Recent Blog Posts
Exercise
September 16, 2009
It’s amazing to me how many women refuse to perform exercises that target their chest muscles (pectorals) under the mistaken believe that it will reduce breast size. Hogwash!
It is important to realize that breast tissue is comprised mainly of fat and, as you hopefully know, it’s impossible to spot reduce fat. Just like abdominal exercises won’t make your stomach any flatter, training the chest will have no direct influence on decreasing breast tissue. Now it’s true that exercise in general will decrease the amount fat throughout the body. But, if anything, cardiovascular exercise will have more of a direct effect on reducing breast size than bench presses or chest flyes. It should therefore be apparent that avoiding chest training to preserve breast size is backwards reasoning.
In fact, targeted exercise can significantly improve the appearance of your chest and make it appear as though “you’ve got more than you’ve actually got!” By utilizing different movements and working the muscle from a variety of angles, you can target various parts of the chest to achieve complete development. For example, rounding out the upper pectoral region gives fullness to the bustline; adding to the middle aspect enhances the overall shape of the chest; and with consistent training, you can develop a line down the center of your chest that actually creates the illusion of cleavage.
It’s also important to realize that muscles function holistically, sharing an agonist/antagonist relationship. When one muscle is contracting (the agonist), another is opposing the action (antagonist). If you train an agonist without working its antagonist, imbalances ultimately will be created that have a negative effect on posture and physical function. A very undesirable outcome, to say the least.
So if you’re a woman who’s afraid that chest training will reduce your breast size, don’t be. By understanding the fine points of body sculpting, you can develop a chest that defies gravity and remains shapely over time. If you’re a beginner, choose mostly multi-joint movements (such as presses and push ups); when you become more advanced, add various types of flyes to the mix. Make sure to utilize variations of angles of inclination (i.e. decline, flat and incline) as well as hand spacing for optimal benefits. Remember, variety is the spice of fitness!
Stay Fit!
Brad
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Exercise
September 9, 2009
Kudos to Scientific American, a terrific magazine that consistently publishes quality, unbiased science-based articles in language that can be understood by the general public. The issue of July, 2009 with an article called Fit Body, Fit Mind? Your Workout Makes You Smarter was particularly enlightening.
As you probably guessed from the title, the article explores the role of exercise in improving brain function and preventing the age-related loss of mental acuity. It’s a fascinating and important subject. While most people realize that exercise provides a multitude of benefits on physical capacity, the impact on the brain often goes unheralded. But without question, a healthy body does, in fact, translate into a healthy mind. This isn’t opinion: it’s backed up by a large amount of peer-reviewed research.
The article poses several theories as to the correlation between exercise and brain health. First, it’s believed that simply reducing the incidence of major diseases (such as diabetes, hypertension and various forms of cancer) is a factor in and of itself. These diseases have been shown to impair cognitive function, so it stands to reason that reducing their prevalence should necessarily confer a positive effect on cognition.
Exercise also seems to have a direct effect on the nervous system, which is of course largely controlled by the brain. Given that muscles are activated by nerves, neurologic improvements shouldn’t come as a surprise. Although most of the research in this area has been conducted on animals, exercise has been shown to increase the formation of various types of nerve cells responsible for sending and receiving communication signals, as well as expanding the density of capillaries which supply oxygen to the brain. The article documents the research on this quite nicely.
The only major issue I had with the article was the author’s focus on aerobic exercise while neglecting to mention the cognitive benefits associated with resistance training. This is a glaring omission, and one that needs to be publicized. Multiple studies have shown that lifting weights does, in fact, confer significant effects on mental health. A recent paper by Liu-Ambrose and Donaldson (2009) examined this topic in detail, providing an extensive evidence-based review of the research. Interestingly, the potential mechanisms for resistance exercise improving brain function seem to be different than those associated with aerobic exercise, potentially involving the actions of IGF-1 and homocysteine. If true, this suggests that performing both aerobic and resistance training might have a syngergistic effect on brain function, combining to optimize mental health better than either modality alone. It’s why Liu-Ambrose and Donaldson concluded their review by emphasizing the importance of undertaking “both aerobic-based exercise training and resistance training not only for “physical health” but also because of the almost certain benefits for “brain health”.” Powerful words!
