Tag: exercise

20 Most Common Exercise Myths Debunked

Posted on by simonc

True or false? Good or bad? Myth or reality? These are some of the most common questions we ask ourselves when making a decision. They also appear when we do exercises because we are not all experts on this subject… That is why in this article, we will answer some of the most common exercise questions so you will know which ones are true and which are still myths!

1. Sweating is synonymous with losing weight: MYTH.

Sweat is synonymous with dehydration. Sweat only makes the body cool when the temperature rises. If you lose a lot of water during exercise you may lose weight, but this is due to the volume in plasma that the blood and muscles lose.

2. If I exercise three hours in one day, I fulfill the quota of the week: MYTH.

Doing three hours only one day a week, helps as a general maintenance of health, but must be accompanied by nutritional support to see some result. This is not the most recommended, the best is at least a minimum of three days a week with a routine made by a professional, all according to what the person requires.

3. There are more recommended times to exercise: MYTH.

Some people recommend mornings due to an increase in testosterone (which causes muscle strength). Others say it is suitable in the afternoon, since, at this time, the body has reached all appropriate physiological values. However, what is recommended is that the person should stick to the schedule they chose for their training.

4. “Love handles” disappear only with abs: MYTH.

The abdominals, as well as all anaerobic work (weights), help tone the muscles in specific areas, but the famous “love handles” are accumulated fat that will disappear only with combined work of cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise, abdominal exercises and proper diet.

5. To avoid injury you should warm up for about ten minutes before exercising: REALITY.

The warm-up helps the body to enter a state of alertness, which makes it prepare for what is coming, which is an increase in blood flow to the muscles, giving them greater oxygenation. The warm-up can be by specific area of the muscle group to work, or at a general level, stretching exercises should be included before and after the routine.

6. The body widens if I exercise with weights: MYTH.

The body does not widen when doing work with weights, the muscles are toned and grow. Many women believe that they will look like men but it is not so, it is very important to remember that all work in a gym must be accompanied by a healthy diet, to achieve the objectives that are set.

7. There are specific exercises to burn fat faster: REALITY.

There are jobs such as aerobic-cardiovascular, which with adequate exercise time, use fat as a source of energy. Examples are walking or jogging more than 40 minutes at an intensity of 30% or 50% of total capacity.

8. If I exercise I can eat anything: MYTH.

Ideally, you should accompany any exercise plan with a diet made by a specialist, in order to follow the caloric requirements of your body. Remember that we are all different, so diets are not universal, they are personalized.

9. I must consume water before, during and after exercising: REALITY.

People, whether athletes or not, can consume from liter to liter and a half of water per day, and when performing an exercise routine, there is no problem in doing so, especially if they are doing cardiovascular work, to avoid dehydration.

10. To lose weight faster, it is better to run and not walk: MYTH.

Both can be done, but it depends on the physical condition of each person. Someone who just starts the adventure of losing weight, can just walk but must do so for periods of more than 40 minutes. Over time, you will acquire better physical condition, and you may think about jogging combined with walking. So, little by little, it will improve your aerobic condition and you can start running.

11. Swimming is the best exercise of all: REALITY.

Swimming is considered the sport that, par excellence, adapts to all types of people. It is the one that has less risk of injury, it is recommended to people in rehabilitation, to women in a state of pregnancy, as preparation for childbirth, since it relieves the back and relaxes the muscles. This sport has more benefits than any other, but always with the necessary care of an expert.

12. Doing yoga does not help at all because it is so passive: REALITY.

Yoga is not considered a sport. If a person’s goal is to lose weight or improve their physical condition, doing yoga alone will not work, since their methods are more relaxing. It would be useful to do it after a training session to relax the muscles and recover them in a more efficient way.

13. An obese person should not exercise much because it is dangerous: MYTH.

Obese people can exercise like any other person, as long as they have a professional at their side guiding them at all times. Also, obese people should be aware of having a medical check-up before starting any training program, in order to know the state of their heart and their overall health. There is a popular saying that can be applied here: “the more obese a person, the faster they lose weight”; provided you have the help of professionals in nutrition and health.

