Fitness - Fact or Fiction

Here is the truth behind some of the most commonly asked questions in the health and fitness industry.  It’s our way of putting out some of the “bush fires” that big companies start by providing false and misleading information in order to sell a product or service. 

If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact us….we’d love to help you out.

Do women who lift weights get big, bulky muscles?

Women do not have the levels of testosterone and human growth hormone to increase lean muscle mass dramatically.  The majority of women will only have the capability to replace the muscle that they have lost naturally since they turned 20.  At most, an increase of a couple of kilograms of lean muscle mass may occur in a very small percent of LUCKY women.  Lucky because more muscle means a faster metabolism, resulting in faster fat burning and a slow down of the ageing process.

If I stop lifting weights will my lean, hard muscle turn into floppy, flabby fat?

Muscle cannot be turned into fat.  This is as impossible as turning plastic into metal.  If you stop training you will lose muscle size.  you could possibly put on fat because you are still eating what you were while active and training.  Your metabolic rate will also decline as you lose active muscle tissue, therefor slowing down your fat burning engine.  If you gain fat it is because you have lost muscle size which helps burn fat, not because one has turned into the other.

If I perform specific exercises can I burn fat from specific areas?

Spot reduction exercises promote working a particular body part or muscle to burn fat from the worked area. Unfortunately this goes against every sufficient principle of exercise physiology. We can not choose where we want to lose fat. When you move more, follow a more balanced diet and lift weights, fat will come off all over your body.  Where from and how quickly is different for everyone depending on your genetics and general body shape.

Should I lift low weights at high reps for toning?

Toning occurs when adequate amounts of muscle can be seen under low-levels of body fat.  Maintaining muscle (women) or building muscle (men) can only happen is the muscle is placed under significant overload. Overload comes from a regular increase in loads you’re lifting. As you adapt to the weight you are lifting, you need to lift more weight to create an overload. Higher reps will only increase endurance. Get stronger to burn more fat and maintain/increase muscle.

Do men and women need different exercise programs?

Men and women have the same functional anatomy and physiology in terms of muscles and exercise response. We have the same body parts and muscles apart from the obvious. Both man and women need progressive overload to stimulate physiological adaptations in muscle strength, endurance and power. The only difference is that men have a higher capacity for bigger muscles sue to higher hormonal levels.

Should I take fat metabolisers, fat burning pill and cellulite creams to burn unwanted fat?

Fat is stored in the fat cell and can only be utilised as a source of energy in the aerobic energy system. Your body has to burn it off! There are many fat burning supplements on the market, but none of them have been scientifically proven to increase the oxidation of fat.

Should I go on a diet to lose weight?

Diets are generally based on calorie restriction which causes loss of muscle tissue as an energy source. This slows the metabolism which causes extra fat gain in the long run term. The storing of fat in the fat cell will increase in concentration during a diet as the body counteracts the loss of food by preserving fat as an energy source and draws energy from the muscle tissue (quicker and easier).  Then when normal eating resumes at the end of the diet, metabolism has slowed due to the loss of muscle tissue and the body can’t burn fat as effectively as before.  Therefore, often after a diet has ended, you will end up gaining more fat than before.

It’s better to evaluate your eating habits. Try to eat the right foods in correct portions and follow a steady exercise program to achieve results that will last and not be detrimental to your health.

I have arthritis, should I lift weights?

Research has o  significant decrease in joint pain with subjects who participated in a strength training program. Arthritis is the degeneration and inflammation of the joints.  Joints are supported by muscle. Increasing the functional strength of these muscles will decrease the stresses on joints.

I have diabetes, should I life weights?

Strength training increases muscle tissue and increase metabolism. This in turn will increase daily energy expenditure, increasing metabolism of blood sugars, fats and transportation of blood sugars into the muscle cell. All good reasons why everyone, especially people with diabetes, should lift weights.