Top Ten Exercise Myths
 

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WOOHOO!! :dance: Thank you Meg :bravo: ....

Hey thanks for sharing the myths. I didn't know some of these things were myths. Again Thanks!

Just out of curiosity Cat, which ones did you think were truths?

Thanks, Meg, that was really helpful! I admit that I had fallen for #3, lol. Thanks for clearing that up :)

I also thought #3 was true until a few days ago.

Hi,

Thanks for the info! I am just starting to get back on the wagon after a few years of letting my self go.

I have been doing Atkins with my husband for about a month now and he is loosing weight like crazy and I have lost hardly any. I really think it's because he is so much more active then I am.

I work from home sitting on my butt all day with no exercise. So today for the first time in abut 3 years I went on my treadmill. I only did 16 minutes but hope to increase my time as I get more into shape.

I am a little worried though that if I don't do 30 minutes that it won't do me any good? Hopefully some exercise is better then none.

Thanks for listening and if anyone has any advice let me know I am all ears! Thanks! Feffyy :)

Sorry,

Just trying to get my tracker to show up :)

sorry still trying to figure this tracker thing out. LOL

http://www.3fatchicks.net/img/heartb...5/140/259/.png

feffyy -- You're right a little exercise is better than none, keep it up!!

Feffyy

Let's call yours myth #11

Your workout must be for at least 30 minutes.
Absolutely not true. Every thing counts~

Good to see you on the mill. I made that step only a couple of weeks back and now I feel great.

Meg,
Thanks for the myth-busting, that was great information!! I have a question for you....:?:
Is it true that if you exercise in the morning that you will burn more calories all day??

I remember reading that somewhere, but I am not sure if it is accurate info.

Thanks!
Darcy

Darcy - I've read differing opinions. If it is true, the effect is so small to be almost negligble. We all lead such busy lives that the important thing is just to fit in exercise whenever we can! :D

Thanks Meg! You are absolutely right about finding time to fit it in! Some days I feel like the demands on my time will never end, so I always try to fit it in first thing in the AM, before my kids wake up.
Thanks again for the info!
Darcy

I have been wondering about this for quite some time...
When should you exercise- before or after you eat, does it even matter? If it does matter, how much time should you allow after/before you eat/exercise?

I try to always eat an hour to 2 hours before I exercise and then eat again within an hour after working out. Although if I workout at 5am I will not eat before leaving, but will eat when I come back home. I think it just depends on you... Some people can't take eating so close to a workout, some like me can. I always eat something healthy like oatmeal and eggwhites before a workout afterwards I like to have a whey protein shake with strawberries :hun: I also take my vitamins at that time too...

Thanks!!! I am new to this site & I have just started to change my eating and exercise habits for the better. So I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question.

You know what suprises me, is that some of these myths might be considered truths if u ask most people. I thought these were already killed off in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, burned, cursed, and buried. I'm not that old so if they were killed even before then, it couldn't shock any more.

Okay... this IS the same as muscle weighing more than fat. Of course a
pound of each weighs the same... BUT if as you said a pound of muscle takes up 1/3 the space then it DOES indeed weigh more than fat even though they weigh the same. A 6" square blob of muscle weighs MUCH more than does a 6" square blob of fat. So if you have the same number of pounds of muscle you will be much smaller than if you have the same number of pounds of fat.

Saying that "muscle weighs more than fat" is IMO NOT saying that muscle weighs more than fat ... it is saying that the same SIZE of one weighs more than the other, which is in fact true. So even if muscle does't weigh more than fat, it does indeed weigh more than fat!!

Same way a bowling ball weighs more than a balloon. :) Muscle DOES weigh more than fat!! :dance: Sure the same number of POUNDS of balloons will weigh the same but they sure won't be the same size!

Also... if cardio does not build muscle -- how did I develop such nice muscles in my calves and thighs when until recently ALL I was doing for exercise was aerobic walking? :) Believe me they are THERE... I can SEE and FEEL them!!