Otherwise, the Scientific American article was well-written and balanced in its reporting — something other supposedly reputable publications should take note of. I’d encourage everyone to give the article a read if you haven’t done so already.
Stay Fit!
Brad
Liu-Ambrose T, Donaldson MG. Exercise and cognition in older adults: is there a role for resistance training programmes? Br J Sports Med. 2009 Jan;43(1):25-7.
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Exercise
August 13, 2009
I wanted to extend a big thanks to Amby Burfoot, editor at Runner’s World, for embracing and linking to my blog post, Is Exercise Derailing Your Efforts to Lose Weight . It’s heartening to know others are joining in the endeavor to discredit Time Magazine’s recent article titled, Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin. You don’t expect such irresponsible journalism from a publication such as Time (at least I don’t), but apparently all ethics and morals fly out the window when it comes to stirring up controversy to sell a few more magazines. It’s the old adage that any publicity is good publicity.
Hopefully there will be enough of a backlash against Time and the article’s author, John Cloud, to discourage such underhanded attempts in the future. More importantly, hopefully the public will see this article for what it is: a combination of faulty science and skewed research. Exercise confers so many positive benefits (including aiding in weight loss and improving body composition) that it would be tragic if even one person is swayed to stop exercising by Mr. Cloud’s drivel. Spread the word: Exercise is good for your waistline. Really!
Stay Fit!
Brad
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Exercise, Uncategorized
August 12, 2009
“In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless…”
I must say, I was pretty much speechless after reading this statement (and it isn’t easy to leave me speechless!). After all, this wasn’t some weirdo quack making the kind of absurd comments you often see on the Internet. Rather, these are the words of a man named Eric Ravussin, chair in diabetes and metabolism at Louisiana State University. If nothing else, the man has credentials.
The statement by Ravussin appeared in a recent Time magazine article written by John Cloud and titled, Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin. As you may have guessed, the article attempts to make a case that exercise is unnecessary for weight loss. In fact, Mr. Cloud, infers that an intense workout might actually hinder your weight loss efforts! Could this actually be true? Should we ditch the gym and go back to being a country of interactive couch potatoes in our quest to be lean? Let’s take a look at the major points made in the article and see what conclusions can be drawn from actual research…
A primary contention of the article is that working out is ineffective in promoting weight loss because exercise makes people hungry. Here is the author’s claim:
The basic problem is that while it’s true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes us to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits we just accrued.
Let’s say for a moment that this claim is actually true and that an exercise session sends us straight to the fridge for that leftover piece of cheesecake. Do we thus conclude that exercise is superfluous for those trying to lose weight? If so, I guess we shouldn’t go to the movies since people tend to fill up on buttered popcorn and Bonbons when they’re watching a flick (blame Hollywood for our beer guts and saddlebags!).
Really now, just because you’re hungry following a workout doesn’t mean you have to binge on junk food. I don’t think I’m breaking any new ground in stating that there are many nutritious food-choices available that won’t pad your love handles. It’s is well known, for instance, that consuming protein has a satiety-inducing effect. High protein foods such as lean poultry, fish, and/or eggs not only help to fuel training (those involved in exercise have been shown to need about double the protein of sedentary individuals), but also to aid in quelling hunger. Ditto for fiber rich foods, which fill you up without filling you out. A hearty chicken or tuna salad eaten post-workout will provide a terrific source of nutrients and abolish any thoughts of downing that pint of Ben and Jerry’s sitting in the freezer (and why do you have ice cream in your house when you’re trying to lose weight anyway?).
