After 30 years in the fitness industry, I keep shaking my head how the same old questions keep coming up. How many times I’ve heard, “Heike, this is the latest and the greatest. What do you think of this? I just read about it on the internet.” I’m tackling the 5 myths that just won’t die so that you can rid yourself of those myths.
5 Fitness Myths That Just Won’t Die
Here are five myths that, in my 35 years in the fitness industry, just don’t want to die but keep popping up in a new and more enticing way year after year.
#1 The corset/waist cincher
Now it’s called the waist trainer, and when you guys tell me about these things that you come across, of course, you ask, “Is this really working?”
To tell you the truth, I didn’t know what the waist trainer was. I had never heard of it. A couple of years back, I wrote a blog on the waist cincher because the same question had come up. So first of all, the waist trainer is not shapewear (like the slips you wear under dresses to make everything look smooth).
It’s a thing that cinches you in, like a corset. The promise of the waist trainer is that it will make your waist inches smaller and support your back. It trains your body to get the “hourglass figure.”
I just want to take my head and just shake it violently because all these claims are baloney. Now, the fact is, if you suck it in, and somebody ties it in, of course, you will look smaller. Now apart from appearing smaller, there are medical issues that come with using a waist trainer. Christopher Ochner, a weight loss and nutrition expert at Mount Sinai Hospital, says if you keep wearing these waist trainers for extended periods, it can cause crushed organs, compressed lungs, and fractured ribs.
So ladies, please do not fall prey to those celebrity claims, and buy into these weird contraptions that some of them sell. Here’s my fit tip for the waist trainer or the lack thereof. You want lasting results, and you want to look slimmer, fitter, trimmer? Here’s what you do. Fit tip number one. Spot training doesn’t work, so start training all over.
Diet and exercise. Exercise and the right diet will produce results in the long term and are sustainable. No fractured ribs or compressed lungs.
#2 Lifting weights will make you bulky
This one keeps coming up all the time. Many women shy away from weights because somebody told you that you’d get big muscles. Yes, there are a few exceptions for women when they lift weights, they will get bulky because of their body type.
Women our age can hit the weights, and it doesn’t have to be big weights. Hormones play a significant role in muscle building, and women have much lower testosterone levels than men mean it is really hard to get “big.” You also would have to eat mega amounts of protein and lift extremely heavy. Do you know how I know that? I used to be a bodybuilder. Yep, you heard correctly.
About 20 years ago, my friend decided that it would be a great idea to compete in a bodybuilding competition. We both were personal trainers then, and we knew how to train somebody to get fit and in shape, but we decided, “What would we do if somebody came up and said, ‘Hey, I want to be big. Show me how to get big bulky muscles?'”
I trained seven days a week for an hour and a half lifting heavyweights. I also had to eat lots of broccoli, tuna, beans, a little bit of rice, and lots of water.
I got big muscles. I got compliments on my six-pack. I dedicated my life to bodybuilding for three years. My kids can tell you about how I stood in the living room posing for hours, eating clean, bringing Tupperware to parties.
If you intentionally lift and eat to gain significant muscle mass, then it is possible. However, lifting weights with the idea to gain strength will increase your metabolism and help you burn more calories. Strength training also increases bone density and will help reduce the risk of osteoporosis So, don’t shy away from the weights, ladies.
#3 Stretching before your workout will make you more flexible
The simple answer is no. This debate has been going on forever since somebody coined the term stretching I’m sure. There is one camp that says stretching is not necessary. We should definitely not stretch before we work, and some swear that stretching is the best thing ever, and others totally ignore it.
But do we need to stretch at all? Most of my clients stretch a little bit here and there. Some more than others, but you need to know that there are two types of stretches. A dynamic stretch and a static stretch. You should feel the stretch when you stretch, but you should not feel pain. That’s very important to know.
One of my friends is a physical therapist who always cautions about overstretching. Picture this: taking one of your fingers and bending it away from the palm of your hand. If you do this with me right now, you can feel a little bit of a stretch, but it’s not like you’re ripping out your finger. This is how your stretch should feel. It shouldn’t be really, really hard and really, really bouncy and aggressive.
I am also a running coach, and my clients, my friends, when we run together, we warm up with dynamic stretching. We’re not just running around the track and warming up. We reproduce similar movements that we will be using in the running part of our training, but at a lower intensity.
So you start walking, and as you’re walking faster, you start to do walking lunges or leg swings. This helps warm up your hips, so you’re more prepared to run. This is the best thing to do before you exercise, but if you like stretching before you workout, keep doing it if it makes you feel good. But always make sure to stretch after exercise. That’s the best time to gain flexibility. You’re warmed up, and you have increased circulation in your muscles and joints, that’s the best time for static stretching to increase your flexibility. Hold them for about 45 seconds and definitely don’t forget to breathe.
#4 All women gain weight during menopause
The simple answer is no. But there are several factors to consider why many women do. For years you’ve been working out, staying on top of your nutrition, and staying lean and in shape. Then, out of the blue, those strategies just aren’t working anymore. I hear it all the time, “I start gaining weight, especially around my midsection.”
I have to agree that what I have done is not working anymore, so over the years, I had to learn that I needed to change my workouts. I was no longer a bodybuilder or an ultra-marathon runner, but I was working out, despite the fatigue, the sleepless nights, the night sweats, or the day sweats.
The weight just kept creeping up around the midsection, so I made changes to how I exercise and how I eat. Your body is now super sensitive to carbohydrates, and blood sugar levels fluctuate. Your body uses protein less efficiently than before, and building and maintaining muscle is harder.
So, go back to myth number two about weight training and lifting weights. It will not make you bulky because we’re here now in menopause or perimenopause, and you go, “I just can’t keep the muscle mass on my body. I am getting rounder in the midsection.”
Here’s what I’d like you to consider. Increase the amount of time you exercise from the recommended 150 minutes per week (or 22 minutes per day) to one hour per day instead. Your body will thank you for it.
Eat a variety of vegetables that will keep you full. Kale, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, you name it. There are a ton of vegetables out there that are easily available that you can throw into your diet, which will help with keeping the weight gain down during menopause. Eat high-quality protein. You have chicken, fish, beans, eggs, and protein powder.
It is a struggle; I give you that. We are all in this together, but we can find a solution, and we can live better with less weight gain, less sluggishness, and feel a lot healthier.
#5 Walking with weights will burn more calories
Every couple of years, somebody happily tells me, “Heike, I just got hand weights for my walking.” Oh, you know what? At the yard sale, they just sold those wrist weights I can now use when walking.
The weighted backpack, or a weighted vest, has also become very popular. Here’s what I was just asked recently. “But don’t I work harder, burn more calories, and get more toned if I added just 3 pounds of weight in each hand to my walk?”
For every 10 pounds you add to your body weight while walking, so if you hold the 3-pound weights in each hand (6 pounds total), you only burn 5-8 calories per mile. If you compare that to walking a quarter of a mile, a 150-pound person burns about 20 calories. That’s if they’re using the 10 pounds, but most of us don’t.
Reality check, a glass of wine has 125 calories. Do the math. How much more you have to walk with weights to get in a glass or two of wine? What is most concerning about this to me is the risk, the load, and what stress is caused by holding the weights on the different parts of the body. Swinging the extra weight is wear and tear on the muscles.
Instead, try to walk faster, longer, upstairs, or on hills.
So, there you have it. The 5 fitness myths that just won’t die. I’m sure they’ll keep coming back over and over. Did you happen to come across other fitness myths that just won’t die that I haven’t thought of?
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