Fact or Fiction: No Pain, No Gain

     No pain, no gain is one of the most commonly used expressions in fitness and chances are just reading those words made you think about working out. Well, probably not just working out, but working out really hard. It is known that the human body must be exposed to increasingly difficult challenges (higher weights, more reps, less rest, etc.) to stimulate further gains and exercising at an easy or comfortable level will, at best, only maintain your current fitness level. As a result, people often say no pain, no gain as a way to get the point across that you need to push yourself if you really want to improve. However, is no pain, no gain really an accurate statement?

Fact or Fiction: Lifting Weights Makes you Big and Bulky

     This is an issue that has been causing confusion for as long as I can remember and while people are certainly more educated about resistance training than ever before, there are still misconceptions about how lifting weights affects your body. There is no question that lifting weights can increase muscle size and the sport of bodybuilding has certainly left images in people’s minds of over muscled individuals with physiques that many find unappealing. Since people often associate lifting weights with bodybuilding, it becomes natural to assume that lifting weights makes you big and bulky.

Fact or Fiction: Exercising in Water is Good for Your Entire Body

     Water aerobics and other water based workouts are becoming more popular all the time and everyone from individuals recovering from injuries to advanced athletes in peak condition are benefiting from this form of exercise. With so many different people benefiting from exercising in the water, it is being considered a great form of exercise for everyone and some people are even saying it is the best form of exercise. However, the issue remains whether or not this is the ideal workout that truly benefits your entire body.

Fact or Fiction: Iceberg Lettuce is a Food you should Avoid

Over the years iceberg lettuce has received its fair share of negative publicity. It often appears on lists such as “the top 10 foods you should avoid” or “foods you may think are healthy, but really aren’t.” All of this negativity towards iceberg lettuce stems from the fact that is does not have that many vitamins or minerals compared to darker green leafy vegetables, so it is often considered a source of empty calories. Yet the question remains, is iceberg lettuce actually a food you should avoid?

Fact or Fiction: Doing lots of Abdominal Exercises is the Best Way to get Great Looking Abs

     The abdominals are the muscles that people are concerned with more than any other part of the body. There are so many products developed, articles written, videos made, etc. about developing better looking abs that it could seem like everyone must be walking around with incredible abs. Of course, most people don’t have great abs and genetics does play a part, but another reason is because people assume that doing lots of abdominal exercises is the best way to get great looking abs. The reality is that this belief, while common, is complete fiction.

     Doing lots of abdominal exercises is definitely not the best way to get great looking abs and believe it or not, it is actually a very inefficient way to get the abs you desire. That said, it is still very important to incorporate abdominal exercises into your overall routine. Just keep in mind that abdominal exercises have more to do with the way your abs work (strength, endurance, etc.) and less to do with making significant changes in the way they look.

Fact or Fiction: Lifting Weights will Decrease Your Flexibility

     Most people realize that flexibility is an important physical attribute and any good health and fitness program should help you improve or at least maintain your existing level of flexibility. Poor flexibility causes numerous problems including pain and injury, so it is important to avoid doing things that decrease your flexibility. Lifting weights is an activity that is acknowledged to have benefits for virtually everyone, yet some people avoid it, because they don’t want to lose flexibility.

Fact or Fiction: Muscle Turns to Fat when You Stop Exercising

     The issue of whether or not muscle can turn to fat is one of those topics that has caused more than its fair share of confusion over the years. I am not sure how the confusion started or where all the misinformation came from, but my best guess is that it had something to do with people making incorrect assumptions about their personal experiences. Interestingly, the science behind this issue is fairly basic and straightforward, so any confusion you have will hopefully be cleared up by the end of this post.