Exercise Myths LapBand Patients Can’t Afford to Ignore

Posted by Dr. Rachael Keilin

3 Exercise Myths LapBand Patients Can’t Afford to Ignore

1) Low intensity exercise for a longer period burns more fat.

While it is true that very intense bursts
of activity use the glycogen in muscle for energy,
not fat, the truth of the matter is that how much fat
you lose from doing exercise depends not so much on
how intense or how easy it is, but how many calories
overall you expend in doing it.

You need to walk three times as long as you need to run
to burn the same number of calories. So yes, long low intensity exercise will
burn fat, but high intensity exercise will burn fat, too,
but faster and may give you a metabolic “boost” for a
little bit afterwards, too. In the end, all of the glycogen
used by your muscles in quick, intense bursts of exercise
gets replaced by your body….by burning fat to create the glycogen.

2) Doing crunches will give you 6 pack abs.

Exercising a muscle makes that muscle stronger, leaner and
appear more toned. But you cannot reduce fat in a specific place
by exercising the underlying muscle. You can’t get a flat belly through sit-ups alone
because exercising the muscle doesn’t burn off the overlying fat.

Exercising any muscle helps burn fat and thus overall makes you
more fit appearing, but you won’t make all of the loose skin on
your arms disappear simply by doing triceps extensions.

3) If it doesn’t hurt, it can’t be working right.

This goes back to the days of “no pain, no gain”. It’s true that if
you lift heavy weights you’re likely to be sore the next day (this is called
DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness). But the more fit you
become, the less likely it is that you’ll experience pain after
exercising, even exercising intently. It doesn’t mean that your muscles
and your heart aren’t getting a work-out, it just means that your body is
better at accommodating the strain.

This rule is especially true with pain during a work-out itself
- if you feel pain in the muscle that you’re exercising, or a sharp pain
in a joint or tendon when you’ve never had anything
like it before, then stop!

Feeling out of breath and uncomfortable as you reach for that last
round of a circuit or that last bend around a track is one thing -
that’s good discomfort. But chest pain or sharp knee pain is quite
another and is usually a sign from your body that it’s time to quit.

Tagged as: Exercise and fitness