Fitness – ArtFit |Lubbock, Texas | For Fun…For Art…For Fitness

6 Fitness and Weight Loss Myths

admin — Sat, 27 May 2017 17:45:50 +0000

In the age of information, it is hard to find the most up to date and accurate data. To make matters worse, the fitness and weight loss industries are riddled with out of date or false information. I have worked in the fitness industry for over 20 years. I have seen diets, and exercise fads come and go. I have worked with and been certified by countless companies. I have been “up to date” with all the latest “information”. Yet, year after year, I see people who are working very hard to improve their health, lose weight, and get strong fail, because they are following these long-perpetuated myths. Over and over, I see people succeed who follow these general guidelines instead. Here are my top 6 fitness and weight loss myths that are keeping you sluggish, overweight, and unhealthy and how to change these bad habits.

Myth # 1:

Exercise alone should be enough to help you lose weight

Fact:

Exercise is only 20% of the weight loss equation.

What you eat is 80% of effective, long-term weight loss.

A Better Way:

Do not kill yourself with exercise.

Find something you enjoy doing and do it, but balance that with low carbohydrate diet. Focus on healthy fats, proteins, and vegetables and fruits.

Calculate your protein needs by activity level: Body weight x body fat percentage= amount of body fat. Then, subtract the amount of body fat from your total body weight. This number will give you your lean body mass. Your lean body mass will help you figure out how much protein you need. If you are more sedentary you will opt for 0 .5 grams per pound of lean body mass. If you are more active, you may chose 0.8 grams or 1 gram if you are very active. If you need help figuring your body fat percentage ask at your gym. We can help you with that at Artfit as well. Just request a time before you work out to have your body fat percentage taken.

Limit carb intake to 50-100 grams a day for weight loss or up to 150 for weight maintenance. Start with veggies and fruit, not pasta.

Myth #2:

Whole grains are good for you and are good for people trying to lose weight.

Fact:

All carbohydrates control insulin and turn to glucose that, if not burned off, will be stored as fat.

A Better Way:

Eat between 50-100 grams of carbs per day to lose weight or up to 150 for weight maintenance.

This is easy if you are eating fruit and vegetables instead of grains. Focus on healthy fats protein and vegetables. Consider a grain free diet. There are many great flour replacements such as almond or coconut flour. Just search for Paleo recipes.

Myth #3:

Eating food labeled low fat will help you lose weight.

Fact:

Low-Fat products add sugar and preservatives to replace fat.

These products will affect your insulin and glucose levels. Fat does not make you fat! Sugar and extraneous carbs make you fat.

A Better Way:

Eat a diet of whole food, healthy fats, proteins, vegetables, and fruit.

Good fats like those in coconut oil and avocado oil can be used as a fuel source instead of carbs. What is not burned does not turn to fat like carbs are, but is flushed out of the body while providing nutrients that are not found in simple carbs.

Myth #4:

Cardio, Cardio, Cardio!

Get your heart rate up and keep it up if you want to burn fat.

Fact:

Chronic Cardio can negatively affect health in a variety of ways.

- It increases the production of cortisol which breaks down muscle tissue and suppresses other hormones
- It increases systemic inflammation.
- It creates burnout, fatigue, and immune suppression.

A Better Way:

Traditional fitness regimen push regular cardio at 60-80% of you max heart rate

Research shows that working at 55-75% of max heart rate works better and does not create the problems that working at the higher rate does.

Find your Heart Rate Range:

208-(.7xage) = Estimated Maximum Heart Rate

Estimated Maximum heart rate x.55= low end

Estimated Maximum Heart Rate x.75=High end

Add Weight training-

Weight training comes with many positive effects on your body. It makes you physically stronger which allows you to do more things in your daily life

It helps you lose body fat by increasing lean muscle mass. This increases metabolism and burns more calories than fat in the same amount of time. Lean muscle mass burns 6 calories to every 2 calories that fat burns.

It also prevents osteoporosis. Weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density (and enhance bone modeling) by 13 percent in six months

Strengthening your body can reduce your risk of injury, back pain, and arthritis. Strength training not only builds stronger muscles but also builds stronger connective tissue and increases joint stability. This acts as reinforcement for the joints and helps prevent injury.

Myth #5:

You must spend hours in the gym lifting weight to build muscle and sculpt your body

Fact:

For weight training to be beneficial you must lift enough weight that you have muscle failure in 90 seconds.

Any more than that, it is too light and you are working aerobically.

A Better Way:

Use compound exercises that use as many muscle groups at one time as possible.

This creates functional muscle that is more adapted to help you do things in your life not just look good. It also allows you to get in and out of the gym quickly.

Ideally, you need to lift 60-80% of your max weight, meaning the heaviest weight you can lift doing one rep.

Lift the heaviest you can in one repetition. Multiply that by .6 then .8. This will be the weight range that you should train with.

Myth #6:

Women should not lift heavy weights or they will be bulky.

Fact:

You will not bulk up like a man.

Women lack the testosterone to get large muscles no matter how much you lift.

A Better Way:

Lift 60-80% of your max weight.

(Formula above) The heavier weight will increase definition in a woman’s muscle, not size. Heavier weight also creates the benefits that were disused in Myth #4. These benefits will not come from lifting light weights over and over.

Attain your Fitness Goals

I hope that clearing up these enduring fitness and dietary myths with help you attain your fitness goal whether it is weight loss, increased strength, or better athletic performance.