Go ahead and lift :strong: ... I know you'll be SO happy with the results!

Thanks for that info!!

Bumped for Jilly.

ALL weight-bearing exercises build muscles. Your legs will absolutely look wonderful if you're involved in a walking program.

I recently purchased a heart rate monitor to that I could keep my training heart rate in the low end (94 to 111) to increase fat loss. I read the exercise heart rate charts at the gym and did some internet research and learned that "for optimum fat loss...make sure that you exercise in such a way that as many of the calories that you burn come from stored fat as is possible." You do this by keeping your heart rate in the fat burning zone (55% to 65%) and exercise for 45 - 60 minutes for 4 to 5 times a week. However, you also have to carefully monitor your calorie and fat intake. You have to burn more calories than you take in and eat a relatively low fat diet. Walking is an excellent form of exercise to use for maximum fat burning. Higher intensity exercise burns more calories in a shorter time period, but this type of exercise strengthens your heart. The source I read stated that "another nice thing about exercising at a rate that will give you maximum fat loss is that once you lose the fat you'll be in much better shape to use your aerobic exercise for strengthening your heart even more."

I have a LOT of stored fat. For me, exercising in the lower heart rate zone is more comfortable and I'm more apt to keep going to the gym and exercising if it isn't so taxing on my body. I know that when the fat comes off, and I feel lighter, that I'll be ready to increase the intensity. Fat loss does NOT equal weight loss. We're talking body composition here. All in all, I guess it's not as important as to how intense you work out, but that you do work out, and you do it consistently.

Just my point of view! :)

hehe i was actually going to say the same thing :D
but other than this one, the other ones are good^^
just one little thing though on number 6,
if you exercise in the morning before eating anything, you will start burning stored fat, so it's actually good to exercise, after that wait an hour to eat because you're still burning fat after the exercise. it's also good to exercise for example in the evening, in that way you'll burn the calories you've been eating that day, but better yet is to do both :P

3. You burn more fat by exercising longer at a lower intensity – the myth of the ’fat-burning zone’.
No, we burn a higher percentage of fat as a fuel source when working at lower intensities, but we burn more total calories when exercising at higher intensities. At the end of the day, it’s calories in versus calories out that matters.


Of course burning calories will cause a shift in your weight...But you DO burn more fat at lower intensities or in the fat burning zone. (you said it yourself, higher percentage). And the "myth" you wrote was in relation to fat, not calories. So, if you want to burn more calories and lose more weight at a higher intensity than your zone, well, you are losing muscle as well...

...Think of it this way...Who has the more lean muscle mass. Sprinters or long-distance runners? Sprinters...Long-distance runners appear thin, but have a much higher fat content due to running at higher intensities for prolonged period of times. Sprinters have lean healthy muscle mass and don't waste their muscle stores.

Hi Babybee and welcome to 3FC! :welcome3:

I think you're misunderstanding a little bit about the so-called fat burning zone. We're talking about fat versus carbs as a source of fuel here, not fat versus muscle. At low intensities, you burn a higher percent of fat as fuel but fewer overall calories. At higher intensities, you burn a greater percent of carbs (not muscle) as fuel but a far greater number of calories (including fat calories) overall.

You actually burn the highest percent of fat -- almost 100%! -- while you're flat on your back in bed, but it's hard to argue that it's a great weight loss workout. :lol:

The fat-burning zone is a myth that was created by the cardio machine manufacturers who took that bit of science and misapplied it. My NASM personal trainers textbook devoted a whole subsection of the cardio chapter to debunking precisely this issue. But you don't have to believe me (or NASM) -- just google "myth of the fat burning zone" and see what you find. :)

The way to maintain and build your muscle mass while losing weight is to weight train (lift weights, resistance training). Low intensity cardio exercise won't preserve muscle any better than high intensity, unfortunately.

