Fitness and Fat Loss Myths.....3 of the most common get BUSTED! or Confirmed!

Hey people I hope you are all fit and well?

Todays second article (I have a day off so I'm playing catch-up yay) is about the typical questions I get asked or statments I hear on the gym floor and examining why these common beliefs just don't cut it.

so here goes, happy reading :)

1) I do hundreds of crunches to burn belly fat

Sorry this one just annoys the hell out of me as no matter how many times you explain it those clients still climb back on the sit-up wagon.

Basically this just comes down to how your body works.

Are crunches and sit-ups good exercises?...yes,

Do they utilise enough calories to see body fat shift?...no

Do they specifically target body fat for any calories they do burn? ...no

Typically speaking any isolation exercise ie crunches, bicep curls, tricep extensions, are going to strengthen and tighten that area of muscle but will have no effect on the fat surrounding that muscle.

The only way to burn fat from problem areas is through large muscle group exercises, compound resistance exercises and cardiovascular training, and a clean mildly restricitve diet that in combination create a calorie defecit.

Even at this point your body will still decide gentically and hormonally where the body fat will be removed from first and last.

You can actually spot reduce specific fat store problem areas through hormonal manipulation (see a future article) but not through site specific exercise.

Myth BUSTED!

2) The more you sweat the more you lose!

This is an understandable presumption to make that the level of sweating during your workout is indicative of how hard you are working and how many calories you subsequently burn.

However, what it is important to understand is that sweating is just a homeostatic mechanism for the body to regulate temperature.

Homeostasis is just the process of the body keeping all its systems at a consistent level.

So when we get overly hot, in extreme climates or when running on a treadmill the body excretes fluid (sweat) to allow cooling of the blood as the sweat evaporates of the skin.

Each persons individual control of temperature will be slightly different based on their natural physiology and current internal environment, so the amount they sweat in response to a given amount of exercise will also vary, thus the amount you are sweating is not neccessarily indicative of how hard you are working or how many calories you are burning.

people often associate this sweating with weight loss but in reality you will replace much of the water (sweat) loss when you next drink after exercise.

so throw away the sweat suits and only use your bin liners for their intended purpose (to make capes at halloween).

Myth BUSTED!

3) No Pain, No Gain,

So this is a difficult one because it comes down to your definition and understanding of pain.

the dictionary defines pain as: An unpleasant sensation occurring in varying degrees of severity as a consequence of injury, disease, or emotional disorder.

so this would suggest that all pain is related to injury, disease or emotion. In which case you would be well advised to avoid anything painful at any level so the no pain no gain phrase would definately contradict this meaning.

However in the field of exercise and sport that definition of pain may need extra clarity.

Pain in exercise may be described as the uncomfortable burning sensation of a muscle performing hard work, for example most people that have performed any significant weight or resistance training will have experienced the burning sensation as you near the end of a training set.

I feel that in this instance yes, potentially, as long as you have trained progressively up to this point and use safe overload principles, then no pain no gain gives a generically acceptable statement that just confirms that you get out what you put in to your exercise program.

However pain that is more sharp than burn, or pain that arises in a non related area of the body to the movement occurring is definately not applicable to the no pain no gain mantra so please do get any of these pains checked out by a physiotherapist or a corrective exercise specialist.

Myth: Inconclusive depending on your definition of pain.

Thanks for reading,

stay healthy and happy,

Nathan