Myth #1 - When you stop exercising, you gain weight
Exercise + Improved Metabolic Rate = Power to burn calories
A lot of people believe that you gain weight when you stop your workouts. However, what they are unaware of is the fact that exercise improves the metabolic rate which in turn helps burn calories. And the power to burn calories depends on the number of mitochondria in your cells. However when you quit exercise, your metabolic rate gradually decreases leading to reduction in the number of mitochondria and the same is occupied by FAT cells.
Secondly, when we exercise, it also improves our appetite, however when we stop the activity and the food intake remains the same, we tend to gain all the weight back and we are back to square one.
Myth # 2 - Lifting weights makes women bulky
According to my experience, it’s not weights that make women bulky but eating crap does! As truly said "Abs are made in the kitchen"
More than 90% of women strongly believe that lifting weights will make them look bulky/ muscular/ manly without being aware of the beautiful benefits of lifting weights and how weights help in weight loss. And the fact is becoming lean and toned are two processes working together: building up muscle and losing fat, simultaneously. The more muscles you have, the more calories and fat you will burn by just being alive with that increased metabolism. It’s physically impossible for women to bulk up to the level of muscular physique since the testosterone levels are very low in our bodies that help in bulking up.
Myth # 3 You can spot reduce Fat with Exercise
I hear this lot of times and unfortunately see a lot of fitness centres and coaches promoting and promising spot reduction. "You can't burn specific calories in one spot. Our bodies just don't work that way. Especially when it comes to women's fitness, I come across a lot of women wanting to spot reduce their 3 main target areas: belly, hips and under arm fat (also known as bat wings).
We store fat in our bellies, we're likely to also. Does that mean you're doomed to have a big belly? It means that if you consume more calories than your burn, you're likely to notice fat building up in the same places.
You have to lose fat all over to melt it in your trouble area too. It’s important to adhere to a healthy lifestyle with a combination of healthy diet and exercises so that your body uses its fat stores as fuel and which eventually can keep your trouble areas in shape.
Myth # 4 The more numbers of hours you workout, the more you lose.
This is a typical scenario I come across when I workout. I see a lot of people spending hours in the gym working on their bodies." Your body is like a temple" - it’s important to worship however it’s not the amount of time that you workout that makes your exercise effective, but instead, it’s the INTENSITY.
A high intensity workout is short but more effective than a long cardio session. With high intensity workouts twice or thrice a week, your body uses carbohydrates to fuel your workout, and then burn fat for hours after you finish exercising.
Myth #5 I am fit because I am thin
I hear this most of the times and it drives me crazy when women don't realize how important being fit is. So does that mean if your are thin, you are fit? Not necessary.
The common wisdom is that if you are overweight, you are unhealthy, and if you are thin, you are healthy.
However, it can be dangerous to be a "skinny fat" person. It simply means the percentage of fat in our body. A person may be overweight or muscular however is fitter than a person who looks slim but has a lot of fat in his/her body. Hence, a weighing scale doesn't determine your fitness levels.