Now let’s return to the original supposition that exercise makes you hungry. Is there really evidence to show such a phenomenon? The prevailing body of research says there’s not. In fact, the opposite appears to be true. A study by Martins and colleagues (1) had subjects perform moderate aerobic exercise for an hour and then assessed hunger both by self-reported hunger scores as well as measuring various “satiety-related hormones” (i.e. PYY, GLP-1, PP). The result? Self reported hunger showed no significant changes in fullness (‘How full do you feel?’) or motivation to eat (‘How much do you feel you can eat?’) in response to exercise. Moreover, there was an exercise-induced increase in levels of PYY, GLP-1 and PP, which have been shown to reduce the urge to eat. Bottom line: there was no evidence of either physiological or psychological indices of increased hunger from exercise. If anything, there was a trend for greater satiety.
A more recent study at Colorado State University came to similar conclusions. Ballard and colleagues (2) measured levels of the hormone ghrelin after an 80 minute bout of resistance training. Ghrelin has been called the “hunger hormone” – as ghrelin levels rise, so does the urge to eat. Well, surprise, surprise, ghrelin levels fell 13 to 21% as a result of the training protocol, leading researchers to conclude “weight lifting lowers plasma ghrelin concentrations during exercise and attenuates its rise during the postexercise period in young men.”
So, you might ask, how is it then that some people don’t show significant weight loss from exercise? This was addressed in a very well done study by King and colleagues, appearing in the International Journal of Obesity (3). The study showed that a 5-day-a-week moderate-intensity exercise program designed to expend 500 calories per session resulted in an average weight loss of more than 8 pounds after 12 weeks of training. What was most interesting, however, was that there was a huge variability between subjects, ranging from a loss of a whopping 32 pounds in one individual to a gain of almost 4 pounds in another. The researchers went on to conclude that some people are compensators, most likely choosing to binge out after exercise not because they are hungry, but rather as a “reward” for being active. The problem, therefore, is not in using exercise as a weight loss tool; it’s in educating the compensators on strategies to avoid compensating. Exercise works, just don’t feel you’re entitled to munch out because you spent a half-hour on the treadmill. If you want a reward, buy yourself a new dress that’s two sizes smaller–that will keep you motivated to stay away from the fridge!
Another glaring problem with the Time Magazine article is that there’s no distinction made between the types of exercise performed and their effects on weight management. Specifically, resistance training has been shown to be crucial in accelerating fat loss. During dieting, approximately 1/3 of weight lost is from muscle tissue. Since muscle is highly correlated with metabolism, consistent dieting gradually lowers resting metabolic rate, making further weight loss difficult to impossible. Cardiovascular exercise does little to preserve lean body tissue. Lifting weights, however, not only attenuates the decline in metabolism, it can actually increase it (4-7).
Nowhere is this better exemplified than in a study conducted by Ballor and colleagues at the University of Michigan (8). Forty obese women were assigned to one of four groups: diet only, weight-training only, diet plus weight training, and a control (no diet or exercise). After 8 weeks, the diet only group lost the most weight (just under 10 pounds) while the diet plus weight training group came in a close second at approximately 8.5 pounds. The more important statistic, however, was that lean body mass decreased by 2 pounds in the diet-only group, while it *increased* by over 2 pounds in the diet plus weight training group. This not only means that those who lifted weights lost significantly more body fat during the protocol, but that they had a superior body composition.
The Time Magazine article pooh-poohs the metabolic benefits of muscle, citing a Columbia University study that concluded a pound of muscle burns only about six calories a day at rest. This led the Time author to say:
…Which means that after you work out hard enough to convert, say, 10 lb. of fat to muscle — a major achievement — you would be able to eat only an extra 40 calories per day, about the amount in a teaspoon of butter, before beginning to gain weight. Good luck with that.
While this makes good copy, other studies seem to show that muscle possesses greater metabolic properties than those found at Columbia. Much greater. In a study done at Tufts University (9), Cambell and colleagues reported an increase in lean body weight of 3.1 pounds after 12 weeks of strength training increased resting metabolic rate by approximately 6.8%. This translated into an additional 105 calories burned per day. Do the math, and that equates to approximately 35 calories burned for each pound of added muscle. A study by Pratley and colleagues (10) came to a similar conclusion on the topic. A similar four month strength training protocol resulted in a gain of 3.5 pounds of lean muscle. Metabolic rate showed a resulting 7.7% increase, correlating to a metabolic-heightening effect of muscle of approximately 34 calories.
