The Cabbage Diet? In his latest Q & A session, Bullz-Eye.com fitness editor Mike Furci says forget about fad diets and stick to the basics: exercise & healthy eating.
Category: Sports Health and Fitness (Page 8 of 8)
There was an interesting question asked in the “Malegrams” section of the August 2007 issue of Men’s Health:
Q: How long can I go without lifting weights before my muscles disappear?
Answer (provided by trainer Mike Mejia): Contrary to popular belief, your muscles don’t turn to mush as soon as you stop lifting. In fact, a recent study of recreational weight lifters found that 6 weeks of inactivity resulted in only a slight decrease in power (10) percent after 2 weeks) and virtually no drop-off in size or strength. You could go the whole summer without pumping iron – as long as you’re keeping fit with activities such as swimming or tennis. These sports help retain muscle mass and offer the perfect physical and mental break from the tedium of the gym. Come fall, you can return to the gum refreshed and ready to take your workouts to the next level.
Interesting. Obviously if your goal is to put on a ton of size, you don’t want to go an entire summer without so much as looking at a weight. But those who get sick of the rigors of a gym routine can find solace – at least from Mr. Mejia and his research – that if you partake in sports and other physical activities, you won’t resemble Calista Flockhart by August.
Many physicians, including those whose study was published in the journal Circulation, believe there is such a thing as too much exercise.? 60 Boston Marathon participants were screned before the 2004 and 2005 races.? They showed normal cardiac function.
The same subjects were tested again after the races. 60% of them had elevated troponin levels.? Troponin is a marker in the blood used to help diagnose a heart attack, and to detect mild to severe heart injury.? Troponin tests are ordered primarily for people who have chest pain to see if there is damage to the heart.? 40% of the participants who had elevated trponin levels had levels at or above the decision limit for acute myocardial necrosis.? Meaning, some heart tissue, as in a heart attack, possibly died.??
Conclusion: DON’T OVERDO IT.? Extreme endurance events are associated with cardiac dysfunction in several studies, especially for those with less training.
On a whole, we all have it within ourselves to want to be healthy, be fit and look our best. However, it’s easy to get sidetracked by bad advice or information overload. The most common problem some of us face is that we think we have to find a magical workout regime or a diet that’s tailor made for us.
The truth of the matter is that any workout that continuously challenges are body and mind will work. Don’t get hung up on what specific exercises will work best for you, because then it’s easier to lose focus. Just pick out a regime from a magazine or online article or talk to someone that you trust that has had success in the gym to build you a plan. Knowing the fundamentals in the gym, changing up your workout every four to six weeks and of course having a proper diet will get you on the right track. And keep you there.??
For more workout myths and facts, including whether or not muscle will turn into fat, sweating means you’re losing weight and if working out when you’re injured actually is beneficial, check out this article from msnbc.com.
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