Ten fitness misconceptions for women
Written by: Victoria Iarocci, Canoe.ca
May. 20, 2009
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Fitness is a burdensome chore for some. To others, it’s a fully embraced lifestyle.
Women are often inundated with information - from friends, from news broadcasts, from magazines - about how their bodies function. But much of the information gets muddled over time, or simply was never true to begin with. The top ten misconceptions have been tabled and clarified by Geoff Girvitz, owner of Bang Fitness in Toronto. This athletic centre offers personal training, group classes and conditioning for athletes, so Girvitz has seen his fair share of confused clients.
Misconception #1:
“Too much protein, especially when ingested in powder form, bulks up women.”
“It’s seldom that I even meet a female who takes adequate amounts of protein, let alone excessive. Considering that it takes about a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day just for maintenance — never mind muscular development — this is no surprise. Without taking androgens, male hormones, it is very rare for a woman to get big — even when she wants to.” Girvitz believes that the reality of females gaining muscle is an insult to bodybuilders. “[Professional bodybuilders] will often work out twice a day, five to six days a week to gain gain their size”. Also, fat gain in women tends to be localized in the hips and thighs and bottom area. “If you look down and notice that your thighs are bigger, ask yourself, is it the dead lifts or the Haagen-Dazs? Must be the dead lifts,” he chuckles.
Try out this protein calculator
http://www.healthcalculators.org/calculators/protein.asp to determine
the right amount for you.
Misconception #2:
“You are supposed to do weights after cardio.”
“These are the people who actually believe that a fat burning switch is
flipped after working out for a specific period of time. This is wrong,”
says Girvitz. “You need to be as rested as possible to optimize strength
and power development. If you are already fatigued before lifting
weights, you’re increasing your risk of injury and diminishing your
outcome. The cons to placing cardio after strength training are far, far
fewer.”
Misconception #3:
“Biking through the city is enough cardio if you are trying to trim up.”
“First thing first: for weight loss, nutrition is #1, and believe it or
not, strength development is #2. Biking through the city isn’t enough.
As far as health benefits beyond weight loss, low intensity exercise
doesn’t strongly improve the body’s use of oxygen. Maybe if you are
biking in from Ottawa it is possible to lose weight, but unlikely.”
Misconception #4:
“Cereal bars, rice cakes and other low calorie, processed snacks are
good to snack on throughout the day, as you won’t eat as much at meal
times.”
“These snacks are problematic! Out of all the things people should be
eating, processed carbs are at the bottom of the list,” says Girvitz.
“Anything from a cereal bar, even a granola bar, in theory should be
great, but it is packed with sugar. People need healthy fats, fruits,
protein and vegetables. If you are on a calorie-restricted diet,
processed carbs are at the bottom of the list, right above deep-friend
Mars bars.”
Misconception #5:
“As you get older, muscle mass diminishes and fat is gained no matter
what you do.”
“Hormonal changes have an impact on all these things. However, people
regard statements like this as foregone conclusions, especially in the
sedentary population that we live in. Dramatic loss of muscle mass and
fat gain are not inevitable by any means.”
Misconception #6:
“Vegetarians are not as healthy in general as meat eaters.”
“For a lot of vegetarians, protein is a big issue. With that aside, it is hard to go wrong when you are eating more fruits and vegetables. People go wrong when processed foods get eaten instead of vegetables. Protein, iron, zinc need to be carefully looked after. Vegetarianism is a pretty subjective thing, but there are a lot of things you can do wrong, whether you eat meat or not.”
Misconception #7:
“It is most ideal to work out in the morning, as it jumps starts your
metabolism and your day.”
“Mornings are great, but we have to take it easy when loading the spine
within the first forty-five minutes of waking up. There are some
arguments for fasted cardio, but the best time to exercise is, without a
doubt, the time that best ensures consistency.”
Misconception #8:
“Stretching isn’t necessary and is altogether a waste of time.”
“The concern is when a lack of flexibility impacts movement patterns,
which can lead to injury. For example, most people who work behind
desks,tend to have tight pecks and hip flexors, which will compromise
posture. You don’t have to be able to do the splits, but your daily
activities shouldn’t be affected by deteriorating flexibility.”
Misconception #9:
“Heavy weights = muscle gain; light weights = toning.”
“Weights in excess of 80% of your body’s capacity (the weight you can
lift about five reps of before failure) is actually not optimal for
muscular development. To gain muscle mass, rep ranges of eight to twelve
tend to be more effective. Strength development is better achieved with
heavy weights and longer rest periods, whereas muscular development
requires more time under tension.
Misconception #10:
“It’s okay to eat one giant portion of protein to sustain yourself through the day.”
“They say it is good to drink one glass of red wine a day,” says Girvitz. “Does that make it okay to drink seven glasses of wine on Friday night? The answer is simply no.”
For more information on Bang Fitness, visit BangFitness.com