Taking the results of these studies into account, that same 10 pound gain in muscle cited in the Time article would conceivably help to burn an additional 350 calories a day, which would translate into a weight loss of about 36 pounds in a year by simply maintaining this level of muscularity. Even if the actual effects are only half those found in these protocols, that’s still pretty impressive in my book…
Perhaps most importantly, what the Time article seems to completely ignore is the fact that exercise has been shown to be extremely important for maintenance of goal weight after weight loss. Clearly, those who exercise show an improved ability to sustain lower levels of body weight and avoid weight regain after dieting (11-13). And ultimately the most important aspect of weight loss shouldn’t simply be to lose the weight, but rather to keep it off over the long haul.
Summing up, there is compelling evidence that exercise is not only a beneficial aspect of any weight loss program, but it’s crucial in long-term weight maintenance. Despite what you might have read in Time, don’t ditch your gym membership just yet…at least if you want to stay lean!
Stay Fit!
Brad
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1) Martins C, Morgan LM, Bloom SR, Robertson MD. Effects of exercise on gut peptides, energy intake and appetite. J Endocrinol. 2007 May;193(2):251-8.
2) Ballard TP, Melby CL, Camus H, Cianciulli M, Pitts J, Schmidt S, Hickey MS. Effect of resistance exercise, with or without carbohydrate supplementation, on plasma ghrelin concentrations and postexercise hunger and food intake. Metabolism. 2009 Aug;58(8):1191-9.
3) King NA, Hopkins M, Caudwell P, Stubbs RJ, Blundell JE. Individual variability following 12 weeks of supervised exercise: identification and characterization of compensation for exercise-induced weight loss. Int J Obes (Lond). 2008 Jan;32(1):177-84.
4) Bryner Rw, et al. Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate. J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.
5) Donnelly JE, et al. Muscle hypertrophy with large-scale weight loss and resistance training. Am J Clin Nutr. 1993 Oct;58(4):561-5.
6) Ryan AS, Pratley RE, Elahi D, Goldberg AP. Resistive training increases fat-free mass and maintains RMR despite weight loss in postmenopausal women. J Appl Physiol. 1995 Sep;79(3):818-23.
7) Hunter GR, Byrne NM, Sirikul B, Fernández JR, Zuckerman PA, Darnell BE, Gower BA. Resistance training conserves fat-free mass and resting energy expenditure following weight loss. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 May;16(5):1045-51.
8 ) Ballor DL, et al. Resistance weight training during caloric restriction enhances lean body weight maintenance. Am J Clin Nutr. 1988 Jan;47(1):19-25.
9) Campbell, W., M. Crim, V. Young and W. Evans. Increased energy requirements and changes in body composition with resistance training in older adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 60: 167-175, 1994
10) Pratley, R., B. Nicklas, M. Rubin, J. Miller, A. Smith, M. Smith, B. Hurley and A. Goldberg. Strength training increases resting metabolic rate and norepinephrine levels in healthy 50- to 65-year-old men. Journal of Applied Physiology Jan;76(1):133-7.
11) Wang X, Lyles MF, You T, Berry MJ, Rejeski WJ, Nicklas BJ. Weight regain is related to decreases in physical activity during weight loss. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008 Oct;40(10):1781-8.
12) Miller WC, Koceja DM, Hamilton EJ. A meta-analysis of the past 25 years of weight loss research using diet, exercise or diet plus exercise intervention. Int J Obes 1997;21:941–947.
13) Curioni CC, Lourenço PM. Long-term weight loss after diet and exercise: a systematic review. Int J Obes (Lond). 2005 Oct;29(10):1168-74.
