{"id":32359,"date":"2013-06-03T19:29:16","date_gmt":"2013-06-03T19:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=32359"},"modified":"2017-04-27T08:13:58","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T13:13:58","slug":"its-just-not-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/its-just-not-true\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Just Not True!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Walking\"<\/a>I am not sure if any area in life has more inaccurate rumors going around than the field of exercise. \u00a0Sometimes, the free flow of inaccurate information can confuses and frustrates people so much that they simply end up not exercising at all. That is a big shame because if people would just get up and get off the couch, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of lives annually would be saved. \u00a0There are the standard questions that we all want to know, like \u201cHow often should I exercise?\u201d (The more, the better, but at least 30 minutes nearly every day), \u201cDoes it have to be 30 minutes straight?\u201d \u00a0(No, shorter bouts are fine) and \u00a0\u201cDo I need to go to the gym?\u201d (Not at all, there is enough you can do on your own in both aerobics and muscle building). But then there are some very specific questions that people have that more often than not, get incorrect answers.<\/p>\n

Can I do spot toning?<\/strong> So you have a little extra fat built up in your stomach area or on the back of your arms and you want to know which exercise will take care of that? According to Rosemary Lindle, a University of Maryland exercise physiologist, \u201cSpot-reducing is a myth.Some people believe that if they exercise one area, it will cause fat to be removed from that area,\u201d She notes that \u201cin our gym the men, who tend to store their fat in their abdomens, are on the ab machines, and the women are on the total hip machines for hours,\u201d. Yes, abdominal and hip exercises can strengthen and tone the muscles. But those muscles are underneath the \u201csubcutaneous\u201d layer of fat that gives the lovely appearance of flab. Only losing weight can get rid of excess fat, and where you lose the weight depends on your genes. Losing weight around the waist is easier than losing it at the hips.<\/p>\n

Can I burn a LOT of calories through exercise?<\/strong> \u201cPeople have the mistaken idea that exercise is a fabulous way to lose weight,\u201d says William Evans of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. \u201cBut exercising doesn\u2019t burn a lot of calories.\u201d Walking or running a mile burns about 100 calories, but sitting still for the same time burns about 50 or 60 calories. \u201cSo the extra you expend isn\u2019t huge and people get discouraged at their slow rate of weight loss.\u201d Another misconception: You keep burning considerably more calories for a long time after you stop exercising. \u201cCalorie expenditure is elevated for the first minute or two, but by five or six minutes the extra expenditure is pretty small, and by 40 minutes post-exercise, it\u2019s back to where you started,\u201d says Evans. This doesn\u2019t mean that people wanting to lose weight should give up on exercise. The more you exercise, the more fit you\u2019ll get. That means you\u2019ll burn more calories because you can walk briskly or run for five miles instead of one. So instead of burning 100 calories, you burn 500 (that\u2019s 250 more than if you had stayed on the couch). What\u2019s more, says Evans, \u201cthe better-conditioned you are, the more fat you burn for energy, because your muscles adapt to using an enzyme that oxidizes fat. People who are less-trained burn more carbohydrate instead.\u201d Dieters who exercise also lose less lean body mass \u2014 that is, less muscle \u2014 than people of diets who just cut calories. And physical activity can help with the toughest problem: keeping weight off. \u201cStudies show that after people lose weight, the best predictor of maintaining the weight loss is whether they exercise regularly<\/p>\n

