Busting Fitness Myths

Posted on August 17, 2007 by Gerald Pugliese
Colette Bouchez of WebMD busts nine major fitness myths. This one about abdominal fitness is really good. I’m sure some people will be getting red-faced. Take a look:
Fitness Myth No. 2: Doing crunches or working on an "ab machine" will get rid of belly fat.


Don't believe everything you hear on those late-night infomercials! Harr says that while an ab-crunching device might "help strengthen the muscles around your midsection and improve your posture," being able to "see" your abdominal muscles has to do with your overall percentage of body fat. If you don't lose the belly fat, he says, you won't see the ab muscles.

But can doing ab crunches help you to lose that belly fat? Experts say no.

"You can’t pick and choose areas where you’d like to burn fat," says Phil Tyne, director of the fitness center at the Baylor Tom Landry Health & Wellness Center in Dallas. So crunches aren't going to target weight loss in that area.

"In order to burn fat, you should create a workout that includes both cardiovascular and strength-training elements. This will decrease your overall body fat content," including the area around your midsection, he says.
Tags: ,

Weightlifting and Health

Posted on August 2, 2007 by Gerald Pugliese
Considering I spent thirty-minutes lifting weights this morning, this report makes me smile. Howard Schneider of The Washington Post explains weightlifting is an important part of everyone’s workout. Read on:
You can now add weightlifting to the creeping set of obligations. It's not explicit in the government's overall guidelines, but the more detailed suggestions from agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend a couple of rounds of resistance training each week. (And that includes you cardio junkies out there because aaaallllll thaaaaatttt time on the treadmill won't guarantee that you can sit up straight when 27 becomes 77.)


This won't make a lot of us happy. The basic exercise recommendations are pretty easy to cope with: Take a walk. Ride a bike. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Weightlifting, on the other hand, conjures the threat of being stuck next to some grunting mesomorph who will one day be governor. The chance of injury is greater. The advice gets confusing and may include a lecture about how, if you don't disrupt the Z lines between your sarcomeres, it's a waste of time.

It's manageable, however, if you understand some basics. The reason there is so much varying advice -- over what exercises to do, how frequently and how intensely -- is that this is an enterprise that should be tailored to your goals and your body. Cardio focuses on training just one muscle, the heart. There are more than 600 others that need attention.
For more on exercise, enjoy these posts:
Tags: ,