Myths of Exercise - Part Two

Part TWO

#6– As you age you gain fat.
I have heard this one a million times. There’s a common myth that as you age gaining fat becomes unavoidable. This simply isn’t true – the reason you gain fat is because your metabolism has slowed down, mainly due to a lack of exercise and bad diet choices.  The average older adult stops working, slows down the amount of exercise and lessening daily physical tasks. 

#7 – Spot reducing.
Spot reducing means targeting a specific body part or muscle with an exercise to reduce fat in those areas. I’m always getting asked which ab exercise is best for losing that bit of extra weight around the mid-section. Unfortunately the body doesn’t work this way, when you begin losing weight you are unable to determine which area your body will lose fat. For example doing lots of sit-ups will not reduce fat around the mid-section, it will only strengthen and tone the abs.


#8 – Only train the abs last.
Many people believe that you must train the abs last to avoid fatiguing the stabilizing muscles of the core. Although this sounds like a fair statement this has never been scientifically proven. If you think about which section of the body is the most important (the core) and what is the majority of peoples biggest weakness (the core) it doesn’t make sense to train the core last when you’re already fatigued.

#9 – Bodybuilding programs ROCK for fat loss.
Bodybuilding programs are for bodybuilders. Unless you are using drugs, enhancements or supplements these programs will not work. If you are reading a bodybuilding magazine, following their programs using “body-part splits” and “blitzing muscles”, watch out. The people writing most of these articles are marketers from the supplement companies trying to deceive you, what looks like an article is probably an ad, look closer. I went to college and studied marketing, I know what is behind the scenes. 


#10 – High reps cut your body.
If you progressively lift heavier weights your muscles will grow, if you lift the same size weight as your previous workout your muscles will stay the same size, if you lift less weight than your previous workouts your muscles will get smaller. The only thing that determines whether you get the “cut” look is the size of your muscles and how low your body fat percentage is.
                                                                                  
If there is information being thrown out there and you aren't sure you believe it or not, look it up, ask or check out a reliable blog or website.