Exercise, Personal Appearances
June 18, 2009
Wanted to let everyone know that I will be conducting two advanced training seminars on Monday, July 6, 2009 in NYC. The lectures are geared towards fitness professionals (CECs are accredited for NASM and should translate for other organizations), but anyone with a good knowledge of exercise science can benefit. The courses are as follows:
Maternal Fitness: Safe and Effective Strategies for Training the Pregnant and Postpartum Client: Exercise is one of the most beneficial things a pregnant woman can do for her body – provided proper guidelines are followed. This workshop teaches you how to address the biomechanical and physiological changes that occur in the pre and postnatal period, and develop sound training programs tailored to the unique needs of the maternal client. Programming for strength training, cardiovascular exercise and flexibility training is covered in detail, with insight provided on how to modify exercise based on the individual needs of the client. Contraindications to exercise are addressed with respect to each trimester.
Program Design for Hypertrophy: Muscle development is of primary interest to those who lift weights. This workshop will elucidate the science behind optimizing muscular hypertrophy. It will detail the effects of manipulating intensity, sets, repetitions, and rest intervals on growth, as well as exploring the roles of factors such as exercise modality, training to failure, speed of movement, and recovery. The significance of acute hormonal fluctuations and lactate production as to their effects on increasing protein synthesis will be addressed. Sample routines are offered in the context of a periodized approach to help the practitioner with perfecting program design.
The courses are being offered through Innovative Wellness and Education. To register or learn more about the courses, click on the following link: Innovative Wellness and Education. These are researched-based workshops that really get into the science of exercise. I guarantee you’ll learn a lot!
Stay Fit!
Brad
Exercise, Fitness
June 9, 2009
I’ve posted several exercise demonstration videos on Youtube. These videos are from the DVD included in my book, Sculpting Her Body Perfect.
You can view the videos at the following link: Exercise Video Demonstrations. Feel free to rate the videos if you like them! Exercises include the correct performance of the sissy squat, walking lunge, seated row, and incline press. I’ll be adding more in the future. Enjoy 🙂
Stay Fit!
Brad
Exercise, Fitness
January 23, 2009
Given the overwhelmingly positive feedback on my previous posts debunking common exercise myths, here are my insights on a few more myths that continue to pervade the industry.
Hopefully by setting the record straight, we can put these misperceptions to rest once and for all and, in the process, improve your toning and weight losss results!
MYTH: Using the Stairmaster will give you a big butt.
TRUTH: This myth might be humorous if so many women didn’t accept it as fact. It came about after a popular magazine quoted a so-called fitness expert who cautioned that stair climbing was a one-way ticket to a movie screen-sized derriere. The “expert” apparently had never studied exercise physiology.
Truth is it’s virtually impossible to substantially increase muscle mass from stair climbing… or any other aerobic activity for that matter. Understand that during cardiovascular exercise the primary type of muscle fibers utilized are the endurance-related slow-twitch fibers. These fibers get much of their energy by burning fat for fuel, contracting very slowly but having the ability to endure extended periods of activity.
The kicker: Slow twitch fibers have only a limited ability to increase in size. It’s the strength-related fast-twitch fibers that have the capacity to grow sufficiently large. And since fast twitch fibers aren’t recruited to any great extent, the chances of your butt beefing up are just about nil.
Bottom Line: If you enjoy using the Stairmaster, go ahead and climb away without worrying that your booty will expand to the size of a city bus. If anything, you’ll ultimately reduce the size of your butt due to its fat-burning effects.
MYTH: Women should train with very light weights so they won’t bulk up.
TRUTH: Go into any gym and you’ll invariably notice women lifting weights that are far too light for their abilities. I’ve actually seen women talking on their cell phones while doing a set of curls or reading magazines while doing leg presses. In most cases, this is a conscious decision due to an inherent fear of looking like a she-man.
The fear, however, is completely unfounded.
Women have very low levels of testosterone — the body’s primary muscle-building hormone. On average, women produce only about 1/20th the amount of testosterone as their male counterparts. This is nature’s way of preserving “femininity.” As a result, it’s difficult for women to add a significant amount of muscular bulk to their frame.
