ABOUT FITNESS- Karen L. Cowan
Although it may seem as if an exercise machine automatically puts
your body in the right position and
helps you do all the movements correctly, that's only true if the machine
is properly adjusted for your weight
and height, experts say. Unless you
have a coach or a trainer or someone who can help figure out what
is the right setting for you, you can
make just as many mistakes in form
and function, and have just as high
a risk of injury, on a machine as if
you work out with free weights or
do any other type of non-machine
workout.
nation of healthy eating, cardio and two after working out, that's very
strength work. You don’t get to pick different from feeling pain while
one body part or another.
you are working out.
In other words, the 2,000 crunches
you do won’t reveal six-pack abs unless you also focus on healthy eating
and some form of cardio-respiratory exertion. Working out can reduce your overall body fat, but you
can't control where that fat comes
from. In a new study published in
Journal of Strength & Conditioning, 11 people completed a 12-week
exercise program to train a single
leg.
Even though they only trained on
4. If you don’t sweat, you’re one side, they lost about the same
amount of body fat in each leg—and
not working hard enough. burned even more body fat above
Sweating is not always related to the waist. Most of us already have a
heart rate, which is the best mea- six pack. {It’s just below three levels
sure of exercise capacity. Sweat of fat.}
is just the body’s way to regulate
body temperature and some of us
just run hotter than others, some- 6. When it comes to worktimes independently of heart-rate ing out, you've got to feel
levels. Sweating is not necessarily some pain if you're going
an indicator of exertion. Sweating
is your body’s way of cooling itself. to gain any
It's possible to burn a significant benefits.
number of calories without break- Of all the fitness
ing a sweat. Try taking a walk or do- tales to have suring some light weight training, you faced,
experts
don’t sweat excessively, but you are agree that the "no
burning calories.
pain-no
gain"
holds the most capacity for harm.
5. Fat can be spot-reduced. While you should
This is wishful thinking. Fat reduc- expect to have
tion, in the midsection and else- some degree of
where, will happen with a combi- soreness a day or
A fitness activity should not hurt
while you are doing it, and if it does,
then either you are doing it wrong,
or you already have an injury. As
for "working through the pain," it is
not recommended. If it hurts, stop,
rest, and see if the pain goes away.
If it doesn't go away, or if it begins
again or intensifies after you start
to work out, see a doctor.
Fitness and health is not about following a one-size-fits-all script,
but finding your own combination
of flexibility, strength, endurance
and balance training, along with
encouraging ways to find tranquility and peace of mind. The key to
achievement is to star t changing
into what feels good in your mind
and body.