14. Wearing synthetic clothes or sweaters, while exercising, helps you lose weight: MYTH.

On the contrary, they cause the person to become dehydrated because they do not allow evaporation of sweat. It can be exemplified with the engine of a vehicle that does not receive air from fans that cool the water; Then, that engine will be overloaded until the head is damaged. In the body, if the sweat does not evaporate, it does not allow more water to go outside to be evaporated, the body overheats and can generate a heat stroke.

15. When you stop training your muscles become fat: MYTH.

One thing has nothing to do with the other. If you stop training, your muscles lose the volume and strength they gained during training. On the other hand, fat is an adipocyte (fat cell); then, if you stop training, and a poor diet is maintained, it will cause an increase in weight in calories, and there will be a noticeable decrease in the muscles, because the muscle is no longer being stimulated to increase its volume.

16. Taking sugars before exercising improves performance: MYTH.

Performance is determined by many factors that go beyond what is consumed. Sugar causes a decompensation in the body, which does not allow you to find energy. In addition, it decreases the use of fats as an energy source.

17. The more you train, the more you advance: MYTH.

There is a principle called “progressivity”, which must go hand in hand with the workloads that are prescribed to the body. Each person advances differently and, many times, “MORE” does not necessarily mean “BETTER”. Even the body can get used to the routine, so it is necessary to change it.

18. All fats are harmful to athletes: MYTH.

The body needs fats as an energy reserve. Therefore, unsaturated fats bring a benefit in regeneration, and the possibility of generating energy, which is indispensable in competitions, especially those of moderate intensity and long duration.

19. If you exercise at night, sleep is disturbed: MYTH.

What is working is the muscular part, therefore, the nervous system will not be affected. But there are people who end up with the sympathetic system very disturbed, and can have consequences at bedtime.

20. Any exercise is good: REALITY.

Although, it is important to make clear that, everything in the extreme can be harmful. The important thing, before starting any activity, is to evaluate yourself and put yourself in the hands of professionals who guide the physical work to be performed.

Treadmills vs Running Outdoors – What’s the Difference?

Posted on by simonc

I’m not going to tell you that running on a treadmill is a waste of time, that it’s useless, or that it’s something you should never do. Running on a treadmill definitely has its advantages. Apart from anything else, it allows you to train indoors, which means you can avoid going out in the rain and means you can avoid having to talk yourself into training on wet days. Better yet, this means that you can put on the TV or listen to music without sweaty headphones. And that makes running a lot less boring!

But there are definitely downsides. Big downsides in fact. Read on to find out what those are and why you should reconsider making this your primary way of exercising

The Amazing Health Benefits of Exercising Outdoors

Posted on by simonc

Running is in itself one of the very best things you can possibly do to improve your health and it has numerous highly beneficial effects on the body. These range from increasing muscle mass in the legs, to lowering your heartrate to helping you to burn more calories.

But while all this is true, it’s not just the running that is so good for you. Equally important is the simple fact that you’re outdoors, which actually has incredible benefits all on its own. Read on and we’ll examine some of these benefits.

Sunlight

The first big benefit of being outdoors comes from the sun. When you run, you expose yourself to the sun’s rays. While these can be harmful in high doses, they’re also critical for our health in many other ways. For starters, they encourage the production of vitamin D. This not only helps to strengthen your bones but also improves sleep and testosterone production. The sun also gives us a healthy, natural glow that comes from being tanned.

Earthing

Nobody is entirely sure if ‘Earthing’ is definitely beneficial but it’s something that a lot of people claim is. Essentially, the idea is that by coming into direct contact with the ground when you sit on it or touch it, you can actually help to restore the body’s correct charge, potentially combating inflammation. Some studies back this up but they aren’t particularly rigorous in their methodology. Either way, it certainly doesn’t hurt anyone!

Fresh Air

Fresh air is also highly beneficial for our health. For starters, it has been shown to significantly improve our circulation and also to improve our breathing in generally. It aids with sleep and it boosts the immune system too!

Nature

Believe it or not, just being in nature can also be very good for us. This is because it has a profound effect on us psychologically – basking in nature helps to encourage the release of ‘feel good hormones’ and to lower stress levels. It has even been shown to increase creativity, which is one reason that you often come up with your best ideas while going for walks.

