Female Training Myths Exposed: 2 & 3
Myth busting continued…
Myth: When exercising, you turn fat in to muscle.
Fact: Spend a few minutes surfing the Internet or reading popular magazines with fitness as the topic and you’ll certainly find that magical statement claiming to turn fat into muscle.
Why is this not possible?
For starters, muscle and fat are two separate substances. To change one substance in to the other would be akin to turning a stick of butter into a chicken breast. It’s just not possible!
Muscles are made up of amino acids strung together to form proteins in a specific arrangement. Fat is just that. It’s fat. There is no method available that can convert a fat into a protein.
It is, however, possible is to burn fat off and build the muscle. This reduces the visibility of the fat and increases the appearance of lean and toned muscle.
Myth: Certain exercises can reduce fat in specific areas or tone up certain features such as your tummy.
Fact: The body does not spot reduce.
What does that mean?
Well, if you did thousands of triceps kickbacks, you wouldn’t see the flab melt away. What you would be doing is making the muscles in your arms grow without greatly influencing the fat that sits on top. Sure, your arms would be firm and toned! Unfortunately, your new-found pipes would be hidden underneath that layer of padding.
Your body takes energy from multiple sources to meet its requirements. That means the energy you burn by doing that endless triceps exercises doesn’t just come from the fat from your arms but from all over your body!
To improve your workouts, instead of isolating body parts, try full body or compound movements such as lunges or squats. These exercises use a larger number of muscles, which in turn will burn more calories for energy.
