Hey everyone! Hope your week is going well! As of last night, I am two finals down and two (my hardest two…) to go!
Another guest post for you today! Don’t worry, I’ll be back tomorrow. I’m sure your lives are empty without me… Today’s guest post is from Annette on Enjoy Your Healthy Life. I love her blog because she has such great fitness and nutrition tips! Be sure to check out her blog!
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Hey friends! What a fun opportunity for me to meet some more great people while Katie is rockin’ her finals at law school!
My name is Annette and I blog at EnjoyYourHealthyLife. If you want to know more about me, why I am passionate about what I do, what services I offer, and how much in love I am with my husband, feel free!
Anyways, I do teach fitness classes –such as BodyPUMP, Zumba, Core Cross Training, Pilates, and other weight training and full-body fitness classes– and I sure love that little side job (on top of being a health coach for a nationwide insurance company and running little FitnessPerks, LLC 🙂 ) !
While working with clients and meeting lots of people through my work I’ve noticed that there are a lot of misconceptions about weight lifting and fat loss out there, so I am here to dispel some of them. Let’s stop the lies, shall we?! 🙂 Enjoy!
While talking about exercise goals with a client a few years ago, we got on the topic of exercise and weight myths…..
A Weight Training Myth
The weight training myth that is most heard (at least among those I have come in contact with) is this : “when someone stops strength training, his/her muscle mass turns to fat.”
That gets a big, fat FALSE.
Muscle tissue is totally different than fat tissue. This also means that a muscle cell (also known as a muscle fiber) can not turn into a fat cell, willy nilly. This is also true vice versa.
If the person’s daily caloric intake is more than what he/she needs, those calories will eventually end up as fat cells, thus increasing body fat tissue. This is NOTHING to do with the amount of muscle mass the person has.
However, because one pound of muscle tissue requires 3 times (3x!!!) more calories at rest than one pound of fat tissue, this translates into a fat-burning machine operating 24/7! All by having that muscle mass. Sweet, eh?
{To get muscle mass, weight training is needed. Active muscles stay active and ‘fat burn’ when they are used or trained. They atrophy, or decrease power, when not trained or used, and thus become ‘inactive.’}
(source)
Of course if that muscle mass decreases through disease, disuse, or injury, that fat-burning mechanism is decreased and body fat accumulates. It is also true that if more calories are eaten over and beyond what the person needs, more calories are converted to fat cells, and body fat accumulates.
So, if you ever hear someone say “my muscles are turning to fat,” you can now correct them–and tell them how to fix it. 🙂
The exercise myth (and other myths) come from people confusing the science facts with personal experience, biases, and ignorance. But now no longer–knowledge really is power!
Have a lovely day!
Have YOU ever heard of this myth before?? What types of things are YOU doing to keep up YOUR muscle?? 🙂
I have heard this myth over and over again! I’m a trainer and people are always worried about taking a week or two off and turning to mush. I ensure them that it’s okay and might even help them!
However, I get where there coming from because even I sometimes get caught up in worrying the same thing. I’ve lived it though — if you stop weight training, you still keep lots of that muscle and if you put on fat it just goes on top (fail). The encouraging thing is that it’s easier to get BACK into shape than it is to get into it in the first place, I think!
🙂
i also think it’s probably easier to get back into shape, since your body already has muscle built up! lol i don’t want to try it out though!
Very true–it is MUCH easier to get back in shape if you’re already in good shape. This is definitely true for pregnancy! Cheers.
I actually haven’t heard that myth but I’m glad it’s false! You are reminding me that I need to go workout! haha
Haha, me too!
haha 🙂 Awesome.
I have heard this myth before. I think there is a grain of truth to this because if you stop weight training and don’t change your diet at all, your fat cells will grow.
One of the biggest myths about weight training that drive me crazy is “I don’t lift weights because I don’t want to get bulky” (said mostly by girls), this drives me nuts. Everyone can benefit from weight training.
that one drives me crazy too! I’ve been weight training for a year and trust me, I sure don’t look bulky! haha I’d like even more definition!
TRUE! Women can’t get bulky (we don’t have enough testosterone, UNLESS we use certain supplements and drugs. So you’re right, that is crazy talk 🙂
What a great guest post! Thanks for explaining the difference- I see why this is a popular (false!) belief that I am guilty of believing for a number of years.
oh yes–lots of us out there believed this. now NO more 😉
I used to believe this just because people say it all the time.. silly.
Knowledge really is power, it makes a whole difference when you actually understand what’s going on.
totally agree 🙂 Well said!