The myth: By exercising a certain part of the body you will lose fat from that part

Fact or fiction? Fiction

A common perception is that by working the muscles of the stomach, visible abs will eventually 'come through' the fat. Unfortunately, a layer of fat lies on top of the muscle, so this can never happen. For the abs to be visible, total body fat must be reduced by doing regular aerobic exercise and following a sensible diet.

This is the truth:

• By exercising you can improve muscle condition and become stronger
• When you exercise you use up some of the body's energy stores - you burn calories.
• If you burn off more calories than you consume you can lose fat
• If you lose fat you have no choice where you lose it from!

This is a sad fact for many people, but the distribution of fat over your body is determined by gender, age and genetic make-up. This does not mean that you cannot lose fat, just that you cannot influence where you will lose it from.

Regular aerobic exercise and a sensible diet are the way to lose fat and get fit.

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The myth: Crunches work the 'upper' abs. Leg raises work the lower abs.

Fact or fiction? Fiction

The abbreviation 'abs' could be partly to blame for this myth. It suggests to some that the long muscle at the front of the belly is made up of several small muscles - the 'six-pack' visible on athletes and film stars.

However, 'abs' stands for either 'abdominal muscles' or 'Rectus Abdominis'. Herein lies the truth. The abdominal muscles are made up of the Rectus Abdominis which lies at the front of the belly, and the Obliques, which lie either side. The 'six-pack' is all one muscle. There are no 'upper abs' and 'lower abs'.

Another factor is that the Leg Raise exercise can result in a burning sensation in the lower abdominal area. This is normally the hip flexor muscles, which bring the thighs up from the hip, and attach to the skeleton deep under the lower part of the abdomen.

To work the abs (specifically the Rectus Abdominis) the waist must be flexed, this only happens in the Leg Raise (and its variants) when the hip is fully flexed and the waist takes over to continue bringing the legs up to the body.

Look here for abs (Rectus Abdominis) exercises and here for Obliques.

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The myth: By wearing hot clothes during exercise you can lose fat

Fact or fiction? Fiction

One of the more worrying myths. We sweat because the body is getting hot and needs to cool down - the sweat evaporates taking body heat with it. As well as cooling us down, sweat contains water and salts, which the body needs to function. That is why it is important to rehydrate after exercise (or a sauna) by drinking water, and replace salts by eating wholesome food.

By wearing hot clothes or materials that do not breathe (such as plastic) during exercise sweating is increased.

We do not sweat fat! We only lose water and salts, and they must be replaced afterwards to remain healthy.

Once again, Regular aerobic exercise and a sensible diet are the way to lose fat and get fit.

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The myth: Performing high reps of an exercise helps you lose fat

Fact or fiction? Fiction

Weight training is best for increasing strength and muscle size. To burn fat, it is best to exercise aerobically continuously for 20 minutes or more, maintaining a high heart rate (see stamina).

A typical set of a weight training exercise lasts for 30 seconds, followed by a rest of two minutes - this is not sufficient to keep the heart rate elevated for long enough to burn fat.

The is one exception, which is circuit training. With this type of weight training there is no rest between sets so the heart rate should remain elevated throughout the workout's duration. However, it is hard to achieve this when training in a busy gym - an instructor-led circuit class may give better results.

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The myth: By following a bizarre diet, such as eating no carbohydrates, you will lose fat

Fact or fiction? Grain of truth

A myth that is backed up by millions of advertising spending, glowing testimonials to diet X and various doctors explaining how following a bizarre dietary regime will cause the pounds to 'fall off'. There are many people who search for the 'silver bullet' to obesity and others who are only to happy to provide it.

As before, the truth is much simpler than the myth: to lose weight you must use up more calories than you consume. You can do this in many ways, but the healthiest, surest, way to do it is by doing regular aerobic exercise and following a sensible diet.

How does this explain the success of no-carbohydrates diets where you can eat fat all day long and still lose weight? These diets work a different way - by not giving your body the food group that is most readily convertible to energy it is forced to convert protein and fat which is inefficient and burns up more calories in itself. However the side effects can include bad breath, extreme fatigue and digestive complaints, and the long-term effects are not known.

