to continue to find motivation when they don’t see these results. The root cause of this misconception comes directly from the athletes and models featured on many platforms like social media and magazines. They look great and amazing and who wouldn’t want their body. The average person does not understand the lengths that a person must undergo to develop that type of bikini-ready body and to maintain it. Even in the fitness industry, the top trainers and competitors do not stay in competition shape year-round. It is challenging to do that, and the calorie deficits could result in a decrease in metabolism if prolonged. Instead, they cycle through periods of higher caloric intake and maintain a higher body fat percentage during the offseason. Some have to begin training and calorie restricting for 12 weeks before they go on to a competition or take those photos for the magazine.
The author of “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle,” Tom Venuto wrote in a recent article, that being ripped isn’t a favorable condition to maintain because it takes such an effort to stay there. For women, it can wreak their hormone levels. Estrogen, for example, needs fat for production. Maintaining an 8 to 10% body fat percentage is time-consuming and difficult. To get that body requires a supreme knowledge and understanding of how an individual’s metabolism works, which macronutrients to consume and at what ratios, and the ability to exercise specific muscle groups to show off their physique.
The bottom line here. Working out for 2 hours a day without a calorie deficit and knowledge of your body’s needs and metabolism, probably won’t get you looking like you stepped out of a magazine. Don’t kill yourself in the gym every day in the hopes that this will happen. Instead, learn how to maintain a healthy body weight and use exercise as part of a balanced, healthy lifestyle.
2: Women and Men should exercise differently
Muscle fibers in men and women have the same functional abilities and need to be “trained” in the same way. One study in the Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that there is little difference seen in response to different modes of progressive-resistance strength training in men vs. women. Women and men are equally capable of performing strength training routines, and women absolutely should be lifting weights. Women and men respond to muscle stimuli in the same way and can build muscle when in the right conditions. Many women are often afraid of looking too bulky or manly. Lifting weights will not automatically cause your body to look like He-Man.
Maintaining muscle becomes even more critical as we age since muscle loss is part of the aging process. In the Framingham Disability Study, researchers found that 40% of women between ages 55–64 were unable to lift 10 pounds. Ten pounds! A small bag of cat food can weigh more than 10 pounds. The stats get even worse the older you get. Weight lifting can slow the wasting of muscle mass as we get older and lead to independent living later in life.
3: I can eat whatever I want as long as I exercise and burn off the calories
Leading a healthy lifestyle starts with nutrition. Exercise is essential to overall health and well-being, but if you use it as an excuse to eat junk all day long, you will never lose the weight or get anywhere close to your goals. No amount of exercise can save you from poor nutritional habits! Eating a 200 calorie muffin and then running on the treadmill for an hour does not equate. There is no way for you to know without a doubt how many calories you burn while exercising. There are specific exercises you can do that burn more calories, such as high-intensity interval training and resistance training, but those still cannot be directly correlated with an exact calorie count. Calories in, calories out beliefs are fitness misconceptions from 20 years ago.
4: The machine knows how many calories I expend on a given exercise.
I’ve heard many people tell me happily that they just burned x amount of calories on the stair climber or they went for a run and their Fitbit tracked showed they burned x number of calories. That type of thinking tends to lead people into the trap of calories in vs. calories out. The body doesn’t work that way. That might even lead you to believe misconception number 3. These machines and tech are just estimates of what someone who is similar weight and height might burn if they were to do the same exercise. Yes, there is some science and mathematical formulations involved, but it is not exact. The machines have no way of knowing your actual metabolic rate, and believing that you know how many calories you burn on the run based on the tech creates an inaccurate perception of your specific metabolism.
5: The more complicated the exercise routine, the better
Spending hours in the gym doing complicated exercise routines is not necessary. Some people make their routines so complicated that they end up overworking certain muscle groups. Recovery is equally important as making sure your exercise routine is targeted to help you lose weight and build strong, lean muscles. One hour in the gym can give you a solid workout, hitting all major muscle groups. I recommend getting professional help, in the beginning, to learn how to build an effective routine that isn’t complicated and one that you can stick with for several months.
6: Cardio is the only way to lose fat
Sadly, I used to believe this and wore myself out running. I became so frustrated with how I looked in the mirror and couldn’t understand why I continued to look skinny fat and had lost no weight and felt worse in the bargain. It wasn’t until I began to lift weights that I lost a pants size and started to feel better. I backed off the cardio and added strength training four days a week. I put on muscle and finally saw abs. I made a complete turnaround all because I stopped doing so much cardio!
Muscle burns more calories, and the more muscle you have, the more calories you can burn even at rest. Muscle fibers store carbohydrates in the form of glucose within the cells. This process allows the glucose to be used rapidly by the muscle for quick energy. The more muscle you build, the more energy you can store in those muscles, rather than storing fat. If you consume a low carb diet, the body has no choice but to burn fat for fuel, leading to an even more significant weight loss.
7: Shredded in 30 Plans
Many of these plans found online and in magazines lead people to believe that 30 days is all it takes to create and maintain a new physique. I’ve come across some that claim training for mastery of a particular exercise may only take four weeks. Creating change in the body takes time. Some of these plans may work well, but some can leave you feeling like a failure. Keep in mind that knowing the source of information is essential. Magazines want to sell magazines, and if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is.
A perfect example would be something I found in Men’s Health Magazine No Gym Required special edition. I bought it because it had a lot of bodyweight workouts and outdoor movements that looked fun and I wanted a change for the summer.
One four week plan stated you could go from only being able to do a squat or split squat to a pistol squat in 4 weeks. I initially laughed when I first read it, but then decided to follow the recommendations and see if there were any way it would work. If you don’t know what a pistol squat is, look it up. It is a challenging move requiring lots of leg strength, balance, and flexibility. Essentially, you stand and lift one foot off the floor and straighten that leg forward in front of you. Bend your standing knee and lower your body until your butt almost hits the floor. Week 1 just requires that you practice reverse lunges and split squats. Week 2 trained your balance with pistol negatives. Week 3 added single-leg wall sits. Week 4 was more challenging using TRX ropes for assisted pistols. Then, tada, you can do a pistol squat. Not even close. In the fine print under the description of each week, the instructions do say if you can’t do a certain amount of sets of reps, then repeat the week. I have been doing those exercises for weeks and still can’t get a full pistol squat.
Don’t let the quick fix belief get you down and make you lose sight of what is important, lasting change. 30-day diets and fitness programs usually only end in you feeling overworked and overwhelmed.
Change takes time
Reading just one article or looking at someone’s Facebook page doesn’t always get you the whole story. The best way to go about a new fitness routine or to even get started is to speak to a professional or do the research and choose reputable websites. I recommend the professional route. Find someone you trust, who has been in the industry for a while, and who has your best interests at heart.
Originally published at https://pharmd-fitness.com.
