Common myths about exercise among women

Fitness expert and nutritionist Neeraj Mehta shares a few exercise myths among women - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/photos/lifestyle-gallery/common-myths-about-exercise-among-women/#sthash.zvINW4Jz.dpuf

Fitness expert and nutritionist Neeraj Mehta shares a few exercise myths among women

Weight training will bulk up my body: Male and female bodies differ in many ways. Weight training reacts in different ways for both the body types. Male body produces a hormone called testosterone which is essential if you want to gain size. Good news is that female body does not produce this hormone. So chances of getting bulky if you lift weights are nil. Instead, weight training will help you in toning up. 

I should not work out during menstrual cycle: You can and you should workout during your menstrual cycle. Exercising during your periods will help you in reduced abdominal cramps. When you exercise your body releases feel good hormones “Endorphins”, which keeps your brain calm and makes you feel better. However, avoid doing intensive exercise and skip the abs day. Light Yoga stretches, cardio, swimming, light weight training is recommended

More sweating means more weight loss: When you sweat, your body releases water and sodium, due to which you feel that you have lost weight. This illusionary weight loss is only temporary and comes back when you rehydrate yourself. Sweating is a mechanism of body for cool down; don’t count more sweating as more weight loss

To get a flat stomach, do a lot of crunches: If you want to lose that stubborn belly fat, you have to hit your abdominal muscles from different angles with intensity. Crunches alone would not help you. To reduce the circumference of your belly, you should train your lower extremities as well. Dead lifts and squats are effective exercises to reduce the belly fat. Along with that you should add a lot of other variations such as twisting movements and leg raises  http://indianexpress.com/photos/lifestyle-gallery/common-myths-about-exercise-among-women/5/#sthash.zvINW4Jz.dpuf

1. Women who train with weights will develop large muscles.

This myth is not only absurd but also a real obstacle for those who wish to lose weight and/or develop a sleek, toned appearance. Due to insufficient amounts of testosterone, women are genetically incapable of developing large muscles without extraneous supplementation, a common practice in the sport of bodybuilding. Regular weight training does build muscle but this is crucial for weight loss and maintenance as muscle burns more calories than body fat. As such, if you have more muscle, you’ll burn more calories, even during rest. The bottom line is that in order to develop muscular strength and endurance as well as shape and tone you must perform whole-body weight training at least 2 to 3 days per week.

2. Exercising one area will cause fat to be removed from that area.

This is truly a myth. Overall body fat must be reduced in order to lose fat in any one particular area. Where you lose the most fat depends on your genetic makeup. You can be born with a genetic predisposition to be what’s called an apple or a pear shape. These classifications relate to how fat is distributed throughout your body. If you have an apple shape you’ll tend to store fat in your upper body, especially around the midsection, while if you have a pear shape, the majority of your fat will tend to be stored in your lower body. Regardless of how your body fat is distributed the two factors that have the most profound impact on your total body fat are the amount of calories you consume and the amount you burn on a daily basis. As such, in order to reduce excess body fat you should perform regular exercise training with aerobic (cardiovascular) conditioning and weight training and couple this with sensible eating.