SELF went to the pros to poke holes in these popular fitness myths that pervade gyms, pools and exercise classes. Arm yourself with the facts to keep you slim, strong and even smarter.
MYTH: Muscle turns into fat
REALITY: Muscle and fat are two
completely different tissues that have different
functions, so it's physiologically impossible to turn
one into the other. If you stop exercising, your muscles
atrophy, so you lose the tone you worked so hard to
create. And if you eat more calories than you burn,
you'll gain fat.
MYTH: You need to exercise 30
minutes straight to get fit.
REALITY: Three 10-minute cardio stints
offer the same healthy payback as a single 30-minute
one. If you are trying to peel off pounds, of course,
the more you do, the faster you'll succeed. But don't
feel guilty if all you can squeeze in is a few minutes
here and a few minutes there—it
all adds up.
Short on time? Ratchet up the intensity of your workout: Go hard for 30 seconds on the elliptical or jog for a minute in the middle of your walk to maintain your fitness level and your habit. And remember, anything you do—whether it's a brisk 5-minute walk or carrying heavy groceries to your car—for any period of time, provides some benefit.
MYTH: Overweight people have a
sluggish metabolism.
REALITY: Though some folks do have
metabolic disorders that slow their metabolism, fewer
than 10 percent of overweight people suffer from them.
In fact, the more you weigh, the
more calories you'll burn during exercise at the
same relative workload as a slimmer person. If you
notice the scale climbing higher, worry about your
activity level, not your metabolism. Try this
fat-burning workout to really see results.
MYTH: Lifting heavy weights make
women bulk up.
REALITY: Women don’t have enough of the
muscle-building hormone testosterone to get bulky, even
using heavy weights. The truth is, some people will gain
muscle faster than they lose fat, so they may look
bigger until they shed some of the flab and reveal the
slim, toned muscles underneath.
Shape sleek muscles with this workout from The
Biggest Loser's Jillian Michaels.
MYTH: You can’t lose any weight by
swimming.
REALITY: OK, it’s true that
long-distance swimmers who navigate colder waters tend
to retain body fat for insulation. But ask anyone who
laps it up while training for a triathlon: You will
sizzle off pounds in the pool, since swimming burns
450 to 700 calories an hour! One reason you might not
shed flab doing freestyle? If you throw in the towel and
cut your workout short. Keep it going with this
full-body water workout from gold medalist Amanda
Beard.
MYTH:
Stretching before exercise prevents injuries and
enhances performance.
REALITY: Researchers are still
scratching their head over this one, since studies have
yet to show conclusively that limbering up has any
effect on staving off strains and other injuries. But
they do know that stretching regularly can make bending,
reaching, twisting and lifting easier. Best move: Save
your stretching for post-exercise, when muscles are
warm.
MYTH: You burn more calories exercising
in chilly weather.
REALITY: If you shiver through a long
run in the frigid winter air simply to experience the
extra calorie burn, you might want to come in from the
cold: You do torch a few extra calories during the first
few minutes, but once you get warmed up, the caloric
expenditure is the same whether you’re exercising in
Siberia or the Sahara. Try a
treadmill circuit workout with a great playlist to
keep you going!
MYTH: When your body gets used to an
exercise, you'll burn fewer calories doing it.
REALITY: Unless you've adjusted the
intensity, you'll burn as much jogging or cycling today
as you did last week, last month, even last year.
Experts say that this principle only applies to
exercises that we're naturally inefficient at, such as
using the elliptical machine: After five to six
sessions, you'll be smoother in your movements and
expend fewer calories—but the difference is only about 2
to 5 percent.
MYTH: The calorie readout on machines
is accurate.
REALITY: If only! Research has shown
that
some types of machines can be off by as much as 70
percent. The culprit? Contraptions such as the
elliptical machine haven’t been around long enough for
exercise scientists to develop the appropriate
calorie-burn equations. On the upside, stationary bikes
and treadmills, the grandfathers of the gym, generally
give a fairly precise reading, particularly if you enter
your age and weight.
Rather than swearing by what the machine says, use the calorie readout to monitor your progress. If the tally climbs during the same workout for the same duration, you’re working harder and getting fitter. An online calorie calculator can give you a sense of which activities burn the most.
Score more tips on making your workout more effective and fun at Self.com/fitness. Find ways to fit in more workouts on the Fresh Fitness Tips blog.
