Short Workouts Don't Count- and Other Myths

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Short workouts don't count

by Susan Swimmer

 

Ladies Home Journal

Jan, 1998

 

MYTH: Unless you have a lot of time, it's not worth it to work out.

Doing something, no matter how little, is always better than nothing.

Just twenty minutes of aerobic activity three times a week will

improve heart conditioning, reduce depression and give you more

energy, says Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., strength-training consultant for

the National YMCA, in Chicago. Moderate exercise can also boost

immunity -- saving you lost time from illness.

 

" Use your time well, " suggests Delon Nelson, personal training

manager for Crunch gym, in New York City. " I always say that a

cardiovascular workout is the best place to start because it burns

fat and helps you fight off heart-related illness. "

 

MYTH: You have to exercise for three months to see results. It's true

that dramatic changes take time, but subtle ones happen immediately,

says Russen Cohen, D.C., a certified sports chiropractor in New York

City. What benefits can you expect right away? After just one workout

you will reap the psychological benefits: enhanced mood, an increased

sense of relaxation, a decrease in anxiety and a surge in self-

esteem. These all result from physiological changes caused by moving

the body and getting the heart rate up. Exercise releases chemicals

in the brain, such as endorphins, that are responsible for this

immediate boost in mood.

 

Every workout burns calories, of course, and exercise can also help

you sleep better. From your very first aerobic workout, you'll be

pumping blood and taking in oxygen more efficiently, which lowers

your risk of heart-related illnesses.

 

After about two months of strength training, some of the fat that

covers muscles will have been burned off and some additional muscle

will have been added for a more sculpted contour.

 

MYTH: You have to follow a strict regimen in order to get fit.

Actually, what repetition gets you is a big dose of boredom. There

are real advantages in injury-prevention with cross-training (doing a

variety of activities). John Platero, fitness coordinator for L.A.

Fitness, in Los A,ngeles, explains another benefit: " There's

something called Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands, which means

that over time, your body gets comfortable with the movements and

they get easier -- and less effective. If you mix up your workouts,

your body is constantly being challenged, and must expend more energy

in order to keep up, " he says.

 

Delon Nelson suggests creating a " rolling exercise schedule. " Make a

long list of fitness activities you enjoy -- walking, a workout

video, lifting weights, using a stair climber, hiking. Every time you

work out, pick something different from the list. When you've done

them all once, start again.

 

MYTH: Your workout didn't work unless you're sore the next day. There

are many ways to evaluate your workout, but soreness is not one of

them. Cohen points out that a good workout should challenge your body

while minimizing injury. So how hard should you push? For aerobic

activities, you should be able to have a conversation while working

out. To be more precise, subtract your age from 220 to get your

maximum heart rate per minute. Then shoot for about 60 to 80 percent

of that number for your target heart rate or training zone.

 

" With weight training it's more difficult, " says Cohen. " The best way

is to get good supervision from a certified trainer. " Most trainers

recommend completing up to three sets of twelve to fifteen

repetitions for each lift. Choose a weight you can lift at least

twelve times that's challenging but not so hard that you can't keep

control at all times.

 

MYTH: Stair climbers give you a big butt. " So many people believe this

myth! Believe me, if you could build up your lower body from a stair

machine, you'd see bodybuilders on them! " says Delon Nelson of Crunch.

While you may add muscle mass, you will burn fat -- the net result

should be a smaller butt. The problem, insists Nelson, is that " so

many people use the stair climbers incorrectly -- they lean over,

resting on the rails and pushing their hips back -- to compensate for

not being able to keep up with the program. " With your body resting

on your arms, you're not working as hard and not burning as many

calories. Nelson's advice: Use a lower setting on the machine but

increase your duration (say, from fifteen minutes to twenty-five).

 

MYTH: Working out takes time away from the family. " A person who is

clear about her needs and interest and knows how to get them met

makes a much better partner and parent, " says Sue Rooks, M.S.W.,

M.Ed., a licensed clinical social worker in private practice in

Alexandria, Virginia. " Be direct with your family. Tell them that

this is Mommy's time. You'll be a better role model and a more

truthful person. After all, your resentment is more damaging for

children than not having Mom around for a few hours a week. "

 

MYTH: You should always stretch before you exercise. Cohen explains

that if you stretch cold, tight muscles you risk tearing a healthy

muscle or accelerating a problem that already exists, such as a

strain or tendinitis. The best method is to warm up with low-

intensity aerobic exercise, such as walking, before doing some light

stretching (no bouncing, no quick position changes), then exercise,

and finish with some significant stretching when muscles are really

warm.

