The Truth About Fitness

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The Truth About Fitness

• Separating Fitness Fact
• From Fiction

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The root of fitness myths

• Inaccurately performed scientific studies
• Special ad reports
• Field studies
• MONEY

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The problem with these myths? The cost

• Some myths are just harmless half-truths, but
  many others can actually be harmful
• Dont spend your hard-earned money buying into
  the hype!

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American SpendingNutritional Supplements

• 5.5 billion annually on health foods and
  beverages
• 17 billion annually on dietary supplements

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American SpendingVideos, books, programs

• 444 million on books
• Almost 250 million exercise videos sold annually
• 6.1 million Americans utilized the services of a
  personal training
• Results not...typical ?!

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American SpendingExercise equipment

• 500 Million each year in personal gym equipment
  (more than 50 of that amount is on abdominal
  equipment!)
• You get what you pay for (most of the time)
• What did the models use to get into shape?

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American SpendingHealth club memberships

• 12 Billion each year on health club memberships
  at more than 17,000 clubs!
• Why pay for services and amenities you do not use?

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Why do we accept the fiction?

• Tremendous marketing they make it look so easy
  and effective!
• Americans are impatient
• The secret is out! We want to believe there is
  a top secret way to get fit that only a select
  few know about
• We (Americans) believe we can buy anything

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The truth is...

• Fitness
• is
• basically
• simple!

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Requirements for getting in shape and weight
management

• Time
• minimal
• Commitment
• Dedicate yourself
• Game plan
• Well thought-out
• Based on fact

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TOP 10

• FITNESS
• MYTHS

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Myth 1

• You can spot-reduce an area by exercising it more
  frequently and with greater intensity

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The truth is

• We wish! You can condition muscles and spot
  increase with weight training, however you cant
  pick and choose areas where youd like to burn
  fat. Remember, the first place you store fat is
  typically the last place you burn it off.

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Myth 2

• Long, low-intensity aerobic work is best for
  burning fat you need to stay in the fat burning
  zone

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The truth is

• This is a typical misinterpretation of scientific
  data. Although exercising at a lower intensity
  consumes a slightly higher percentage of calories
  from fat, the bottom line is the total number of
  calories burned. Additionally, exercising at a
  higher intensity levels provides other health and
  fitness benefits.

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Myth 3

• Weight training will make a woman bulk up too
  much and start to look masculine.

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The truth is

• This is still one of the most common exercise
  myths around. Weight training will typically have
  the opposite effect on women. One pound of muscle
  takes up less space than one pound of fat and it
  also burns more calories. Weight training will
  shrink your measurements, make you leaner and
  help you firm up problem areas as well as help
  prevent osteoporosis!

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Myth 4

• If youre not working up a sweat youre not
  working hard enough.

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The truth is

• Sweating is not necessarily an indicator of
  exertion its your bodys way of cooling off.
  Its possible to burn a significant number of
  calories without breaking a sweat.

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Myth 5

• When it comes to working out, youve got to feel
  some pain if youre going to gain any
  benefits...No Pain, No Gain!

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The truth is

• Of all the fitness myths ever to have surfaced,
  experts agree that this one holds the most
  potential for harm. While you should expect to
  have some degree of soreness a day or two after
  working out, thats very different from feeling
  pain while you are working out. Learn to
  differentiate between pain and discomfort.

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Myth 6

• If you dont exercise hard and often youre
  wasting your time.

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The truth is

• Nothing could be farther from the truth.
  Research shows that even moderate exercise such
  as walking and gardening a few times a week can
  have significant benefits. Three exercise
  sessions of ten minutes each per day will provide
  many of the same benefits as one continuous 30
  minute session.

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Myth 7

• If you exercise you can eat just about anything
  you want.

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The truth is

• If you try to make up for poor nutrition by
  exercising, you are going to be very
  disappointed. While eating poorly and not
  exercising is far worse for your health than
  eating poorly and exercising, you will get the
  most out of your workouts if you fuel them with
  high-quality foods.

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Myth 8

• A high protein diet builds muscle.

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The truth is

• Exercise builds muscle. Protein is used to help
  repair the damage to the muscle from exercise or
  overexertion. Protein by itself will not build
  muscle there must be a stimulus and that
  stimulus is exercise specifically, weight
  training.

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Myth 9

• Use light weight and high reps if you want
  definition

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The truth is

• Dietary habits are the key to the lean muscular
  look more so than training. Lifting lighter
  weights for a higher number of repetitions will
  help develop endurance however it contributes
  less to the lean cut look than heavier weight
  training.

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Myth 10

• If you stop exercising your muscle will turn to
  fat.

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The truth is

• Fat and muscle are two different tissue types
  one cannot convert to the other. The truth is
  that muscles atrophy (shrink) when not used.
  Therefore, if you continue to eat as you always
  have, but stop exercising, you will see an
  increase in body fat and a loss of muscle mass.

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How do you spot the myths?

• Unrealistic results
• Minimal time requirements
• Results not typical
• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

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So who or what can you trust?

• Studies conducted by reputable organizations
• Experienced, trained fitness professionals
• Your own experiences
• Your COMMON SENSE!

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What do you need?

• Just the facts
• Research
• Consult a trainer
• Flex your mental muscle

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Additional information

• www.uams.edu/gethealthy
• russell_at_uams.edu
• www.acsm.org
• www.acefitness.com
• Call me at 526-7650