False myths of sport Despite the spread of sport and fitness culture, there are still some deep rooted clichés around sporting practise. Let’s try and disprove some.
Aerobic activity “burns” the muscular mass of body builders
Absolutely false. You need a minimum level of aerobic ability for any sporting activity. Such practice, moreover, speeds up the vascularisation processes which help in the build up of muscles, in transporting nutrients to the muscles and in improving the use of energy reserves etc. therefore also facilitating anaerobic training and thus the increase of the transversal section dear to body builders.
a lot of sit ups help lose weight
Training the stomach muscles doesn’t mean slimming, or even less locally streamlining fat deposits. It’s true that training abdominals burns calories, but in the same way as other training of equal intensity. So killing yourself with crunches and sit ups doesn’t mean getting a wasp waist but certainly helps preventing backache, as long as the exercises are performed correctly.
I’ll train my upper and lower abdominals
This is one of the most grave statements that can be made, simply because lower or upper abdominals do not exist. The rectum of the abdomen, like other muscles, has an origin and an insertion. So it can’t be divided into two areas to train with specific exercises. The “burning” that is sometimes felt in the lower part of the abdomen, while training the abdominals, is often due to bad execution of the exercises or to exercises which have nothing to do with the abdominals and which greater stimulate another muscle: the ileum which, if trained excessively, can lead to bad backache.
The more I sweat the more I lose weight
Sweating doesn’t mean losing weight but losing liquids for the organism’s temperature regulation system. In sweating we avoid overheating due to the increase in temperature during work. For this reason, not only is the statement wrong but it also gives rise to tortures which use neoprene corsets to increase sweating, which just means losing more fluids which will be reintegrated with the first glass of water drunk. What’s more, it will seriously inhibit one of the body’s main temperature regulation functions.
with weights you’ll look like a body builder
If only it were true, people who use weights to increase muscular mass would say! Whoever goes to the gym for fitness needn’t worry. Lifting weights 2 or 3 times a week can tone up the muscles, but doesn’t provoke hypertrophy. The development of body builders is the fruit of long, frequent and very heavy training sessions. If of course anabolic drugs are not used.
I’ll use an electric stimulator instead of killing myself in the gym
Muscular contractions induced by the electrodes of an electric stimulaor are useful for toning up muscles and can be integrated with “classic” training but not replace it. Both because you can train few muscular areas at a time and because activity with equipment or with the body free calls for the muscles in a more complete way.
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