If you’re already killing it at the gym but is still not attaining the results that you want, then something must be totally off. Chances are, you may have fallen victim to bad fitness advice. In fact, it’s so easy to gain access to information these days, all thanks to technology. Unfortunately, not all those available
information are always accurate. Also, new research
es are now overturning those long held beliefs
about the best ways to workout and get your body in
to shape. But don’t worry, here are some new
fitness updates that you can try to get a fitter an
d slimmer body.
1.Myth: Crunches are the way to flat abs
Yes, crunches may be the most iconic core exercise around, but it’s actually not the best way to slim down your midsection. Crunches don’t burn a lot of calories, ergo; it doesn’t help that much in terms of fat loss. And while it can indeed tone a portion of your abs, the moves that involve your distal trunk
(this includes your butt and shoulders) are more effective in engaging your entire core muscles. Therefore, you’ll shrink the size of your waist far more dramatically if you do bridges and planks instead of just crunches. And if you are doing crunches, ensure that you employ proper form, otherwise you’ll risk
injuring your neck and spine if you place them in a
painful curved position.
2. Myth: The More you sweat, the more fats you burn.
If you’re particularly drenched after your regular afternoon jog, that won’t necessarily mean that you’ve burned more than the usual amount of calories for the day. Producing sweat is what your body does in order to regulate your internal temperature and is also a means of cooling your skin.
3. Myth: Running is detrimental to your knees.
The Stanford University has conducted a research which concluded that runners’ knees are no less healthy than those of people who aren’t runners. But while landing on the pavement is much safer on one’s joints compared to other contact sports like
football, it cannot be considered as totally harmless.
In this case, women are more at risk (4-6 times more likely) to having serious knee injuries from running than men, mainly due to the imbalance in women’s strength ratio between their hamstrings and quadriceps, which effectively increases the risks of ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injuries. To prevent this, experts recommend performing a total body workout at least twice per week in addition to your regular runs in order to build and strengthen your muscles that support your knees. This will improve your running experience and reduce your likelihood
of getting injured.
4. Myth: Stretching can facilitate faster recovery of your body post-workout.
If stretching post workout makes you feel good, then by all means, continue doing so. However, a recent study on the effects of post-workout recovery options conducted at the University of Milan has shown that the said methods do not create any significant changes in the blood lactate levels of people who tend to stretch post-exercising. Blood lactate levels is a measure of how tired muscles are, and while stretching may not totally lessen your muscle soreness or speed up your muscle tissue repair, it still has some good benefits. Stretching right after workout
is the best way to increase one’s flexibility.
5. Myth: You need to sweat it out for at least 45 minutes in order for you to enjoy the health benefits it can offer.
Even if you only have 5-10 minutes to spare each day–that can be enough for you to boost your cardio health. Recently, more and more studies are pointing to the massive health benefits of doing short workouts; some even suggest that a quickie workout
session may be a good way to go. But while these short exercise bouts are enough to keep your health in good shape generally, it is still advisable for you to get active most days of the week if you wish to lose some excess poundage. A good recommendation
would be to shoot for at least doing 250 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week to achieve
that ultimate slim-down success.
