Let’s discuss why hours on the treadmill might be a sure way to nowhere if your goals are to develop a streamline, slim and athletic physique. Because some of the myths we come across are, well… just plain wrong.
This is presented to you by iMunch, “Weight Loss in a Box”. Our up and coming snack range
Lifting Weight Will Get You Bulky
No. Just no. Especially women. Yes, especially women; you will not get bulky if you lift weights. I’m going to share a secret with you. It’s insider knowledge that the vast majority of the fitness industry leaders (fitness models, bodybuilders, fitness physiques), regardless of what they say are on performance enhancing drugs like human growth hormone and testosterone based steroids.
This dramatically increases their response to training and means they can increase muscle mass far, far quicker than the average person.
When first lifting weights your muscles become tighter in a state of readiness. This causes them to tighten. They then develop with gives you a “toned” appearance and a slender, athletic physique. A good rule of thumb is that until you’re bench pressing your bodyweight, squatting 1.5 x and deadlifting 2 x your bodyweight, you’re probably not on the verge of becoming even remotely bulky. Just check out the exercises listed on youtube.
Lift weights to tone, shape and burn calories. The more active your muscle mass, the more calories that will be burnt during inactivity
Cardio is the Best Way to Tone
Whoever thinks this is going to be on the cross trainer for a while. Cardio is a very efficient way to exercise which means you won’t burn many calories per unit of time. This is an inefficient way to lose weight. HIIT training is a much more effective alternative. It is quicker, more fun and we’ll go into how to do this in a second. And don’t even listen to anyone telling you to exercise within the “fat burning zone”… just don’t.
I Can Eat What I Want if I Train Hard
No, no, no. Let’s put this into perspective. After a hard weight training session or one hour of brisk walking, you may only burn 400 calories. That’s a Mars Bar and a can of coke. Or just having your portion sizes around 30% more than they should be.
What’s easier? To cut the crap out and save the effort, money and guilt of buying it in the first place, or to train 60 mins a day? Lucky for you we’re going to be doing both!
It is Dangerous to Exercise Intensely when you reach a certain Age
Post-menopausal women are more predisposed to weaker and more fragile bones. So what are doctors doing to help reverse this? Getting these lovely ladies to weight train. Injury is a failure of the body to absorb force, but your body can adapt to forces at whatever stage of your life. It just takes a bit more time as you get older.
The rule is, start off with what is very comfortable when exercising. Ask a professional to help you with form (whether this is running, basketball or weightlifting) as this will help to distribute load throughout your body to reduce chance of injury. Lastly, increase the intensity of your exercise gradually each session (rule of thumb to follow). Your body will be able to adapt to the increasing amount of force without suffering drastically increasing risk of injury.
All exercise comes with a risk of injury, small it may be. But this is a far less risk than not exercising and predisposing yourself to heart disease, dementia, diabetes, depression, stroke, angina, cancer…. and the list goes on.
If you’d like to become a bit more savvy on the most effective ways to exercise and achieve your goals, then just subscribe to our posts via the box below!
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