Fitness Myths and Facts - Part II

This is the continuation of my earlier post on Fitness Myths and Facts Part I. In this part I have once again busted five more myths that you might have come across. When it comes to health and fitness, we hear a lot of things from a lot of people we come across. Some will tell us from their experiences and some will tell us what they have heard from others. Some of it will be true and some of it will be false. There are a lot of health and fitness myths and facts. Let’s have a look at Part II…

Myth – The more you sweat, the faster you lose fat weight.

Fact – This is a misconception among the majority of people who exercise. They believe that sweating will help them lose weight faster. I have seen people in the gym insisting on putting off the AC and some don’t even want the fan, simply because they think that it will stop them from losing weight. What they do not understand is, they are actually losing a lot of water. And the weight loss that they see on the weighing scale after that kind of a workout comes from loss of water and not the fat. There is another drawback to this. People working out in hot condition get fatigue sooner while doing light intensity. To all the people who were doing this, the next time you workout, put on that fan, AC, open those windows and you will feel/see the difference.   

Myth – You can eat anything if you’re exercising.

Fact – Well, I have heard of this one a lot of times. Many exercisers think that since they exercise 5-6 days a week, they can eat anything. Let me tell you that you are doing nothing good to your body. Eating right kind of food is very important. I would say it is more important than exercises. Eating right and exercising only thrice a week is better than eating anything and exercising everyday. Eating right kind of food items plays an important role in an individual’s Body fat percentage because no matter how many days you workout, the food that is not nutritious will be stored as fats. 

Myth – Smoking helps in weight loss.

Fact – Smoking can lead to weight loss because the nicotine acts as an appetite suppressant. So you don’t feel like eating and you end up losing weight but it is a very unhealthy way to lose weight. It is like removing one of your organs to reduce your weight but you would not consider doing those things, would you? Smoking is a harmful way to lose weight. Instead start exercising because most exercises depresses appetite. When you exercise, fat is broken down and released into the bloodstream. This acts as a built-in appetite depressant. This makes you want to eat less. I just gave you a better idea of losing weight, so…

Myth – Beer/Alcohol helps put on weight.

Fact – Let me tell you a little something before I start. Years ago when I got a job as a personal trainer at this most famous gym in my town, I came across this senior trainer who advised his client to drink beers/alcohol because the client was not happy with his weight gain program. I interrupted and advised the client not to do it. Well, later on I realized that the trainer was not a certified trainer. See, how important it is to train under a professional? Ok let’s get started with the beer and what makes a person gain weight. The beer or any other alcohol has calories in it. A gram of alcohol has 7 calories. So you can imagine the thousands of calories when one seats down to finish that bottle of whiskey. The calories in alcohol are called empty calories because it does not help in body’s growth or maintenance. All of it is stored as fat and that is how you gain weight and off course a beer belly.

Myth- You are healthy if you’re exercising.  

Fact – Totally Wrong! You are healthy only if you eat right. You may exercise a lot, however until and unless you fall in the healthy category of Body Fat Percentage, you cannot call yourself healthy. So start making right food choices and keep exercising, you will surely get there.

Stay Healthy!

You may want to read FITNESS MYTHS AND FACTS - PART I