1. How Can I Lose Weight?
Too much food combined with physical inactivity has resulted in many overweight and unhealthy Americans. Simply telling someone who is overweight to exercise more and eat right might be an oversimplification of the process. However, what people need to learn is that small adjustments can result in big changes.
2. How Can I Reduce My Belly and Thighs?
Spot training, or exercising to trim a specific area of your body, is an obsolete concept. Fat is the gas tank of the human body, and it is miraculously stored from head to toe, with the heaviest concentration of fat in the abdominal and hip areas. We don’t get to choose where the fat will be released first. Thankfully, belly fat is usually the first to go.
3. Which is More Important: Diet or Exercise?
It’s a 50/50 proposition. With too large an amount of fuel and nutrients, an exercise program will produce no results. Too much fuel will clog up the system and slow down any fitness gains. You must eat sensibly without restricting your diet too much. You must also combine this with three or four systematic, well thought out, 20-30 minute workouts, repeated over a few short months. This is the only approach that will really work.
4. Do I have to Work Out Every Day?
No. Overdoing it is a common beginner’s mistake. I rarely advise anyone to train more than five days per week, and I personally train only three days per week. The rest and recuperation phase of any program is just as important as the active phase. When getting started on a new program, spread out your enthusiasm to avoid burnout.
5. If I Work Out and Get in Shape, and Then Stop, Will My Muscles Turn to Fat?
No. Muscles contract and generate movement. Fat acts as the muscles’ fuel, supporting the process. One never becomes the other. Because fat is consumed by muscle, it’s logical to assume that having more muscle results in an overall reduction in stored body fat.
6. What is the Best Time of Day to Exercise?
Whenever you can. There are pros and cons for every time of day, but your body will actually adapt to a schedule and be slightly stronger at your usual workout time—whenever that happens to be. For athletes, or those seeking to push the performance envelope, time of day might have a slight impact. However, for the rest of us, simply exercise whenever it’s most convenient.
7. Is Walking as Good as Jogging?
Walking, jogging, swimming, cycling or any form of aerobic exercise serves one main purpose: to elevate heart and breathing rate. The type of exercise is secondary to its effect on heart and breathing rate. Intensity is measured by the heart rate during the session, coupled with the duration of the workout. For some individuals, it may be necessary to break into a slow jog to achieve aerobic levels, while others find brisk walking does the trick.
8. Am I Too Old, or Too Young, to Exercise?
No. While intense weight training or running might not be for everyone; most people will benefit from some form of physical activity. As a society; we’ve become less and less active. To overcome this lack of activity, the American counsel on exercise recommends exercise for senior citizens as well as children.
9. If I Lift Weights, Will I Get Too Bulky?
No. Most women and men won’t put on more than a few pounds of muscle without taking extreme measures. Most likely, you’ll just tone up and reshape your body without the bulk of a power lifter or body builder. Depending upon many factors (many inherited from your ancestors), advances in tone, body fat levels, strength and endurance will come without a tremendous increase in size. Regardless, you’re in control of the effect of any weight-lifting regimen. By manipulating sets, reps and rest, you can easily regulate results.
10. What’s the Deal With Sets and Reps?
A set is a series of repetitions. A repetition is performing a movement from beginning to end, through a full range of motions—to some level of muscle fatigue. Most people do too many sets and poor quality reps. If you’re training properly, a typical workout should be no more than 10-12 sets of 10 to 20 repetitions, utilizing perfect form. If training at higher intensity levels, even fewer sets can be just as effective.
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Michael Cohen has been in the fitness industry for over 30 years. He associates with fitness experts, and consults with them on a daily basis.
