- “If You Want to Lose Weight, You Just Have to Exercise”
Not true.
This is what people who sell exercise equipment and workout programs want you to think. If you really want to shed pounds, you must get your eating in check. Exercise is good—the benefits are many—but losing weight is generally about cutting out the empty calories and junk (excess sugars), choosing clean, healthy foods high in fiber and nutrients while eating mindfully.
Obesity is not caused by inactivity. It’s a calories-in problem.
THE TRUTH: If you want to lose weight, eating healthier foods and ingesting fewer calories is key. To give yourself an edge, find a weight-loss buddy. According to a study published in the journal Obesity, people who attempt to slim down together can significantly influence each other’s results. This helps explain why husbands and wives who attend programs such as Weight Watchers together regularly have success.
- “No Pain, No Gain”
These words set a terrible precedent. Many people equate pain with gain and discount any workout that doesn’t leave the body in agony.
“No pain, no gain is a bad strategy for lifelong exercise,” says Dr. Michael Otto, author of Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being. If you’re exercising for the health benefits, including better heart health, improved mood, weight regulation, increased energy, or getting more sleep, there is no need for pain. You can attain all of these benefits with minimal discomfort. Plus, a painful workout is one you are less likely to repeat.
THE TRUTH: Moderate exercise for 40 minutes, four to five times a week, is great to gain the health benefits of exercise, Otto says. Walking, jogging, dancing, swimming, volleyball, touch football, and shooting baskets all count as “moderate exercise.” Even some common chores meet the requirements. For a list of moderate exercises and the length of time they should be done, copy and paste this URL into your browser (after you finish this article, of course): http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/phy_act.htm.
- “You Can Build Long, Lean Muscles”
Shane Doll, a personal trainer in Charleston, S.C., says he laughs when companies advertise the ability to sell someone the means to long, lean muscles.
“There has always been a misconception that weightlifting and resistance training will make you big and bulky,” Doll says. “What nobody thinks about is that, from a pure anatomical standpoint, the idea of making your muscles longer is impossible. The joint distance never changes. The physiology behind that is pretty simple yet they think, ‘Pilates or this machine will make my muscles long and sleek.’”
If the marketing was true, people who did Pilates would look like Plastic Man.
THE TRUTH: Whether it’s Pilates or pushups, the adaptation of the muscle tissue does not change. Muscle bulk only happens with intense workouts coupled with protein and/or other supplements.
To get the lean, toned look of a swimmer (in the absence of swimming, of course), Doll recommends using a variety of resistance exercises, completed in fast-paced circuits that use burst training principals, which are short bursts of high-intensity effort. Reps should be in the 8-20 range, or work in sets of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off. By varying the number of repetitions, rest periods, exercises, and other variables in your workout, you’ll continue to develop or maintain a lean physique without reaching a plateau.
- “You Gotta Carbo-Load!”
No, you probably don’t.
“Unless you’re going to physically exert yourself for more than 90 minutes the next day, you really don’t need to think about carbo-loading,” says Nancy Clark, RD, author of Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guidebook.
THE TRUTH: To prepare for a big event, the best strategy is to continue eating your normal, healthy sports diet (a plate filled with two-thirds grain, starches, veggies, and fruits, and one-third protein) while cutting back on training, Clark says. “By taking a rest day, your muscles have the time they need to store those carbs that you eat instead of burning them off in yet another workout.”
This is one reason why high school, college, and NFL teams have easy practices the day before a game. Besides letting aches and pains heal, athletes’ bodies are able to store carbs for energy.
- “The Best Time to Work Out is Morning/Night”
I have friends who swear that working out in the morning is better because it boosts your metabolism all day, increases your energy, and gives you a natural high that carries into the afternoon.
I also have friends who say that night is the best time to work out because you can burn off all of the calories you consumed that day, plus you’re so tired at the end that it’s easier to fall asleep.
Who’s right?
When it comes to fat loss, there’s not much of a benefit either way, Doll says. And while minor details like when you work out, what time you take your whey protein, etc. are great for Internet debate, they ultimately don’t make a big enough difference to matter. What happens over a 24-hour period is what truly matters.
“I’ve seen many of the ‘rules’ be broken, and people still see great results. Hard work, adequate rest/recovery, and consistency with clean nutrition are 95 percent of the equation for most,” Doll says. “Elite athletes and bodybuilders can make an argument that the last five percent is pretty important, but this is far from something the average Joe or Jane should concern themselves with. The big picture gets lost in the details.”
THE TRUTH: The best time to work out is whenever you most feel like exercising and/or can fit it into your schedule.
If you want to get a little more specific, follow these simple guidelines I’ve gathering over the years of being a trainer for 20 years:
- Avoid high-intensity training (burst training, interval training) later in the evening, as it produces chemicals in the brain that can make it difficult to fall asleep and can disrupt natural circadian rhythms.
- The best time for weight training is when your maximum effort can be exerted.
- Avoid exercising shortly after eating a meal. If you train in the morning, eat a small amount of protein along with a small piece of fruit as a pre-workout snack. Digestion should be kept to a minimum.
The Bottom Line
If you’ve been eating and working out based on advice you received so long ago you can’t remember where it came from, question it. When it comes to working out, conventional wisdom changes as quickly as the science, which is still discovering how the human body works.