Debunking Fitness Mythsby Michele Cheplic | More from this Blogger 17 Dec 2008 01:33 PM I always wonder about those sweaty guys I see in the gym who do dozens of crunches, then stroll over to the vending machine to down a bottle of Mountain Dew. Unless that's the only high calorie beverage they consume all day, I would think they would be better off drinking a bottle of water. That is if they ever want to see the six-pack abs they are trying to create via the crunches. Crunches won't get rid of body fat. That's one of the biggest fitness myths out there. The only way you are going to be able to show off a ripped set of abs is to participate in aerobic activity. Cardio will firm up the underlying muscles and burn fat so you can actually see the results of your hard work. As long as we are debunking myths, you should know that there is no such thing as "lower abs." The legendary six-pack every fitness buff dreams of is actually one long muscle, called the rectus abdominis that extends from below your chest to your pubic bone. To thoroughly work your abs, you need to do exercises that target all four muscles: the rectus abdominis, internal and external obliques and the transverse abdominis. Then, skip the soda, rehydrate with water and hit the treadmill. Another popular fitness myth maintains that building muscle is the best way to speed up your metabolism. The truth is, if you're looking for a major metabolism boost you are better off completing higher intensity cardio workouts in addition to weight training. Doing so will result in a maximum metabolism boost. Weight training builds muscle, which in turn burns more calories than fat. But the average person doesn't add enough muscle to their frame to opt out of high intensity workouts. One 30-minute session of high intensity interval training can burn up to 600 calories whereas 30 minutes of free weights typically burns less than 200 calories. Related Articles: Christmas Gift Ideas for Fitness Fanatics Staying Ahead of Your New Year's Fitness Resolutions Don't Let the Cold Weather Derail Your Fitness Routine How to Make Workouts a Priority During the Holiday Season Don't Let the Holidays Ruin Your Fitness Routine Looking for a Treadmill this Christmas? Learn more about Michele Cheplic  Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. Relevantfitness tags family | pregnancy | holidays | parenting | relationships | Food | weight loss | Kids | ideas | children User Comments brate (10) 15 Jun 2009 01:14 AMExercise has been really a very important factor for the people of today's generation. And especially exercise really helps heart patient more than anything. I have got an enlarged heart because of inability of pumping. I was also having a defective valve, which led me to be a sinus tachycardia patient. I got to know at my medical checkup at my campus. And being very young to face all this, I was really frightened regarding all these health issues. I need someone to monitor my health and keep an eye on my health as well as daily health issues. Getting an internist hired was just not the solution to the problem. I got to know about some kind of wellness program from elite health (www.elitehealth.com) Medical Service Provider Company. I got enrolled in it, as they were providing me 24/7 access to the doctors. Especially, I got one unexpected and quite a surprising opinion from their health executive who used to monitor my health and guide me the appropriate dietary solutions. He told me to have a regular exercise daily. I thought he is really mad, or planning to kill me. Ha Ha. .. But my regular exercise! Not so heavy, the results came out to be positive. I was really feeling better and healthier as compared to previous conditions. So, indirectly, exercise has really helped me suppress my health issues, especially the problems we generally face while having heart failure.  Michele Cheplic |
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More fitness tagsfamily | pregnancy | holidays | parenting | relationships | Food | weight loss | Kids | ideas | children |
