Having been a personal trainer in the fitness industry for over 11 years, I have heard numerous fitness beliefs. However, it turns out that quite a few of those beliefs are myths. I could go on and on about the crazy things I have heard, but instead I'm going shed some truth on two of the most common ones.
The first myth is that focusing solely on abdominal or “ab” exercises gets you a flatter stomach. While doing ab exercises will make your abdominal muscles stronger, it doesn't necessarily correlate with losing belly fat. You can’t choose a specific spot to lose fat. It’s true you will burn calories doing ab exercises, but doing only those exercises in general will not specifically burn your stomach fat.
Your body fat is not attached to your muscle tissue, so strengthening your abdominal muscles won’t necessarily result in fat tissue loss specifically in your abs. If you really want that flatter stomach, you'll have the best results doing full body workouts and eating healthy versus relying solely on more and more crunches.
Another very common myth is that women who lift weights become big and bulky. The main issue with this belief is that women do not have the hormones in their bodies that cause men to bulk up. Lifting heavy weights will make women stronger, but not necessarily bulky looking.
In fact, an additional pound of lean body mass takes up way less mass than a pound of fat. So, why not gain some extra muscle to help you burn body fat and in turn trim down your body measurements? If you're a woman, don't be afraid to utilize the weight room and push yourself with some heavy weights.
Some of the other myths that I have heard throughout the years consist of: "The more you sweat the more fat you lose," or "You can only really lose weight by cutting out carbs,” or that "You can eat whatever you want as long as you train hard,” and that "Running is counterproductive to strength training.”
Overall, just remember that everything you hear isn't always true! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or shoot me an email. I’m here to help!
