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Exercise myths and truths. (Archive in exercise.)

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Misty L. Trepke
http://www.searching-alternatives.com

Short workouts don't count
by Susan Swimmer

Ladies Home Journal
Jan, 1998

MYTH: Unless you have a lot of time, it's not worth it to work out.
Doing something, no matter how little, is always better than nothing.
Just twenty minutes of aerobic activity three times a week will
improve heart conditioning, reduce depression and give you more
energy, says Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., strength-training consultant for
the National YMCA, in Chicago. Moderate exercise can also boost
immunity -- saving you lost time from illness.

"Use your time well," suggests Delon Nelson, personal training
manager for Crunch gym, in New York City. "I always say that a
cardiovascular workout is the best place to start because it burns
fat and helps you fight off heart-related illness."

MYTH: You have to exercise for three months to see results. It's true
that dramatic changes take time, but subtle ones happen immediately,
says Russen Cohen, D.C., a certified sports chiropractor in New York
City. What benefits can you expect right away? After just one workout
you will reap the psychological benefits: enhanced mood, an increased
sense of relaxation, a decrease in anxiety and a surge in self-
esteem. These all result from physiological changes caused by moving
the body and getting the heart rate up. Exercise releases chemicals
in the brain, such as endorphins, that are responsible for this
immediate boost in mood.

Every workout burns calories, of course, and exercise can also help
you sleep better. From your very first aerobic workout, you'll be
pumping blood and taking in oxygen more efficiently, which lowers
your risk of heart-related illnesses.

After about two months of strength training, some of the fat that
covers muscles will have been burned off and some additional muscle
will have been added for a more sculpted contour.

MYTH: You have to follow a strict regimen in order to get fit.
Actually, what repetition gets you is a big dose of boredom. There
are real advantages in injury-prevention with cross-training (doing a
variety of activities). John Platero, fitness coordinator for L.A.
Fitness, in Los A,ngeles, explains another benefit: "There's
something called Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands, which means
that over time, your body gets comfortable with the movements and
they get easier -- and less effective. If you mix up your workouts,
your body is constantly being challenged, and must expend more energy
in order to keep up," he says.

Delon Nelson suggests creating a "rolling exercise schedule." Make a
long list of fitness activities you enjoy -- walking, a workout
video, lifting weights, using a stair climber, hiking. Every time you
work out, pick something different from the list. When you've done
them all once, start again.

MYTH: Your workout didn't work unless you're sore the next day. There
are many ways to evaluate your workout, but soreness is not one of
them. Cohen points out that a good workout should challenge your body
while minimizing injury. So how hard should you push? For aerobic
activities, you should be able to have a conversation while working
out. To be more precise, subtract your age from 220 to get your
maximum heart rate per minute. Then shoot for about 60 to 80 percent
of that number for your target heart rate or training zone.

"With weight training it's more difficult," says Cohen. "The best way
is to get good supervision from a certified trainer." Most trainers
recommend completing up to three sets of twelve to fifteen
repetitions for each lift. Choose a weight you can lift at least
twelve times that's challenging but not so hard that you can't keep
control at all times.

MYTH: Stair climbers give you a big butt. "So many people believe this
myth! Believe me, if you could build up your lower body from a stair
machine, you'd see bodybuilders on them!" says Delon Nelson of Crunch.
While you may add muscle mass, you will burn fat -- the net result
should be a smaller butt. The problem, insists Nelson, is that "so
many people use the stair climbers incorrectly -- they lean over,
resting on the rails and pushing their hips back -- to compensate for
not being able to keep up with the program." With your body resting
on your arms, you're not working as hard and not burning as many
calories. Nelson's advice: Use a lower setting on the machine but
increase your duration (say, from fifteen minutes to twenty-five).

MYTH: Working out takes time away from the family. "A person who is
clear about her needs and interest and knows how to get them met
makes a much better partner and parent," says Sue Rooks, M.S.W.,
M.Ed., a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in
Alexandria, Virginia. "Be direct with your family. Tell them that
this is Mommy's time. You'll be a better role model and a more
truthful person. After all, your resentment is more damaging for
children than not having Mom around for a few hours a week."

MYTH: You should always stretch before you exercise. Cohen explains
that if you stretch cold, tight muscles you risk tearing a healthy
muscle or accelerating a problem that already exists, such as a
strain or tendinitis. The best method is to warm up with low-
intensity aerobic exercise, such as walking, before doing some light
stretching (no bouncing, no quick position changes), then exercise,
and finish with some significant stretching when muscles are really
warm.