So what is a sensible diet? Again the truth is very simple and you probably already know it - the main part of your diet should be carbohydrates (rice, pasta, potatoes, grains, bread) followed by fruit and vegetables (preferably fresh) then finally meat and diary products. Fat is bad as it contains twice as many calories by weight than carbohydrates and protein, so minimise you consumption of oils, red meat and diary produce. Eat smaller portions, cut down on alcohol and read the labels to identify high-calorie or high-fat foods you are not aware of. All very simple and boring, but true.

 

Suggested reading about fad diets:

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The myth: Don't weight train as it will make you big and bulky

Fact or fiction? Fiction

A phrase heard from virtually every female on their first visit to the gym is 'whatever happens I don't want to get all muscular' (not surprisingly it is rarely heard of from males, who often do want to get more muscular). The news is good for these women: 'don't worry, you won't.'

For men, who have much higher levels of the muscle-building hormone testosterone, it takes a lot of time and effort to increase muscle size. For the majority of women it is harder still to become even slightly muscular, and if it starts to happen an adjustment to the training program is all that is needed.

There are exceptions, both men and women, who it seems only need to look at a weight and get stronger and more muscular. However, this is rare even for testosterone-powered men, and if you are one of these people you probably know about it already, excelling at sports and being strong and muscular without any weight training at all.

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The myth: Train longer and more often to get better results.

Fact or fiction? Fiction

For most people, your muscles need to be worked at most to momentary failure to be able to increase the weights used by a small amount each week (5 - 10%).

By training too long (an hour should be enough and two hours is definitely too much) or too often, you body may not recover fully between workouts and you become susceptible to injury and overtraining. Training too much results in no improvement in strength or muscle size, as the body fights to repair itself between workouts.

This can be contrasted with training to lose weight or improve stamina which requires that you exercise regularly (three or more times a week) for a minimum amount of time (20-30 minutes).

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The myth: You need to use knee wraps and wrist straps and a back belt to weight train

Fact or fiction? Grain of truth

This myth comes down to a question: what are you using the belt, wraps or straps for?

If it is because of an injury, weakness or poor technique then you should not use them. Speak to your doctor, physiotherapist or weight training instructor to get the problem sorted out then try the exercise again without the support, and a lower weight.

If you are using the support so you can work a muscle which is not directly assisted by it then it can be OK - an example is the Shrug, when the Trapezius muscle can handle stronger weight than you are able to grip without straps. Also, using a back belt to support the abdomen during the Squat and Leg Press is also acceptable.

A more worrying issue is that the various supports can make an already weak or injured muscle worse, because it gets used to the help of a support. A common example is chronic overuse of back belts - this can lead to lower back and abdominal weakness and lead to injury, instead of preventing it. This external link gives a detailed account.

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The myth: Some exercises are not safe and should never be done

Fact or fiction? Grain of truth

Over time certain exercises have come in and out of fashion, and some have vanished forever outside the military and sadistic physical education teachers, such as straight-leg sit-ups. However, most of the exercises done in gyms today have been around for decades.

Of these exercises, some are criticised and boycotted because they are perceived as being out-and-out bad exercises. From time to time this has included the Squat, Bent Leg Sit-Up, Seated Row, Stiff Leg Deadlift, Straight Leg Deadlift and more. The grain of truth is that these exercises do put a lot of strain on the lower back (and knees in the case of the Squat) and those who are we weak or injured in those areas should work to overcome the problem as a priority - which can actually include doing the exercise considered to be dangerous if properly instructed.

The key is that there are very few exercises that are in themselves bad, only exercises that might be bad for particular people due to some weakness (in the widest sense of term). If you want to try an exercise that has the 'dangerous' stigma get proper instruction and practice good technique.

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The myth: The latest new potion, pill or eye drop will give you awesome results

Fact or fiction? Normally fiction

Every now and again a new supplement arrives which claims to massively boost the results of weight training, by enabling you to lift more weight, recover faster or build muscle better. Like fad diets, they are backed up by advertising campaigns and (often) pseudo-scientific jargon and studies.

When these are tested scientifically there is normally no significant benefit over that of a placebo, and the supplement goes out of fashion. There are exceptions which in recent years has included Creatine - this has done well in studies and is often praised by its users.

The other exceptions are the dangerous and often illegal drugs that are taken by some bodybuilders and other athletes. This includes steroids, a class of drugs typically intended for bulking up animals, or treating people who are underweight or have wasting diseases. The full list of side effects runs to several pages including liver and reproductive system damage (including infertility), an enlarged heart, mental illness and irreversible masculinizing effects for women.

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