There is a lot of misinformation when it comes to fitness and working out. Not having the right information can lead to serious health problems and can make it even harder for people to achieve a healthy lifestyle through exercise. This guide explores a few of the most common myths surrounding fitness today and attempts to explain their corresponding truths to help readers make informed decisions when it comes to their health and fitness.
You Can See How Many Calories You Are Burning By Looking At Your Cardio Machine
Although many people look to their treadmill’s calorie count to judge how well they are doing, it is actually not possible to get a completely accurate reading this way. There are many factors the machine does not consider that are important when figuring out how many calories someone is burning during a workout. Some of these factors include age, gender, weight, and body fat percentage. For example, a male with an 18% body fat composition is going to burn calories differently than a female with a 29% body fat composition.
You Want To Look Like The People In Those “After” Photos
Diet programs, pills, and workout routines have all used the marketing technique involving those notorious before and after pictures of people’s physical transformations after using the marketed product. Many personal trainers and ad-visors are speaking out against using these photos and calling for an end to the sleazy practice.
Personal trainer Andrew Dixon said in a recent Huffing-ton Post article that these transformational photos are “selling false or exaggerated promises of what 90 days, etc., of their program can achieve. Long-lasting results take years of consistency, hard work and dedication. Results that happen quickly are often temporary, and this is another factor that needs to be taken into account when looking at these transformations.”
Notwithstanding not enabling these irrational desires to manage your own particular eating routine and exercise propensities, Dixon advocates a consciousness of the potential perilous practices the general population in those photographs may have taken an interest in the background. “Did the individual slice calories to starvation levels,” he asks, “or slice out whole nutrition types to achieve a low muscle to fat ratio for the photograph shoot, just to bounce back a couple of days or weeks after the fact?” Dixon empowers watchers of these photos to consider the majority of the conditions that aren’t appeared in those photographs.
Dixon took things considerably facilitate when he played out an analysis that expected to undermine the very believability of these photos. He made his own arrangement of previously, then after the fact change pictures. The photography session brought about the before picture demonstrating a boxer-clad enlarged man with a full facial hair, while the after picture demonstrated a similar man with a six pack, clean shaven and taller. Dixon says whatever he did was shave his head, do an exercise, stand up straight, and change the room lighting to make the photographs show up altogether extraordinary. The last blow is conveyed when Dixon concedes the photographs were taken inside a hour of each other.
Energy Drinks Are The Best Way To Stay Hydrated
Energy drinks are so popular during workouts that most gyms even have vending machines at the door, consistently stocked with them. While they may provide hydration at the gym, the best way to stay hydrated is with water. Energy drinks can serve their purpose, but they are not necessarily the best way to hydrate. Water is often ideal.
This is especially true for low intensity workouts or trips to the gym that only include a short cardio routine. Energy drinks are often used to replenish the glucose (sugar) being used up by the muscles and the extra work they are doing during a high intensity workout.
This can be helpful when your workouts require a lot of energy and endurance, but for short or low key workouts, water will work just as well. Low intensity workouts do not require as much fuel for the muscles, so that kind of replenishment is unnecessary in those contexts.
Drink regular water during a workout and you should feel that you are able to push yourself that little bit more than you otherwise would. You will also find that you recover better after your workout is over.
Drink a protein shake or eat a protein bar
Experts are beginning to warn against protein bars and protein shakes, long considered a staple of any fitness buff’s diet. A personal trainer advising CNN for an article on the subject called them the lowest form of food. The trainer goes on to advise people to eat a light, healthy meal with “real food” before leaving for the gym and performing their workout. While those building muscle may need more protein than usual, it might be better to attempt to get the protein from other food sources like chicken, turkey and tuna.
Pain During a Workout Means You’re Doing It Right
It may be reassuring to tell yourself that all that pain you felt during your workout is going to pay off in the long term. But experts say it is actually unhealthy to push yourself to the point of pain during a workout at the gym. This idea is so persistent within popular culture, the popular hit TV show Myth-busters even dedicated an entire segment to debunking it. Pushing yourself past your comfort zone is okay and a great way to improve your physical tolerance and endurance. But pain should not be a part of that process.
Prevent A Pulled Muscle By Stretching Before A Workout
You might remember your gym teachers always telling you and your peers to stretch before any physical activity. In fact, you might even recall the sore back from all the positions you would be forced to move into. This was always followed up with the explanation that you didn’t want to get a pulled muscle. So stretching was our one recourse against those potential injuries.
Unfortunately, there has been no real evidence supporting this claim. Experts are now attempting to get the word out about the complete lack of research that supports the idea that stretching before a workout will prevent injuries or soreness.
The Soreness You Feel After Working Out Is Caused By A Buildup Of Lactic Acid In Your Muscles
Deferred beginning muscle soreness, or DOMS, is the official term used to depict that normal, post-exercise soreness we feel in our muscles the day after an especially extreme excursion to the rec center. A great many people think it is caused by the development of lactic corrosive inside our muscles amid work out. This myth created because of the way that lactic corrosive is a result of our muscles’ procedure for making vitality for constriction.
The genuine explanation behind this soreness, be that as it may, is that it is a consequence of the extremely small tears our muscles experience amid the activity procedure. Dr. Parr, a specialist exhorting Lifehacker regarding the matter told the distribution, “Incidentally strenuous exercise prompts tiny tears in the muscle, which prompts aggravation and soreness.” Don’t stress; the specialist goes ahead to depict this as an ordinary piece of the procedure. “This sounds awful, yet the muscle harm is a vital advance in the muscle getting greater and more grounded.”
People At The Gym Are Stuffy And Judgmental
Sometimes people struggle to find the motivation to go to the gym or join and get a full membership. One of the most popular reasons is nervousness about how others will see them if they are not in perfect shape, or if they are not dressed properly.
But the truth is, everyone at the gym started somewhere, and many started exactly where you are now. Even the body builder in the weight room had his first day at the gym. Not only will you rarely be judged for not being in shape, you will also find that most people at the gym will be perfectly open to answering questions, offering advice, or showing you how to use a machine.
It is also highly unlikely you will be judged for how you dress at the gym. The style is often very laid-back and comfortable. Common gym-wear includes sweatpants, headbands, cotton leggings, sports bras, or track pants. Everyone is coming to the gym to better him- or herself, so no matter how you show up, as long as you have the right attitude and respect for the process, your fellow gym mates will embrace you.
Having said that, there are still some broad principles with regards to regular cordiality and rec center behavior that might be new to those new to the exercise center culture. A couple of cases incorporate continually wiping down a machine in the wake of utilizing it, keeping your snorting and groaning amid serious exercises to a tranquil least, and never dropping weights on the ground in such an approach to cause a lot of commotion, or harm to the hardware.
