Exercise- Get your facts right!

Article by Rubina Sushil

Hi There!

“I didn’t lose an inch of the tummy tyre despite doing 100 crunches every day for the last 2 months.”

“I sweat a lot during exercise, see how many toxins I got rid of!”

“No pain, no gain”.

“I haven’t lost weight even after doing all kinds of workouts for the past 2 months.”

“I should never lift weights. It will make me bulky.”

“I burnt 200 calories on the treadmill today!”

Sound familiar? These are some comments we commonly hear from those who have been trying all kinds of exercise without any visible results. Here is where they went wrong.

Doing ab crunches will not help you lose belly fat

Focusing on a particular area alone will never give you the results simply because you can’t pick and choose areas where you’d like to burn fat. The fat burning takes place overall. To decrease your overall body fat content you should create a workout that includes both cardiovascular and strength-training elements. 

Sweat has nothing to do with toxins

Sweat glands sit in the skin and aren't connected to other systems in the body, so they have nothing to do with waste elimination.  All that's in perspiration is water, salt and a smattering of electrolytes. The only role of perspiration is to keep us cool. So do keep yourself hydrated at all times and eat a healthy diet to get rid of toxins.

No pain, no gain

Exercise smart, not hard. If you’ve been told that your workout isn’t complete till it is so intense that you feel pain, its wrong information. A feeling of discomfort may arise during the workout, which is ok. But stop immediately if you feel pain. It means that you are at risk of injuries or burnout.

Weight shouldn’t be the barometer for fitness

Regular exercise may not necessarily lead to weight loss. This may sound pointless because our idea of starting exercise was in any case related to weight loss. It should rather be- to get healthier. Even if you haven’t lost weight, you have definitely gained in health by reducing risk factors such as blood sugar level. Regular exercises and a healthy diet will eventually improve your health as well as bring your weight to the optimum level.

Strength training helps decrease body fat

Ladies worry that lifting weights will make them bulky. The fact is that the harmones in women prevent them from building large amount of bulk. Strength training not only helps decrease body fat, it increases lean muscle mass and burns calories more efficiently.

Don’t go by the calorie count on the machine

Machines are vague. Every individual has a different calculation for calories burnt during exercise. It depends on the sex, weight and the metabolism level of the individual. Of course every machine doesn’t ask that. Its wise therefore not to depend on those numbers displayed on the machine.

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