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Why your Workout may be Wearing You Out

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 12:46:55 +0000

Exercise for many people is more than just a weekly ordeal that they have to endure. Like our students at ArtFit, many find activities that they love. We live, eat, and sleep our preferred activity. This love of sport or dance pushes us forward, excites us, and is supposed to keep us healthy. Many people, however, suffer from over training and don’t even realize it. We must be aware of this exercise issue if we want to continue to train in a healthy and happy way.

Over Training

Over training expresses itself in many ways. Some of the most obvious signs are chronic injuries, fatigue, pain, weight gain, decreased performance, chronic soreness that doesn’t seem to be equivalent to the task performed, and a feeling of “burn out.” This can be hard to recognize because many of these symptoms can be attributed to many other issues as well. Always, rule out any other health issues by visiting your doctor. Then, take a look at your training, recovery, and nutritional program.

Over training can be seen in athletes that train in a cardiovascular activity chronically. According to Mark Sisson, world class athlete and author of the Primal Blue Print, “Chronic cardio increases the production of cortisol (in all but the most genetically gifted athletes), which breaks down the muscle tissue and suppresses the production of key anabolic hormones, such as testosterone and human growth hormone.” This leads to a variety of the symptoms of over-training as well as many you may not be aware of including loss of bone density, systematic inflammation, and free radical production. It is possible to keep in shape, participate in an athletic activity, and even be competitive while balancing cardiovascular training. Analyze your response to cardio. Are you getting the desired result? If not, take a break and begin to add it back into your routine slowly. Then, reassess the results. This will help you decide if you are over training in this way.

Recovery Time

Recovery time is as important as training time. Many people do not realize that muscle and strength are not built during training but during the recovery phase. When you exercise, you are breaking down muscle. For it to becoming bigger and stronger, it must repair. Over-training can occur when an athlete does not allow time for repairing between sessions. This also includes rest and sleep. Let your body recover from physical and daily stressors. Again assess your results? If you are training daily or even every other day but are not gaining the amount of strength and muscle that you should be from your training, train less. I know it sounds counterproductive, but your body may need a break to repair itself.

In my facility, I see many ladies trying to build strength and muscle. They are working hard but not seeing the results that they would like. After speaking with them, I realized that they were training hard but not eating appropriately. What we eat also affects muscle recovery. It is possible to be taking in too few calories to maintain a high level of training. This can result in weight gain, not necessarily in weight loss, by putting your body into starvation mode.

Diet & Body Mass

They type of foods you are consuming can also lead to the body being overstressed by activity. A lack of protein will also keep the body from repairing itself. Protein and the amino acids in protein repair muscle. Without that, you will end up with chronic muscle soreness, weakness, and injury. The body needs 0.5 to 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body mass per day depending on how active you are. This is much more than the average American diet because we fill our stomachs with carbs, not vegetables, fats, and proteins. Mark Sission lays out the formula in an easy to figure a way. Body weight x body fat percentage= amount of body fat. Then, subtract the amount of body fat from your total body weight. This number will give you your lean body mass. Your lean body mass will help you figure out how much protein you need. If you are more sedentary you will opt for 0 .5 grams per pound of lean body mass. If you are more active, you may choose 0.8 grams or 1 gram if you are very active. If you need help figuring your body fat percentage ask at your gym. We can help you with that at Artfit as well. Just request a time before you work out to have your body fat percentage taken.

Those of us who are at risk for over-training are the ones who will want to be active for many years to come. To achieve this, it is important to remember that athletic endeavors, whether they are for fun, competition, or physical appearance, require more than just your time at the gym. You must continue that training into the recovery process to keep your body improving and not over training.

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Sweat Can Be Addicting

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2015 19:58:55 +0000

Quick Fixes Don’t Last

We live in a fast paced society that makes it hard to remember that some things are still earned through hard work and sweat. On every television and radio station, website, or grocery isle is an advertisement for products that promise amazing results with no work. These products primarily appeal to our vanity. They tend to focus on wrinkles, cellulite, weight loss, and just about every industry manufactured “problem” that pertains to our bodies. Unfortunately, this is a marketing contrived misconception. They are quick fixes that do not last, and can be harmful, if they even work at all.

Put in the Effort

The good news is that there are truly ways to curtail these “problems” if you are inclined to do so. The bad news is that it may take getting a little sweaty, a bit of self-control, and even a little discomfort. Weight control and health can be attained, but forget the easy stuff. Resign yourself to putting in the effort as distressing as it sounds.

Sweat Earned Accomplishment

At ArtFit, we specialize in sweat earned accomplishment, so I have learned a few things about it over the years. Without trying to sound like a motivational poster, accomplishments are so much more meaningful when they are earned. We have become so accustomed to not being uncomfortable that we have forgotten the exhilaration of accomplishing something through hard work and effort.

Set Goals

Find something that you enjoy doing, and set goals to accomplish activities, not inches around your waist. Focus on what your body can do, not what it looks like. Fuel your body with food that is good for you, not just easy to find. You will find this makes the work so much more enjoyable, and the goals more achievable.

Achieve

You can win a title fight! You can achieve that crazy pole dance move! You can lose 75 pounds! In the midst of the struggle it seems like you will never get there. You may feel like you can’t even make the next five minutes, but you can. You can achieve these goals. When you do, you will never forget how good it felt. You will want to do it again. Set another goal, work hard, and achieve it.
Be careful. It might even become addicting.

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