When you exercise, you do tiny amounts of muscle damage (preferably
not enough to make you sore). As that damage heals, which is called
recovery, you become stronger and faster. "If you stretch after
exercise, your muscles will recover in a lengthened position,"
explains Cohen. "Longer muscles will give you a better range of
motion, which is much easier on your joints. And every time you
lengthen the muscle by stretching, there's a better chance your
muscle will `remember' that longer position the next time you
exercise. Lengthened muscles also put less pressure on the
blood vessels that pass through the area, so you increase the
circulation."

MYTH: You can't get fit by doing yoga. Actually, yoga is rare among
exercise routines in that it works almost your entire body and builds
both strength and flexibility. Molly Fox, creative fitness director
at Equinox Fitness Clubs, in New York City, has seen people turn from
nonbelievers to fanatics in just a few sessions.

"Yoga is amazing because it constantly challenges your body," Fox
says. "It builds strength, endurance and flexibility, and it
increases your breath capacity." Moreover, yoga can be done every day
and at every age. Fox says yoga also helps with stress-reduction,
which can help reduce high blood pressure and protect against heart
disease.

MYTH: Only aerobics burns fat. Aerobic exercise is an efficient way to
reduce body fat, but not the only way. The body has several sources of
energy: blood glucose, glycogen stored in muscles, and body fat. This
myth got started because you use body fat for fuel when you do an
aerobic workout. At the start of aerobic exercise, your muscles are
powered mostly from stored glycogen. For the first twenty minutes,
exercise is fueled half by glycogen and half by body fat. As the
glycogen stores run out, the body taps the fat supply more.

That said, exercises that burn fat for energy are not the only way to
get slimmer. If you eat more calories than you burn, you store them
as fat. But if you burn more calories than you eat, you lose weight,
so it's the balance of food and exercise that matters. Keep in mind
that if you go to the gym and do the weight circuit, you burn about
480 calories per hour. Add to that the increase in metabolism you get
from adding muscle, and you get a leaner body.

RELATED ARTICLE: Tips To Better TRAINING

Nat Nichols, a certified strength and conditioning specialist at The
Athletic and Swim Club, in New York City, has the following
suggestions to make your workouts more fun and effective.

* When doing crunches, squeeze a balled-up towel between your knees --
you'll work the upper part of your abdominals as well as the lower
part.

* Your goal for an aerobic activity should be time spent, not distance
covered. As you improve, you may be able to cover more distance in a
given amount of time. So if you set a distance goal, your workouts
may get shorter.

* When walking, pull your shoulders back and squeeze your shoulder
blades together to work upper-back muscles and stretch out your
chest. Most of us need the stretch because we spend too much time
hunched forward over desks, steering wheels or children.

* When using free weights, lift the right way -- with slow and
controlled motions. You'll get a safer and more effective workout.

* Work out with your kids. If they're old enough to join in, it could
be the beginning of a lifelong interest in exercise.

* If you're a beginner at aerobics it's better to take breaks and stay
through the class than to leave after fifteen minutes. That way you'll
participate in the actual aerobic part (as opposed to just the
warm-up), you'll see the routine and you'll get accustomed to
devoting the time to fitness.

* The two most important factors affecting the progress of a fitness
routine are diet and rest -- a bad night's sleep is as detrimental as
eating poorly. Both will sap your energy.

* Use machines at the gym the way they were intended to be used. Do
not stand backward on a stair climber or walk backward on a
treadmill. The increased rate of injury far outweights any fitness or
boredom-relief benefit.

* When biking, make your legs do more work by dropping into a lower
(easier) gear and spinning the pedals faster -- you'll get more
benefit for your heart.

* For every half hour of exercise, allow five minutes of cooldown,
such as slow walking. Don't just head for the couch.

MYTH: Using weights makes you big. Wayne Westcott insists that using
weights will help you slim down. Research shows that adding three
pounds of lean muscle increases the metabolic rate by 7 percent. Your
body has to work harder to maintain muscle than it does to maintain
fat. "Even an inactive body will burn an extra thirty-five calories
every day with just one added pound of muscle," says Westcott.

MYTH: Step classes are bad for your knees. Stepping was created by Gin
Miller, a veteran fitness expert, after a torn ligament in her knee
left her unable to partake of her regular exercise routine. "People
make mistakes," explains Miller. "They're stepping too often -- more
than three to five times a week. They're stepping too fast -- you
should have enough time to make a solid foot plant and remain
balanced. And they're stepping too high -- set the platform so your
knee bends to about 60 degrees, halfway between straight and fully
flexed. You should never feel your knees stressing, and if you do,
lower the height, the pace or the frequency."

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