Fitness Tip of the Day: Friday's Facts and Findings

I want to make Fridays about giving information from legitimate sources.  One of my go to sources is IdeaFit.com (Idea Health and Fitness Association).  This is a site for fitness pros, but many of the articles can be viewed by anyone.  While browsing I came across an article that I thought would be worth sharing.  It is entitled 10 Exercise Myths

I think it's also worth addressing the two myths mentioned in the introduction paragraph.  No pain, no gain-- I think most of us know that this is really bad advice.  I think it was originally meant to be about the burning sensation and fatigue you get in your muscles when you work them--which is actually not a bad thing.  In order to build muscle small tears are actually created in the muscle fibers causing some muscle soreness.  When these tears are repaired by the body (which is why you should let the body rest for 24-48 hours between strength training workouts) the muscles get bigger and stronger.  You never, however want to feel sharp pain in a muscle or joint while performing any exercise, or soreness for more than a day or two--this is a red flag for injury.

The other myth has to do with spot reducing.  You cannot spot reduce, period.  You will not get rid of your gut by doing hundreds and hundreds of sit ups. The only way to burn fat off the body is through burning calories.  You can, however spot tone or spot strengthen.  If you want stronger and/or more toned arms or legs you can achieve that through strength training.  However, if there is a layer of fat on top of those muscles, that has to be burned off via some type of cardio work, which is why it's important to do a combo of both types of exercise.  Bottom line, in order to lose weight and body fat, you have to burn more calories than you consume.

I'm sure I will be posting more articles from this source in the future.  You can like them on facebook, or pin articles to pinterest if you are interested in reading/learning more.