 

When you exercise, you do tiny amounts of muscle damage (preferably

not enough to make you sore). As that damage heals, which is called

recovery, you become stronger and faster. " If you stretch after

exercise, your muscles will recover in a lengthened position, "

explains Cohen. " Longer muscles will give you a better range of

motion, which is much easier on your joints. And every time you

lengthen the muscle by stretching, there's a better chance your

muscle will `remember' that longer position the next time you

exercise. Lengthened muscles also put less pressure on the

blood vessels that pass through the area, so you increase the

circulation. "

 

MYTH: You can't get fit by doing yoga. Actually, yoga is rare among

exercise routines in that it works almost your entire body and builds

both strength and flexibility. Molly Fox, creative fitness director

at Equinox Fitness Clubs, in New York City, has seen people turn from

nonbelievers to fanatics in just a few sessions.

 

" Yoga is amazing because it constantly challenges your body, " Fox

says. " It builds strength, endurance and flexibility, and it

increases your breath capacity. " Moreover, yoga can be done every day

and at every age. Fox says yoga also helps with stress-reduction,

which can help reduce high blood pressure and protect against heart

disease.

 

MYTH: Only aerobics burns fat. Aerobic exercise is an efficient way to

reduce body fat, but not the only way. The body has several sources of

energy: blood glucose, glycogen stored in muscles, and body fat. This

myth got started because you use body fat for fuel when you do an

aerobic workout. At the start of aerobic exercise, your muscles are

powered mostly from stored glycogen. For the first twenty minutes,

exercise is fueled half by glycogen and half by body fat. As the

glycogen stores run out, the body taps the fat supply more.

 

That said, exercises that burn fat for energy are not the only way to

get slimmer. If you eat more calories than you burn, you store them

as fat. But if you burn more calories than you eat, you lose weight,

so it's the balance of food and exercise that matters. Keep in mind

that if you go to the gym and do the weight circuit, you burn about

480 calories per hour. Add to that the increase in metabolism you get

from adding muscle, and you get a leaner body.

 

RELATED ARTICLE: Tips To Better TRAINING

 

Nat Nichols, a certified strength and conditioning specialist at The

Athletic and Swim Club, in New York City, has the following

suggestions to make your workouts more fun and effective.

 

* When doing crunches, squeeze a balled-up towel between your knees --

you'll work the upper part of your abdominals as well as the lower

part.

 

* Your goal for an aerobic activity should be time spent, not distance

covered. As you improve, you may be able to cover more distance in a

given amount of time. So if you set a distance goal, your workouts

may get shorter.

 

* When walking, pull your shoulders back and squeeze your shoulder

blades together to work upper-back muscles and stretch out your

chest. Most of us need the stretch because we spend too much time

hunched forward over desks, steering wheels or children.

 

* When using free weights, lift the right way -- with slow and

controlled motions. You'll get a safer and more effective workout.

 

* Work out with your kids. If they're old enough to join in, it could

be the beginning of a lifelong interest in exercise.

 

* If you're a beginner at aerobics it's better to take breaks and stay

through the class than to leave after fifteen minutes. That way you'll

participate in the actual aerobic part (as opposed to just the

warm-up), you'll see the routine and you'll get accustomed to

devoting the time to fitness.

 

* The two most important factors affecting the progress of a fitness

routine are diet and rest -- a bad night's sleep is as detrimental as

eating poorly. Both will sap your energy.

 

* Use machines at the gym the way they were intended to be used. Do

not stand backward on a stair climber or walk backward on a

treadmill. The increased rate of injury far outweights any fitness or

boredom-relief benefit.

 

* When biking, make your legs do more work by dropping into a lower

(easier) gear and spinning the pedals faster -- you'll get more

benefit for your heart.

 

* For every half hour of exercise, allow five minutes of cooldown,

such as slow walking. Don't just head for the couch.

 

MYTH: Using weights makes you big. Wayne Westcott insists that using

weights will help you slim down. Research shows that adding three

pounds of lean muscle increases the metabolic rate by 7 percent. Your

body has to work harder to maintain muscle than it does to maintain

fat. " Even an inactive body will burn an extra thirty-five calories

every day with just one added pound of muscle, " says Westcott.

 

MYTH: Step classes are bad for your knees. Stepping was created by Gin

Miller, a veteran fitness expert, after a torn ligament in her knee

left her unable to partake of her regular exercise routine. " People

make mistakes, " explains Miller. " They're stepping too often -- more

than three to five times a week. They're stepping too fast -- you

should have enough time to make a solid foot plant and remain

balanced. And they're stepping too high -- set the platform so your

knee bends to about 60 degrees, halfway between straight and fully

flexed. You should never feel your knees stressing, and if you do,

lower the height, the pace or the frequency. "