Fitness and diet: the facts and the fiction

If you’re spending every hour that you can at the gym but you’re still not seeing great results, it could be that you have a problem with your facts. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the all the apparently “expert” advice available in the marketplace today. While the internet has given us access to a host of new sources for information, not all of the data that we’re getting is necessarily true.

There are plenty of myths floating around, both online and offline, that could be stopping you from getting the most out of your diet and fitness routine. Today, we’re going to look at just a few facts and a few falsehoods of which you should be aware.

False: you need to do crunches to get a flat stomach

The chances are, if you’ve ever dreamed of having the perfect set of stunning abs, you’ve told yourself that you need to spend more time working on your crunches. While these might be the most popular ab exercise at the gym today, the truth is that science shows us that crunches aren’t the best way to slim down your stomach.

Crunches don’t do much to burn calories, which means that they’re not great for fat-loss purposes. Though they help to engage your entire core, the real exercises that you need to do if you want to get a slimmer waist are things such as planks and bridges, according to experts. If you are committed to crunching, just make sure that you get your positioning right.

False: you have to sweat more to burn more

A lot of people assume that the more they sweat during their exercise routine, the more powerful their workout must be. As nice as it would be to know that a drenched shirt after your evening run is a sign of significant weight loss, the truth is that it doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. Your sweat is just a biological response to too much heat.

If you really want to understand how to get the most out of your health and fitness, you’ll need to work with a professional to get a deeper understanding of your body. The Health Testing Center website can give you an insight into your cardiac performance so that you can add maximum heart rates to your workout.

False: stretching supports faster recovery

Ever since you were in your school gym class, you’ve probably been taught that stretching is an essential part of warming up for and winding down from a routine. While stretching can be a great way to reduce your risk of injury before your workout, the truth is that it won’t do anything to help you recover faster after you’ve finished exercising.

There’s nothing wrong with continuing your stretching habits if they feel good, but studies into the effects of post-workout stretching discovered that there were no changes to the lactate levels in blood when people stretched after exercise.

True: lack of sleep causes weight gain

While most of us will find any excuse to stay in bed in the morning for just a few minutes longer, science shows that skipping sleep could be enough to improve your chances of gaining weight. Research tells us that even a little bit of sleep deprivation can be enough to enhance levels of the hormone ghrelin, which is responsible for your feelings of hunger.

True: lifting weights won’t make you bulkier

Even if you spend all your time lifting dumbbells, it’s important to remember that this doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to end up with massive muscles – particularly if you’re a woman. Females often have less muscle tissue and less testosterone than men, which means that you’re just not physiologically built to be bulky.

True: yoga doesn’t burn many calories

If you’re thinking of rushing out and buying a yoga mat this weekend, make sure that your aim is to improve flexibility and relaxation rather than lose weight. While yoga is great for improving strength and flexibility, it’s not much good for fat-burning purposes, according to studies. On average, a 50-minute session in your favorite yoga class will burn about 237 calories.

The truth about fitness

Ultimately, there’s no one-size-fits-all route to perfect fitness, but it’s worth making sure that you know the facts and the falsehoods before you start planning your next exercise routine. Understanding the things above should ensure that you’re not wasting your time on a routine that simply won’t work to give you the body of your dreams.

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