Sometimes, we gymbugs think that we know everything about health and exercise just because we attend lots of Body Attack, Body Combat, Body Pump, Yoga or RPM. Truth is, most of us still believe in certain common misconceptions and trust me, I heard these many, many times from many avid gym goers before:
1. Muscle weighs more than fat.
Have you ever come across this scenario before (you or your friends): you hit the gym and been exercising for quite sometime trying to loose weight. You did see some difference after few weeks of hard work; you looked healthier, leaner and toner, but when you stepped on the weigh-scale, DANG!, you're not loosing as much weigh as you expected! In fact you just shed off few dissapointing kgs only. How can this be? You looked good, you looked slimer but how come you're not loosing much? Your gymbug friend said, no worries mate. This thing happen cause you have more muscle now and muscle actually weighs more than fat.
True or False: FALSE
Why: Does 1kg of steel weighs more than 1kg of wool? No, it weighs the same regardless what material it's made of. The same applies to fat & muscle. If you loose 1kg of fat and you replace it with 1kg of muscle, of course your bodyweight won't change as much. 'Then how come I look sleeker & smaller when my bodyweight doesn't change?', you ask. Easy. Muscle is much more denser than fat. This means a kilo of muscle takes up a lesser room than a kilo of fat. That's why you look slimer and much more toned :)
2. You can eat anything you want as long as you exercise.
I always believe in this. I want this to be true, badly. I teach classes and I run, so I cannot control my food intake or else I'll faint while exercising. So I should be one of the lucky ones who can eat anything cause I exercise regularly, right?
True or False: FALSE
Why: What's the point of exercising when soon after that you pig out on junk foods and unhealthy foods? It all has to be balance: your work out regimes, your eating habits & your resting periods. The key is to eat healthy. A balanced diet of healthy food can fuel your body up sufficiently so that you'll have adequate energy for your regular workouts. Being a crazy gym freak, of course you can still look gorgeous and supermodelsz even when you eat Big Mac or KFC everyday, but these kind of food will deposit its fat around your bodily organs as visceral fat and you don't even know it until it's too late. This type of fat is not the type that you can see on the outside. You may look phisycally awesome but God knows how sick you are on the inside if you choose to follow your Eat Anthing diet.
3. Women who lift weights become muscular & masculine.
I disagree on this. But funny enough, there are still women and men out there who think that this is true.
True or False: FALSE
Why: Those muscular body-builder giants we see on TV got their enoumous physics from their intensive & gruelling workouts, by eating truckloads of calories and taking multiple advanced dietary suppliments. Strength training won't turn a lady into a freakish big goon. On contrary, it'll help us ladies to build up muscle, increase muscle strength and improve bone mass which naturally decreases susceptibility to osteoporosis. On other hand, muscle is also a great fat burner. It is highly metabolically active and therefore increases highly caloric burn.
4. The more we exercise, the better.
I never believe in this. But there are still lots of my gymbug friends swear this works for them.
True or False: FALSE
Depends on what you want and what your goal is really. If you want to grow muscle, then you have to rest. Muscle will only grow if you rest. Even if you don't want to grow muscle, exercising everyday or overtrain yourself won't do any good to your body in any way. You will only be exposing yourself to injuries and excess fatigue due to too much training. Plan your workout and allow rest time in between.
5. Morning cardio on an empty stomach sheds more fat.
Strangely enough, I think I've heard this one from a Personal Trainer before. I wonder if it's true. I never do my morning runs without my light breakie so far. I don't think I can anyway.
True or False: INCONCLUSIVE
Why: There's still no scientific evidence to prove the morning fat-burning theory so far. There's also a chance for you to loose your energy pretty quickly and thus decresing the quality of your workout, if you still choose to exercise on empty stomach. Do eat something digestible, say a banana, before morning workouts so your muscles & body have enough energy for the whole workout.
6. Stretching before exercise is best.
I always believe in this one. I believe good stretchings before and after work out is vital and would help prevent injuries. I always belive that stretching is fundamental because it'll help your mind and body to be prepare for the upcoming workout.
True or False: INCONCLUSIVE
There is still no scientific evidance showing the relation between stretching and injury reduction. Most stretchings involves the lengthening and the holding of muscles for certain period of time. It may increase your flexibility but it will not make it more powerful. It neither guarantees you to have a no-injury workout nor making you a stronger sportsman. However, dynamic stretching can help to prepare your mind and muscles before a certain activity. Dynamic stretching involves various ranges of active motions at various speeds of movements. So if you want to strech before your workout next time, think dynamic :)
7. Fast eaters get fat easily.
I don't believe this. Where is the connection between eating-speed and waistline-expansion? Nonsense!
True or False: TRUE
A survey conducted in Japan found that those who ate their meals quickly were about twice likely to be obese as their slow-munching counterparts. Bad bad bad news for me :(. People who ate quickly and who ate until they were full were 3 times more likely to be obese (not true! not true!). The research also found that people tend to consume more calories when they eat quickly. So next time, eat slowly ok. Huhuhuu..