Weather

And even the weather can be good for you! Contrary to popular belief, getting some exposure to cold air is actually a good thing. That’s because it gently taxes your immune system, acting as a kind of ‘training’ for it and thereby strengthening it in the long run.

Running for Bodybuilders – Can You Run and Still Maintain Muscle Mass

Posted on by simonc

A lot of bodybuilders act like they have some kind of allergy to, or phobia of running. This is because they often hold the belief that it will make them more catabolic. Running burns fat but it also burns anything else the body can get its hands on in order to provide energy. This means you can quickly end up losing weight and that includes muscle mass.

But is it necessarily true? Read on and find out why you should reconsider including running in muscle-building programs.

The Plus Side

In defence of running, it is only fair that we remember that it was used by pretty much all of the classic bodybuilders to some degree or other. That means Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, Franco Columbu, all of them used some kind of steady state cardio such as running. And if you look at today’s YouTube celebrities, most of them will also utilize some degree of running.

That’s because, in smaller amounts, running can provide just the stimulus you need to cut away the fat to reveal more definition and striations in the muscles. This is how you get cut, as opposed to just looking bulky. While the body will burn muscle, it will still look to fat stores first which are more readily available.

If you’re really afraid of running though, you can do what some modern bodybuilders do and simply power walk instead. This is a safer way to remove fat without hurting muscle.

An Added Bonus

What’s also important to remember though, is that running increases the size of your left ventricle. This is the part of the heart that pumps oxygenated blood around the body and thus it is largely responsible for your ‘stroke volume’. The bigger this gets, the lower your resting heartrate will be. And when that number gets low, it means you’ll produce less cortisol, less myostatin (which is responsible for muscle catabolisation) and more testosterone!

That’s right: although running might cause you to burn fat and muscle in the short term, in the long term it can actually help to make you more anabolic and even allow you to enjoy deeper and more restorative sleeps! And for this reason, it’s something that you shouldn’t write out of your training programs just yet

Oh and then there’s the other thing: running makes you fitter and that means you can workout harder!

How to Use Pokémon Go in Your Training

Posted on by simonc

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of Pokémon Go. This is of course the massive augmented reality sensation from Nintendo that places Pokémon into the world around us. The game uses data from Google Maps in order to allow us to hunt for local Pokémon and this then triggers a mini game using a combination of your device’s camera and its gyroscopes in order to make the Pokémon appear as though they’re right there in front of you.

But what does this have to do with running?

Well, if you want to give yourself a new challenge and make your running fun in a new way, you can turn this into a running workout! Here is how it works

Set Up the Game and Go!

The first thing to do of course is to set up the game. Once you’re ready, just run out the door and start!

Now, the key thing to remember here is that you mustn’t spend the entire time looking at your phone. When you do that, you will be putting yourself at risk and you’ll likely put your foot in a pothole or ditch. Never run while looking at your screen!

The good news is that your device will vibrate when you’re near a Pokémon. All you need to do then is carry it in one hand and run to areas where they’re likely to be. Pokéstops are places where people can ‘lure’ Pokémon, which means there will often be more in those areas. Run to the areas on your map with lots of blue structures and pink leaves and then you should find your phone vibrates from time to time.

When that happens, just stop, play the minigame and capture your Pokémon! It makes running more fun but it can also act as a form of natural interval training. Because you’ll be running and stopping intermittently, this means you can run a little faster between Pokémon.

Tips

One tip when running is that you should put the game on ‘battery saver mode’. In this mode, the device screen will go dark as long as it is held upside down. That means you can point it down while running, or you can slip it in a pocket and you’ll be using considerably less power. Soon there will be a Pokémon Go smartwatch you can wear!

The other tip is to make sure to incubate eggs. These hatch based on the steps you take, so running will give you a big advantage!

How to Start Running (And Why So Many People Fail)

Posted on by simonc

Running is something a lot of us know that we should be doing. We’re often told that it burns calories, tones muscle and improves fitness. But despite all this, we regularly find it hard to stay committed.

