Not everything you hear about working out is true. New studies about keeping yourself healthier are coming out everyday. Some of these studies have evidence that put into huge doubts, if not completely dispel, long-held physical fitness beliefs people have had for so many years.
Let's examine a few of them:
1. Cardio training is the way to go to lose more weight. This is not true at all. Recent studies have shown that strength training is much more efficient than steady-state cardio in burning calories. Thirty minutes of weight training can shed off as much calories as a six-minute-per-mile run over the same period of time, based on a study at the University of Southern Maine. Weight training also has the advantage of boosting metabolism after a workout and it builds muscles which will further increase fat-burning efficiency of your body over the long run.
2. Cellulite can be reduced through exercise. This is true. While exercise alone will not prevent the presence of cellulite, working out can diminish cellulite appearance. Keep in mind that cellulite is fat, so anything that allows you to burn more calories will make your skin look smoother. Do some strength-building exercises to tone muscles and make your body firm once more. Focus on exercises that work out your hips, quads, and hamstrings, but don't ignore other muscle groups as well.
3. The best way to get perfect abs is to do a lot of crunches. This is not true. Crunches work out only the surface muscles in the abs, and ignores the ones further within. A better way to nice abs is to include moves like the plank and side plan. These will work out areas of the core that we seldom pay attention to. You also need to pay attention to your glutes so that the stomach isn't pushed out. So work out your butt as well.
4. Physical activity improves your memory. This is true. Exercise makes brain cells more ready to make connections between different ideas and therefore, enhances retention of what we learn. It also teaches us to be more focused, calm, and motivated, making our minds bettered equipped for learning. And regular exercise can also increase production of new stem cells that grow into new brain cells. In general, more complicated physical activities like playing tennis result into more developed brain cells.
5. You get the best results from your exercise if you do it in the morning. Not true at all. If you have to choose the time of day to engage in physical activities, late in the afternoon would be best. That's because muscle strength and body temperature are both at their peak between 4 and 6 pm. This means you are able to do your workout with a bit less effort. The food you ate from breakfast till lunch serves as fuel for your workout later in the day. However, if you have to stick to a morning or late evening schedule for your work out, then by all means do so. It doesn't really matter too much when you work out, as long as you work out.