1. Muscle weighs more than fat.
Have you ever come across this scenario before (you or your friends): you hit the gym and been exercising for quite sometime trying to loose weight. You did see some difference after few weeks of hard work; you looked healthier, leaner and toner, but when you stepped on the weigh-scale, DANG!, you're not loosing as much weigh as you expected! In fact you just shed off few dissapointing kgs only. How can this be? You looked good, you looked slimer but how come you're not loosing much? Your gymbug friend said, no worries mate. This thing happen cause you have more muscle now and muscle actually weighs more than fat.
True or False: FALSE
Why: Does 1kg of steel weighs more than 1kg of wool? No, it weighs the same regardless what material it's made of. The same applies to fat & muscle. If you loose 1kg of fat and you replace it with 1kg of muscle, of course your bodyweight won't change as much. 'Then how come I look sleeker & smaller when my bodyweight doesn't change?', you ask. Easy. Muscle is much more denser than fat. This means a kilo of muscle takes up a lesser room than a kilo of fat. That's why you look slimer and much more toned :)
2. You can eat anything you want as long as you exercise.
I always believe in this. I want this to be true, badly. I teach classes and I run, so I cannot control my food intake or else I'll faint while exercising. So I should be one of the lucky ones who can eat anything cause I exercise regularly, right?
True or False: FALSE
Why: What's the point of exercising when soon after that you pig out on junk foods and unhealthy foods? It all has to be balance: your work out regimes, your eating habits & your resting periods. The key is to eat healthy. A balanced diet of healthy food can fuel your body up sufficiently so that you'll have adequate energy for your regular workouts. Being a crazy gym freak, of course you can still look gorgeous and supermodelsz even when you eat Big Mac or KFC everyday, but these kind of food will deposit its fat around your bodily organs as visceral fat and you don't even know it until it's too late. This type of fat is not the type that you can see on the outside. You may look phisycally awesome but God knows how sick you are on the inside if you choose to follow your Eat Anthing diet.
3. Women who lift weights become muscular & masculine.
I disagree on this. But funny enough, there are still women and men out there who think that this is true.
True or False: FALSE
Why: Those muscular body-builder giants we see on TV got their enoumous physics from their intensive & gruelling workouts, by eating truckloads of calories and taking multiple advanced dietary suppliments. Strength training won't turn a lady into a freakish big goon. On contrary, it'll help us ladies to build up muscle, increase muscle strength and improve bone mass which naturally decreases susceptibility to osteoporosis. On other hand, muscle is also a great fat burner. It is highly metabolically active and therefore increases highly caloric burn.
4. The more we exercise, the better.
I never believe in this. But there are still lots of my gymbug friends swear this works for them.
True or False: FALSE
Depends on what you want and what your goal is really. If you want to grow muscle, then you have to rest. Muscle will only grow if you rest. Even if you don't want to grow muscle, exercising everyday or overtrain yourself won't do any good to your body in any way. You will only be exposing yourself to injuries and excess fatigue due to too much training. Plan your workout and allow rest time in between.
5. Morning cardio on an empty stomach sheds more fat.
Strangely enough, I think I've heard this one from a Personal Trainer before. I wonder if it's true. I never do my morning runs without my light breakie so far. I don't think I can anyway.
True or False: INCONCLUSIVE
Why: There's still no scientific evidence to prove the morning fat-burning theory so far. There's also a chance for you to loose your energy pretty quickly and thus decresing the quality of your workout, if you still choose to exercise on empty stomach. Do eat something digestible, say a banana, before morning workouts so your muscles & body have enough energy for the whole workout.
6. Stretching before exercise is best.
I always believe in this one. I believe good stretchings before and after work out is vital and would help prevent injuries. I always belive that stretching is fundamental because it'll help your mind and body to be prepare for the upcoming workout.
True or False: INCONCLUSIVE
There is still no scientific evidance showing the relation between stretching and injury reduction. Most stretchings involves the lengthening and the holding of muscles for certain period of time. It may increase your flexibility but it will not make it more powerful. It neither guarantees you to have a no-injury workout nor making you a stronger sportsman. However, dynamic stretching can help to prepare your mind and muscles before a certain activity. Dynamic stretching involves various ranges of active motions at various speeds of movements. So if you want to strech before your workout next time, think dynamic :)
7. Fast eaters get fat easily.
I don't believe this. Where is the connection between eating-speed and waistline-expansion? Nonsense!
True or False: TRUE
A survey conducted in Japan found that those who ate their meals quickly were about twice likely to be obese as their slow-munching counterparts. Bad bad bad news for me :(. People who ate quickly and who ate until they were full were 3 times more likely to be obese (not true! not true!). The research also found that people tend to consume more calories when they eat quickly. So next time, eat slowly ok. Huhuhuu..
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