Burn Fat Build Muscle

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Author:
Karen Sessions

Everywhere you look you will find exercise information. It can come in fitness magazines, the beauty salon, your co-workers, the Internet, and infomercials.

You will see snappy headlines such as, “Lose 10 Pounds in a Week with No Exercise at All!”, and “Melt Pounds without Dieting.” These marketing ploys don’t end. They will use any tactic to get you to buy their product.

Along with the vast amount of exercise information coming to us at every conceivable angle, there are many myths leaving the consumer thoroughly confused. In this article I will be discussing several exercise myths, giving you the facts and dispelling the fiction.

Myth #1: Exercising with weights will bulk you up. Fact: - Excess calories from protein, carbohydrates, and fat will bulk you up, not resistance training. Fat is bulky and inactive while muscle an active, lean and dense tissue. The more muscle you acquire, the more fat you will burn at rest and during activity.

Myth #2: Muscle weighs more than fat. Fact: - A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same, a pound. As previously stated, muscle is more dense, and takes up less space than fat. Adding muscle to your physique will create curves and make you appear smaller in the absence of excess fat.

Myth #3: If I stop weight training, my muscle will turn to fat. Fact: - Muscle cannot turn into fat any more than fat can turn into muscle. The two are not interchangeable. They are two completely different tissues. You can increase or decrease fat and muscle, but the two cannot change into the other, ever!

Myth #4: Crunches will make my abs visible. Fact: - Crunches will build the abdominal muscle, but your abs won't shine through until you remove the layer of fat covering them. When it comes to "ripped" abs, they are built with balanced nutrition, coupled with proper exercise.

Myth #5: Weighted crunches will make my midsection thick. Fact: - The abdominal muscle is a thin layer of muscle tissue, and not able to grow much in size like other body parts. Therefore, adding resistance to your abdominal training will just increase your midsection strength. It is the side bends and twists that can contribute to a thick waist.

Myth #6: Exercise burns fat. Fact: - Exercise burns calories, and eating correctly with added exercise can aid in fat burning. Weight loss is not a one-shot approach. There are many angles, and you have to tackle each of them in small to moderate amounts. Knowing the right food combinations can give you the advantage on fat burning.

Myth #7: Exercising with light weights and a lot of reps will get me defined. Fact: Training with light weights will build muscle endurance. If your goal is to get defined, you should also incorporate a healthy diet balanced in macronutrients and add some cardiovascular exercise.

Myth #8: I just want to tone up, not build muscle. Fact: When you weight train you build muscle. There is no “toning” about it. As a woman, you have the ability to control the amount of muscle you add to your frame to a certain extent. Hormonally, women will not build a large degree of muscle mass. However, you can add more muscle size by increasing your protein intake and overall calories. For a woman to add a lot of muscle, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and sometimes steroids.

Conclusion to Exercise Myths

Now that we have dispelled exercise fact from fiction, you are better equipped to get in the shape you desire. Always strive for excellence and keep a positive attitude.

Copyright 2006 Karen Sessions

Karen Sessions has been in the fitness industry since 1988. She is a nationally qualified bodybuilder and holds two personal training certifications. She has written 6 ebooks on fitness and has helped hundreds of clients transform their bodies. http://www.theelitephysique.com

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Fat Burning... Power Bars Are Just Expensive Candy Bars Do you think an Energy Bar will make you energetic, or that a Power Bar will build muscle? That's what their marketers want you to believe. All foods give you calories (energy), but if you don't move and burn the calories you eat, you will store them as fat. How many Energy Bars do you think they'd sell if they called them Calorie Bars? If you're running a marathon, cycling 100 miles or hiking all day, energy bars are a convenient way to get the calories you need. But if you're sitting at a desk feeling sleepy, the last thing you need is an "Energy Bar"! That blast of refined carbohydrates and sugar will raise your blood sugar, causing you to pump out insulin, store the calories as fat and feel tired and hungry again in half an hour. Protein does not build muscle. YOU have to work against resistance to build muscle. When you build muscle, you use protein from the food you eat, but any extra protein you eat is stored as fat. A reasonably varied diet provides plenty of protein. If you are doing heavy weight training, you can eat a little more tuna, milk, beans or any other food source of protein. Protein bars, shakes and supplements are not better than food. Energy bars are made of sugar, refined carbohydrates and fats, fortified with small amounts of vitamins and minerals– the nutritional equivalent of a cookie and about 1/6 of a multivitamin pill. Protein bars add milk or soy powder. They are not more nutritious than a bowl of cereal, and they cost a lot more. Energy & Power Bars - $8.00-$20.00/pound $1-4/serving Breakfast Bars - $6.00/pound $.75-$1/serving Oatmeal Cookies $3.00/pound $.30/serving Cheerios - $2.50/pound $.20/serving Vitamin pill $.16/day Whole grains - $0.89/pound $.05/serving No bars provide "complete nutrition," and...