7
If you’re not drenched in sweat,
you’re not working hard enough
The harder you work out, the more calories
you’ll burn within a given period and
thus the more fat you stand to lose, but
how much you sweat does not necessarily
reflect how hard you’re working. Some
people tend to sweat bucket loads while
others don’t sweat much at all, regardless
of their fitness level or degree of exertion.
Your sweat rate is related to your body
weight, your genetic makeup and external
factors such as environmental conditions
and clothing. Exercising in extremely hot
weather or in a plastic “weight loss” suit
will indeed make you sweat heavily and
lose weight immediately. That lost weight,
however, is almost entirely water and the
kilos will return when you replenish your
fluids by drinking after the workout.
8
Sit-ups burn the boep Not...
a… chance.
There’s no such thing as spot reducing or
burning fat off a particular body part, it
is physiologically impossible. When you
lose body fat, it comes off the body in a
predetermined genetic pattern similar to
how you gain the fat except in a reverse
order. When your body is in fat burning
mode, fat comes from all over the place –
your arms, calves, thighs, abdominals, face,
forearms, big toe, etc. If spot reducing really
worked, people who chew gum would have
skinny faces. Spot toning, on the other
hand, does work, and resistance exercises
will strengthen the targeted muscles. Look
at the dominant arms of professional
tennis players, and you’ll see the difference
in their muscle tone and size. The best
method for reducing overall body fat is
the age-old tried and true combination of
cardiovascular training, resistance training
and limiting your calorie intake. Results
come from doing these three things with
persistence and consistence.
20
9
The best time to
exercise is the time
you want to do it,
and are most likely
to do it, whether it's
morning, afternoon
or evening.
Morning workouts are
better for your metabolism
Proponents of this piece of wisdom
say that if you exercise in the morning,
you jump-start your metabolism and
therefore burn more calories during
the day. There’s absolutely no evidence
that this is true. The best time to
exercise is the time you want to do it,
and are most likely to do it, whether
it’s morning, afternoon or evening.
The only exception is for those with
high blood pressure. Research has
shown that your blood pressure
remains low for up to nine hours
after an acute exercise bout. This
phenomenon is called post-exercise
hypotension. So for those with
hypertension, exercise in the morning
is advantageous, as it will keep your
blood pressure low during the day
when you need it most.
10
Electrolyte sports
drinks will enhance your
workout
This is another one of those myths
that are costing the average person
a lot of money. Theoretically, a sports
drink should be beneficial for those
who exercise. It contains sodium, which
helps the body to retain water and
keep you hydrated, and it contains
sugar which your body burns for
energy. However, contrary to what you
may think, very few people exercise
hard enough to sweat away significant
amounts of sodium. There is even
some research that suggests consuming
popular sports drinks during or after
exercise does very little to add to
sodium levels in the body. Furthermore,
one has to train for more than two
hours continuously before your
carbohydrates stores in muscles will
start to run low. Thus, for the average
Joe, plain water is all you need.