Why exactly is that?

It actually comes down to a number of things but the biggest problem is that it’s hard work. It’s incredibly taxing on the body, requires huge amounts of energy and is something that most of us are not at all used to. In this post, we’ll look at how to overcome those obstacles.

The Best of Intentions

The big problem in many cases, is that people hoping to start running begin with too much ambition. Instead of aiming to gradually start running, they set off on their first outing and intend to run for huge distances and burns tons of calories in the process.

What they forget, is that this is something entirely foreign to their bodies. They are not used to running these kinds of distances and they have no experience with it. Most of us spend 8 hours a day or more sitting in just one position and typing, or answering calls. We don’t exert ourselves much and certainly don’t go for long runs!

What’s more, is that those days at work are stressful and tiring in their own way. When we get home, we are often far too tired to play with the kids – let alone go out running!

The one time we do manage it, we will very often then push ourselves to the point where it is very unpleasant and we have really tested ourselves. It’s no wonder we can’t bring ourselves to do it three times a week!

The Solution

So what is the solution? The answer is to stop pushing yourself and to stop expecting too much from your own body.

Instead, aim to get started slowly and to begin with at least, focus on learning to run and on learning to like running rather than trying to see immediate results! Set out on your first jog but just go at whatever pace is comfortable and stop when you’re done.

While it might not seem like much, this is enough to gradually start introducing you to the world of running. And if you aim to do this just once a week, you’ll see it starts to have incredible knock-on effects in every other part of your life!

How to Pick the Best Fitness/Running Watch

Posted on by simonc

If you’re interested in taking up running seriously, then a running or fitness watch can be highly advantageous. There are many reason for this too. For starters, a fitness watch will allow you to track the number of calories that you burn on a run and how high your heart rate goes. This not only allows you to do things like running to meet a set objective (calories burned, max heartrate etc.) but even to use particular types of running – like zone runs or interval training.

There’s more too. The right watch should also track your runs, so you don’t need to take your phone to monitor your route. It should be able to count your steps throughout the day too and then show you metrics like how your daily step count impacts on your performance when running.

But to benefit from all these features, you’re going to need the right fitness watch. Read on and we’ll take a look at how you can go about selecting that to ensure you’ll get the very most from your new device.

Heartrate Monitor

One of the first things you absolutely need for your fitness tracker or running watch, is an effective heartrate monitor. This will track your heartrate as you are training, which in turn will give you the most accurate picture of how hard you are working and how many calories you are burning. Going on steps alone is simply not very accurate!

But of course it’s not sufficient to just get any heartrate monitor – you need to make sure that it is a good one too. That means it needs to be accurate (which you can find from reading reviews) and ideally it should also be one that checks your heartrate regularly.

GPS

Not all running watches have GPS. So if you want to make sure yours can track your runs, this is also going to be very important.

Data Points and Use

The more data you collect, the fuller the picture you can paint of your health. The Microsoft Band 2 for instance allows you to see an estimate of your VO2 max once it has collected data from enough runs.

Workouts

Another useful function is a band that can provide pre-designed workouts, like interval sessions. These help you to burn a certain amount of calories in a set amount of time and to discover new ways to train.

How to Make Running Less Boring

Posted on by simonc

Running is one of the very best forms of exercise for improving your health, as well as for building more speed and strength in your legs. It burns a lot of calories and you can do it anywhere.

So why isn’t everyone doing it? There are a few reasons, but one of the big excuses people tend to give is that they find it boring. And granted, steady state cardio like running can seem a little dull at times. It takes a long time and often you won’t be doing much interesting during that period – just hitting the tarmac over and over again…

So the question is, how can you make running fun so that you actually want to do it?

Take Music and Podcasts

One way to make running more enjoyable is to distract yourself with something. Good options here include music and podcasts. While a podcast can give you something interesting to listen to – possibly even helping you to learn while you run – music can help to spur you on and give you a bit more drive to keep pushing past your limit.

Kick a Ball

Running doesn’t have to mean simply running from one spot to another. A good option then is to try running while kicking a ball – kick the ball out in front of you, run to it, and then kick it out in front of you again! This way, you can make it almost like a game of football as you’re running!