I am not overweight, so I can skip the exercise, right?<\/strong> \u00a0What gets most people off the couch and into their walking shoes is unwanted flab. That shouldn\u2019t be the reason you get off the couch. \u00a0\u201cMany people don\u2019t see immediate weight loss and say it\u2019s all for naught and stop,\u201d says exercise expert William Haskell of Stanford University Medical School. In fact, exercise has a laundry list of benefits beyond any impact on your next shopping trip. Among them: \u00a0\u201cIt improves the ability of insulin to enter cells, so it lowers the risk of diabetes,\u201d says Haskell. \u201cIt also lowers the risk of heart disease by improving blood clotting mechanisms, lowering triglycerides, and raising HDL [\u2018good\u2019] cholesterol.\u201d Exercise alters not only your risk of disease, but your quality of life, he adds. \u201cIn our studies, exercise improved sleep in people with modest sleep dysfunction,\u201d that is, people who take a long time to fall asleep or who wake up frequently at night. \u00a0\u201cThe psychological benefits of exercise are frequently overlooked,\u201d says Haskell. \u201cExercise isn\u2019t a panacea, but it has consistently been shown to relieve both depression and anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Does it have to hurt?<\/strong> That old saying \u201cno pain no gain\u201d isn\u2019t necessarily true. \u201cMany people still believe that you have to work at a very high intensity in order to get a benefit,\u201d says exercise physiologist Dr. Steven Blair. In fact, moderate-intensity exercise lowers the risk of dying just as much as high-intensity exercise. For example, says JoAnn Manson of the Harvard Medical School, \u201cin the Nurses\u2019 Health Study, women who regularly engaged in brisk walking reduced their risk of heart disease to the same degree as women who engaged in vigorous exercise. You don\u2019t need to run a marathon.\u201d The trick is making sure that the exercise is at least moderate-intensity \u2014 that is, equivalent to walking at a pace of three to four miles an hour. \u201cYou can vacuum at a very low pace or at a moderately intense pace,\u201d says Blair. Running or jogging is, by definition, high-intensity. But walking, raking leaves, mowing lawns, dusting, and gardening may be either moderate- or low-intensity. High-intensity exercise does have one advantage: it saves time. It takes less time to burn the same number of calories at higher intensity. \u201cYou can jog for 20 minutes or walk for 40 or 45,\u201d says Blair. \u00a0Does all the heart-pounding of high-intensity exercise do anything else for you? \u201cSome things probably respond better to high-intensity and some may respond better to moderate-intensity exercise,\u201d say Blair. \u201cBut in general, there doesn\u2019t appear to be a lot of difference as long as you expend the same number of calories.\u201d So you can either walk longer, or jog shorter for the same results.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a senior citizen, isn\u2019t it too late for me to start and exercise program?<\/strong> \u201cMany people think they\u2019re too old to start an exercise program,\u201d says Tufts University\u2019s Miriam Nelson. \u201cThey think it\u2019s unsafe because they have heart disease or diabetes or because they\u2019re too out of shape to start.\u201d You\u2019re never too old to start, says Nelson. And she ought to know. In one Tufts study, the participants were frail nursing-home residents whose ages ranged from 72 to 98. After just ten weeks, strength-training improved their muscle strength, ability to climb stairs, and walking speed. \u201cWhen they see what a difference it makes, they\u2019re thrilled,\u201d says Nelson. The same goes for people with chronic diseases. \u201cPeople say they can\u2019t exercise because they have arthritis,\u201d she adds. \u201cBut we see some of the greatest benefits in people with arthritis. Exercise reduces pain and increases range of motion, strength, and mobility.\u201d That doesn\u2019t mean that anyone can plunge into a bout of vigorous exercise, regardless of health history. As for the all-too-common \u201cI don\u2019t have time to exercise,\u201d Nelson responds, \u201csomehow, you\u2019ve got to make the time, or you\u2019re going to have medical problems like heart disease, diabetes, or osteoporosis. And it will take a lot more time to deal with them than it takes to exercise.\u201d Keep in mind that the human body is made to improve its condition, if you take care of it, well into you 80\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Be an educated exerciser! Remember to stay with the basics, aerobics 5-6 days a week for about 30 minutes and 2 or 3 days of muscle building exercises and stretching daily and it will \u201cadd hours to your day, days to your year, and years to your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Alan Freishtat<\/strong> is an A.C.E. CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER and a BEHAVIORAL CHANGE and WELLNESS COACH with over 19 years of professional experience. Alan is the creator and director of the \u201c10 Weeks to Health\u201d program for weight loss. He is available for private coaching sessions, consultations, assessments and personalized workout programs both in his office and by telephone and skype. Alan also lectures and gives seminars and workshops. He can be reached at\u00a002-651-8502<\/a> or 050-555-7175<\/a>, or by email at\u00a0alan@alanfitness.com<\/a> Check out the his web site \u2013www.alanfitness.com<\/a> US Line: 516-568-5027<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debunking frequent misconceptions of what goes into a succesfull workout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":32371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-physical-health"],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s Just Not True! - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/its-just-not-true\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s Just Not True! - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Debunking frequent misconceptions of what goes into a succesfull workout.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/its-just-not-true\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-03T19:29:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-04-27T13:13:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Walking.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"519\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"519\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alan Freishtat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Alan Freishtat\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/its-just-not-true\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/its-just-not-true\/\",\"name\":\"It\u2019s Just Not True! - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/its-just-not-true\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/its-just-not-true\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Walking.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-03T19:29:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-27T13:13:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/f1abe9e48d32d5a2a473e32020a2317f\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/its-just-not-true\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/health\/its-just-not-true\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Walking.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Walking.jpg\",\"width\":519,\"height\":519},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/f1abe9e48d32d5a2a473e32020a2317f\",\"name\":\"Alan Freishtat\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Alan-Freishtat_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Alan-Freishtat_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Alan Freishtat\"},\"description\":\"Alan Freishtat is an A.C.E. 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