Fitness Rules Meant to be Broken
By Sara Butler
There's plenty of questionable advice out there when it comes to fitness. In fact, there are some “rules” surrounding exercise that are misguided, misleading, and just wrong. If you want to make the most out of your time at the gym, then you should break these fitness guidelines – because it's time for them to be broken!
Targeting Toning
There’s an idea floating around out there that if you want to target and tone a specific area of your body, you need to work it out more. It turns out that there’s no real way for you to selectively reduce fat on your abs to get a six pack or on your flabby upper arms. You can build muscle in the specific areas, but you don’t get rid of fat by targeting the area during your workout.
If you want to get fit, then you need to simply work to reduce fat over your whole body through a mix of weight training and cardiovascular exercise. Also, eating a healthy diet is encouraged to help you get fit and lose some fat. That six-pack is just waiting there for you to uncover it!
If You Want to Gain, Feel the Pain
Everyone has heard someone utter the phrase “no pain, no gain” at some point. But that’s about as far from the truth as you can get. Sure, you may feel some burning while you’re getting in a good workout, but pushing your body to the point of real pain isn’t going to help you get fitter.
In fact, if you ever feel sharp, sudden pain when working out, you should stop what you’re doing. Rest and then modify if the pain goes away, don’t just push through it. Pain is a signal from your body that something isn’t right. Pain should always be taken seriously. So, don’t push yourself too far and make sure to give your body a rest. Exercise is supposed to make you feel good, not worse!
Light Weights Will Get You Toned and Lean
When it comes to weight training, it’s about challenging you, not how much or how little you’re lifting. Larger weights won’t make you big and bulky, just as smaller weights won’t tone you up and make you lean. The truth of the matter is that you simply need to choose a weight that will exhaust your muscle during exercise in order to get the desired effect of muscle building.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Shreveport, La.