Run With a Partner

Running with a partner will likely spur you on to be a little competitive and it certainly makes it a little less lonely.

Oh and there’s no reason that your partner has to be human – running with dogs is perfectly fine too!

Make Games

You can create games for yourself while you run to make it a little less boring. These can be mental games you play in your own head (like trying to spot how many red cars you see), or they can be challenges you set that are related to your run. A good example is to try racing other joggers that you see nearby!

In general, just pushing yourself further and trying to beat personal bests will be an easy way to make running more rewarding and more addictive as well!

There are many more ways to make running more fun, all it takes is a little imagination!

How to Incorporate Interval Training to Your Running

Posted on by simonc

The image most of us have of running involves a person running steadily for about 30 to 40 minutes in one direction, without taking breaks or varying in speed. This is what is known as ‘steady state cardio’ and in fact is only one type of running that you have available to you.

While steady state cardio has a ton of benefits for your health, eventually you might find yourself getting to the point where it is time to increase the challenge. This is when you may consider interval training, which opens up a whole new level of difficult and reward.

What is Interval Training?

Interval training essentially means that you are alternating between periods of high intensity and intervals of relative rest. That means you go all out for a short period and then have a slightly longer period to relax and let yourself regain your breath and composure.

The reason this is beneficial, is that it tests you at your ‘lactate threshold’. This means you are going fast enough that your body can’t keep up with recycling lactate. It’s also known as your anaerobic threshold, because it pushes your body faster than the aerobic system can keep up.

This is great for fitness because it means you’ll be able to improve your ability to produce fast energy in an efficient manner. It’s also great for losing weight, because it means that you’ll be burning a lot of your blood sugar. Then, when you have used up all of that blood sugar, your body will be forced to resort to burning fat in order to provide that same fuel. This means you actually burn more calories throughout the day following intervals!

How to Start

So how do you get started? As with running, the key is to introduce this very intensive form of training gradually into your program. Try adding interval training once a week to begin with and for no more than 20 minutes.

During this time, alternate between 30 seconds of sprinting and 2 minutes of recovery. This will send your heartrate through the roof and really test your explosive power and your fast energy systems!

Then, as you get more confident, you can start increasing the challenge by doing these sessions a couple of times a week or straight after other workouts (in which case it’s known as a ‘finisher’).

How to Choose the Right Shoes and Prevent Injury

Posted on by simonc

One of the single most important things to consider when you start running, is what shoes you are going to wear. Your shoes will completely transform how it feels to run and if you get this wrong, you’re going to make running much harder on yourself than it needs to be!

What’s more, is that running shoes (along with a few other things) should also be considered a crucial form of injury prevention. Read on and we’ll see how to choose the right shoes for the best chance of a positive experience.

Types of Running Shoes

The first thing to recognize is that there are different types of running shoes. These include those shoes that are more structured versus those that are more minimalist. And they include those that are aimed at people with a heal-toe strike, versus those with more of a mid-foot strike.

No one set of shoes is going to be the universal ‘right pair’. Rather, the key is to choose the best shoes for your individual running style as well as your objectives

Getting the Right Shoes

The way you’ll do this, is by visiting a running store where they can measure your gait. This way, they will use cameras attached to a treadmill in order to measure your biomechanics. They will be able to see how your feet hit the ground and that in turn will tell them what type of shoes you need!

The best way to run is so that the ball of your foot hits the ground first, located directly underneath your knee. This allows your entire leg to compress, acting like a spring and thereby absorbing the impact naturally. For this, you want a shoe that is more ‘minimal’ and that doesn’t include much in the way of support – that lets the foot move naturally and freely.

Unfortunately though, decades of running on roads has taught many of us to run with our heel first – and this isn’t something you can change overnight! If you fall into this category, you will need a shoe with a more padded heel and probably more structure and support all around. This will allow your foot to roll through the movement and in some cases, it will be combined with more structure to help guide you through the movement for a smoother ‘ride’.

But then again, you may have a pronated foot, or a flat arch. In these cases, you may need something different altogether – which is why you need to have your gait measured before you buy!