It’s fun to eavesdrop on
conversations about other people's exercise routines or listening to a personal
trainer giving weird advice to a client. Some of the strangest advice comes out
of information that floats around in gym conversations. Most of these tips and
tricks have been proven wrong or are not proven to be true at all.
Weird Fitness Tips
There is still a misconception that women should not
lift heavy weights or any weights at all. Lifting weights will “bulk” you up.
Certified personal trainers who know better state that women’s bodies are
different. There is not as much testosterone flowing through a woman’s body as
a man’s body. Unless you use supplements and increase your caloric intake
significantly, lifting weights will not cause women to gain excessive muscles
mass. The real truth, women, should consider adding some form of resistance
training to their exercise routines. Lifting weights provides important health
benefits. You hear this one all the time: “No pain, no gain.” This is a widely
accepted motivation tool, but it just bad advice. Exercising may result in
temporary discomfort or an uncomfortable feeling, but it should not leave you
writhing in pain.
A new trend is confusing
your muscles by constantly switching up your routine. The real truth? If you
change too many exercises too often, it is difficult to get better muscles and
adapt to any of those exercises. If you want to get stronger legs, for example,
doing a hundred different leg exercises in one session will not do you any
good. Exercise routines are called routines for a reason. Keep routines
consistent and don’t change up before you start to recognize some benefits.
Switch it up periodically.
Another odd piece of advice,
when you are doing squats, you should pick a spot on the ceiling to look at
during your exercise routine. Staring at one spot on the ceiling is a horrible
technique. It takes the spine out of a neutral position. When you have a
neutral spine, you are giving strength to movements. A neutral spine keeps your
back in better alignment.
Have your heard this one? Don’t drink water while
working out. Drinking water before and after is great, but water during
workouts is not so great. Wow! Hydrate during exercise. Don’t believe the “Old
Wives Tale” that drinking water while exercising might extinguish the “fire”
that starts in the belly while exercising. That is quite a funky fitness piece
of advice. There is a true story told about a woman who thought there was a
literal fire in her belly while she worked out. If she drank water, the fire
would go out.
A very interesting nutrition fitness tip is
“eat only fruit before noon.” This piece
of advice states that taking in only fruits and fruit juice in the morning will
positively affect calorie burn. This advice is terribly wrong. Balancing meals
and snacks with protein, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber is what delays blood
sugar spikes and crashes and gives you the right mix for energy. The idea that
eating only fruit is ridiculous, based on what science says the body requires.
You can’t
believe everything you read about exercise, nutrition and fitness. Weight loss
and fitness fads enter the media all the time. The best advice is to exercise
regularly and eat a balanced nutritional diet. Combine both diet and exercise
to help you become fit, and don’t listen to weird advice.
There is some strange "advice" out there. If you like to hear about all the cooky things people do to stay or get in shape check out my other project
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