Which exercises should you do to reduce fat over the abs or thighs? And should you lift lighter weights if you're trying to tone your body? These are just a couple of questions I get on a regular basis and my answers often surprise people...or maybe surprise isn't quite the right word. Disbelief...disappointment...denial, those are often the responses I get when I explain the truth about strength training, weight loss and what you can and can't do to change your body.
The truth is, many of us have grown up with certain ideas about how lifting weights can change our bodies, ideas that either aren't true or have been mangled over time by what we hear from friends, what we read in magazines and what we see on TV. In my latest article, I discuss a variety of strength training myths to give you an idea of what you can really achieve with strength training. I'll discuss spot reduction, toning and even fat burning so that you're better informed and know when you're being taken for a ride (hint: many infomercials would fall into that category).
Lifting weights can be a very powerful tool for weight loss, strength and quality of life...but, it isn't magic. Learn more in the Myths about Strength Training.
thanks for breaking the myths. the quackery dished out these days should be prosecuted. but…. buyer beware. Jack Lalane ate right and exercised.I’m 46 yrs young. although we can’t stop the ageing process, we sure as heck can slow it down. Our bodies don’t regenerate as fast the older we get. You can combat degeneration with proper diet and consistant exercise. I counted the 5 people I saw in the supermarket the other day, and was 100%. They were all very obese. It’s a travesty in my opinion, that we have turned into a glutanose nation. Your body is an organic machine that needs to be maintained as such. I believe that overweight people should be penalized for improper maintenance of their bodies just like you are for the use of tobacco. I always say when I die I wanna die healthy:)
im a male but can’t seem to get modivation i need to get in shape!i used to be in shape but it hard to get bake in the mood.can you help?
To be motivated and stay motivated all comes from within. The basis of your motivation should be the desire to get in, and stay in shape. Start with a partner if you can because working out with a friend will help a great deal with staying on the program. Start slowly with stretching exercises and maybe one diet modification. Apple vs doughnut. Next progress to weight training with lighter weights and high repetitions. This will keep you from getting real sore right away which can lead to a slow down or skipping workouts. After a few weeks eliminate one bad food like french fries. Don’t pick up another bad food to take it’s place! Just give them up. Add 10 min of cardio work. Stay with your weight training and slowly increase your cardio not pushing too hard. After about 4 weeks you should feel better, sleep better and notice a physical difference visually and on the scale. Gradually increase weight resistance to start building mass, increase cardio to burn fat. The next thing you know it’s a year later and a woman tells you that you look really good. It does happen! That’s the best motivation of all.
Im a female who weight trains and I think that with the proper diet and the right excerse, your body will do what it is suppose to. But still I stick to what I allways say” Everyone4 is different, with different body types”. Do what uyou what you do, but in a positive way.
I am not into weight training, but I have been eating healthier and exercising more and the pounds are slowly, slipping away. I do exercises that I want to do so I stick with it.
Robert- my dad used to say, if he died he would die doing what he enjoyed (he was a smoker)..unfortunately, he did not enjoy dying of emphysema. I do not agree with putting laws into practice about monitoring one’s weight. I believe we have to many laws anyway. It’s starting to get more and more like George Orwell’s book, 1984.
Great article. One disagreement, though. Although it is true that one cannot “spot reduce” fact by working out a specific area of the body, generally speaking, people DO lose fat FIRST where they have have the most. The body is remarkable in this way because, for instance, if you begin a running routine and carry excess weight around your belly, the body will try to shed the most inefficient weight first. This may not be apparent because usually if one loses several pounds from their stomach, they may have quite a few more pounds that remain which will then only be lost in conjunction with the rest of the body’s fat. At this point, you will not be able to “choose” which fat is lost. People often think that the weight in their problem areas in the hardest to lose, but that’s really just because usually this is where they are carrying the most fat (and the least muscle!) to begin with.
Regarding my previous post, this from the Mayo Clinic website:
“There are no particular “spot” exercises that are best at reducing belly fat. But most people do lose belly fat before losing fat in other parts of their body when they get more exercise of any kind.”
I actually heard this from another source years ago and, more importantly, experienced it myself in training/losing weight, but here’s the website url:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/belly-fat/MC00054
I’ve read and seen that some people seem able to build their musclularity by doing endurance exercise that most of us would find too light to be effective. I also have found for myself that medium-heavy weights are best for building muscle. But I wonder if all muscle is the same. I’ve read that there are different types of muscle and different proportions of those types in different people so that some bodies respond more to what we call endurance training (look at some runners’ legs for example). Is this merely a myth too or is it possible for some people to experience big muscle growth via a light weights-high reps program?
Weight training can be very hard on the body…I just read an article at http://www.traxee.com on muscle fatigue and why they think it might happen. It states, nontheless, those who train, instead of go strong and fade out only to jump back in again….are training the muscle to not have to work as hard…
Best Wishes+