Without an anabolic stimulus, muscle tissue simply has no impetus to grow larger (hypertrophy) and muscular growth remains modest, even at advanced levels of training.
Bottom Line: If your goal is to tone up, then you need to lift weights that sufficiently tax your body. If you don’t challenge your body beyond its present capacity, you simply won’t provide a stimulus for improving body composition. Your goal should be to choose a weight that causes you to struggle on the last few reps. If you’re not struggling, the weight is too light!
MYTH: Lactic acid causes muscle soreness.
TRUTH: Contrary to popular belief, lactic acid is not the bad boy of exercise that some make it out to be. It certainly is not involved in making you sore after a workout.
Truth is any lactic acid that accumulates in muscle is rapidly cleared within an hour or two after exercise. Since delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) doesn’t manifest until about 24 hours after a training session, it therefore follows that lactic acid cannot play a role in its origin.
So what causes DOMS? It’s actually a product of damage to muscle tissue. Intense exercise produces small microtears in the working muscle fibers, primarily as a result of eccentric activity (i.e. lengthening a muscle against tension). These microtears allow calcium to escape from the muscles, disrupting their intracellular balance. Metabolic waste is produced and that interacts with the free nerve endings surrounding the damaged fibers, resulting in localized pain and stiffness.
In response, white blood cells migrate to the site of injury, generating free radicals that further exacerbate the sensation of pain. The discomfort can last for several days or even up to a week, depending on the extent of muscle damage.
Bottom Line: Don’t blame lactic acid buildup for making you sore after a workout. It’s merely a sign that you’ve trained hard. If you experience DOMS, the best thing you can do is to stay active, enhancing blood flow to the affected area. This will expedite nutrients to the muscles, accelerating the rate of their repair and consequently reducing associated discomfort.
Until next time, stay fit!
Brad
Exercise, Fitness
January 18, 2009
I wanted to let everyone know that I’ve added a free, downloadable exercise diary on my site. The diary allows you to track your workouts on a consistent basis and thus be better able to make necessary adjustments to your routine. I highly recommend you keep a journal for optimal results. You can download a copy at the link below (the link is located at the bottom of the page–just scroll down and click on the PDF icon):
http://www.lookgreatnaked.com/services/sculpting.htm
Enjoy and Stay Fit!
Brad
Exercise, Fitness
December 26, 2008
In my last blog I covered a few of the more common fitness myths that pervade society. In the true spirit of the adage, “Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see!” here are three more exercise myths that come up again and again.
MYTH 1: You should perform cardio in your “fat burning zone.”
TRUTH: Step into any gym and you’ll hear personal trainers preaching that the best way to lose weight is by exercising in your “fat burning zone.” While this might sound good in theory, the “fat burning zone” is actually based on faulty interpretation of research showing activities performed at a low intensity (60 to 80 percent of max heart rate) burn a greater percentage of fat calories than higher intensity activities.
Fact is burning a greater percentage of fat doesn’t equate to burning more total fat calories. High-intensity exercise burns more fat calories on an absolute basis than lower intensity activities, making it the preferred choice for those looking to optimize fat loss.
One of the best fat-burning forms of cardio is interval training, where you intersperse periods of high-intensity exercise with periods of low-intensity exercise. This not only maximizes fat burning during the activity, but also increases a phenomenon called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) — the amount of calories burned once the activity is finished — which helps keep your metabolism elevated long after you’ve stopped working out.
MYTH 2: Sweat is a good indicator of exercise intensity.
TRUTH: You’ve no doubt heard fitness pros utter the phrase, “Ya gotta sweat.” Many people adopt this as an exercise mantra, believing it’s the key to a successful workout. Not!
While sweat tends to be associated with rigorous exercise, it is by no means essential to achieving results. If it was, you’d get buff lounging in a sauna!
Fact is sweat is an indicator that your body temperature is rising, not necessarily that you are exercising at an intense level. Your body regulates its temperature by activating your sweat glands, which then pores as a cooling mechanism.