All the research that's coming out shows that high intensity interval training is the best cardio for fat loss. EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) is elevated for a much longer time than after slow, steady state cardio and the studies show a greater fat loss over time.

Actually (elite) marathoners spend the bulk of their running time at what would be considered low-med intensity. Their muscles are smaller, true, but that is because they do endurance weight training (high rep, low weight) if they weight train - because building muscle mass beyond a certain point is detrimental to endurance running.

Sprinters have bigger muscles because they spend the time in the gym building them, because the power of explosive muscle is worth the weight for short distances. And they spend far greater time in the high intensity zones than marathoners.

3. You burn more fat by exercising longer at a lower intensity – the myth of the ’fat-burning zone’.
No, we burn a higher percentage of fat as a fuel source when working at lower intensities, but we burn more total calories when exercising at higher intensities. At the end of the day, it’s calories in versus calories out that matters.

That is a great one to know, I always wondered about that fat burning zone stuff. Thanks Meg!

Great info, thanks!

I can't believe how wrong I was. Some of this stuff my high school gym teachers have gotten wrong too. thanks!

"4. If the scale goes up a few pounds when you begin exercising, it’s due to adding muscle.
No, it’s generally due to water retention from sore muscles or changed eating habits. You won’t build muscle doing cardio exercise, so starting a biking, walking, or elliptical program won’t result in a muscle gain. Strength-training will add muscle, but it takes considerable time and hard work for a woman to add even a few pounds of muscle. And muscle doesn’t ‘weigh more than fat’ – a pound of muscle is smaller and denser than a pound of fat and takes up about 1/3 the space, but the two weigh the same amount."

This one has driven me insane for years. I so often hear folks tell someone who's not losing "you're putting on muscle and it weighs more than fat" I so totally didn't believe that and now here you are to rebuke the idea. Thank you!

It's really good to have the myths out there so we have to look ourselves in the eye and be honest about what we are doing.

The whole gaining weight after starting to exercise thing happened to me! I was so upset until I talked to my meeting leader who told me exactly what you wrote that basically you may gain the first week or two after starting an exercise program.

Of course, after that I came home and googled it!:)

Last year I walked 1.5 miles from my house to the boardwalk downtown EVERY DAY for the entire summer to sit and knit, then my husband would come pick me up and drive me home. I didn't lose ANY WEIGHT. None. But I lost dress sizes. I could fit into my jeans better, and people commented on how I looked like I was losing weight.

I just read here that fat doesn't turn into muscles, and that muscle doesn't weigh more than fat... how can this be?

Over the fall and winter, I stopped walking and although my weight hasn't changed, I can't fit into my jeans anymore and have had to start wearing my stretch slacks and skirts again...

I would bet dollars to doughnuts that when I start walking again (I am starting back up today, thanks to this forum's support) that I will again be able to fit into my jeans but wont lose any weight....

How do I lose weight on my walking routine?

I weigh 320 lbs. and am 5'8'' tall... if that gives you any info you need to help me solve this riddle...

1) How do you lose weight on your walking routine? Eat less

2) Fat doesn't turn into muscle, you can build muscle and you can lose fat at the same time. Also, sometimes our bodies will hold onto water when we are losing fat that will result in the scale staying the same.

3) A lb of muscle weighs a lb. A lb of fat weighs a lb. A lb of muscle takes up less room than a lb of fat.

Meg - I like this post! As someone always looking for new exercise tips, knowing what NOT to do is also a big help! I always struggle with lifting weights - what is the correct ratio - in order to tone you do more reps with lighter weights or is that for building muscle? I can never keep it straight - how do you find the right numbers for your goal?

I also like #9 - it's very true of course, but for me, the more I work out, the hungrier I get! Thank goodness for my protein smoothies :)

This was great. Thanks for sharing.

I believe at least a couple of hours should pass between a heavy meal and exercise, but it's good to have a little carb just before your workout, as one of your snacks for the day. Then protein right after is good.

Meg - thanks for the myth list! For me, #3 was also unclear before.