Urban Legends: Fitness Myths Vs Facts

In the fitness world, there are lots of urban legends you’d hear in the gym locker room.

Statements like, “I don’t want to eat sinigang or sisig because ingesting pork fat will make me fat!” or “I stay away from those heavy weights because I don’t want to look like a She-Hulk”

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An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true. As with all folklore and mythology, the designation suggests nothing about the story’s veracity, but merely that it is in circulation, exhibits variation over time, and carries some significance that motivates the community in preserving and propagating it.

- Wikipedia

As we embrace the fitness lifestyle, it is our responsibility to question these statements and find out for ourselves if these are categorized as what we all know as “fitness” urban legends.

Below are some of the Fact vs Myth statement that I stumbled upon and would like to share with you.

Please feel free to add some more.

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Myth: High – carbohydrate, low fat diets works best.
Fact: People are becoming fat from carb overdose.

Myth: If you exercise, it doesn’t matter what you eat.
Fact: If you exercise, it matters even more what you eat!

Myth: Eating right means three big meals a day.
Fact: Eating  nutritious balanced meals with the proper portion is the way to go.

Myth: Weight training is only for young athletes.
Fact: People of all ages should do weight training.

Myth: Muscle grow while you’re working out
Fact: Muscle grow while you’re resting and recuperating, AFTER a good workout.

Myth: A certain number of sets and reps gets the job done.
Fact: High-intensity efforts produces the best results.

Myth: Aerobic is better for shaping up than weight training.
Fact: To transform your physique, you must train with weights.

Myth: If women lift weights, they’ll get “bulky”.
Fact: Resistance exercise helps women create lean, toned bodies.

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Myth: You need to drink water only when you are thirsty.
Fact: Your body needs more water than it’s telling you.

Myth: Pinays are weak and dependent
Fact: Pinays are Positive Independent Natural Adaptable andYouthful!

So, now that all the myths and urban legends are debunked, care to share what have YOU heard through the grapevine?

How to Workout During the Rainy Season

So you want to work out but its raining really hard outside.

Running is not an option and going to the gym is too much hassle because of the heavy traffic.

From the net

That’s fine.  However, that's no excuse for you not to work out.

The good news is that you can burn that extra jiggly fat, start being lean, and have a great workout with just using your existing furniture at home and your body weight!

How?  Let me introduce you to Body Weight Circuit Training.

Completing one exercise right after the other without stopping a set  is what’s known as “circuit training”.  This builds both lean body weight and give you a great cardio workout.

So why does it work, you ask me?

In these exercises multiple muscle groups are used to complete the movement. These challenging movements get your heart rate pumping and in effect helps with the caloric burn that we all want.  With this in mind, studies showed that Circuit Training burns more calories than interval training — which actually burns MORE calories than steady cardio.

Efficient use of time is important for me and spending hours of running on a treadmill is not how I envision my time spent.  Here is a sample basic  workout that can be completed at home, in the park, or even in your office during lunch break.  

In a circuit routine, you’ll do each exercise in sequence without breaks in between as much as possible. 

Once done, you do it all over again.  If you can still do a set after the 2nd set,  try one more for third.

Note that it’s better to stop and take a break than to do an exercise incorrectly.  If you can’t do all three set of circuits without stopping, then you have yourself a goal.

As in any physical activity, WARM UP before starting.  Elevate your heart rate by running in place, jump rope, or jog up and down your stairs.  After the warm up,  start the circuit by doing the following movements:

Air Squats. 

Livestrong.com defines Air Squat as “an effective exercise for both the beginner and the advanced athlete. It uses just your body weight to tone and strengthen the muscles of your buttocks–gluteus minimus and maximus–and your thigh muscles, the hamstrings and quadriceps. Air squats also increase flexibility in the hamstrings and glutes. This exercise is great for women as it targets the problem areas of the butt and thighs. It’s also effective for people on the go who might not have access to a gym or weight-training equipment.”

Yes, you read it right! It’s GREAT for women as it targets butt and thighs.

Try to do 10- 15  repetition per circuit.

Here’s another great move for you.

Why NOT Being Successful IS Selfish

Hello readers!

It's been more a year of not updating my site as I've been busy with various events and fitness activities offline. Going through various phases, it's interesting how one still gravitates to one's passion as working on one's passion is a surefire way of finding success.

SUCCESS. A concept that most people want to achieve in their lives -- It's interesting how I've been reading articles about how you need to be selfish in order to be successful and every time I finish reading, it always makes me wonder if that's the only way to do things. "To be successful, you have to be selfish, or else you never achieve" -- Apologies to His Airness MJ but those words saddens me a lot.

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Imagine the surprise I had when I heard Ray Higdon say (paraphrasing it a bit)  "Most people think success is selfish -- but the thing is, it's selfish NOT to have Success".

Wow.

And he went on further saying...

Reward Yourself

So you're slowly inching in towards your goals.. Then what?
Oh yeah, the reward  - It’s important to reward yourself for your accomplishments during your fitness journey.
Reward yourself for the behavioral changes as well as physical.


After all the key to maintain  the habit  depends on the lifestyle changes you’ve made along the way.

Your rewards need to be non-food rewards.
The purpose of rewarding yourself is to strengthen your resolve to have that fitness lifestyle and maintain it.
Rewarding yourself increases your awareness of all that you have accomplished.


These are some of the list that I happen to stumble upon in my readings:

1. Begin a “Success Savings” Put PHP 100 (or any amount  you think is doable) in it for every week you've achieved your goal.  Put  PHP10 or PHP50 in it for every pound you've lost .
You decide the amount of money you’ll give for the desired action. Such as for sticking to your  plan. Not pigging out when you were depressed. For each pound lost. For each day or week you stick to your meal plan.

What an Inspiration!

Posting this to inspire us ladies who need a little motivation.

Okey, take a good look at the lady in the picture and try to guess her age.


She's no pinay but the fine lady in the picture recently made it into the Guinness Book of Record as the "World's Oldest Female Body Builder."

Her name is Ernestine Sheperd.
So, how old do you think she is?
40? 50?

My guess is as good as yours.. and we are ALL wrong.

Try Seventy Seven... yes you read it right.. 77!

Surprised? To know more about her, check out her article and video here and be totally inspired!

Her message is clear and inspirational: “being out of shape” as we age is something we can now contest. She is indeed a role model not just for senior women, but for everyone else who have read or heard about her story.

Need motivation?

Think of how a lady of 77,  Ernestine Shepherd , and how her dedication and commitment can make a difference in one's life.

Thank you Ernestine, for showing us that these things are possible!

Another article in this link.