Truths and Myth's About Exercise and Weight-loss

When thinking about starting a new exercise program, or maybe even a diet to help you lose or maintain your weight, there are so many myths about the best way to go about it.

But when the truth is what you seek, you'll notice that online there are so many articles on the subjects of weight loss, muscle toning, getting in shape and so forth.

Spot Reduction: Targeting a specific area with the idea of losing weight in that area alone is a complete MYTH!When working to reduce your weight or bring down the amount of fat in your body, know that when you lose 1 pound it will be overall throughout your body. Although when you lose 10 pounds or more you may notice it more in one area then another, know that you did not, it’s just the structure of your body that makes it seem that way. Weight-loss is an overall body change, just like when you gain weight. You may notice it more in one specific area, but if you look more closely, you’ll notice it everywhere else too.

All about Calories: The amount and types of food you eat determine the number of calories you take in.
Now this one is easy to understand, eat more calories than your body is using (burning for energy) on a daily basis, and you begin to store fat (gain weight). Now eat less and your body begins to lose weight. Eat on an even scale, consume the same number of calories that your body is using, and you are now maintaining your current weight.

Strength Training and Muscle Gain: Using weights in your workouts will help you build stronger healthier muscles, but they won’t alone make you big and muscular. In order to gain larger more pronounced muscle like you see in some of those muscle magazines, you would need to follow a strict workout program and watch the types of foods you are consuming as well as the number of calories you are taking in. Not to mention the possible supplements that you may need to help you on your way to gaining all the muscle you want (more or less). Strength training is especially great for women; it can help reduce the amount of stress the body is going through in more ways than one.

How to Use Cardio: Cardio could help or hurt you if you don’t use it properly. Cardio for health reasons should be done 3 times per week, for about 20 minutes each time. You can jog, walk or use a cardio type machine at home or at your local gym. Now using Cardio for weight-loss is a little different. You may want to increase your sessions to up to 1 hour, and aim for 4 to 5 times per week.

Please keep in mind that before starting any program that will either increase or decrease your body’s weight, you should seriously seek the advice of your Doctor, so they can clear you for such changes that are about to take place within your body.