Facts You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Exercise

Fact check: now there's a term I will just bet you are sick of hearing. You sure are if you've been reading about the election debates! Inspired by the political season, I thought I would share a little fact checking of my own and give you some little known facts about exercising and keeping fit. Some you might know, but some might be a surprise.

• Stretching does not reduce the risk of sports related injury for the most part.

• Doing static stretches before a workout may actually make you weaker during the workout itself.

• People take too long to rest between sets. 60 seconds should suffice.

• Most women won't get bulky due to lifting weights. They don't have enough testosterone for that.

• The length of your workout doesn't correlate with how effective it is. Intensity is more important.

• Women should lift heavy weights to develop a tight, toned and feminine body.

• It takes 48 to 72 hours for a muscle to fully recover after a strenuous strength training session.

• Ab exercises are not necessary to lose belly fat.

• You can't spot-reduce fat by doing targeted exercises.

• Circuit training is an excellent way to do short and intense
workouts.

• Doing lat pulldowns to the back of the neck is not a safe exercise.

• The more people talk in the gym, the less they actually train.

• Chest exercises usually also work the triceps. Back exercises usually also work the biceps.

• You can do highly effective exercises with a towl.

• Working with free weights is considered more effective than using strength machines.

• Doing cardio in the morning, before eating breakfast, burns more body fat than doing it at other times.

• Walking with ankle weights holds some risks if it makes you walk incorrectly.

• Multi-jointed exercises are more metabolically expensive than isolation exercises.

• It is much easier to consume calories than it is to burn them off through exercise.

• No amount of exercising will build muscle without proper nutrition.

• Metabolic workout finishers are an excellent way to boost your workout intensity and burn more fat.

• Doing exercises without proper form can lead to serious injury.

• Some exercises require a spotter and training without one is asking for trouble.

• Static exercises, like the plank, can be very powerful.

• The calorie counters on cardio machines may be wildly inaccurate.

• You can lose weight with treadmills and elliptical machines, but treadmills allow you to do harder workouts.

• Rowing is an excellent way to do an upper body strength workout and a cardio workout simultaneously.

• A person with bigger, bulkier muscles is not necessarily stronger than someone with less muscle mass.

• It takes 250,000 crunches to burn 1 pound of fat.

• Post-workout overeating is one of the main reasons why fitness programs fail.

• Weight lifting is one of the best ways to boost your testosterone levels.

• Exercising can lead to an increase in muscle tissue well into old age.

• Yoga is not a risk-free physical activity. You can get injured while doing it.

• Fit people who exercise very often may still have cellulite.

• Exercise improves insulin sensitivity and leptin regulation. This helps to reduce hunger and increase energy.

• Your non-exercise activity may burn a lot more calories that your workouts do.

• Your muscles work when you lift weights and when you lower them to the starting position of the exercise.

• Diversifying your workouts helps you avoid boredom and keeps your workout routine more effective.

• You don't need to exercise in order to lose weight, as long as you maintain a calorie deficit.