Debunking the Myths of Working Out

There are a myriad of myths and half-truths surrounding exercising and you’ve likely heard many of them – possibly even coming out of a friend or family member’s mouth. What follows is a list of the five most persistent misconceptions about exercising. You might be surprised by the physiology that challenges some of these beliefs.

1)    You can spot-reduce… a.k.a. Doing crunches will flatten your stomach OR doing adduction exercises will get rid of the fat on your inner thighs.

Doing a specific exercise (like arm curls) helps you tone, strengthen, and/or build muscle in a targeted area (biceps, in this example).  However, your body does not ‘lose’ fat in the same way that it builds muscle.  The two tissues are completely different, so it’s understandable that the body handles them differently.  As anyone who finds even a small amount of success on a diet can tell you, your entire body slims down, regardless of what you may or may not be doing from an exercise standpoint.  So, does this mean that all those women who do tricep extensions to keep from having jiggly upper arms are wasting their time?  No.  They just need to do these exercises to tone their triceps muscles, not to get rid of the subcutaneous fat that lies between these muscles and the skin.

2)    If you stop working out, your muscle turns to fat.

This concept has gradually been going away over the past decade, but it still manages to live on in some deep, dark corners of the internet (or gym).  It is physiologically impossible for healthy muscle cells to turn to fat cells simply due to a lack of exercise.  Especially since you are going from normal daily activities with exercise to just normal activities – not normal activities with exercise to absolute bedrest 24/7.

This idea likely came about through a combination of 2 facts: (1) if you stop exercising, your body will burn fewer calories per day.  But, if you don’t reduce your caloric intake (how much you eat) when you stop exercising, you’re going to be taking in too many calories and you will start to gain weight in the form of fat; (2) Muscles that previously increased in size due to exercising will not remain at this size when the exercise is ceased (assuming that all other activities are more or less the same as they were when you were exercising).  These muscles will atrophy so that they are only as big and strong as they need to be (which is determined by how much they’re used in your daily life).  So, when #1 happens and the body starts storing extra calories as fat, this fat can appear to take the place of the muscles that are atrophying due to the lack of exercise.

3)    I don’t have time to workout 3-5 times per week, so I might as well not even exercise.

Although it isn’t what health and fitness professionals are known for recommending, exercising even just once per week is still better than doing nothing.  If you truly do not have time to exercise, try to work in one or two exercises during commercial breaks when you’re watching TV or when you’re doing things like brushing your teeth (you can do squats while brushing!) or folding laundry.

4)    I will lose more weight if I work out harder/longer.

Strenuous exercise of long duration actually causes your body to go in search of extra sources of energy within your body.  It ends up taking the energy required by your super-long, super-strenuous workout from your muscles.  The body actually starts to break down your muscle tissue, which is generally the opposite of what you’re shooting for when you choose to workout.  High-intensity workouts are a great option, but one of the best things about them is that they’re designed to be highly efficient workouts, meaning that they are high-intensity, short-duration.  Remember – your body needs to recover and rebuild after your hard workout, otherwise you won’t see any gains from your workout.

5)    If I’m doing exercises or lifting weights, I need to do at least 3 or 4 exercises for each muscle group I’m working.

Well, there’s two ways to discredit this line of thinking.  One is from a common sense standpoint and the other is from a physiological standpoint.  They’re both based on some quick math: If you’re doing the standard 3 sets of 10 repetitions for each exercise, that means you’re doing 30 repetitions of 4 exercises for, let’s say, your quads.  That’s 120 quadriceps contractions during your workout…..and 120 hamstring contractions and 120 calf contractions and…..well, you get the idea.

Common Sense: If you’re doing this workout plan for your entire body, IT WOULD TAKE FOREVER.  Not to mention it would be exhausting….or a giant waste of time…or both.

Physiology: Muscle strength is improved following a concept called the Overload Principle.  This principle states that you must tax your muscles, or make your muscles work harder than they currently can (hence “overload”), in order to stimulate the processes that lead to an increase in strength.  If you can do 120 (or more) muscle contractions relatively close together (in, say, an hour) without your muscles fatiguing, you are not overloading your muscles (or at least, you’re not being efficient about it).

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