Rather than focusing on how much you sweat, the best way to monitor exercise intensity is by using a rating of perceived exertion (RPE). This is a subjective scale that estimates how difficult an activity is to perform. I like to keep it simple and use a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being complete inactivity and 10 being all-out effort. If you want to exercise intensely, maintain a level of an 8 or more on the RPE scale.
MYTH 3: If you stop lifting weights, your muscle will turn to fat.
TRUTH: Some people refuse to lift weights for fear that their hard-earned muscle will simply morph into fat if they stop working out. Nonsense! Muscle and fat are two separate and distinct properties that have completely different molecular structures.
Muscle is a protein-based tissue comprised of filaments called actin and myosin. Body fat, on the other hand, consists of stored triglycerides, which are made up of a carbohydrate (glycerol) and three fatty acids. Hence, the possibility of muscle turning into fat (or vice versa) is akin to an apple becoming an orange: There’s simply no mechanism for it to happen.
Bottom line: don’t let the “muscle-to-fat myth” deter you from lifting weights. The only thing that happens when you stop weight training is that you ultimately lose the muscle that you’d developed.
On the plus side, muscle has “memory” so it’s easier to get back that muscle when you re-start your routine!
Stay Fit!
Brad
Exercise, Fitness
December 9, 2008
“Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see…”
Nowhere are these words of wisdom more apt than in the fitness field. Fact is, anyone can hang a shingle on their door and call themselves a personal trainer or fitness expert. No knowledge of exercise required.The upshot: There are a lot of people out there perpetrating fitness myths that are at best misleading and at worst potentially dangerous. Here are three of the most common.
MYTH 1. You shouldn’t lift weights until you get down to your ideal body weight.
TRUTH: This myth is based on the premise that adding muscle if you’re overweight will make you look even fatter. This has resulted in a legion of people who try to diet their way to fat loss and just focus on cardio. Bad idea.
Fact is weight training helps to promote fat loss. Muscle mass increases your metabolic rate, which directly aids in the burning of fat as fuel. Studies have shown that for each pound of muscle added to your body, you burn an additional 30 to 50 calories a day at rest. Avoid weight training and your body actually cannibalizes its own muscle, suppressing metabolism and ultimately leading to a rebound effect.
Bottom line: If you want to lose weight and keep it off, lift weights! It’s essential to sustaining fat loss and even more important than cardiovascular exercise for long-term weight maintenance.
MYTH 2. Performing abdominal exercises will give you a flat stomach.
TRUTH: Watch late night TV and you’re bound to see an infomercial for some new ab blasting device that claims to whittle away your gut. Wishful thinking.
Fact is the body can’t selectively target fat on any part of your body, including the midsection. The only way to get a flat stomach is to strip away abdominal fat. This is accomplished by having a proper nutritional regimen, performing cardiovascular exercise to help burn calories, and increasing lean muscle to increase metabolism (see Myth 1).
Bottom line: Ab training will help to develop the abdominal muscles, but you’ll never see that “six pack” unless the fat in this area is stripped away.
MYTH 3. You should train your abdominals every day to get a “six pack”.
TRUTH: This fallacy goes hand-in-hand with Myth 2. It is widely believed that the abdominals exercises can and should be trained on a daily basis to achieve maximum results.
The fact is abdominals can be over-trained just like any other muscle group. Muscle tissue is actually broken down during training, and therefore needs adequate rest and recuperation in order to regenerate. When your abs are trained too frequently, the recovery process is shortchanged, resulting in diminished muscular development.
What’s more, your abdominals are worked indirectly while training other muscle groups. They are stabilizers for virtually every movement you perform. In effect, you get an ab workout every time you train with weights!
Bottom line: Considering these facts, you need only train your abs a maximum two or three times per week. Allow at least 48 hours between ab workouts. If you do not see proper results, train more intensely and/or use weighted abdominal exercises. Remember, it’s the quality of training -— not the quantity of training -— that produces results!
Stay Fit!
Brad
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