Tuesday, Jul 6, 2010Does Your Fitness Program Have These Exercise Myths?

Fitness programs are a wonderful, feel-good activity. So are eating, sleeping and studying. Yet each activity, when taken to the extreme, may contain pitfalls that can keep you from complete enjoyment. Eating too much quaffs the enjoyment of food in general. Not getting enough sleep puts your energy on edge. Saving your studying until the last minute creates undue stress. And the following exercise myths might put a twist in the benefits of exercise. Common sense is a key indicator in your fitness program.

Using Books On The Treadmill

It’s boring, I know. I also know that if you focus on the walking itself during exercise, put the book aside, you’ll get more benefits of the exercise. Try alternating fast and slow walking. Push your self a bit and you’ll get more out of the walking. And while you’re walking, think: “My exercise makes me feel healthy.”

When Should You Stretch?

Many folks advocate stretching before your workout, but your flexibility or range of motion for performance is somewhat of an old wives tale, lacks scientific support and doesn’t seem to have any correlation about decreasing injury. doing a warm-up, however, might be beneficial.

Room Temperature or Cold Water?

The internet is amazing! I found substantial arguments for drinking room temperature water vs. drinking cold water after a workout. What’s important is that you re-hydrate yourself and for my money, I’d drink the temperature of water you enjoy the most, since the so-called experts don’t seem to be in agreement on this one. One recommendation was to put a pinch of salt in the water to rejuvenate electrolytes in your body.

How Often Should You Exercise?

Again, there are as many opinions as there are experts. The frequency of workout depends on you.  What makes you feel worked out? How often do you feel the need to workout? Daily? Three times a week? Weekly? One internet expert said once a month was enough. What matters is figuring out what is optimal for you. This will take trial and error. You’re worth it.

Use the Same Routine Forever?

This is a topic on which there seems to be some concurrence. The mind is an incredible machine and it runs the body. If the mind does the same routine, it will begin to create short cuts, so it seems wise to vary your workout routine to trick the mind (and thus, the body) even if it’s just to keep your motivation strong. Even changing the music you to which you workout can keep your motivation high.

Exercising for Weight Loss

The connection between weight loss and working out hard and frequently can be helpful temporarily, but if you neglect to look at what you’re thinking while you’re doing this exercising, the weight loss can be reversed when you stop exercising with such intensity. You are thinking “I want to lose weight” and it’s this activity that drives the weight loss along with your belief that exercising is helping. By connecting these two ideas, if you stop the intense exercising, you also stop thinking “lose weight” and lo and behold, you stop losing weight. This is a common exercise myth. The mental component is too frequently not examined, and it should be.

Activity and exercise – any kind of movement, actually – can help you think “I am healthy” and this applies to people of any age. Stay active, keep doing your fitness program and you’ll stay healthy.