|
Fitness is an important part of a soldier's life to ensure that he or she is operationally ready. To achieve this, one needs to separate the fact from the fiction in a few fitness myths.
Exercising longer at a lower intensity burns more fat
True. The most important focus in weight control is not the percentage of fat used as energy during exercise but the total amount of energy used (calories burned). The faster you walk, for example, the more calories you burn per minute. However, high-intensity exercise is difficult to sustain if you are just beginning or returning to exercising. Therefore, it is safer and more practical to start out with lower intensity exercise and work your way up gradually.
Exercise is a sure way to lose all the weight and get the results you want
It depends. Weight loss or gain is a result of many factors including dietary intake and genetics. Not everyone on the same exercise program will lose the same amount of weight. One can be active and still be overweight. Your development of strength, speed and endurance may be very different from that of other people. Although exercise alone cannot guarantee the achievement of one's ideal weight, it does contribute to one's successful long-term weight management.
Running is the best way to get fit quickly
There is no one best way to get fit. You have to engage in sporting activities that you like or you will find a reason to quit. Getting fit is not an immediate process. It takes time, patience and perseverance. Do not expect instant success to avoid disappointment.
If you do not exercise an hour a day, five days a week, you might as well do nothing
Do not believe this all or nothing approach. There are enormous benefits in doing just a little exercise daily. A 30-minute walk three or five times a week significantly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke, lowers blood pressure, relieves stress and boosts your energy and immune systems. These 30 minutes exercises can be accumulated in 10-minute bouts.
Warming up is not necessary if you are careful
Wrong! Failure to warm up properly can have severe consequences. Warming up your muscles with light movements like running-on-the-spot before you exercise helps prevent a variety of painful sports injuries such as tendonitis.
The best time to exercise is early in the morning
There is no ideal time for exercise. To sustain your exercise program, it must fit into your schedule. Do it and you will no longer have the “I have no time excuse”. Some see exercise as a way to jump start the day while others see it as an evening activity to reduce stress.
Exercise turns fat into muscle
No. Muscle and fat are two completely different tissues. Muscles are organs in the body that contains muscle tissues, connective tissues, nerves and blood vessels. Muscles are attached to the bones to assist in the movement of joints. In contrast, fat is made of molecules call lipids which are found under the skin and above the muscles. Therefore, a weight loss program helps one lose the fats above the muscles rather than turn them into muscles.
|
