12 Misconceptions about Exercise
1. Heavy weights bulk you up.
It had long been claimed that to gain muscle you needed to lift heavy weights. Science has now shown otherwise. Maximal strength benefits are obtained from the use of heavy loads while muscle hypertrophy (increased muscle size) can be equally achieved across a spectrum of loading ranges.
Women do not produce enough testosterone for enlargement to occur. In fact, only somebody types are genetically dispositioned to gain large muscle mass easily.
The best training split for muscle hypertrophy is a single muscle group per day. This is because it allows for maximum volume per muscle group with ample time for recovery (2-3 days). Research has shown that hypertrophy increases with the number of sets performed during exercise session 5-6 sets will have a greater impact than 3-4 sets. 7-8 (~28 sets) workouts per muscle group are ideal. This should be done with a higher intensity weight.
2. I don’t need to lose weight, so I don’t need to exercise.
Exercising to lose weight is different from exercising to get fit. Once you know all the benefits of being fit, you have to be absolutely crazy not to get moving. Exercise helps control your weight, strengthen bones and muscles, improve mental health and mood, and reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and even some cancers.
3. It’s too difficult.
This mindset is usually as a result of your lack of confidence to to do a particular exercise or routine. If you start thinking that you can achieve the task then you will. How many times before doing an exercise you consider as "hard" did you realize that after carrying it out it wasn't so hard as you had imagined? LOTS!! Now that you know that you can do it you continue trying harder.
4. If I stop working out, the muscles I’ve developed will turn to fat.
One cannot become the other. Physiologically speaking, they're two different tissues. Weight training helps build up the muscle tissue in and around any fat tissue.
On one hand, the best way to reduce fat tissue is to eat a healthy diet that incorporates vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats like those found in olive oil and fish. On the other hand, cutting back on your workout time will allow the developed muscle tissue to atrophy (shrink). The decreased muscle tone combined with new fat deposits (from lack of exercise) tend to give a softening appearance that muscle that has turned to fat.
5. To stay in shape, you only need to work out once or twice a week.
Once or twice a week is not optimal for sustained health benefits. 3-5 times a week is recommended to see results you've been waiting for. This frequency is the same for seemingly healthy or unhealthy individuals.
Once or twice a week is not optimal for sustained health benefits. 3-5 times a week is recommended to see results you've been waiting for. This frequency is the same for seemingly healthy or unhealthy individuals.
6. The best time to work out is first thing in the morning.
Find what works for you!
7. Exercise is the best way to lose weight.
Eat healthily! Don't assume that you can simply burn off whatever you eat through exercise. Losing weight always starts with changes in your diet. Diet plays a much bigger role than exercise as it relates to weight loss. So being active regularly is an important part of any healthy lifestyle.
8. Sit-ups are the best way to get 6-pack abs.
As opposed to sit-ups, which target only your abdominal muscles, planks recruit several muscles along your sides, front, and back. If you want a strong core you need to challenge all of these muscles. Having a visible six-pack is almost entirely a function of body fat and minimally a function of abdominal development.
We all have some slim friends who have shredded abdominals. Contrast, the weightlifters who have insanely strong core muscles but don’t sport a six-pack. Intuitively, we all know this but as soon as we start feeling pudgy we quickly turn to sit ups. Contrary to popular belief, training a muscle group will not burn fat locally. This means that doing ab exercises won’t burn fat from your midsection. Save yourself the wasted time and probable back pain — the best way to get a six-pack involves making better dietary choices and doing high-intensity interval training.
9. Sports drinks are the best way to re-hydrate after a workout.
Stick to plain water and high-protein snack post workout.
10. Warm-ups Aren’t Necessary
Many confuse stretching for warming up.
If people warm-up at all, they usually static stretch. Static stretching immediately before exercise can cause performance decrements related to power, speed and balance; it can also increase your risk of injury. Stretching can also cause a short-term decrease in musculotendinous stiffness. If joints are relying on this stiffness for force production or stability, this decrease can lead to undesired joint movements and eventually cause injury.
A dynamic warm-up consisting of joint mobility and muscle-activation exercises will take your joints through a full range of motion, increase the neural drive to the working muscles, increase the extensibility of commonly locked-up muscles, increase your circulatory rate, and increase your internal body temperature. This type of warm-up is ideal both in terms of performance and injury prevention.
11. You Can’t Go Too Heavy or Too Light
Lifting heavy weights that your muscles can't manage can cause injury and overcompensate with poor form. Conversely, lighter weights may not challenge your muscles and induce any kind of change.
12. Squatting is bad for your knees
There is a common misconception that performing squats with weights are damaging to the hips, knees, and back. Another gym myth is that squatting below parallel (where the crease of the hip is below the top of the knee joint) is especially harmful and should be avoided in training. However, research shows that squatting with a full range of motion increases hip extension torque with performance of deeper squats, meaning that as you squat lower the hips end up taking on more force than the knees or ankles. It has also been found that full-depth squats increase glute, erector spinae, and rectus femoris activation compared to partial squats. In other words, if you perform squats to full-depth it will decrease the related stress to your knees and increase muscle activation in the major muscle groups of your lower extremities and back.
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